There He Goes Again

In England, Lieut. General George S. Patton Jr. again put both feet in his mouth, where there was obviously room for his cavalry boots as well. In high spirits over his sudden emergence from obscurity and his announced role as commander of a U.S. invasion army (TIME, May 1), Patton gave a speech of welcome to a mixed U.S. and British audience at the opening of a new club for soldiers.

Said he: "The sooner our soldiers write home and say how lovely the English ladies are, the sooner American dames will get jealous and force the war to a successful conclusion. And then I'll have a chance to go and kill the Japanese."

General Patton went on: "The only welcoming I have done for some time has been welcoming Germans and Italians into hell. I have ... got about 177,000 there." (The total of Axis soldiers killed by all Allied soldiers in Tunisia, Sicily, and the opening weeks of the Italian campaign as announced by Secretary Stimson, on Oct. 29, was about 40,000.)

General Patton went on: "The idea of these clubs could not be better because undoubtedly it is our [Britain's and America's] destiny to rule the world." A hastily revised version of this nifty -- which had been reluctantly released by the British censors because they could "see no security angle" -- included Russia among the General's choice of world rulers.

In Washington, Secretary Stimson quickly and emphatically pointed out that Patton spoke only for himself.

The question of Patton's permanent rank promotion, from colonel to major general, was up before the Senate Military Affairs Committee as he spoke. (It had been up for seven months.) After his outburst hit the cables, several members observed privately that in their opinion Patton would never be promoted. Senator Chandler of Kentucky said publicly: "The only one standing in the way of his permanent promotion is himself."

Comment elsewhere in the Senate and House: "Screwy talk ... as balmy as Hitler's . . . nonsensical . . . mischievous." In a hailstorm of editorials, the U.S. press asked the General, with varying degrees of asperity, to confine himself to such remarks as "Forward, men" and "Open fire."

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