Patton's Last Gamble: The Disastrous Raid on POW Camp Hammelburg in World War II

Patton’s Last Gamble vividly recounts Gen. George Patton’s ill-fated mission to liberate a German POW camp where his son-in-law and other Americans were held. It was a mission Gen. Omar Bradley later said “began as a wild goose chase and ended in tragedy.”

Students of military history, World War II, and Patton will find the book useful. Readers of all backgrounds will find the book a pleasure to read. The reader who finishes this book will learn more about Patton, World War II, and an obscure piece of its history.

In March 1945, against the advice of his top subordinates, Gen. George Patton created a special task force to venture more than fifty miles behind enemy lines and liberate a POW camp near Hammelburg, Germany. The camp held some 1,500 American prisoners, including Patton’s son-in-law. Hampered by ambushes and a lack of fuel and even maps, the raid was a disaster, one of the worst mistakes of Patton’s legendary career. Out of some 300 men, only three dozen returned. Based on memoirs, diaries, combat reports, and interviews with survivors, Patton’s Last Gamble vividly recounts a mission Gen. Omar Bradley later said “began as a wild goose chase and ended in tragedy.”

• | Author: Duane Schultz
• | Publisher: Stackpole Books
• | Publication Date: Jun 01, 2022
• | Number of Pages:
• | Language:
• | Binding: Paperback / softback
• | ISBN-13: 9780811770903
• | ISBN-10: 0811770907