Posted on 02/10/2018 2:24:32 AM PST by beaversmom
“The force of the crash caused Patton to fly up out of the passenger seat and hit his head on the ceiling.”
There are a lot of reports that he was injured at the hospital but nowhere near death at all.
there are a lot of rumors that he was murdered at the hospital because he was not receptive at all to the relationship with the Soviets that others preferred.
he also generally didn’t take the same view of the post-war Arrangements in Germany that others more liberal insisted on.
It is fair to say that Patton respected the Soviets much less than he did the Germans.
He lived through WWII. He transported Patton, and was around him, a prime military target. He worked full time until he was 96. He was survived by his wife of 72 years, and children. He lived to be 99.
That is what I meant by a charmed life.
I just found another story from 2012 with this:
Though Sanza was present for the creation of one of the world’s most famous vehicles, his real brush with the heart of the Allied effort would come in May 1944, when Patton chose him for his team of drivers for the U.S. Third Army’s march across Nazi-occupied western Europe. The Allies were three weeks from D-Day, the perilous crossing from England to the fortified coast of Normandy.
Ditto that TalBack, brilliant minds think alike. RIP Soldier and O.G. Jeep Hot Rodder...
His assignment was long enough for him to meet and marry Evelyn Kramer, a “Rosie the Riveter” who was working on battleships and submarines at Mare Island. They settled in Napa and Sanza got a job at the ammunition depot on Mare Island,
File this under "coincidental" -- yesterday through tomorrow, I'm at the 22nd San Francisco Flyway Festival at Mare Island in California near Napa. We toured Mare Island and the base yesterday -- our tour guide did engineering work on nuclear subs here from 1965 to the day it closed in 1996. If you like wildlife and military history, this is a great place to visit. Lots of buildings are open during the festival that you normally cannot get into. During the tour, I was trying to imagine the place during WW 2 when up to 40,000 people worked here.
Right in the heart of the base are many STRONG above-ground reinforced concrete bomb shelters that could hold ten men and women. It shows the worry we had about the Japs bombing us (in addition to all the shore batteries all over the coast around San Francisco),
WOW! Rest In Peace, Soldier.
Did your dad ever talk about what a jerk DeGaulle was?
There is something wrong with this story.
Patton’s driver was Sergeant John Lyman Mims of Abbeville, Alabama.
His wife worked at the probate judge’s office in Abbeville. I talked to her as I used to search records there.
In one of the books they mentioned that Mims had gone home at the time of Patton’s fatal accident. It even mentione that Mims had driven him for four years with no accidents.
...
My pediatrician said he was Patton’s driver. He wasn’t any of these guys. I’ve tried to verify it, but couldn’t. Maybe he had many drivers, or it could be anybody who drove him once would claim it, since Patton was famous.
“JEEP”
PATTONS driver!
Thanks!
I dunno what he could have done. Maybe it was well-maintained (it was certainly well-supplied) and that was enough to have it perform better that any other jeep he encountered?
Patton had a number of drivers, and also frequently used a Dodge WC57. Sanza seemed to have joined the team and been a principle driver late in the war.
I had an uncle who was a motorcycle messenger for Patton. He’s gone now too.
So the Russians protected the horses?
Original specs on the jeep were 54hp, top speed rated at 55 mph.
http://www.williammaloney.com/Aviation/WestPointMilitaryMuseum/TanksVehicles/pages/04WWIIJeep.htm
Probably not difficult to get a more powerful motor and fit it under the hood. Access to even a rudimentary machine shop would allow simple fabrication and welding of new mounts, and linkage and drive train could be fitted accordingly.
I don’t think there was a whole lot of room under the hood, but I’m sure it could be finessed. My ex FIL was an air force mechanic, and that guy was a magician with anything with a motor.
I did not know about that.
The link is definitely worth reading.
I agree. What bothers me is the statement that there are no pictures because it was "against regulations."
Original specs on the jeep were 54hp, top speed rated at 55 mph.
I wish I knew what he did to the Jeep’s engine.
Where did he get the parts?
I would think that he would have to make them himself.
The after market engine parts industry wasn’t invented yet.
http://www.americanveteranscenter.org/2014/11/avc-oral-history-francis-jeep-sanza/
Oral history from American Veteran’s Center
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