Here is a description from his unfortunately unfinished autobiography.
Bradley called up at 1710 and, in my opinion, crawfished quite fragrantly in forbidding me to use the 83rd Division. I believe he had been over-talked, either by Middleton or Hodges, or both. I was very sore at the time, and still regard it as a great mistake. Had two combat teams of the 83rd been used to attack Saarburg, that town would have fallen on twelfth or the thirteenth, and we would probably have captured Trier. With Trier in our hands, Von Rundstedt’s break through could not have occurred. This probably is another case of “On account of a nail a shoe was lost,” etc….
The heads of the Staff sections gave me a birthday party in Colonel Koch’s quarters, where we had Armored Diesels to drink, field expedient type — “field expedient” meaning that the adequate liquors for making the old 2d Armored Diesel was not available.
A helpful note below states: “Ingredients of the original: Juices of one lemon, sugar to taste, one and one-half ounces of rye or bourbon, one teacup of shaved ice, whirl in a mixer.” Further investigation, however has lead me to conclude that the “original” was a more potent concoction, involving not only two kinds of whiskey but also, it seems, wine.
This is taken from description of the General’s home in Kentucky, still owned by the Patton family and registered as a working organic farm.
A gun room off of the living room holds weapons and artifacts from the various military campaigns fought by father and son. Framed medals and photographs with world leaders recall great battles, but no sight is quite as chilling as the warriors’ helmets perched on a beam above the room. On a lighter note, one corner holds cups made from oil cans. The cups were used by officers to partake of “armored diesel,” a pungent cocktail of Scotch, wine and bourbon mixed by George S. Patton Jr. and served at his farewell party upon leaving Fort Benning.
Patton was nothing if not inventive when it came to tactics and strategy, and in person he reveled in blunt, curse filled honesty; so perhaps its unsurprising that he would create such a mixture. For appropriate realism use tin cans and cheap french red (preferably the captured stock of German troop train) add bourbon, rye and sugar,”to taste”, along with lemon juice. The exact measurements remain a mystery, so it may need multiple iterations (or even white wine) to get the ratios right. Hand them out to your local Vets. (Or maybe just buy them a beer, they might think you’re crazy.) Happy Veteran’s Day!
Andrew Maki
Alex Welles
Owen Maloy
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