What did General Patton carry as Revolvers with the PEARL Grips?

Patton didn't have pearl grips..........they were ivory. I believe he carried Colt SAA .45 & a S&W .357 Registered Mag.

Don

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Laus Deo! <><

Good Question, Being a WWII history buff, I researched and found this on a website.

The best remembered "trademark" of General Patton is the ivory handled Colt .45 Peacemaker that he wore.

During the early days of WWII, when the news media was discovering that Patton was good copy, Patton was often referred to as "two-gun" Patton, alluding to the suggestion that Patton wore two ivory handled Colt .45's all the time. These reports are not wholly correct on two counts.

First, Patton neither owned nor wore two "matching" Colt .45's. The pistol commonly thought to be a Colt was actually a Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum. It was never worn as often as the Colt.

Secondly, the "two-gun" image of Patton is largely a creation of some inventive reporter. According to extensive research, there exists only one photograph of Patton wearing two ivory-handled revolvers at one time. Of course, Patton never said anything to hamper the image created by the media, since it served his purpose. The photograph spoken of was taken of Patton standing on the beach on the day of his landing at Fedala, North Africa with his Western Task Force in November of 1942. It was the first major American naval invasion in the history of the United States.

The rest of the story is at the following link. Pretty interesting reading

The Unknown Patton Chapter Five (The General's Personal Sidearms)

he said something about pearl grips being for a new orleans pimp! his were ivory

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WILL WORK FOR AMMO!

Gen. Patton was given a 1903/1908? Colt Pocket Model by a friend which had pearl grips, I believe. He carried it concealed sometimes under his jacket.

Charlie

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SWCA # 2294

This is a uberti built replica built for the american historical foundation.
It is silver plated, engraved in .45 colt. I never shot it. Its a safe queen I bought new/used a long time ago.

As many have already note, the stocks were ivory.

Here is a picture of his SAA on display at the Patton Museum of Cavalry and Armor at Fort Knox.

General Patton was not a fan of semi-automatic pistols, and did not trust them. His first handgun in the Army was a Colt Model P (SAA), 4.75" barrel. He is credited with at least two personal kills with it, while on the punitive expedition into Mexico with General Pershing.

He bought one of the early Smith & Wesson Registered .357 Magnum revolvers. It has a 3.5" barrel.

As others mentioned, he rarely wore both.

They're both on display, with the original leather, at the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

He also carried, at times, a Colt Model 1908, and a Remington Model 51, both in .380 caliber.

Follows is a link to pictures of both revolvers.

General Patton's Pistols - Colt 45 and SW 357

It's funny that this thread should appear now. I saw the film Patton again last night and noticed a couple of things for the first time. Perhaps some of you can confirm or correct me. There are several scenes where Scott is shown wearing both pistols however, I am fairly certain they were reversed in one scene. Usually the SAA was on his right hip except for one scene where I am certain it was on his left. The other thing I noticed was his Colt 1908. In the air raid scene he is shown drawing it from a chest holster but later, he stuffs it into his waistband. Also, when getting dressed for the first battle with Rommel, he checks the Colt and stuffs it into his waistband before buckling on the two revolvers. Also, I have heard his speech as he delivered it. His voice was hard to describe. Very high pitched, almost like a screech.

Hooray for Hollywood.

Frank

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sona si latine loqueris .

Yes, Patton had a high voice.

Not too many folks know that Patton attended VMI for a year before he went to West Point. His father and his grandfather, a Confederate colonel who was killed during the War, were both VMI graduates.

Patton had a Virginia cousin who also became a general-Lewis Burwell (Chesty) Puller USMC.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

We've talked a lot about Patton in the gun forum-

May be a repeat..... Patton's .357

Which one is the real Patton .357 Registered Magnum?

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I have a uncle still liveing that was a mp that told me he was assigned to drive him sometimes. Obvisely not the same driver that got him killed. Uncle art spoke german and probley that was a factor. Next time I get home I will have to get better details, although many years ago he told me generaly about it.

As I recall, it took him 5 yrs to get through the Point.
His statue faces the library. It is said his wife had that done, because he spent so little time there.

Olympic fencer.
Youngest(?) "Master of the Sword" the Army ever had?? as I recall.
Designed (copied the Brits) the Patton saber- really about the best Cav saber we had, IMO., for the nature of its use at the time.

It is said he shot a Mexican off a horse when the man tried to ride him down with that SA during the Villa border chases.

Read Rommel's book, and thought him brilliant.

Mucho Hombre.

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Regards,
Lee Jarrett

I did BCT at Knox and was *a hold over* thereafter for a few weeks. I spent many hours in the Patton museum. He had a way cool motor home too If you're ever in the area (near Louisville) check it out.
BTW - The Army doesn't protect the depository, although Flemming would have you believe that. Treasury has that responsibility...

I had the *honor* of being in Basic when Patton made general. Our barracks was on his route to the museum - They actually made us wash each and every rock so that they'd look really nice. We're talking gravel here... I've often wondered if one of the writers of the Mash TV show was there too. Patton went by and was reading something - He never even looked up and, unfortunately for him, didn't get to see our nice clean rocks. The MacArthur character in a Mash episode did the very same thing.

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In dog years I'm dead.

There is also a picture of Patton from early 1942 with a Colt Woodsman in his belt. Also IIRC the Colt M1903/M1908 were the issued handgun for Army generals in WWII. In the movie "Patton" where George C. Scott is firing at the Heinkel He-111 starfing IInd Corps HQ he uses the small Colt.
There is a good book "Fired in Anger" about famous handguns and the Americans who used them, it has a good chapter on Patton and his handguns.

No, it was the Remington 51 that was given to him. His Colt Pocket Hammerless .380 was issued to him. Neither had pearl grips. As others have mentioned, Patton had an intense dislike of pearl. His small autos had the standard stocks with stars inlaid. He also wore a Colt Detective Special on occasion with the standard walnut stocks.

Regards,
Kevin Williams

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Kevin Williams SWCA1649 HF208

If you like to read about Patton, I can recommend two books by Rick Atkinson. They are An Army at Dawn-The War in North Africa, 1942-1943 and The Day of Battle-The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944. Both are highly detailed about those phases of WWII with several vignettes about Patton, his quirky personality, his relationship with his superiors, his equals, and his troops.

It is my understanding that the Patton Museum is scheduled to move to Ft. Benning, GA sometime next year as part of the Base Realignment and Closure Plan. I believe that about 15% of the collection will remain at Ft. Knox.

Bob

Only part of the museum is moving, and those are some of the armored vehicles. The balance of the museum will remain at Fort Knox.

The other night I was reading through my Fathers book issued to him when he served in the 2nd Armored Division. I did not realize that Patton was its first commander.

Note the decription of the picture of Patton on the Division Commander wall. It says it has pearl grips. I wonder if that was intentional or a mis-print? You'd think the Army would get that part about Patton right.

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

Good catch, Kevin!

Can anyone tell if that's a .45 auto with ivory grips in the shoulder holster, on the tank? He may have had one of those, too.

For the Rick Atkinson fans(or for those who like to read about WWII history)his third volume in the "Liberation Trilogy"-Army at Dawn, The Day of Battle is due out in May. The book is entitled The Guns at Last Light, The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945(I preordered it yesterday).