Dec 16, 1944: the Germans launch attacks on the US 106th Division

From the Jewish Virtual Library:  Germany & the Nazis Maps: German Counterattack in the Ardennes - The Battle of the Bulge  

German 1944 Propaganda Film From Battle of the Bulge  "The German troops refer to this area as the battle for Ardennes. It's interesting to see the news on the battle from the German perspective. The Battle of the Bulge was very hard on both the Germans and Americans is commonly referred to as the turning point of the war."\

The Nazi film shows US troops of the 106th Division surrendering after the initial attack on the Schnee Eifel.  More videos here
 

 

Pictured below:  "A silent reminder of the war in the Ardennes. A shallow foxhole dug by members of the 422nd Infantry Regiment. " 

 

The German attack opens on the 106th Division  "The frontline to be covered by the 106th extended for 21 miles and bulked some 8 miles into Germany.  This was a lot of ground to cover, about three times the normal distance.  Fact was that the division was spread to thinly.
"Prior to the 16th, movement could be heard by men on the frontlines.  Sounds of tanks, trucks and heavy equipment assembling on the German side.  GI's of the 422nd regiment reported the movement promptly to their commanding officers, who did the same thing to divisional HQ.  Little response followed, the men were told that the Germans were playing phonograph records to scare the young, green Lions.  The warning was dismissed.  The testimony of a Russian deserting Volksgrenadier also ended up discarded in the bin of the higher echelons.  But there was action on the "Ghost front."....
The Schnee Eifel photo gallery


The 106th: The Story of the 106th Infantry Division  " 'The 106th: The Story of the 106th Infantry Division" is a small booklet covering the history of the 106th Infantry Division. This booklet is one of the series of G.I. Stories published by the Stars & Stripes in Paris in 1944-1945. "

Ken Beaton: 70th anniversary of first day of Battle of Bulge  ... "The Battle of the Bulge was the largest [Western front] battle during the war from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 31, 1945, and 610,000 American GIs fought. We had 89,000 causalities which included 19,000 telegrams sent to parents/spouses, “The Secretary of the War regrets the loss of your son/husband.” Thousands of families and tens of thousands of friends grieved. Nineteen thousand new gold stars replaced the blue stars that were proudly displayed in a front window in the US. A gold star was the symbol for the loss of a son, daughter or spouse in the war.

Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2014, is the 70th anniversary of the first day of the Battle of the Bulge. Visit with a World War II veteran, firmly shake their hand and tell them in a firm voice while maintaining eye contact, “I want to thank you for your service. I speak English today because of you and 16 million GIs who served. Thank you, sir /madame.”...

US veterans of Battle of Bulge join 70th anniversary commemoration  ... "Restored vintage American war machines rolled up and down the streets under strings of Christmas lights. The mellow sounds of the Glenn Miller Orchestra belted out of a sound system in the town’s McAuliffe Square.

"The square was named for Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe, who refused the Germans’ request to surrender here after they’d surrounded the town, famously responding “Nuts,” which an officer explained to the Germans meant they could go to hell."

 

"In the besieged town, along with the villagers, were the bulk of the forces of the 101st Airborne Division and the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion.

"The siege of Bastogne is among the most remembered battles of the war and for many in Belgium a symbol of the American sacrifice for the country’s freedom.

"A disabled U.S. Sherman tank, a shell hole bitten cleanly into its left flank, sits on a corner of McAullife Square to remind people what the Americans sacrificed to ensure Belgium’s freedom." ...

Great song in a mediocre movie: the Wermacht Panzer song.  Said to be Erwin Rommel's favorite song 

Battle of the Bulge; Stavelot, Krinkelt and Rocherath on Dec 19, 1944

Local Battle of the Bulge survivor recalls that day  Video:   "Barely an hour out of Denver, there is a hidden treasure of information from World War Two.

The invaluable history lesson is not in a museum. Instead, the lesson comes from a man who lives at an assisted living center in Strasburg.

"Ted Montgomery, 89, has a lot to teach about America's involvement in WWII. He loves to talk and he loves his country.

"Montgomery was 19 years old when he was inducted into the Army at Fort Logan in Denver." ...

Murdered civilians carried from building to common grave in Stavelot, Belgium.



Dec 19th, 1944  "1944 – At a meeting of senior Allied commanders, Eisenhower decides to appoint Field Marshal Montgomery, commanding British 21st Army Group, to lead all Allied forces to the north of ” the Bulge” in the line created by the German attack. General Bradley, commanding US 12th Army Group, is responsible for all Allied forces to the south. The arrangement is not made public at this time.
1944 – It is decided that the Japanese 35th Army on Leyte is no longer to be reinforced or supplied. Nonetheless, fighting continues to the north of Ormoc and throughout the northwest of the island.
1944 – Forces of the German 6th SS Panzer Army reach Stavelot in the north while elements of 5th Panzer Army approach Houffalize. Some US forces between these advance continue to defend positions around Gouvy and St. Vith.
1944 - During the Battle of the Bulge, American troops began pulling back from the twin Belgian cities of Krinkelt and Rocherath in front of the advancing German Army."

Krinkelt-Rocherath, December 17, 18 and 19, 1944    ..."As we moved through the snow everyone was quite as we all knew that in a short time we would be engaged with the enemy.  The column stopped and we wanted to move on.  Lieutenant Lahner, our Platoon Leader, was called to meet with the Company Commander and the other Platoons leaders.  We had hopes that, maybe something better was being planned for us.  We began to talk among ourselves guessing what our next move may be.  After 20 minutes Lieutenant Lahner returned.  He talked briefly to Sergeant Ward, our Platoon Sergeant.  I wasn’t close enough to hear the conversation.  Immediately our Company turned and started moving in almost the opposite direction.  We took the road that ran from Wahlerscheid to Rocherath and Krinkelt."
Source:  The official online home of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Twin Villages   "The battle in and around the "Twin Villages" Krinkelt and Rocherath in December 1944.  This clip is dedicaded to the men of the 2nd US Infantry Division Indianhead. They fought a heavy battle during the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes in Belgium."

 

standwheretheyfought

Eighty years ago: the Battle Of The Bulge; The Wereth Eleven

80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge

National Archives Museum

German Propaganda Footage about the Ardennes Offensive- 4 January 1945  "The Ardennes Offensive, in English also known as “Battle of the Bulge”, officially called “Operation Wacht am Rhein” was one of the last major German offensives of WWII.

"Driven by wrong political and diplomatic conclusions, Hitler believed that the Coalition of the Western Allies was close to collapsing in mid/late 1944, and all that was needed was one crucial victory. He therefore ordered the last German reserves to be mobilized for a large offensive in the Ardennes region, which was planned from September 1944 onwards. The goal was to inflict a major loss on the Allies and capture the important port of Antwerp. "Three German armies, the 6th and 5th Tank Armies and the 7th Army, totaling around 220,000 soldiers, 550 tanks and 700 assault guns, attacked on December 16th, 1944, in the Ardennes region in Belgium/Luxembourg. "The Allies, who didn’t thought Germany was still able of launching a major offensive, had only weak forces in that area, around four divisions and a few other units, most of them fresh units with little to no combat experiences, around 85,000 men. They further failed to recognize the German troop movements, largely because the Germans kept their plans on a tight security level, with most orders being given via courier, instead of radio, so that the Allies were unable to intercept these messages. The Germans had supply shortages, especially fuel, so they planned to capture Allied fuel depots during their offensive. "The Germans initially made some progress but failed to capture large Allied fuel depots and encountered stiff Allied resistance, especially at the famous Siege of Bastogne and the less famous, but even more important Battle of Elsenborn Ridge in the northern section of the offensive. "Ultimately, the Allies were able to bring in enough reserves and the initial surprise quickly wore off, so the Germans had to stop their offensive in late December 1944. The Allies recaptured all their lost territory until February 1945. "Both the German (17,200 killed,16,000 prisoners 530 tanks and 800 aircraft ) and Allies (19,200 killed, 21,200 prisoners, 800 tanks and 1,000 aircrafts) suffered heavy losses during the offensive, but the Allies were able to replace these losses in a short time, the Germans weren’t. " "Thus, the Battle of the Bulge wasted the last substantial reserves the Germans had and ultimately sped up Germanys already unavoidable downfall. "This is footage from German propaganda newsreels, showing the initially successes of the Ardennes offensive. "It was shown in the German Newsweek, a German propaganda newsreel, on January 4th, 1945."

The Wereth 11 Massacre During the Battle of the Bulge - Warfare History

 Network  

Belgium: Monument to the Wereth Eleven

"When German prisoners of war arrived at Camp Gruber, Tech. Sgt. William Edward Pritchett was compelled to deliver a concern to his captain. The men of the 333rd noticed the POWs were fed better than the 333rd and that white GIs showed more courtesy and respect for the Germans than to their fellow black comrades. McLeod forwarded those remarks to Kelsey, but they were shooed aside. 

In that regard we have become so much better now that we were then. These are the people to whom reparations are owed, not the Joy Reid's, Al Sharpton's and Letitia James's who grate on America's ears today. TD 

Christmas, December 1944

Christmas in Nazi Germany  "This picture shows a mother holding her child next to a Christmas tree, while three soldiers trudge through the snow of the east. It faces a poem by Herybert Menzel titled “Soldiers’ Christmas"
Another comment shows a picture of Hitler looking at a Christmas tree with these words:  "The facing page has these words from Goebbels’s 1941 Christmas Eve speech: “On this evening we will think of the Führer, who is also everywhere present this evening wherever Germans gather, and place ourselves in the service of the fatherland." ...

CHRISTMAS AND THE WORLD WAR II GYRENE (In the Pacific)

Eisenhower's Christmas Message to Troops 1944


Right: Christmas 1944
 

A Christmas Miracle At The Battle Of The Bulge   "A man now, Fritz Vincken, narrates this true story about when he was a small boy at the time in 1944. The Battle of the Bulge was at its height. A German cook who was with the German Army there had left his wife and the above mentioned little boy in a shack way in the woods seemingly from harm's way.
      " It was December 24th, Christmas Eve and it was a very cold night. Many soldiers on both sides became lost from their units and were looking for a place to stay. Three American Soldiers were lost around the area where the shack was. They saw the light from the shack and the smoke from the chimney. They saw their chance to warm up. They knocked on the door and asked if they could come in. The German lady had a small chicken cooking for themselves but invited the Americans in to warm up and for the Christmas meal.
       "One of the American Soldiers was wounded and the lady tried to make him comfortable. There was a language barrier for a time till one of the soldiers found out the lady could speak French as well as German! So everything was going well and the Americans were feeling right at home!
       "Then suddenly there was a knock at the door." ...

Christmas Eve in Bastogne

 

"To boost morale, Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe, the acting commander of the 101^st Airborne, issued this announcement:

"What’s merry about all this you ask? We’re fighting—it’s cold—we aren’t home. All true, but what has the proud Eagle Division accomplished with its worthy comrades of the 10th Armored Division, the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion and all the rest? Just this: We have stopped cold everything that has been thrown at us from the north, east, south and west. We have identifications from four German panzer divisions, two German infantry divisions and one German parachute division. These units, spearheading the last desperate German lunge, were heading straight west for key points when the Eagle Division was hurriedly ordered to stem the advance. How effectively this was done will be written in history; not alone in our Division’s glorious history but in world history. The Germans actually did surround us, their radios blared our doom. Allied troops are counterattacking in force. We continue to hold Bastogne. By holding Bastogne we assure the success of the Allied armies. We know that our Division commander, General Taylor, will say: “Well done!” We are giving our country and our loved ones at home a worthy Christmas present and being privileged to take part in this gallant feat of arms are truly making for ourselves a merry Christmas.

Christmas, 1944 - The Battle of the Bulge

Stories of Christmas and the Battle Of The Bulge ..."One of the most poignant stories I ever heard about World War II was about American servicemen fighting in the fierce battles in Europe, and how they stopped firing at the nearby German soldiers for a few moments because it was Christmas Eve. And, for some mysterious and awesome reason, the Germans stopped firing as well.

"Someone began to sing the beloved hymn Silent Night, and the Germans joined the Americans with Stille Nacht." ...   More here.

Christmas 1944: The Battle of the Bulge

Legal Insurrection

Heroism on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in the snow and cold in the Ardennes Forest.

. . .

"Here’s an excerpt from his story (emphasis added):

In December 1944, Ginther became one of the 23,000 Americans captured or missing by the end of the Battle of the Bulge, Germany’s final and ultimately unsuccessful offensive on the Western Front.

He began a 150-mile march into Germany 67 years ago this month. He remembers feeling humbled in defeat, even more so as the POWs met German artillery pulled by horses or one truck pulling another on its way to the front….

The column of POWs passed through a countryside devastated by war and damaged by Allied bombing. At one village, the POWs had to clear rubble so German artillery could pass through. An American bomber pilot joined the prisoner ranks.

“The people seemed to be more hostile to airmen, whom they blamed for being bombed,” Ginther said.

Germans harassed the downed pilot. They’d rush the sides of the column, trying to grab him.

The villagers were starving, exhausted and angry.

When the hostility was at its worst, all the prisoners had reason to be afraid — though none so much as the captured bomber pilot.

Yet at that moment, an American in the ranks began singing “Silent Night.”

“Pretty soon the Germans were singing ‘Silent Night’ too, so it calmed things down,” Ginther said. “Halfway through the first verse, you could hear the German words, too.”

If not for the song, which for one moment brought a measure of peace to a one small corner of Germany, “I don’t really know what would have happened,” he said. “The guards would have tried, I guess, to protect him.”. . .

 THE WERETH 11, A LITTLE-KNOWN MASSACRE DURING THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

"WASHINGTON – As we near the 69th anniversary of one of the decisive battles in Europe during World War II, U.S. Reps. Jim Gerlach (PA-6th District) and Chaka Fattah (PA-2nd District) have introduced a resolution that would formally recognize the valor and sacrifice of 11 black soldiers captured, tortured and ruthlessly executed by Nazi troops in a pasture in Wereth, Belgium on the second day of the Battle of the Bulge.

"The resolution, H. Con. Res. 68, also calls on the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee to revise a 1949 subcommittee report to include an appropriate recognition of the massacre of the 11 black soldiers of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army who were beaten, stabbed and shot multiple times at the hands of their Nazi captors almost seven decades ago on December 17, 1944. The original subcommittee report documented a dozen similar massacres during the Battle of the Bulge, but did not include any reference to the killings in Wereth.". . .

The Wereth Eleven   

*

History – U.S. Memorial Wereth

At Christmas, Remembering the Battle of the Bulge

Men of the 504th Parachute Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, supported by a tank. The division fought hard to hold the Germans in the area under thick layers of snow in December 1944

Power Line  "Victor Davis Hanson recalls the Battle of the Bulge, which I hadn’t realized was the bloodiest battle in U.S. history:

Seventy-five years ago, at the Battle of the Bulge (fought from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945), the United States suffered more casualties than in any other battle in its history. Some 19,000 Americans were killed, 47,500 wounded and 23,000 reported missing.

The American and British armies were completely surprised by a last-gasp German offensive, given that Allied forces were near the Rhine River and ready to cross into Germany to finish off a crippled Third Reich.

The Americans had been exhausted by a rapid 300-mile summer advance to free much of France and Belgium. In their complacency, they oddly did not worry much about their thinning lines, often green replacement troops or the still-formidable German army. After all, Nazi Germany was being battered on all sides by Americans, British, Canadians and Russians. Its cities were in ruins from heavy bombers.

Yet the losing side is often the most dangerous just before its collapse.

"The Battle of the Bulge has a special resonance for me, because my father almost died in it. He was a college student when World War II broke out. He graduated, then enlisted in the Army. He was sent to one of the big Army bases in the South for basic training. In those days, they gave every enlistee an IQ test; maybe they still do. My father’s performance on the test was good enough that he was pulled out of the ranks and sent to graduate school to become an engineer. (Drill Sergeant, with privates lined up: “Hinderaker! Who’s Hinderaker?” My father, wondering what he could have done to get in trouble already, stepping forward: “I’m Private Hinderaker.” Drill Sergeant: “Congratulations, Private Hinderaker. You just got the highest score on the IQ test of anyone who has ever gone through this base.” That is how my mother told the story, 40 years ago.)

"Many, if not most, of those who qualified for the engineering program were Jews, and my father, who came from a town of 200 in South Dakota, became a lifelong philo-Semite. All proceeded according to plan until June 1944 and the D-Day invasion. The Army concluded that the war wouldn’t last long enough to need another class of engineers, so they terminated the program and sent its participants to the front.

"My father found himself in Belgium, assigned to divisional headquarters. One morning he was eating breakfast in the mess tent, along with many others, when someone ran breathlessly into the tent and shouted something like: “The Germans are attacking! The front has crumbled. They will be here in a matter of hours. Get to the rear any way you can, every man for himself!” My father was in the midst of eating the first real eggs he had tasted since joining the Army, so he delayed a few minutes before following the order." . . .

Cold killers: ‘Boy’ SS soldiers, Nazis stealing boots from dead US troops and innocent civilians gunned down – harrowing images from new book show cruel reality of 1944 Battle of the Bulge, which inspired TV's epic Band of Brothers

Battle of the Bulge; Dec 17, 1944. The Malmedy Massacre.

 

 The massacre site in 1944 (above), and today (below) via Google Earth

Gettysburg Daily    "The atrocities Gettysburg Licensed Battlefield Guide Stuart Dempsey describes actually occurred around the tiny village of Baugnez, Belgium, some four kilometers from Malmedy. American soldiers and Belgian civilians were also murdered at several other locations over the next few days by members of the German 1st SS Panzer Division. The final toll is in dispute, but at least 362 U.S. soldiers and 111 Belgians were executed between December 17-20. The actual number may be a good bit higher. One of those killed/murdered 65 years ago today was Private First Class Frederick Clark. He is buried in the Gettysburg National Cemetery."

The Malmedy Massacre

 

The bodies of 81 American soldiers from Battery B of the 285th Field Artillery

 Observation Battalion, killed by Waffen-SS troops on December 17, 1944,

 during the Battle of the Bulge near the Belgian town of Malmedy. 

... "Mine detectors were used to locate the 81 bodies, which had rested undisturbed since the day of the shootings and by now had frozen into grotesque positions. Forty one of the bodies were found to have been shot in the head. As each body was uncovered it was numbered, as seen in the photo above." ...  Photos of the field in 1944

A survivor's story ... "Paluch’s battalion first saw action in the Hurtgen Forest just prior to the Battle of the Bulge.  As Ted explains it, “We were in the Hurtgen for a while, that was a bitch I’ll tell you.  The damn trees would explode from the German artillery, and in just a matter of days it seemed that every tree within sight was stripped bare of all limbs.  It was a bloodbath in there.”  As bad as the Hurtgen was for Paluch, the worst was yet to come." ...

 Flowers, apologies mark commemoration of 70th anniversary of Malmedy massacre

 "At the site where Nazi troops massacred scores of unarmed American prisoners of war during the Battle of the Bulge, Germany’s ambassador to Belgium expressed a sense of remorse during a ceremony Sunday marking the 70th anniversary of the massacre." ...

Lt. Col. Joachim Peiper on the witness stand, June 17, 1946.

Battle of the Bulge: Dec 21, 1944

 

On its 70th anniversary, 11 maps that explain The Battle of the Bulge
Map #4: Dec. 21, 1944: "The German main advance through the center of the Ardennes sector has moved in a narrow corridor northwest to Marche after bypassing Bastogne. The 84th Infantry Division has moved to block the German northwestern advance."

[December 21, 1944], HQ Twelfth Army Group situation map.

18th Airborne Corps Sector map; December 21-23, 1944.

 

World War II Timeline: December 18, 1944-December 31, 1944

The Germans advance on Marche   "At 0800 hrs. December 21, 1944, five days after the German offensive in the Ardennes commenced, the 84th Division transferred from our positions in the Siegfried Line to set up defenses in the far Northwest corner of the Bulge around Marche-en-femenne, Belgium." ...

A personal diary of the battle for Bastogne

Defense of Marche's area   "Statement by Lieutenant Leonard R. CARPENTER  On the counter-Reconnaissance Screen, 23-24 December 1944 to T/5 Jack SHANK   

"Historical Section, 84th Infantry Division."

The official online home of Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge

84th Infantry Division (The Railsplitters)  "Tried by Fire - Winter battles by 84th Infantry Division in Battle of the Bulge, crossing of the Roer and Rhine, and the desperate race to the Elbe." ...

Christmas Eve in the Ardennes 1944

Legal Insurrection    The Battle of the Bulge

"Last Christmas Eve I posted Christmas 1944: The Battle of the Bulge – Christmas Eve in the Ardennes.

"It’s a story that needs to be told, particularly to generations for whom Christmas Eve has meant only safety and security. Head over to the link for video and photos, as well as stories of the men who fought."

Battle photos

Battle of the Bulge Images

Army.mil Battle of the Bulge feature

DoD 60th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge

The Battle of the Bulge: Dec 1944-January 1945

 

 How stuff works

The Malmedy Massacre On Sunday, December 17, 1944, shortly after the Germans launched their great offensive in the Ardennes, a number of American prisoners were shot by soldiers of the First SS-Panzer Regiment at Baugnez crossroads, close to the Belgian town of Malmedy. The true scale and circumstances of the Malmedy massacre remain controversial to this day. What is known is that of the 113 prisoners assembled in the field at Baugnez, 67 died there. Forty-six of them, some of whom were wounded, managed to escape the scene.

The massacre began when some of the Germans opened fire. Several survivors claim to have heard an order given. A storm of machine gun and rifle fire lasted for 15 minutes, and was followed by deliberate shots to finish off anyone still showing signs of life. These final murderous coups de grace turned a possible "battle incident" into an indisputable atrocity that resonated throughout the American forces in Northwest Europe. It immediately prompted orders in some U.S. Army units to summarily shoot any SS prisoners they might capture.
Although those believed responsible for the massacre were later tried by a U.S. military tribunal, serious coercive and procedural irregularities by the prosecution eventually resulted in the commutation of all of the many death sentences. Those who had been imprisoned received early releases, and by 1960, all had been released.
"A bullet went through the head of the man next to me. I lay tensely still, expecting the end. Could he see me breathing? Could I take a kick in the groin without wincing?...He was standing at my head. What was he doing? Time seemed to stand still. And then I heard him reloading his pistol in a deliberate manner...laughing and talking. A few odd steps before the reloading was finished and he was no longer so close to my head, then another shot a little farther away, and he had passed me up. "
--U.S. Army first lieutenant Virgil T. Lary, describing the incident at Malmedy

Below: the 1st Panzer SS on the road to their encounter with the Americans at Malmedy-Baugnez

 

http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_11.HTM

Malmedy Massacre Trial

1st. Lt. Virgil Lary points out Sturmmann Georg Fleps, May of 1946

The Siege of Bastogne; A Personal Perspective of Bill Hale.
  ..."The first eight days, known as the Siege of Bastogne, was the most crucial defense to prevent the Germans from capturing vital transportation lines and cutting off Allied supply routes.   The Battle of the Bulge raged until January 25, 1945 finally concluding the largest and deadliest battle fought by US forces during the war." ...

Patton's Third Army turns north to liberate Bastogne   "On 19 December, during a crisis meeting of the American generals, PATTON decided to turn three of his divisions, established in Lorraine, ninety-degrees to the north and to push ahead rapidly towards the besieged town of Bastogne." ...

The Battle for Stavelot      

 

Stavelot monuments

"During the night of Dec. 17-18, First Army ordered a platoon of 3-inch towed tank destroyers from the 526 Armored Inf. Bn. to outpost Stavelot; two platoons on the south bank of the river (with a section of tank destroyers at the old roadblock); one platoon with three 57 MM antitank guns and the second section of tank destroyers in reserve around the town square north of the river. ...The troops began to move into position just before daybreak on Mon., Dec. 18, but before the riflemen could organize a defense the German infantry attacked, captured the tank destroyers and drove the two platoons back across the bridge. Taken by surprise, the Americans failed to destroy the bridge and a Panther [Panzer?] made a dash about 0800 which carried it onto the north bank. More tanks followed. For some while the Germans were held in the houses next to the river; an anti aircraft artillery battery of the 7 Armored Div. wandered into the firefight and did considerable damage before it went on its way. A Co. from the 202 Eng. Combat Bn. joined in the fray. By the end of the morning however, the German firing line had built up to the point where the Americans could no longer hold inside the village proper, particularly since the hostile tanks were roving at will in the streets.

Dec 20, 1944; the siege of Bastogne begins. Then and now images from Bastogne

"An American tank moves past another gun carriage which slid off an icy road in the Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 20, 1944."

Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

Wikipedia: Siege of Bastogne "was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbour at Antwerp. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize the roadways through eastern Belgium. Because all seven main roads in the Ardennes mountain range converged on the small town of Bastogne, control of its crossroads was vital to the German attack. The siege lasted from December 20–27 when the besieged American forces were relieved by elements of General George Patton's Third Army."

http://screamingducks.com/campaigns/battle-of-the-bulge/bastogne-then-and-now/

• More Bastogne images, then and now
• Then and now photos from Battle Detective
Elsewhere in the Ardennes: In the Footsteps of Battlegroup [Kampfgruppe] Peiper " Much of the route that Peiper and his Kampfgruppe took can still be followed today. The following photos show a look of today's area that Kampfgruppe Peiper fought through. 

In 1944 Battle of the Bulge, Albert Darago, then 19, took on a German tank by himself ,... "Seventy years ago, Darago, now 89, crept down a long, open hill with a loaded bazooka, figuring that he was going to die. He peeked over the top of a hedge and, at a distance of a few yards, fired at a German tank, disabling it." ...

The Battle of the Bulge: St. Vith

Youtube
 

 

"This remarkable documentary combines eyewitness testimony from an all star cast of key participants on both sides of a critical engagement in the Battle of the Bulge with outstanding archival footage, detailed maps, and a return to revisit the actual terrain where each phase of battle was fought." Zeno, Zeno's Warbird Videos http://zenoswarbirdvideos.com See this video & more full screen on our "The Bulge: The Battle at St Vith plus Mastering the Bazooka Rocket Launcher" DVD http://bit.ly/14yoNiR

Operation Wacht am Rhein, the surprise attack launched on Dec 16th, 1944, was Hitler's desperate gamble to shatter the Allied advance by striking with a Panzer fist through a "quiet"sector in the Ardennes Forest, northwest to the vital supply port of Antwerp. A linchpin of the offensive was the early seizure of the road and railroad crossroads of St. Vith on the first day of the offensive. The Battle at St. Vith shows how a hastily formed, ad hoc group of American units manged to delay an overwhelming Panzer force for five critical days before being forced to withdraw, dealing the German plan an insurmountable delay.

From the German side, you'll hear frustration in the voices of Von Runstedt's Chief of Staff, General Siegfried Westphal and General Hasso von Manteuffel, whose 5th Panzer Army was tasked with seizing St Vith, when they give lengthy reports on the battle. On the American side, you'll hear vivid accounts of an aggressive defense from Gen. Robert Hasbrouk, Commander of 7th Armored, Col Gusten Nelson (28th Infantry), Gen William Hoge (9th Armored), Colonels Oliver Patton & Thomas J Riggs (106th Infantry), and General Bruce C Clark, Commander Combat Command B, 7th Armored, who led the spirited deference of the St Vith perimeter. In a series of memorable face-to-face conversations, Generals Clark and Von Manteuffel compare notes on the battle . Among several first hand combat accounts, Lt Will Rogers Jr tells the dramatic story of his bazooka attack on a a German Panzer as part of "Task Force Jones" successful rearguard action. And don't miss rare late war footage of advanced German weaponry, including "King Tiger" tanks in action.

There is no better account of the critical role played small, determined units in the outcome of a major battle than "The Battle at St, Vith." This video was digitally restored and additional explanatory text was added.

World War 2, Dec 27, 1944

While our troops were freezing in the Ardennes:
Liveblogging World War II: December 27, 1944: FDR Seizes Montgomery Ward
" ...because the company refused to comply with a labor agreement."
I'm so thankful today's Democrat Party is above such actions.


One more sad note about US race relations back in those days. If we could only right those wrongs from long ago, to those people who were victims at that time.

Sadly, there was this incident in the Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge: Massacre of 11 black soldiers  “ 'On 15 February 1945, I personally examined the bodies of the American Negro soldiers listed below,” Everett wrote. In a single-spaced, one-page memo, the assistant regimental surgeon chronicled their wounds. Most had been killed by blows to the head with a blunt instrument, probably a rifle stock. They had been stabbed repeatedly with bayonets. The finger of one man was almost completely severed. The soldiers had been shot multiple times."

These solders were known as The Wereth 11 of WWII

...The Wereth incident happened on the same day, about 10 miles away in the farming village of Wereth, Belgium, and was likely carried out by the same division under SS Major Joachim Peiper.
After walking 10 miles in the deep snow to reach American lines, Mr. Stewart and 10 other black soldiers from the 333rd arrived, cold and wet, at the farmhouse of Mathias Langer, the Wereth mayor who took them in and gave them bread.

But someone in town tipped off the Germans, and an hour later a four-man SS patrol pulled up. The unit marched the U.S. soldiers into a cow pasture and executed them. Army autopsies showed signs of torture, although no one but the executioners really knows what happened in that field...

Black Soldiers Sacrifice Finally Told In New Film  ..."The Aubrey Stewart Project tells the story of James Aubrey Stewart, a soldier from Piedmont, West Virginia, who along with 10 other black soldiers sacrificed their lives to save a family during the Battle of the Bulge." ...
"The Wereth 11" movie trailer.
Watch "The Wereth 11"

German war film: "70 Anniversary...Battle of the Bulge 1944/1945

Battle of the Bulge (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive campaign launched through the densely forested Ardennes...." Read more at LiveLeak

Battle of the Bulge; Dec 26th, 1944. Patton links up with Bastogne defenders

Patton Relieves Bastogne  ..."Enter "Old Blood and Guts," General Patton. Employing a complex and quick-witted strategy wherein he literally wheeled his 3rd Army a sharp 90 degrees in a counterthrust movement, Patton broke through the German lines and entered Bastogne, relieving the valiant defenders and ultimately pushing the Germans east across the Rhine."

Cavalry to the Rescue: Patton's Cavalry in the Relief of Bastogne

 

One of Patton's tanks in Bastogne

 

2011 in Bastogne; parade honors the defense of the city

Battle of the Bulge Survivors Gather; Recall Snow, Encounters with the Foe

 8 Things You May Not Know About the Battle of the Bulge  
 ..."The all black 333rd and 969th Field Artillery Battalions both sustained heavy casualties assisting the 101st Airborne in the defense of Bastogne, and the 969th was later awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation—the first ever presented to a black outfit. Elsewhere on the battlefield, troops from the segregated 578th Field Artillery picked up rifles to support the 106th Golden Lions Division, and an outfit called the 761st “Black Panthers” became the first black tank unit to roll into combat under the command of General George S. Patton. As the battle wore on, Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and John C.H. Lee called on black troops to cover the Allied losses at the front. Several thousand had volunteered by the time the engagement ended.

The 101st Airborne Museum 'Le Mess' in Bastogne

 

Fighting for the Americans, Captured by the Germans, Freed by the Soviets

How a Jewish-American soldier in WWII survived in a POW camp—and even managed to celebrate Passover under the Nazis’ noses

Milton Feldman  "I was 19 years old, a Brooklyn kid two semesters into college at Penn State, when I was called up for service in the Army in 1943. For a while, I was lucky; I was sent to school for training as an engineer rather than training for the beach landing of D-Day. But in 1944 that program ended, and in December of that year I was shivering in the snow in western Germany, just across the Belgian border

"On December 16, early in the morning, we heard a bombardment, the first real action we’d seen. Orders came back to the cooks: “Make all the food. Get the men up to feed them and do it fast.” We had a banquet. We had French toast and pancakes and eggs. We were going into battle.

"War historians have examined the events that led to the Battle of the Bulge and the miserable days that lay ahead for me and for thousands of my fellow soldiers in the 423rd Regiment, which was part of the 106th Infantry Division. We were unprepared for winter fighting. WWII bombers were mostly effective in clear weather, and low cloud cover had limited our most valuable weapon. And the Allied generals thought the Germans were in retreat, falling back to defend prewar German borders. It didn’t occur to them that the Germans were capable of—or interested in—mounting a major counterattack.

"The shelling we heard was that counterattack on a massive scale. To both the north and south of our position, German troops were advancing incredibly quickly—creating the Bulge. We were being surrounded." . . .

At that same time and place; Jews were not the only people the Nazis hated and murdered.

The Wereth 11, a Little-Known Massacre During the Battle of the Bulge

. . . "The 11 soldiers massacred, known as the “Wereth 11”, were: Curtis Adams of South Carolina; Mager Bradley of Mississippi, George Davis Jr. of Alabama; Thomas Forte of Mississippi; Robert Green of Georgia; James Leatherwood of Mississippi; Nathaniel Moss of Texas; George Motten of Texas; William Pritchett of Alabama; James Stewart of West Virginia; and Due Turner of Arkansas.

“ 'Our country shall be forever grateful to every member of the ‘Greatest Generation’ who contributed to the defeat of fascism in Europe and laid down their lives so that future generations could enjoy the blessing of freedom,” Gerlach said. “Every now and then, it takes history a while to accurately reflect the monumental moments that have helped chart its course. That’s certainly the case with these 11 black soldiers who courageously fought on the front line in the Ardennes against a relentless enemy and eventually made the ultimate sacrifice for their fellow soldiers and our nation." . . .