Patton on Cover of Life Magazine, 7 July 1941

During the years between World War I and World War II, George Patton Jr. was demoted from temporary colonel to major and spent 20 years in the peacetime cavalry. The German Blitzkrieg in Europe in late 1939 convinced the War Department and Congress that the United States lagged in the new technology of armor. Patton was ready with ideas and plans. Once again a full colonel, Patton was sent back to tanks in August 1940 by U.S. Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall to oversee the formation of the Armored Force. He was transferred to the Second Armored Division at Fort Benning, Georgia and named Commanding General on 11 April 1941.

During the 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers, he dominated the action with daring tactics that outflanked and outclassed officers of the mock opposing forces. In early 1942, Patton was promoted to the command of the First Armored Corps and established the Desert Training Center in southern California where the U.S. Army armored forces honed their skills.

During his rapid rise, Patton came to national attention and on 7 July 1941 appeared on the cover of a Life magazine issue devoted to the suddenly important topic of national defense.

Today in WW II: 8 Feb 1940 Germans establish the first large Jewish ghetto in Poland in the city of Lodz. More ↓

8 Feb 1941 US House of Representatives passes the Lend-Lease Act [265 to 165].
8 Feb 1942 Battle of Sarimbun Beach begins, the first stage of the Japanese assault on Singapore.
8 Feb 1942 Japanese Offensive in Burma begins [8 Feb-2 May].
8 Feb 1945 Battle of the Reichswald: British and Canadian forces under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery begin Operation Veritable [8 Feb-11 Mar].
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