Patton, George S., Jr. Typed letter signed, 16 September 1945....

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Patton, George S., Jr. Typed letter signed, 16 September 1945. Typed letter signed ("GSP Jr."), 1 page (8 x 10.5 in.; 203 x 267 mm.), Headquarters Third United States Army, Office of the Commanding General, [Bad Tolz, Bavaria, Germany], 16 September 1945, written to Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes, Headquarters Seventh U.S. Army [Heidelberg, Germany]. Keyes had served as Patton's Deputy Commander of the Seventh U.S. Army. On 8 September 1945, he was appointed Commanding General. Two file punch holes at top; usual folds. Patton, Commanding General of the Third Army, asks Lt. Gen. Geoffrey Keyes, newly assigned as Commanding General of the Seventh Army, for a favor for "the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg who has been very helpful to the Americans..." - Patton had led his Third Army to victory in the Battle of the Bulge after liberating Luxembourg - with insignia owned by Keyes. Patton writes in full: My dear Geoff: Young Count Rudolph Czernein, who is connected by marriage with the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg who has been very helpful to the Americans, is anxious to attend college in Heidelberg. Could you please have somebody inform me whether or not it is possible for him do so and what papers, if any, he needs from here? He lives with his mother on an estate in the vicinity of Munich. Devotedly yours, GSP Jr. On 16 December 1944, Germany launched its last great offensive of World War II. German tanks and troops poured over the Belgium-Luxembourg borders in the enemy's final major bid for victory on the Western Front, which became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The counter-offensive was led by Patton's Third Army 10th Armored Division, which began rolling in the direction of Luxembourg on 17 December 1944. On 26 December 1944, Patton's 4th Armored Division hurtled through the snow-clogged roads of Luxembourg to relieve the U.S. 101st Airborne Division besieged by German attackers at Bastogne, approximately 32 miles northwest of Luxembourg City. Amid the fierce fighting that raged in this region, the U.S. Third Army established Hamm Cemetery on 29 December 1944. The Battle of the Bulge ended 25 January 1945, Prince Félix, Consort of Grand Duchess Charlotte, presented Patton with the Croix de Guerre. On 24 December 1945, Gen. Patton, fatally injured in an automobile accident in Germany, was buried in the Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial in Hamm, Luxembourg. Accompanied by: • (2) metal buttons, each depicting the Seal of the United States • "U.S." metallic collar insignia • (2.25 x 2.5 in.; 57 x 64 mm.) metallic Seal of the United States • Two woven "U.S." insignia on a (4 x 1.25 in.; 102 x 32 mm.) swatch of light brown material • Woven star on a (1.75 x 1.75 in.; 44 x 44 mm.) swatch of dark brown material. Provenance: From the Estate of Lieutenant General Geoffrey Keyes.