Metz 1944

Patton's fortified nemesis

By Steven J. Zaloga

2012

First Published

3.79

Average Rating

Number of Pages

2H55M

Audio Length

Part of Series

Osprey Campaign

Series · 325 books

By Bryan Perrett, Peter Dennis, Simon Dunstan, and more

General George Patton's most controversial campaign was the series of battles in autumn 1944 along the German frontier which centered on the fortified city of Metz. It took nearly four months, from September to December 1944, for Patton's Third Army to capture the Metz-Thionville fortified zone. In part, the problem was logistics. As was the case with the rest of the Allied forces in the European Theatre, supplies were limited until the port of Antwerp could finally be cleared. Also problematic was the weather. The autumn of 1944 was one of the wettest on record, and hardly conducive to the type of mechanized warfare for which Patton was so famous. However at the heart of the problem was the accretion of sophisticated fortifications. Metz had been fortified since ancient times, heavily rebuilt by France in the post-Napoleonic period, modernized by Germany in 1870-1914, and modernized by France during the Maginot effort in 1935-40. The Germans hoped to hold Metz with a thin screen of second-rate troops, counting on the impregnable fortifications. This book covers the entire campaign from beginning to end, offering an unbiased assessment of the success and failures of both the Allied and Axis efforts.

Avg Rating

3.79

Number of Ratings

5 STARS

28%

4 STARS

28%

3 STARS

41%

2 STARS

1 STARS

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Author

Steven J. Zaloga

Author · 106 books

Steven Zaloga is an author and defense analyst known worldwide for his articles and publications on military technology. He has written over a hundred books on military technology and military history, including “Armored Thunderbolt: The US Army Sherman in World War II”, one of the most highly regarded histories of the Sherman Tank. His books have been translated into Japanese, German, Polish, Czech, Romanian, and Russian. He was a special correspondent for Jane’s Intelligence Review and is on the executive board of the Journal of Slavic Military Studies and the New York Military Affairs Symposium. From 1987 through 1992, he was the writer/producer for Video Ordnance Inc., preparing their TV series Firepower. He holds a BA in history from Union College and an MA in history from Columbia University. Mr. Zaloga is also a noted scale armor modeler and is a host/moderator of the World War II Allied Discussion group at Missing-Lynx.com, a modelling website. He is a frequent contributor to the UK-based modeling magazine Military Modelling. He is a member of the Armor Modeling and Preservation Society.