Guest Claymorerigh Posted March 21, 2002 Share Posted March 21, 2002 Hi all, Just getting started with CMBO and I was wondering if anyone has already created/collected a number of battles or operations (or made a list of them) that involved Third Army. If so, might I be able to obtain them? I know I can hunt around the net to find stuff, but usually I find stuff is grouped by geographic location, etc. and not by Army grouping (yes I know that divisions came and went, but that is not my point) Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wbs Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 Scott, The 3rd Army is still an active command, and has a website. I haven't looked too deeply into it, but it does have a link for "history" of 3rd Army. Here is the link for 3rd Army's website: http://www.arcent.army.mil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fieldmarshall Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 Well if you are looking for books try Hell on Wheels...(cant remember the rest of the title, I will get back to you on this..not in the mood to crack open the books at this hour) umm..for other great sources (not necessarily on the 3rd army) try Rhineland! Death Traps, If you Survive, thousands of good sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Claymorerigh Posted March 22, 2002 Share Posted March 22, 2002 Great thanks, SMB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted March 23, 2002 Share Posted March 23, 2002 Um, "Hell on Wheels" is the unit history of the US 2nd Armored Division (it was the unit motto), which was never part of Patton's 3rd Army. It was part of V corps, in the US 1st Army, which was at first commanded by Bradley and after he moved up to 12th Army Group, by Hodges. Look for fights set in the Lorraine in the fall of 1944, around Metz, in the Saarland, and on the southern shoulder of the Bulge. Note that Patton's men did not fight in Normandy, being activated only after the breakout to exploit it. They did of course take part in the race across France, securing Brittany and forming the southern wall of the Falaise pocket. Famous units that fought in 3rd Army include the XII and XX corps, spearheaded by the 4th and 6th Armored divisions. The 7th and 10th armored each had periods in 3rd Army, as did XV and III corps, but the 4th and 6th ADs and XII and XX corps were always with it, and those 2 ADs are the ones people think of as "Patton's armored divisions". Many different infantry divisions served in 3rd Army at one time or another. The 4th was commanded by Wood, the 6th by Grow. Colonel Abrams (for whom the M-1 is named - probably the most famous field level US armor commander of the war) served in the 4th. He commanded a tank battalion at first, and both of CCA and CCB at different, later times. The single best book to get on Patton's fighting is "The Lorraine Campaign", one of the army "green book" series of operational histories of the war. It covers the period from the end of the pursuit to the fight for Metz, basically the whole fall season of 1944. The War as I Knew It by Patton himself is also well worth reading, but the level of detail, clarity, info from both sides, and above all the great maps in the green book on the Lorraine fight, make it clearly superior. P.S. There is also a decent unit history of the 6th AD available on the web, here - http://members.aol.com/super6th/6adpubs.htm Short on the enemy perspective and nothing like as good as the Lorraine Campaign, but you won't have to go to a library to find it. [ March 22, 2002, 06:21 PM: Message edited by: JasonC ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Claymorerigh Posted March 25, 2002 Share Posted March 25, 2002 JasonC: Thanks for the references. I picked up a copy of the Lorraine book yesterday. I could have spent another $100.00 on other in the serires, but I was able to restrain myself (for the moment) Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkhorn1x Posted March 25, 2002 Share Posted March 25, 2002 JasonC: Where can I find these "green books". Thanks, Barkhorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Claymorerigh Posted March 25, 2002 Share Posted March 25, 2002 I found them on Amazon. I then called my local bookstare and gave them the ISBN (they maintain a fairly large military history section) and they had one on the shelf. The ISBN for the Lorraine 1944 book is 1-84176-089-7 Claymore-Righ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWB Posted March 25, 2002 Share Posted March 25, 2002 I found the 3 I have at 2nd hand book stores, for $25 apiece. A very good deal. One thing: get a first edition if you can find it, as they have many more maps than the subsequent sets. WWB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkhorn1x Posted March 26, 2002 Share Posted March 26, 2002 Thanks for the info Scott. Barkhorn. PS. Scott - I don't think your books is the same as what the other guys are talking about. Yours is from the Osprey Campaign series (I like these too). The other Lorraine book was a US Army publication post WWII. This is the one I want to find. [ March 25, 2002, 05:07 PM: Message edited by: Barkhorn1x ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Claymorerigh Posted March 26, 2002 Share Posted March 26, 2002 Having loooked at the posts, I think you are right. I have no idea how to find these others, other than second hand books stores. There is a website that caters to finding second-hand books. I'll see if I can find it and I will post it here. SMB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonC Posted March 26, 2002 Share Posted March 26, 2002 I get mine out of the library. I have a particularly good one at my university. You can always use interlibrary loan if yours does not have an item you want. There are quite a few of the green books out there; in the stacks of my library they cover about half of one bookshelf. Some cover rear area operations, logistics, some the Pacific theater, and there are many volumes on particular campaigns like Normandy, the Bulge, North Africa, etc. The green book for the Bulge is available on-line at the center for military history. They also have Utah Beach to Cherbourg, and the St. Lo volume. They don't include all the maps, however, which are very useful in the original book versions. I don't know if you can order copies from them, but if not they might know something about how to get them, if you want to buy them rather than borrow them from a library. I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchy Posted March 26, 2002 Share Posted March 26, 2002 Guys: By going to this link you will find every book in the green series and how to order them. Maps for the ETO and PTO have been put in seperate volumes. http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/catalog/Brochure.htm Enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CombinedArms Posted March 27, 2002 Share Posted March 27, 2002 Originally posted by Frenchy: Guys: By going to this link you will find every book in the green series and how to order them. Maps for the ETO and PTO have been put in seperate volumes. http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/catalog/Brochure.htm Enjoy!Cool! The one book in this series in my library is The Siegfried Line Campaign, by Charles MacDonald, and it's excellent. I recommend interlibrary loan or the interlibrary retrieval services in public libraries to get books in this series, because to buy them all would bankrupt you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barkhorn1x Posted March 27, 2002 Share Posted March 27, 2002 Thanks all for the info. Barkhorn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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