Patton Pissing in Rhine

[Walt's Daughter]

Marion,

|

| Found your site by accident. I have been looking for info on the Patton

| photo where he is peeing in the Rhine River. I think my grandfather might

| have aken it. He used to talk about takingthat photo when he was alive, but

| our family has lost the original somewhere. I have heard it may have wound

| up in a museum somewhere. The photo on your sight look slike many my

| grandfather took with a small spy camera he was issued. My grandfather was

| under Patton when they crossed the Rhine, he was a Captain. Any ideas where

| this photo you have on your sight might be located?

|

| My grandfathers name was Clifford Werner.

|

| Thanks for any help you can provide!

|

| David Harrington

| Monroe, NC

[Walt's Daughter]

Dear David:

 

Just got your message. How intriguing!

 

There are many stories and quite a history behind that photo. The one I have on my site was given to me by one of the guys in my dad's unit, the 540th Combat Engineers, who built the ponton bridge across the Rhine. I have no idea where the original could be, but suggest you contact this person who runs the Patton Society website. Here's the addy:

 

pattonhq@yahoo.com

 

Here is the website:

 

http://www.pattonhq.com/

 

I will also post your email on my forum. Maybe someone can answer some questions too.

 

Thanks for writing. I hope you'll join our forum and keep in touch. If you find any info too, please post it there. We'd love to hear from you.

 

Warm regards,

Marion

 

PS I am attaching a copy of the photo for you.

 

[Walt's Daughter]

Thanks. I have some of granddad's service records but I would have to find

them. It would show his various units. He told us, long before the

internet or anyone else could have probably published this photo in public,

that Patton told all of his field officers that when they got to the Rhine

he would "piss in it". I'm not sure if this is the only photo or not but

granddad said he took a photo of this. I will forward this tomy dad, who

has seenthe actual photo granddad took. I had one of my uncles make

somecopies of other photos that have never been seen from the Nazicamps. I

accidentally erased the disk before it was not made on a CD-R, but when I

get new copies I will forward some of the photos. Several of these show

Patton in Buchenwald during the prisoner liberation. They are all very

interesting photos. The thing that is neat about that one is no photos were

allowed, but granddad was able to snap a few. My father has the camera, a

very small "spy" type camera. Anyways, thought this might interest you.

Thanks for the help!!!!!

 

David

[texas38]

In line with the above subject re the finding of the Nazi camps and the liberation of the prisoners: I have a memory in my head from a black and white newsreel that was only about a week old at the time I saw it showing an American general emerging from one of those camps with his staff, et al., and he was crying. You could clearly see the white handkerchief which he was holding to his eyes and making no attempt to hide it. For a man to be seen crying in those days was considered highly unusual and not bothering to hide that from the camera only made it all the more unusual. Especially, a general. Later, when I got older I often imagined that this man was Patton but I don't really know who he was. I was only 6-1/2 at the time. Would any of you WWII history buffs know the answer to the question of just who this American general was? It would really be gratifying for me to put this mental image away in the docket where it belongs.

 

Marilyn