[snippy_about_it]

'Fighting in the Alsace region has been sparsely covered'

--50th Anniversary Commemorative Pamphlet
for the battle of Ardennes-Alsace

[snippy_about_it]

We first ran this thread January 1st 2003 and I wanted to make sure our FReeper friend ex-snook's post followed the thread, so here it is 3 years later:

As one who was there, maybe I can shed some light on the 'forgotten battle'.

From our unit history in the areas mentioned by Sam. "At approximately 0745 hours on 5 January an enemy force of unknown sizes attacked both Gamsheim and Kilstett. The Regimental Commander established a forward Command Post, which constituted a part of TF "B" at La Wantzenau, while the CP at Weyersheim, which constituted a part of TF "A", was also under his direct command for further operations. The immediate problem was to assemble the troops, which were on the move from the recently-occupied 33 mile front and thus in no position to be comitted to battle, to withstand any attacks by an enemy break-through across the Rhine, and to prevent the establishment of an enemy bridgehead. "

Well I was a private in TF "A" forward command post operating a field phone and trying to position troop locations on a map. We were kind of hung out without much info as to what was going on. The Regimental Exec Officer headed TF "A" and got captured.

Now maybe some light on the 'unmentioned battle'. At the time I wondered where the French troops were coming from. After the war I read that Eisenhower and DeGaulle (sp?) had a big fight because Eisenhower wanted to withdraw and not defend Strassbourg but DeGaulle objected. In effect, saying that if the Americans withdrew, he would sacrifice the French Army to defend and if slaughtered, Eisenhower would be to blame. I think Churchill solved it by siding with DeGaulle. This whole scene might have been embarassing to Eisenhower.

Thank you for your service ex-snook and Happy New Year! Love, Sam and Snippy.