[tumblindice]

To this day you won’t see the word “rescued” in any 101st history of the battle.
I believe there was some entry along the lines, “General Patton’s 3rd finally caught up with us when they got some air cover”.

[Retain Mike]

In the Band of Brothers HBO series there is a scene where the Germans are attacking the Easy Company position with armor. That made me wonder how this infantry division was able to hold against armored attacks, so I did some research. I found out several unheralded artillery and tank units and not Patton were the reason Bastogne was an unconquerable fortress. These units would have been helpless without the 101th, and the paratroopers would probably have been decimated without the artillery.

Here is the letter I send annually to recognize these other outfits.

Why General McAuliffe said “Nuts”

Seventy one years ago on December 16, the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive, which proved the bloodiest American battle of WW II with 89,000 casualties including 19,000 dead. At the center of the offensive beleaguered Bastogne featured the 101th Airborne withstanding the German siege.

However, these 10,000 paratroopers did not alone forge the severe impediment presented to 500,000 Germans troops attacking with tanks. Contributions from the 9th and 10th Armored Divisions, and the 28th Division’s 109th and 687th Field Artillery Battalions provided need firepower. Remnants of the 9th Armored CCR including the 73rd Armored Field Artillery retreated into the town. The CCB of the 10th Armored was detached and ordered to occupy Bastogne ahead of the Nazi’s. It took heavy casualties along the way, but arrived with 30 tanks and the 420th Armored Field Artillery Battalion. The 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion was ordered forward and arrived with 36 powerful 76mm long cannon. Overall General Anthony McAuliffe, as former division artillery commander, directed eleven artillery battalions and tanks from two armored divisions as well as his paratroopers.

No wonder at the Battle of the Bulge McAuliffe could say “nuts” when the Germans demanded his surrender.

A Time for Trumpets by Charles B. MacDonald
Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in WW II by Belton Y. Cooper
WWII Armored Division
http://xbradtc.com/2008/10/24/wwii-armored-division/

10th Armored Division (United States)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._10th_Armored_Division
http://www.combatreels.com/10th_Armored_Division.cfm

9th Armored Division (United States)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._9th_Armored_Division

Battle of the Bulge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge

Siege of Bastogne
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Bastogne

705th Tank Destroyer Battalion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/705th_Tank_Destroyer_Battalion