In case you hadn't seen this photo.

[Art Doc]

Patton's RM and SAA together.

 

[fyimo]

Thanks for sharing that is a really cool picture

 

[mg357]

thank you for sharing that picture

 

[Andy Taylor]

Yes, thank you.

 

[Joe in SC]

I read somewhere that the reg. magnum was at Ft Knox on display. Are both guns together and are they in fact at the armor museum at Ft. Knox?

 

[dpsix]

The man had impeccable taste in revolvers.

 

[Jack Flash]

He knew his handguns all right.

 

[Allen-frame]

Those are not actually Pattons guns.
They are the ones that Saxon wears when he's walking around his 'estate'.

Not April 1st' Sax, what's the occasion?

Allen Pig-Frame

 

[Jeb21]

thanks for posting that picture1

 

[03clyde]

Nice, very nice.

 

[Camster]

I recall them being in a vertical case at Ft Knox Armor museum-not posed as in this photo.

 

[M2MikeGolf]

Interesting thing about Patton though is that he really preferred smaller handguns like the 1903 Colt Pocket model hammerless and the Remington model 51 (both in .380 ACP) for day to day carry. He was known to complain about the weight of those bigger handguns which included the M1911A1, and wore them mostly for photo ops. For everyday wear, he liked those .380s and I think even sported a .32 hammerless as well. Patton was all about the image, that's for sure, but here's a picture of what he might normally have worn, such as in this photo (with his not-so-famous Colt).

 

[Art Doc]

The photo was presented as the real guns. I can't guarantee they are. Obviously not a shot of them on display but laid out for a photo-op.

 

[kimporter]

the "patton museum" at ft knox was closed early this year,i dont know where the artifacts have gone,i heard down south somewhere

 

[Texas Star]

I guess he wanted the holster lengths to match, but it's always puzzled me why he didn't order the .357 with a five-inch barrel.

 

[M2MikeGolf]

Kim,
The Patton museum is in the process of moving to Ft. Benning, GA. Fort Knox was supposed to close down a few years ago (it was the traditional Armor school for decades) and the Armor school and museum will or is moving to Ft. Benning, which has been the home of the Infantry school/museum, also for decades. However, in the end, Fort Knox was kept open to house the Army's human resource command.

 

[G.T. Smith]

Yeah, and I had Radio school AIT there in 1970. Learned to read 7 and send 17 5 letter code groups per minute and got sent to Fort Gordon for radio teletype school.
Peace,
gordon

 

[JP@AK]

Guys
My dad was an Army Air Corps P-38 pilot and was shot down while supporting Operation Cobra over France in 1944. After spending several months as a guest of the Germans, he was liberated by the arrival of General Patton and his tanks.
Dad was sitting on the ground, nearly starved, together with a bunch of other American and British fly-boys when the tanks rolled up. The Germans had all left the day before. The General was standing up in the first or second tank to stop, just a few yards from where Dad was sitting.
Patton looked around for a minute, then yelled, "Sergeant, set up a mess and feed these men!"
Dad is 89 now. I'll have to ask him if he noticed what gun the General was carrying that day.
I hope you enjoyed this true story.
JP

 

[Texas Star]

Guys
My dad was an Army Air Corps P-38 pilot and was shot down while supporting Operation Cobra over France in 1944. After spending several months as a guest of the Germans, he was liberated by the arrival of General Patton and his tanks.
Dad was sitting on the ground, nearly starved, together with a bunch of other American and British fly-boys when the tanks rolled up. The Germans had all left the day before. The General was standing up in the first or second tank to stop, just a few yards from where Dad was sitting.
Patton looked around for a minute, then yelled, "Sergeant, set up a mess and feed these men!"
Dad is 89 now. I'll have to ask him if he noticed what gun the General was carrying that day.
I hope you enjoyed this true story.
JP

I did enjoy the story.

Did your dad say by what he was shot down? Flak? German planes that he could ID? What did he think of the P-38 in combat against the FW-190, in particular? Did he often all but freeze at high altitudes because the P-38 cockpit couldn't be effectively heated ?

In the Pacific, where lower altitudes were usual, the P-38 did much better, and both the top US aces flew P-38's. (Bong and McGuire, 40 and 38 aerial kills confirmed. I think the next ace in line was the Navy's David McCampbell, at 34 kills.)

I just finished reading Patton's, "War As I Knew It". Very interesting book, with some insightful tactics stuff in the back. Patton described finding the POW camps, and mentioned one that was commanded by an RAF Group Captain. (I think that equates to a US Lt. Col.) Said the men appeared to be in as good condition as could be hoped (not too good) , and that the Germans had delivered their Red Cross packages, despite being short of food, themselves. They were able to make some smoky cooking fires, using improvised stoves.

Prisoners of the Japs fared worse. I understand that even now, there are places in Britain where it isn't safe to leave a Japanese brand car parked in public, lest it be defaced by families of those who were captured when Singapore fell.

The late John Masters, D.S.O. wrote that he came to regard the Japanese as being really inhuman. He led troops against them in Burma. But the Germans were bad enough!

I'd really like to know your dad's opinion of the P-38 and how he got shot down, if you can ask him.

 

[sw357nm]

Another Patton Revolver

Patton usually was seen carrying a revolver. He occasionally carried a Colt Detective Special.
John