Posted on 12/19/2014 4:36:39 AM PST by Homer_J_Simpson
That's kind of funny.
An older gentlemen told me this typhoon story. He was on one of the islands and there was no protection. As many as possible crawled into one of the tanks. He ended up lying on the engine for the duration and the tank moved several times. They didn’t think they would survive and he still chuckled about how many men they got into that tank.
I don’t get what “Hinkle” is.
Yes. It reminds me of the tense meeting scene in the movie Patton.
Oh no. Monty’s head has cropped up again.
I just watched the depiction of the Verdun meeting on “Patton.” For some reason Ike was not at the meeting in the movie version, though it would seem to have added dramatic weight if he had. For some reason he never appeared as a character in the film. Maybe they thought it would detract from Patton’s role.
Hinkle was most likely the Germans foxhole mate?
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
I have read quite a bit about the Mighty Eighth AF in WW-II but have never heard of the “Secret Airfields” mentioned in the short article on page 12
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
I was struck by the same thing. I think it would have been interesting to have depicted Eisenhower in that movie. Eisenhower’s words sure came through his subordinates loud and clear, however.
I link many of these threads to the site of my uncles outfit, the 381st Bomb Group. A reader there said the same thing and posted some additional information on the SOS sites. Currently the final post on the following thread.
I have finally come to the conclusion that two factors were involved. One is that it is very difficult to duplicate Ike's look, voice and mannerisms. Most WWII movies don't even try, but show him from a distance or as a voice out of view. The Longest Day came pretty close but I can't think of other examples that got it right.
Second, it was more effective to keep Ike as the "bastard in the back room." Having Ike directly dress down Patton when he was a bad boy would have diminished the character and the tone of the movie. So, Ike is kept out of the movie, including Verdun.
Thanks for the info Homer.
And least I forget with all the festivities next week a Merry Christmas to you and your family.
Merry Regards
alfa6 ;>}
But on 18 December Bradley called
Patton to his Luxembourg headquarters,
and there Patton learned for the first
time of the grave situation faced by the
First Army. When asked what help he
could give, the Third Army commander
replied that he could intervene in the
battle with three divisions “very shortly.”
He telephoned the Third Army chief of
staff to stop the XII Corps attack form-
ing for the following day and to prepare
the 4th Armored and 80th Infantry Divi-
sions for immediate transfer to Luxem-
bourg. The 87th Division halted its slow
advance, as did the 35th. On the move
out of rest area for assembly in prepara-
tion for the XII Corps’ attack, the 4th
Armored and 80th likewise stopped.
When it became apparent by nightfall
of the 18th that the situation on the First
Army front had deteriorated beyond
expectation, General Bradley decided
upon immediate use of the Third Army’s
resources. Patton had returned to his
command post at Nancy when, a couple
of hours before midnight, Bradley called
with word that conditions on the VIII
Corps front were much worse, that the
troops promised by the Third Army had
to move at once, and that Patton was to
attend a meeting with the Supreme Com-
mander the following morning at Ver-
dun. By midnight one combat command
of the 4th Armored Division was on its
way north to Longwy; at dawn on the
19th the 80th Infantry Division had
started for Luxembourg City. And
through the night before the Verdun
meeting the Third Army staff worked
feverishly to draft plans for the inter-
vention of all or any part of Patton’s
forces in the battle raging in the north,
for Bradley had intimated that Patton
was to take command of the VIII Corps
and other forces moving to its assistance.
Bradley already had directed that the
III Corps headquarters would be moved
from Metz to take command of an attack
to be mounted somewhere north of
Luxembourg City. Patton’s general staff,
therefore, prepared three plans for a
counterattack: on the axes Neufchâteau
–St. Hubert; Arlon-Bastogne; and Lux-
embourg-Diekirch–St. Vith.
Oh, I see it now, thanks!
Imagine the shock to the original readers of the newspaper.
Judge for yourself how effective it was from the photo of the rail yard at Limburg:
Maybe Hinkle was the guy who never came back from his comfort trip to the woods.
Drew Middleton in his column (page 4) uses the word “bulge”.
He says a tactical objective of the Germans is “...opening up a bulge in the American line...”
My mother in law was a school girl at the time. What she remembers is that at Christmas dinner in 1944 all anyone could talk about was the raging battle and whether those boys at Bastogne could be rescued.
:’) When Patton stated in meeting that he could attack with 3 divisions within hours, Eisenhower said, “don’t be fatuous, George!” What a mighty leader. ;’)
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