In today’s summary of the German press release, Sertorious makes reference to the mechanization of the American forces to react quickly to the German offensive. Consider how quickly the Americans did respond to the attack, at Corps, Army and SHAEF levels. Here it is Day 4 and on the northern flank the Americans have already commited 1st Infantry Division to back up 2nd and 99th Divisions at Elsenborn Ridge, 30th Infantry and 3rd Armored have plugged the gap to the “Fortified Goose Egg” at St. Vith.
Speaking of St. Vith, the commitment of 82nd Airborne and the veteran 7th Armored allowed the Americans to hold the front and deny the Germans that critical road junction for the decisive initial days. The Germans clearly didn’t expect the Americnas to shift so many divisions so quickly. But that was foreshadowed in Normandy where our mobility made the Germans look slow.
So when you consider that the main German thrust was directed through St. Vith and across Elsenborn Ridge, and it’s been stymied, their main armored spearhead has been cut off and will soon be destroyed, the battle is already over and the Germans have lost.
Interesting. Henkster, do you have a map of this stuff? I thought Bastogne, not St. Vith, was the key here.
The units holding St. Vith are one of the oddest grab-bag assortments I’ve seen, often not even in each other’s chain of command, but somehow it worked. Having 7th Armored, a veteran division with good leaders, centering them seems to have been a key. The 82nd sure provided needed shoring too.
It would have been a better use of Skorzeny's infiltrators to have them drive the road net looking for First Army HQ and its supply dumps. A study of a road map would lead to some pretty good guesses where the main supply dump might be.