The Battle of the Bulge

12.18.2006 | Stan Brewer

[stan_25]

Yesterday (December 16) marked the 62nd anniversary of the start of a German counter-offensive, known in the history books the Battle of the Bulge. It was also the longest fought and costliest battle the United States Army had ever fought, before or since.

The details for this offensive were months in the planning by Adolf Hitler and the very highest echelons of the German high command. This plan was so top secret that none of the field commanders had an inkling that there was even one being planned until they were briefed about it six weeks before the scheduled jump off date. Even then the details were limited to the uppermost senior field commanders.

The plan called for three German armies to make a concentrated effort where the Allied lines were the thinnest. This spot happened to be the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, along the German-Belgium border. The weakest spot in this line was at point called the Snee Eiffel, the highest point in the Ardennes and the furthest point that the American Army had penetrated into the Third Reich.

The offensive commenced with massive and demoralizing artillery barrage. The barrage commenced at 05:30 hrs Zulu and lasted about an hour. Then the German troops crossed the line of departure with huge searchlights reflecting off the clouds.

The Germans swept everyone that was before it away like flies and captured a massive amount of prisoners, mostly from the 106th Infantry Division, an outfit that just moved in to take over from the 2nd Infantry Division.

The German offensive reached its apex a couple of days after Christmas about 5 miles short of the first day' objective, the Meuse River. This was due unforeseen delays and the stiffness of the fighting of the individual and small groups of soldiers. The main delay was the fierce stand at the Belgian town of Bastogne by the troops of the 101st Airborne division. The other delays were fuel related. The main plan called for the spearheads to capture and use the fuel that were in the American supply depots.

There was still a lot of fighting in the ensuing weeks to clear the Bulge and push the Germans back to where they had started. When the Bulge had been flattened, the Americans went on the offensive to push the Germans out of Belgium entirely

This battle cost the Americans over 100, 000 casualties. There were over 20, 000 dead from all causes and and over 70, 000 wounded or evacuated due frostbite and trench foot.

This battle also cost the Germans dearly. It totally destroyed two armies and decimated another one to the point where it was broken up and the troops were placed into other units. It also opened up the floodgates and the Allied troops poured into Germany and by the first part of May of 1945, the Germans had capitulatated to the Allies.

[slowhand520]

100,000 casualties...Can you imagine Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean, et al..clamoring that the war is a failure?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

Back in the days of WWII, electing people like that was completely unthinkable. Now they're the best and brightest (in Congress, that is). Sad.

[RightWhale]

The Battle of the Bulge was all people talked about around me when they talked about the war when I was a kid, 3-5 years old. Nobody talked about the atomic bomb.

[cripplecreek]

My granddad lost most of his hearing in one ear due to a near miss from a German 88mm artillery shell during the battle of the bulge. He said that basically everybody got wounded.

[JRios1968]

NUTS!

[joeystoy]

My father was there. He's 84 now and both his legs are numb from the knees to the toes from the frostbite he suffered during the Battle of the Bulge. He says he's a lucky guy because so many of his buddies didn't come home or came home without arms and legs. I also take him to the VA Hospital in Brooklyn every few weeks. The care he gets there is incredible and the health care professionals treat the Vets with reverence. They deserve every bit of it.

[NonValueAdded]

A man that eloquent must be saved!

[trimom]

The best quote of all time. Thank you.

[slowhand520]

It's people like your dad and the other vets past and present who shed blood without thinking twice about it that made this country the greatest country in the world.

[Uncle Hal]

I remember the famous "nuts" quote from when I was a kid of 9. The German commander asked the US officer in charge of a town to surrender and the officer said nuts. As the story goes the German's did not know what the word meant It got a lot of play in the press.

[JRios1968]

[Rummyfan]

100,000 casualties...Can you imagine Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Howard Dean, et al..clamoring that the war is a failure?

It was a quagmire! They would have called for bringing the troops home immediately and talking with the Germans to help solve the situation. Pathetic losers not qualifed to serve on the municipal sanitation board, much less in Congress.

[JRios1968]

Short...to the point.

Whoever said the American fighting man isn't very smart...well, we all saw how Jean Francois Kerry fared...

[The_Media_never_lie]

I am glad to hear that your father is still with you and that he is treated so well by the VA hospital staff.

[RedRover]

I was going to post this during the Christmas season and your thread is an excellent place to do so.

I knew a 1st Division, 16th Infantry veteran who fought from North Africa and over the Rhine. Over 300 days in combat. He shared with me this communication sent from regimental headquarters during the Bulge.

HEADQUARTERS 16TH INFANTRY
Office of the Regimental Commander
CHRISTMAS GREETINGS
For the third straight Christmas we find ourselves on foreign soil and fighting to destroy the enemy forces which are fighting to destroy us.
To the Germans we extend greetings for the bloodiest Christmas in their history. Greetings in the form of bullets and shells and mines and bombs.
To you, the members of the greatest Regiment in the Army I will not extend the normal greetings; instead I salute each and every one of you with pride and humility and courage has written page after page in our country's book of great deeds.
May the God of War recognize your greatness and continue to smile on us and may next Christmas find him sleeping peacefully, never to awaken again.
To those who are no longer with us "Peace"; among ourselves "Goodwill"; and to the enemy "Death and Destruction".
Frederick W. Gibb
Colonel, 16th Regiment, Commanding

Here's a photo of the original document:

[VOA]

I hate to admit it...
but PBS's "American Experience" did a good job on The Battle of
The Bulge. I suspect it may be due to having historian David McCullough
as the narrator; he's a pretty straight-ahead and honest historian.
Too bad it doesn't get re-aired often.

[Godzilla]

Best read is "A Time for Trumpets" by MacDonald who was a company commander on the front when the battle started.

[RedRover]

As a PS to post 16, here's a picture from a visit that my friend made to the 1st Division Memorial in Washington, DC. He was looking for the names of his buddies. It was a very moving day.

[politicket]

My uncle was a 19 year-old Army Sergeant at the Battle of the Bulge. He was with the 99th Infantry Division (the "CheckerBoarders"). Three of the 99th's regiments repelled the main "point of attack" of the Germans. The 99th were known as the "Battle Babies" due to their recent arrival in the European theater. They had virtually no battle experience.

My uncle survived the Bulge and eventually went on to cross the Rhine river by going over the Remagen bridge (a whole new exciting story for those that want to learn about true bravery).

Two days after entering Germany my uncle was killed in action after suffering a bazooka shot by the enemy.