I'm reading Patton's, War As I Knew It by himself, with notes by one of his staff officers. It is very revealing of both the man and the war he fought. His lists of US and enemy casualties in both men and supplies is sobering.

In one week or so of fighting across France and Germany, Patton lost more men than have probably been killed in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars!

So far (about halfway through) the book mentions only one personal gun, an unidentified PEARL-handled .38 revolver, a gift from another general. The other man might have read about his "pearl-handled" guns and not known of his dislike of pearl. Most newsmen didn't think about the latter, and any white grip to them was "pearl".

I think Patton favored ivory partly because he was a keen student of history and Roman generals favored ivory-hilted swords. One such sword was recovered from the Rhine, and enuugh remains to show how it was made and the ornate fittings on the scabbard.

One note about Patton's rivalry with Lord Montgomery: the British field marshal favored a "dagger thrust" into Germany, using his own 21st Army Group. Bradley told Patton that it would more likely be a "butter knife thrust" and approved Patton's advance.

That said, Montgomery seems to have been more careful than Patton not to waste men in battle when time wasn't of the essence. And he did defeat the brilliant Rommel in North Africa. Both Patton and Montgomery were peacocks.

T-Star