Patton Appointed Interim Commander of US Army Europe

General George S. Patton spent 11/11/1945, his 60th birthday, in Germany while serving as commander of the Fifteenth U.S. Army, several weeks after being reassigned from command of the Third U.S. Army during the Allied occupation period following World War II in Europe. The Fifteenth Army, headquartered in Bad Nauheim, had been activated in October 1945 with a mission focused primarily on compiling historical records of operations in the European Theater of Operations. Patton assumed command on 07/10/1945, marking a transition from active field command to an administrative and historical role. There is no historical record that Patton was appointed as “Interim Commander of U.S. Army Europe” on 11/11/1945. During this period, General Dwight D. Eisenhower remained Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force, and continued overseeing U.S. forces in Europe, while the U.S. Army command structure in the occupation zone operated through established theater headquarters. Contemporary records and biographies of Patton note that he remained in charge of the Fifteenth U.S. Army throughout November and early December 1945, including on his birthday. Less than a month later, on 09/12/1945, Patton was seriously injured in a car accident near Mannheim, Germany, and he died on 21/12/1945 at the 130th Station Hospital in Heidelberg.