Posted on 12/13/2024 12:07:06 PM PST by Retain Mike
Eighty 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 101st Airborne withstanding a 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 needed 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, acting division commander and division artillery commander, directed eleven artillery battalions and tanks from two armored divisions as well as his paratroopers. He developed a plan allowing many of the artillery units 360-degree coverage for points of attack. The paratroopers alone would probably have been annihilated and not withstood the siege. The tanks and artillery alone could not have prevailed against the combined arms of the German assault without this airborne infantry support.
No wonder at the Battle of the Bulge McAuliffe could say “nuts” when the Germans demanded his surrender.
Partial Bibliography:
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
Why the General Could Say, ‘Nuts!’
http://www.wsj.com/articles/why-the-general-could-say-nuts-letters-to-the-editor-1419984120
McAuliffe was commander of 7th Army at Heidelberg during the postwar occupation. My dad was stationed there at the time.
If I recall correctly McAuliffe had learned to speak German and made a point of cultivating good relations with the German people. He was well respected by the locals.
I have visited the main town square in Bastogne, very moving. Most people would be surprised at what is there: Two American tanks in perfect condition. A bust of General McAuliffe with the “Nuts” quote. And fresh flowers are put on the tanks and in front of the bust every day!
Nearby is an incredible museum of German equipment and personal items carried by the soldiers. I was with my WWII vet father. We had rooms in a nearby town but he wanted to stay the night in Bastogne. We went into a beautiful hotel and he asked the manager about a room. The manager said: “I’m sorry, we are full.” Then he noticed dad’s WWII vet hat. He said, “You’re an American WWII veteran?” Dad answered yes. The manager paused and then said, “You and your wife will stay in my manager’s room tonight.”
lol, what’s Pelosi’s problem, that her “husband’ is getting hammered while she is out of town?
Anyway, thank you for this thread. At this time of the year 79 years later, I give thanks to those men who fought and died in that unseasonably frigid winter in Belgium so that I could sleep in a warm, dry bed this December night in 2024.
Love it. Just love it. Some still do care over there.
I grew up across the street from a Battle of the Bulge infantry veteran, and his son remains a close friend. As Mr. W described his experience, the battle was a matter of being cold and hungry in the woods for several weeks, with his platoon assigned to various road blocks. Their instructions were to defend their position no matter what against the expected advance of German panzers. Mercifully, for him, the Germans did not appear and he lived to tell the story of his small part in a sprawling, confused battle.
I always mention my friend, he like me being Airborne because when he was a tanker at the Bulge and his tank was destroyed and he was hiding down in the mud underneath it with only his 45 and with 3 bullets left, paratroopers rescued him.
Even all the years later when I knew him you could still hear the sincerity in his voice about the situation he was in, and how grateful he was to have friendlies show up clearing the battlefield.
I think the 19,000 killed number includes both sides. That’s a lot of dead.
My cousin was there. He was a runner for a mortar group. His feet were frozen and he required custom shoes for the rest of his life.
It was amazing. We did color guard ceremonies at memorials in Luxembourg (there are 300+ memorials to Allied soldiers there), toured where dad had gone along with guys from his outfit. They were treated like heroes everywhere we went. At the final big dinner, Gen. Patton’s granddaughter was the guest speaker. Patton is buried with his men in Luxembourg at his request. We went to a ceremony there, she placed a wreath on his grave. The graveyard has a big display of all the troop movements, incredible.
My wife’s grandfather was in the Bulge. He brought home a GEW 8mm German Mauser rifle that he took off of a German soldier that he killed as a war trophy. I now deer hunt with that rifle and its an accurate shooter that has taken many white tailed deer here in Michigan.
My dad got back with a Luger, an SS dress uniform bayonet (which I have) and his tank helmet and utility belt. He said they were told nothing like that could be taken home but word got out they weren’t checking the duffel bags so it was open season!
My friend’s dad was a paratrooper on D Day. They took terrible losses. He and his men flushed out some German troops in a house with grenades and gunfire. The owners had been evicted fortunately. They killed the Germans. A few years ago prior to passing he went back to the house and knocked on the door. Oddly they recognized him despite his and their age. The owners did not repair the bullet holes inside. They left them untouched as a reminder of being liberated by the Americans. He was treated like royalty. Today a plaque is attached to the house celebrating their action on that day.
The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge by Hugh M. Cole
one of the Green Books; downloadable
https://www.history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-8-1/index.html
also, The Bitter Woods by John Eisenhower
I had a German Mauser and the long bayonet as a little boy, at around age 9 I made a bayonet dummy in the backyard for practice, over my life it got pretty busted up with a missing part and during the years I lived on the beach in San Diego I had it hanging on the wall which meant that it rusted badly from the salt spray, about 6 years ago I just left it when I moved.
Yes, not a surprise. One of the guys on our trip had dinner with a family in Luxembourg. He was captured in their barn during a battle. A German soldier pulled him aside and was going to kill him because the American had killed his friend in hand-to-hand combat during the fight. A German officer noticed and saved him, said no, we aren’t doing that. He spent 7 months in a prison camp, wearing his uniform for the entire 7 months there.
What a great story.
I think the 19,000 killed number includes both sides. That’s a lot of dead.
><
That is the Americans only. The Germans lost more than us.
The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge by Hugh M. Cole
one of the Green Books; downloadable
https://www.history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-8-1/index.html
101st vet here, 81-84 at Ft Campbell, KY. Absolutely loved that assignement and the history that surrounded me every day I was there. The first Division Commander in his activation speech said, “You have no history but you have a rendevous with destiny” He could not have been more correct. God bless every soldier and veteran who has served as a Screaming Eagle!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.