War Diary 1918

The handwritten diary of George S. Patton Jr., commander of the U.S. Army's first tank brigade, continued by one of his battalion commanders after Patton was wounded in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive.

In 1918, Patton organized and commanded the 304th Tank Brigade, leading America's first large-scale tank operations during the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives. Although he later gained fame as a World War II army commander, his pioneering work in France helped establish the foundation of American armored warfare.

This volume presents Patton's day-by-day wartime diary through his wounding in late September 1918. It is then continued by Ranulf Compton, one of his battalion commanders, who assumed command during some of the war's fiercest fighting. Together, their firsthand accounts chronicle the birth of U.S. armored combat while candidly assessing both the promise and the limitations of the tank on the First World War battlefield.

An essential primary source for military historians and admirers of George S. Patton, this unique dual-voice diary captures the Army's first experience with armored warfare in combat.