The FReeper Foxhole Remembers Gen. Anthony McAuliffe at Bastonge - Dec. 22nd, 2002

http://www.thedropzone.org/europe/Bulge/kinnard.html ^ | Patrick O'Donnell

[SAMWolf]

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"NUTS!" Revisited

An Interview with Lt. General Harry W. O. Kinnard

On December 16, 1944, the Germans launched their largest offensive of the war on the Western Front. The primary goals of the offensive were to capture the Belgian port of Antwerp and to drive a wedge between the British and American armies. This offensive is often referred to as the "Battle of the Bulge." It's failure was due largely to American resistance around St. Vith, on the northern shoulder of the Bulge, and by American forces holding Bastogne on the southern shoulder of the Bulge.

The town of Bastogne is strategically located at the center of the road network of the Ardennes. The Germans referred to it as a "road octopus" since the majority of roads in that region of the Ardennes pass through the town. The town's strategic location made it vitally important to the outcome of the offensive. The Allies realized its importance and General Eisenhower dispatched the 101st Airborne Division to hold the town at all costs. This victory resulted in the first full Army Division Presidential Distinguished Unit Citation.

This interview focuses on the story surrounding the German's request for the American forces at Bastogne to surrender and the American General's response as witnessed by Lt. General Harry Kinnard, at the time of the siege of Bastogne, a Lt. Col. and Division G-3. These are some of his personal recollections.



We got into Bastogne late on the night of 18 December, 1944. We were not well equipped, having just gotten out of combat in Holland. We were particularly short of winter clothing and footwear. On the 21st of December we became completely surrounded by Germans and our field hospital was overrun by a German attack. We had put the hospital in what would normally have been a safe place, but no place is safe when you are completely surrounded. At this time, we were not able to receive air resupply because the weather was absolutely frightful. It was very, very cold and snowy. Visibility was often measured in yards. Our lack of winter gear was partially offset by the citizens of Bastogne who gave us blankets and white linens that we used for camouflage.

While we were still surrounded, on the morning of December 22, a German surrender party, consisting of two officers and two NCOs, and carrying a white flag, approached our perimeter in the area of our Glider Regiment, the 327th. The party was taken to a nearby platoon command post. While the enlisted men were detained the officers were blind folded and taken to the command post of the 327th where they presented their surrender ultimatum. The ultimatum in essence said the 101st's position was hopeless and that if we elected not to surrender a lot of bad things would happen.



The message was brought in to the Division Headquarters by Major Alvin Jones, the S-3, and Colonel Harper, the Regimental Commander. They brought the message to me, the G-3 and Paul Danahy, the G-2. My first reaction was that this was a German ruse, designed to get our men out of their fox holes. But be that as it might, we agreed that we needed to take the message up the line. We took it first to the acting Chief of Staff of the Division, Lt. Col. Ned Moore. With him, we took the message to the acting Division Commander General Tony McAuliffe. Moore told General McAuliffe that we had a German surrender ultimatum. The General's first reaction was that the Germans wanted to surrender to us. Col. Moore quickly disabused him of that notion and explained that the German's demanded our surrender. When McAuliffe heard that he laughed and said: "Us surrender? Aw, nuts!" the date was December 22nd, 1944

To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne.

The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Our near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompre-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands.

There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A. troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note.

If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours' term.

All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well known American humanity.

The German Commander.

But then McAuliffe realized that some sort of reply was in order. He pondered for a few minutes and then told the staff, "Well I don't know what to tell them." He then asked the staff what they thought, and I spoke up, saying, "That first remark of yours would be hard to beat." McAuliffe said, "What do you mean?" I answered, "Sir, you said 'Nuts'." All members of the staff enthusiastically agreed, and McAuliffe decided to send that one word, "Nuts!" back to the Germans. McAuliffe then wrote down:

"To the German Commander,

"Nuts!"

The American Commander."

McAuliffe then asked Col. Harper to deliver the message to the Germans. Harper took the typed message back to the company command post where the two German officers were detained. Harper then told the Germans that he had the American commanders reply. The German captain then asked, "Is it written or verbal?" Harper responded that it was written and added, "I will place it in your hand."

The German major then asked, "Is the reply negative or affirmative? If it is the latter I will negotiate further."



At this time the Germans were acting in an arrogant and patronizing manner and Harper, who was starting to lose his temper, responded, "The reply is decidedly not affirmative." He then added that, "If you continue your foolish attack your losses will be tremendous."

Harper then put the German officers in a jeep and took them back to where the German enlisted men were detained. He then said to the German captain, "If you don't know what 'Nuts' means, in plain English it is the same as 'Go to Hell'. And I'll tell you something else, if you continue to attack we will kill every goddam German that tries to break into this city."

The German major and captain saluted very stiffly. The captain said, "We will kill many Americans. This is war." Harper then responded, "On your way Bud," he then said, "and good luck to you." Harper later told me he always regretted wishing them good luck.

[Darksheare]

That sounds somehow... like a parody?
The fighting was worse after they were recontacted?

I'm afraid I didn't pay too much attention to my grandfather's accounts of the war. He was fond of making it sound oddly humorous. (He had a more twisted sense of humor than I.)
He stated that he had a knife once, we had been talking about the bayonet I was issued and the fact that the point broke off while opening an MRE, and that he'd given it to a German. Well, we'd never heard that he'd been friends with a German so we asked him what the German said when he'd given the guy his knife.
Grandpa goes, "He said 'AAuuuuugh.'"
That's a sample of what talking to him about his experiences was like.

[Darksheare]

Correction: Counter-intuitive.
Coffee machine wasn't on this morning.
Gonna remedy that right now so's I'm not babbling like a dork here.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks OKSooner

Anecdotes From the Bugle

On the morning of December 18th, the full weight of the Sixth Panzer Army came down on the defenders of the little village of Rocherath, northeast of St. Vith. Standing directly across the path of the German steamroller was the 1st Battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment. In heavy fog, German tanks bore down on the foxhole line and broke right through. Company A was overrun by German infantry; Lt. Stephen Truppner called for artillery fire on his own position. For half an hour an entire artillery battalion shelled Truppner's position. Twelve men from Company A escaped. Company K was similarly overwhelmed; its commander, Captain Jack Garvey, radioed from his cellar command post that he would not retreat without bringing his men. Only eleven men from Company K escaped.

Companies B and C managed to hold on. They let the German tanks roll past them, then turned to fight the oncoming German infantry with grenades and bayonets. When the enemy infantry had been driven off, bazooka teams went out into the fog to stalk the German tanks. Lieutenant. R. A. Parker knocked out six enemy tanks in this manner.

Colonel McKinley, the battalion commander, knew that he could not retreat while his battalion was under direct fire from German tanks. Miraculously, a platoon of Shermans appeared shortly thereafter. They counterattacked towards the Company A and K positions, but nobody was left alive there. Then, under the covering fire of the Shermans, the shattered remains of 1st Battalion withdrew. Only 240 men out of nearly 1,000 were still alive.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for sharing about your dad.

SLA Marshall's "Bastogne: The First Eight Days" is also a good read.

"The 28th Division in the Defense of Hosingen, Luxembourg"
December 16-18, 1944, The 28th Division in the Battle of the Bulge

The gallant defense of Hosingen, which is depicted in this painting, like the action at the other strong points of the 28th Division, sacrificed men for time. This effort clearly helped save Bastogne, only 18 miles to the west, and bought precious time for the Allies. The painting and the limited edition prints are dedicated to all the brave men of the 28th Division whose courage and sacrifice delayed the German advance and contributed greatly to the final outcome of the "Battle of the Bulge."

[SAMWolf]

Aafter Bastogne was relieved, the German followup troops stepped up their attacks to take the town.

At first it was able to be bypassed, but later it was needed to open up the road net and to free up the investing troops. It was a real thorn in the Germans side.

[MistyCA]

Fantastic report, Sam. I am in and out today. Hate to miss much of this one.

PATTON MONUMENT

Just outside of the town center, alongside the road to Arlon, is a little park where at the back one can see the monument of GENERAL PATTON, the liberator of Bastogne

[MistyCA]

Thanks, Valin

[Darksheare]

Wonder how badly our guys got cussed at for putting up such a stubborn fight.
Any memorials to the guys who didn't make it out?

[MistyCA]

Patton....what a guy. Great graphic, Sam.

[MistyCA]

Hi, Spooky. Good to see you here.

[MistyCA]

Thank your dad for his service. It took a lot of courage to be where they were in those weather conditions and low on supplies. We owe those men a lot.

[MistyCA]

Thanks for the news update.

[MistyCA]

Thanks for that post.

[MistyCA]

LOL. Grandpa sounds like a character. :)

[MistyCA]

SHERMAN TANK

The central town square has been renamed 'McAuliffe'- square after W.W.II. On the corner of the square stands an American Sherman Tank as a symbol of the victorious US Army in the Battle of the Bulge. This tank and its audacious crew ( 6 victories ) managed to come very close to the hamlet RENUAMENT, which was being heavily defended by the Germans, but got stuck in the mud and was hit by anti-tank weapons.

[MistyCA]

Mardasson Memorial

The Mardasson Memorial was built in 1950. It stands as a token of gratitude by the Belgian population for the liberation of the country by the American Army and the allies. The construction of the memorial was suggested by the Belgo-American association (a panel of several eminent Belgian personalities). By erecting this monument they wanted to remember the young Americans who came to liberate Belgium at the cost of their own lives

[MistyCA]

Historical Center

This is the most important of all the 'Battle of the Bulge' museums. It is situated 2km outside of Bastogne's city center, on the Mardasson hill, next to the Mardasson monument. This fascinating museum is mainly the work of one man, Mr Guy Franz Arend. Mr Arend founded the first version of the museum in the center of the city in 1950 after visitors to Bastogne had made remarks that they regretted the absence of an historical battle museum in 'Nuts City'.

The first museum was quite incomplete, but very soon Mr. Frantz received help (in the form of abundant and hitherto secret information) from the officers of the Historical section of the 3rd American Army, as well as encouragements from General and Mrs. McAuliffe who visited Mr. Franz. In 1965 Guy Arend was authorized to conceive an new up-to-date, all-inclusive museum about the Battle of the Bulge. The new museum BASTOGNE HISTORICAL CENTER was inaugurated on the 31st of May, 1976.

The museum displays a unique collection of uniforms, vehicles and weapons that belonged to the divisions which were involved in the battle. In the center of the museum is a presentation with slides that show the different movements of the troupes. The showpiece is the 24 minute movie compiled with footage that was shot during the battle. The museum also has a nice gift shop.

[MistyCA]

The Ardennes Battle

(Winter of' 44-'45)

By John E. McAuliffe

Company "M", 347th Infantry Regiment, 87th Infantry Division.

The Western front was quiet and soldiers were at rest

They took time out from battle having done their very best.

The tired and the wounded, now at recreation time

As replacements troops arrived, to fill the battered line.

The skies lit up one early mom, from the blasts of German guns

The Panzer Troops were breaking through, on another Blitzkrieg run.

It was operation CHRISTROSE, Hitler's hidden secret pawn.

The sixteenth of December, a cold DECEMBER DAWN.

The Outposts were alerted on the thin defended front,

Brave soldiers stood their ground but soon were over-run.

It was the beginnings of a battle, hereto not divulged.

It was "A TIME FOR TRUMPETS" – THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE.

Peiper and his KAMPFGRUPPE led the foe's attack

The Tiger tanks and Grenadiers drove the Allies back.

Model and Manteuffel let the Wehrmacht on a ruse,

It was Rundstedt's Last offensive to reach the river Meuse.

Now Eisenhower's Lieutenants rushed to halt the German flow

There was Middleton and Hodges and the Corps of Len Gerow.

There were armored tanks with infantry fighting by their side

And bridges blown by Engineers to stem the rushing tide.

The noise of battle sounded throughout the dark ARDENNES

The purrs of chumming motors and the tramp of marching men

Armor clashed with armor on the roads to gain the towns

The G.I.s met the Grenadiers to hold the frozen ground.

Winter days were harsh that year, with temperatures so low

The bitter cold that claimed the troops became a soldier's woe.

Hip-deep snow and ice slick roads proved the Army's bane

But non-the-less with Stamina the G.I. staked his fame.

The battle raged from town to town, to Stavelot and St. Vith,

The armored columns turned their tanks to face the Nazi myth.

This was the German "Waterloo" as Peiper turned about

His Kamfgruppe columns shattered and Panzer tanks en route.

On Christmas Day in Bastogne, McAuliffe's troops prevailed,

The "Battered Bastards" held the town while help was on the trail.

Armor-men and infantry came to join the bloody fray

The hurrying Fourth Armored arrived to save the day.

The clouds above cleared that day, Our planes were in the skies

Supplies and ammunition dropped – A Christmas Gift surprise.

Now Patton's Best came from the West to end the German thrust

The Bulge was closed by Stalwart men who gave their very best.

A liberated people, now toast those Battling men

Who paid the price for Freedom in the woods of the ARDENNES.

The Battle won by Stamina of youth who stood so tall

Winston Churchill said it, "The Greatest of them all."

[hellinahandcart]

Hellinahandcart, does this patronizing tone sound familiar?

Totally familiar! I just got back home to find that the Admins thwarted the Hun invasion by pulling that entire thread. Arrogant little commie SOBs...but I'm sure they'll find another old German thread to resurrect now. Surprised they haven't latched onto this one.

(that's assuming they haven't; as I said, I just now got home, and I'm rather tipsy from brunch. You'll never believe this--the CLINTONS were at my church today. Yep. The Toon, his wife, his spawn and her boyfriend, And I had a bird's eye view of them for an hour and a half. What could I have done other than drink afterward?)

[hellinahandcart]

Hi Lo-Pro; you don't post nearly often enough as far as I'm concerned. :)