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Historic vintage matte-finish 8 x 10 photo of George S. Patton on the beach at Gela, Sicily, on July 12, 1943, signed and inscribed "To Ollie, from G. S. Patton, Jr.” Patton also captions the portrait on the reverse, misidentifying the date, writing: "Dear Ollie: This picture which I have never before seen was taken on the beach at Gilla, Sicily about 0800 on July 11, 1944. We were actually under fire and you can still see the wet marks on my breeches where I had just come ashore. The town of Gilla is in the background. George." In very good condition, with rippling and paper loss from dampstaining, affecting the bottom edge and Patton's handwriting on the back.
In July 1943, during the Allied invasion of Sicily, Lieutenant General George S. Patton commanded the U.S. Seventh Army in Operation Husky, tasked initially with protecting the British flank. Characteristically aggressive, Patton pushed beyond his orders, driving his forces rapidly across the island, capturing Palermo on July 22 and then racing Montgomery’s Eighth Army to Messina, which he seized on August 17—just ahead of the British. His bold maneuvers shortened the campaign and demonstrated his mastery of mobile warfare, but his time in Sicily was also marred by controversy, including two incidents in which he slapped hospitalized soldiers, leading to public censure and temporary damage to his reputation.
An accompanying photograph of an unidentified woman is curiously annotated on the reverse, "This photo was with the Patton SP. I presume that the lady is probably 'Ollie'...No, it's definitely not, Ollie was Elmer Oliphant." Oliphant was a versatile athlete college football star at West Point from 1916–1917, succeeding Patton as one of the academy's greatest athletes. While the two were not teammates, Patton's status as a triple-sport letterman represented a precedent that Oliphant later exceeded. Oliphant's four varsity letters forced West Point's athletic council to design a special monogram which remains the only one of its kind. Correspondence between Patton and Oliphant resides in the George S. Patton Papers, held by the Library of Congress.
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