Скачать или смотреть Why Patton Was Stopped For A Parade - The Week That Cost 80,000 Lives

In August 1944, George Patton's Third Army had shattered German defenses and stood ready to drive into Germany with nothing between his tanks and the Rhine River—then Charles de Gaulle demanded that French forces, not Americans, liberate Paris first.

Drawing on Third Army after-action reports, Field Marshal Walter Model's post-war testimony, and Eisenhower's correspondence, this documentary examines how the week-long pause to stage a French liberation of Paris gave Germany time to man the Siegfried Line fortifications, reorganize shattered divisions, and establish defensive positions that had been completely vulnerable just days before. The story reveals how Model's chief logistics officer later testified the delay saved German forces from complete destruction, as American tanks sat idle around Paris while German units retreated into prepared defenses—and how that political decision to preserve French pride ultimately cost 80,000 American casualties in battles that could have been avoided if Patton's momentum had continued uninterrupted into Germany in August 1944.

Sources:
• Foreign Military Studies – Field Marshal Walter Model post-war interrogations proving German forces used the Paris delay to reorganize shattered divisions and man the Siegfried Line
• National Archives – Third Army After Action Reports (August-September 1944) documenting the fuel shortage, halt orders, and timeline of operations during the critical week
• Charles de Gaulle – "War Memoirs: Unity 1942-1944" where de Gaulle himself describes demanding French forces liberate Paris first and threatening to disobey Allied command
• George S. Patton Papers, Library of Congress – Patton's personal diary entries from August-September 1944 documenting his frustration with the halt and fuel diversions to Paris
• Red Ball Express Transportation Corps Records – Official fuel allocation data proving resources were diverted from Third Army to support Paris liberation operations