Metz 1944

A complete examination of Patton's campaign to take the fortified city of Metz.

General George Patton's most controversial campaign was the series of battles in autumn 1944 along the German frontier, which centred on the fortified city of Metz. 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 mechanised 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, modernised by Germany in 1870–1914, and modernised 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.

Metz 1944 covers the entire campaign from beginning to end, offering an unbiased assessment of the successes and failures of both the Allied and Axis efforts.