Target

Table of Contents

 

 

 

“Robert Wilcox’s
Target: Patton
has enough twists and turns to satisfy the most demanding murder-mystery fan with the added bonus of historical possibility. Populated with legendary real-life characters, Wilcox introduces the world to Douglas Bazata: a man of action as improbably true as Lawrence of Arabia. With a screenwriter’s gift for picture images and a military historian’s discipline for detail, Wilcox peels back the decades to the chaotic final chords of World War II and the opening act of the Cold War by asking the heretofore unanswered question: was General George S. Patton murdered?”

—DOUG MCINTYRE,
KABC Radio/
Los Angeles Daily News

 

“
Target: Patton
is a terrific book investigating the mysterious death of one of America’s greatest military heroes: General George S. Patton, Jr. Reporter Robert Wilcox takes the reader into the mystery: from Patton’s suspicious car crash in Occupied Germany in 1945 to his unexpected death two weeks later, bringing to light new evidence and raising serious questions, all of which makes for a fascinating read.”

—PAUL E. VALLELY,
Major General, U.S. Army (Ret.),

Chairman, Stand Up America USA

Co-author of
Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror

 

“I am most surprised to learn in Robert Wilcox’s highly readable book that there is a reasonable doubt and more that George Patton’s death in Germany in December 1945 was not the result of a car crash but possibly foul play by hired assassins. Certainly there was motive and opportunity, but was there method? Over the years, I had heard a version of this tale based upon German villainy, but never with the detail and matter-of-fact persuasion in
Target: Patton
. I don’t know if he was murdered, but I am no longer sure he wasn’t. Exhume the corpse. End the debate.”

—JOHN BATCHELOR,
host WABC, WMAL, KSFO, KFI

To Bego

Almost since the day General George S. Patton, Jr. died, there have been persistent rumors that he was murdered. Not just murdered, though—assassinated. It has been repeated relentlessly that he was killed because he was hated by his superior officers due to jealousy and fear. Jealousy of him because he was, in fact, the best general in the United States Army. Fear of him because they thought he was going to expose many of the cowardly, incompetent, and corrupt things done by the Allied High Command during World War II. If that were not enough, there have been persistent claims that the Russians were also trying to assassinate him because Stalin hated him.

Robert K. Wilcox has taken on a major story in his quest for the truth of the matter. One thing is for certain in Mr. Wilcox’s book: he has obviously worked for years on this project and has done a great deal of homework concerning this issue. His research and story are highly detailed and comprehensive. The book is
thoroughly researched and well written. It is a story of intrigue, deceit, obfuscations, and politics (both civil and military).

Does Mr. Wilcox find the trail to the truth? Does he prove his assertions? Well, the thing is... if I tell that, I will be giving away the entire story, and I certainly can’t do that. It will be up to the reader to decide for himself once he has read this worthwhile book. It is, indeed, a good read.

 

Charles M. Province
The George S. Patton, Jr. Historical Society
17010 S. Potter Road
Oregon City OR 97045
http://www.pattonhq.com

ALLEN, Colonel Robert S.
—World War II Patton aide, author, and journalist

ANDREW, Christopher
—professor, author who has written on Soviet assassination

“ANGELA”
—pseudonym for Joe Scruce’s (aka “Spruce”) daughter

AYER, Fred, Jr.
—Patton’s nephew and FBI agent in charge of the bureau’s European operations during World War II

BABALAS, Lieutenant Peter K.
—Military policeman who was one of the first at the scene of Patton’s accident on December 9, 1945

BALL, Colonel Lawrence C.
—commander of 130
^th
Station Hospital, Heidelberg, where General Patton was taken after his December 9, 1945 accident on December 9, 1945

BANDERA, Stepan
—Ukrainian nationalist leader and one of three important sources who informed Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) agent Stephen Skubik that General Patton was on a Soviet hit list

BAZATA, Douglas deWitt
—former OSS “Jedburgh” agent who claimed involvement in a plot to assassinate General Patton

BAZATA, Marie-Pierre
—Douglas Bazata’s wife

BENTLEY, Elizabeth
—U.S.-born NKVD spy who first blew the whistle to the FBI about extensive Soviet spying during World War II in America

BILLINGTON, Joy
—Washington, D.C. journalist who wrote about Bazata

BLUMENSON, Martin
—author, Patton historian

BRADLEY, General Omar
—General Patton’s contemporary and immediate boss as Patton commanded the Third Army in France and Germany

BREINDEL, Eric
—author, journalist who has written on Soviet espionage

CAIRNS, Brigadier Hugh
—British neurosurgeon who first attended General Patton at the 130
^th
Station Hospital, Heidelberg, Germany

CAVE-BROWN, Anthony
—author, Donovan biographer

CHURCHILL, Winston
—Prime minister of Britain and one of the Allied “Big Three” leaders

CIC—
Counter Intelligence Corps, an army intelligence agency in World War II

COBB, General Nicholas B.
—mentioned by General Gay as arriving at the scene of the December 9, 1945 accident and helping out

COLBY, William “Bill”
—former OSS Jedburgh agent and Bazata friend who later became head of the CIA

CURRAN, Major
—soldier mentioned by General Gay as being one of the first on the scene of Patton’s accident

DAVIDOV, General Alexander M (aka “Davidow,” “Davidoff”)
—Soviet chief of repatriation in post-war Germany and Soviet spymaster believed by CIC’s Stephen Skubik to have been involved in General Patton’s death

D’ESTE, Carlo
—author, historian, Patton biographer

DECRESCENZO, Sergeant Armando
—said to have arrived at the accident scene with three other soldiers

DONOVAN, General William J. “Wild Bill”
—head of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the U.S.’s World War II spy agency, forerunner to the CIA

DUGGAN, Laurence
—State Department official who spied for the NKVD

EISENHOWER, General Dwight D.
—Supreme Allied Commander in Europe later to become president of the United States

FARAGO, Ladislas
—Hungarian-born former U.S. naval intelligence officer, author, and historian who was the first to write on Patton’s accident using interviews extensively with eyewitnesses and visiting the site

FITIN, General Pavel M.
—head of the Soviet intelligence service, the NKVD (later to become the KGB) during World War II

FUGATE, Denver
—historian who has written in-depth about General Patton’s injury and death

GAVIN, General James M.
—World War II parachute troop commander and author