Posted on 12/28/2014 6:53:44 PM PST by smoothsailing
Exactly seventy years ago, Allied forces in Europe experienced an all-too-common occurrence in war: a huge intelligence failure that led to a surprise attack, followed by a horrific battlefield disaster. That it was transformed into victory by the Allies
was due, in large measure, to the incredible bravery of young Americans, who were outnumbered, outgunned, and fighting in some of the worst physical conditions of World War II.
Seventy years later, the Battle of the Bulge is not as celebrated as the D-Day invasion or Iwo Jima, but it was far deadlier than either of those battles. Indeed, it was the costliest encounter for the United States in the entire war. More than 19,000 Americans were killed in the thick Ardennes forest between December 16, 1944, and January 25, 1945, 62,000 were wounded, and more than 26,000 were either captured or missing.
It was the last great offensive by Germany, which attempted to cut the Allied armies on the Western Front in half. A large part of its initial success came from the complete secrecy in which it was orchestrated. There were signs that should have been picked up beforehand—the code-breaking machine Ultra provided cables that might have tipped off the Allies, and there were even intelligence officers who predicted a counteroffensive at that time. Neither was taken seriously by the high command. The Allies had pushed through France and into Belgium in just six months following the Normandy invasion, and GIs talked about the possibility of being home for Christmas.
The reason it is called the Battle of the Bulge is that an obvious “bulge” was created on the maps that many people followed daily back home. The Germans had a two-to-one troop advantage in the initial assault, and they had more tanks and artillery as well. That part of the front was lightly defended by the Allies. The Germans, however, had fewer troops in reserve, which would prove consequential. It was the equivalent of a Hail Mary pass, and it almost succeeded.
One key factor that should have worked against the Germans was the almost complete control of the skies that the Allies commanded over Europe by that point. That domination came at a high price after two years of horrific air battles. But even that worked in Germany’s favor at the start of the Bulge because the weather turned awful. Heavy overcast followed by bitter cold temperatures grounded practically every plane in Europe. With complete surprise, superior numbers, and terrible weather, the Germans devastated everything in their path.
In some cases, strict orders for utmost speed led to massacres, the worst of which took place in the small Belgian town of Malmedy. There, a unit of the First SS Panzer Division, commanded by Joachim Peiper, could not be bothered with prisoners. In a snow-covered field, SS troops machine-gunned 84 Americans to death. This led to vicious, take-no-prisoners fighting on both sides over the next month. Peiper was convicted of war crimes in a military tribunal in 1946 and sentenced to death. The order was later commuted because of efforts by both governments to move past the war, and he was released after 12 years in prison. In 1976, after careers at Volkswagen and Porsche, Peiper, a Nazi hardliner, was shot to death by unknown assailants, and then his home was burned to the ground. No one has ever taken responsibility.
One of America’s most courageous moments—and it was truly heroic—came at Bastogne with the 101st Airborne. Vastly outnumbered and running low on everything from food and medical supplies to ammunition, the paratroopers held their ground and the strategic city never fell into enemy hands. That stand is one of the few parts of the Bulge that has been re-created by Hollywood, first in the 1949 classic Battleground, starring Van Johnson and James Whitmore, and, more recently, in the HBO series Band of Brothers.
Although some green troops placed at the front, and even some with combat experience, completely folded in the wake of the massive German onslaught, there were Bastogne-like stands throughout the Bulge that were crucial in slowing the German advance. Just as critical were American supplies, which, once they started moving again, seemed limitless. It was almost exclusively a German-American fight, and it was the Americans that eventually gained the upper hand. Afterwards, Winston Churchill said, “This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory.” Churchill was wrong on his last thought; other battles have surpassed the Bulge in our national memory.
In a long war filled with great drama, there was one moment that should always be remembered, especially during the congressional debates on military spending that have taken place in every year since 1945. When the weather finally broke, America’s Army Air Force was unleashed. On December 24, Christmas Eve, the United States flew 1,138 tactical sorties (fighters) and an astounding 2,442 heavy bomber sorties.
Most wars are fought individually or in small groups. Rarely do participants see or even understand the grand scope and design swirling around them. Just witnessing this vast air armada had a huge psychological effect on the soldiers below on both sides. Few people in history have ever seen anything like it—before or since—and one of them was my late father, Capt. Sidney P. Kozak.
Like the other men of that era, my father kept most of his stories to himself, but he shared one that still gives me chills. On that day when the skies cleared, he said the men around him heard and even felt the sound before they understood its source. Then, suddenly, the entire sky filled with planes from one end to the other. He actually waved his arm across some imaginary horizon to add emphasis. And they were all flying in one direction.
“I couldn’t believe one country could build that many airplanes,” he told me years later, still in awe (and he had no concept of the massive numbers flying over the Pacific at the same time). Then he paused in his story and shared a very personal moment with a son who rarely, if ever, heard anything personal from this man.
“It was the most religious experience of my life,” he said, looking far off and not at me.
It is impossible to quantify the impact of a sight like that on an individual, especially given the situation. But watching wave after wave pushing across the sky, flying in strict, regimental formation, with their contrails streaming behind them for miles, electrified the men below and gave them courage. These young Americans were no less cold and hungry and miserable than their forebears at Valley Forge on another Christmas 167 years earlier.
And they were no less their equals.
Warren Kozak is the author of LeMay: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay (Regnery) and Presidential Courage: Three Speeches That Changed America.
I was thinking today how the British must have felt towards America for sitting out the war while the they were mercilessly attacked by the Germans. Clearly there was a little resentment and at the same time appreciation when the US entered the war and having the British spearhead the final push into Germany was justice served.
Good point. And there was an element of revenge involved. The Russians had suffered greatly at the hands of Germany and it was felt that it was reasonable to allow them some flexibility.
Also it was not just Americans in the battle. Field Marshall Montgomery was given ground command of all allied forces for the duration of the battle.
No, Montgomery was given a support role to the north. Patton and Hodges armies fought the battle.
Only about 200 British troops died in the battle vs 19,000 American dead.
Montgomery had very little to do with the battle. He didn't even show up at the meeting Eisenhower called to set the battle plan.
The Germans had a very effective propaganda radio program that mimicked the BBC. To divide and cause hard feelings between the British and Americans they broadcast that Montgomery had “saved the day”. The Americans were incensed and Churchill had to set the British side straight.
Battleground(1949) is a movie I watch every year. It tells the story of the Battle of the Bulge.
If Hollywood wants to do remakes of movies they should do some of the 1940s war movies.
“Montgomery was in fact the ground commander of all forces during the battle”
No, not true. Only on the north side of the salient.
Typical Brit crappola. The USA did not sit out the early part of the war. Lend Lease was in effect, our factories were gearing up. We escorted convoys halfway across the Atlantic. The Convoys were filled with all kinds of supplies.
We definitely were on a side. And I know its quaint today, but back then going to war just because England and Germany decided to was not anything MOST Americans were that hot to do.
And at the height of battle of Britain, we gave them 50 destroyers. The RN crews were astounded to find them busting at the seams with warm clothes, blankets, coffee, and foods they had scarcely seen since the war began.
It was an American unofficially flying the PBY that found the Bismarck. US crews flew the planes to England and then “unofficially” become copilots, “training” the Brit crews. An American got the DFC for that mission.
No, America did not leave Britain to struggle on their own. That’s a slander.
Like the other men of that era, my father kept most of his stories to himself, but he shared one that still gives me chills. On that day when the skies cleared, he said the men around him heard and even felt the sound before they understood its source. Then, suddenly, the entire sky filled with planes from one end to the other. He actually waved his arm across some imaginary horizon to add emphasis. And they were all flying in one direction. "I couldn't believe one country could build that many airplanes," he told me years later, still in awe (and he had no concept of the massive numbers flying over the Pacific at the same time). Then he paused in his story and shared a very personal moment with a son who rarely, if ever, heard anything personal from this man. "It was the most religious experience of my life," he said, looking far off and not at me."The word went out in forty-one, Uncle Sam's gonna get the big job done, We hired out at Willow Run, Way down the road... Punch in, punch out, make your time, Hurry with the turret boys, you're getting behind, The bombers roared low in the blacked-out skies, Way down the road." -- Craig Johnson
At it’s production height, the Ford factory at Willow Run was completing one B-24 bomber an hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. That’s how you fill a sky with planes.
It’s amazing how many planes (and tanks, and ships) were built in that few year period — and what planes (and tanks, and some of the ships) didn’t get destroyed were scrapped before 1950. Just the scrapping effort dwarfs a lot of activity done before and since. :’) Just combat planes, the US alone built 236,305, kind of a lot, really.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_aircraft_production_during_World_War_II
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_production_during_World_War_II
BOOKMARK
Only in America.
A moment in time forever remembered—now shared with many.
Thanks.
The Germans did not have the same high opinion of Rommel that was common on the Allied side.
The order was later commuted because of efforts by both governments to move past the war,
Politicians are too often politicians FIRST before they are Men or Americans.
That is not like actually fighting and losing machinery and American lives and at the levels of war.
And hind sight is probably 20/20 but it was definitely in our interest to be in the fight (even though we didn’t know it at the time).
Comparing our involvement to the British at the time is wrong. And clearly, it wasn’t going very well for the British with their cities being bombed and their civilians being killed. It was a desperate time for the Brits.
To equate our losses to the British prior to us entering the war is unfair.
Interesting.
It was and still is very impressive. When you get all Americans behind a task, you can do anything.
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