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A little History

General Patton's Accident and Death

On December 9, 1945, Patton was severely injured in a car accident. He and his chief of staff, General Hobart R. Hap Gay, were on a one day trip to hunt pheasants in the country outside Mannheim General Patton was leaving on the next day to fly home on vacation and was considering either resigning or retiring from the army. Their 1938 Cadillac 75 was driven by Private First Class Horace Woodring (1926–2003), with Patton sitting in the back seat on the right side, with General Gay on his left, as per custom. At 11:45 near Neckarstadt (Mannheim), a 2½ ton GMC truck driven by Technical Sergeant Robert L. Thompson made a left turn in front of Patton's Cadillac. Patton's car hit the front of the truck, at a low speed.General Patton 1938 Cadillac


























The accident seemed to be of a minor nature as General Patton’s vehicle was only damaged in the front, though not drivable, and the 2 1/2 ton truck showed almost no damage. Damage to Patton CadillacNo one in the truck was hurt, and Gay and Woodring were uninjured. However, General Patton was leaning back with trouble breathing. The general had been thrown forward almost 5 feet in the spacious rear seat area and his head struck a metal part of the partition between the front and back seats, incurring a cervical spinal cord severance injury. General Patton was conscience and aware of his circumstances. Understanding many things and not having much time, he asked that no one be charged in the accident. General Patton was rushed to the 130th U.S. Army station hospital 25 miles away at 12 45 pm. Paralyzed from the neck down, he was rushed to the military hospital in Heidelberg, Germany.





















Patton was examined by Hospital Commander, Col. Lawrence C. Ball and Chief Surgeon Lt .Col. Paul S. Hill. He had a barley readable pulse of 45bpm and barley obtainable blood pressure of 86/60. Col.  Spurling, one of the Army’s top neurosurgeons was summoned from the states and flown to Heidelberg. Accompanying him was Beatrice Patton. After her arrival Beatrice Patton read to her “George” every day and watch as he slowly began to slip away. On the morning of the 21st, General Patton was cheerful but his vital signs showed continued pulmonary distress. Beatrice spent most of the afternoon reading to him. At about 5: 15 p.m. he had fallen asleep. Beatrice left for supper alone with Dr. Spurling and Dr. Hill. At 6 pm Dr. Duanne summoned them back. By the time they arrived, Patton had finished his final battle and passed on to be with the Lord. The official cause of death was “pulmonary edema and congestive heart failure.” The final entry in his log read “1755 hours expired.”

While they awaited a mortician to attend to the body, General Patton’s remains were removed to the basement, just below his hospital room. Sgt Meeks, Patton’s friend and orderly, was summoned to bring Patton’s personal four star flag. He arrived and tearfully handed it to Dr. Hill who in turn gently placed it over the General’s body. It was ironic and would have been totally to Patton’s liking that he laid, after death, on a table in one of the rooms that had once been one of the cavalry horse stalls occupied by horses of the German Cavalry prior to WWII. At that time it was recondition to be part of the hospital many offices. The hospital was formerly the site of a German Cavalry school and transformed to a military hospital.






















General Patton’s casket was later taken to Villa Reiner high on a mountain over looking the Neckar river and the charming city of Heidelberg. The funeral service was held at the Christ Church (Christuskirche) in Heidelberg-Südstadt church of Christ and the service was held on the 23rd of December. Read at the service was the 63rd and 90 Psalms, two of Patton’s favorite passages.

Mrs. Patton decided that her husband should be laid to rest in the cemetery at Hamm, Luxembourg, alongside the men who fought and died in his great Third Army. This would have been in accordance to General Patton’s wishes as well.