Posted on 12/15/2019 10:20:58 AM PST by OKSooner
Inspired by Homer Simpson's historical works from newspaper archives, this is a brief recollection of the opening days of The Battle of the Bulge, particularly the first three days of it. I will be doing this as my work schedule and time permit, so I apologize in advance that it will not be up to the same editorial standards as Homer's previous, well-known work here at FR.
The intent of it is to examine the chronology of certain events leading up to the legendary defense of the crossroads city of Bastogne, Belgium by the 101st Airborne division and other elements of the US Army.
Hitler's intent in launching this offensive, which was assigned the code name "Watch on the Rhine" to disguise it as a defensive operation, was to
1) Reach and capture the port city of Antwerp, which had become the point of arrival for allied men and material in Europe, and;
2) Drive a wedge between the American Armies in the south and the British Army in the north, and to cause (more) dissension between the allies with the intent that one or both of them would lose interest, at which point Germany could turn their full attention to the Soviets.
Hitler was nuts, of course, and some of his generals advocated for a smaller offensive that would cut off and isolate much of the British army in the north.
Nuts or not, in a fascist dictatorship the boss is the boss, and Watch On The Rhine was set to go, beginning the morning of December 16th.
Supposedly, that winter of 44-45 was the coldest in 75 years.
Dad absolutely hated the winter. I suppose it was because of that. His statement was “Never been that cold before or since.”
He used to flip out whenever the 1966 movie “Battle of the Bulge” came on. He’d go on a rant... “There was no sun... there was no giant tank battle.... there was snow, cold and the whole g-damn German army...” He hated that movie, ha!
Said “Battleground” (1949) was the closest to what he remembered.
I've said many times it's the worst war movie, I've ever seen.
Oh, man, he used to absolutely WIG out when it was on. I’d sit with him and just laugh. Non-stop running commentary.
“Look at that... that’s not a Tiger. That’s a g-damn M48...and they’re NOT Shermans...”
“And That’s an American halfrack, not a German...” On and on.
And that sun-drenched tank battle scene would make him livid.
My old man was one in a million. Miss him a lot.
And the 296th, and 51st. My step-dad was a sergeant in the 296th, landed at Normandy, fought at the Bulge, helped liberate the Buchenwald camp, and were among the first, if not THE first American troops to occupy Berlin... all while building bridges across europe.
And most of that commentary was punctuated - for emphasis, you understand - by a LOT of F-bombs and other colorful, salty expletives, but usually when Mom wasn’t around.
Lol... memories... Dad could swear in Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and German.
Daddy was in the 208th. Exact same story except for Buchenwald. Also went into Berlin early.
My cousin almost lost his feet. He was plagued by foot problems all his life. His daughter married a son of a German soldier who was at the BOTB
Speaking of Bradley, I was attending the Officer Basic Course at Ft. Bliss. On day we were hurrying to get Lunch at the O Club, thinking we could use a side entrance. We got stopped short. There in the Hallway the CG Ft. Bliss is standing at Attention. A minute later Bradley appears. He was having a haircut. The CG escorts him to his car. It was interesting to see that even the CG had to bend the knee so to speak. A few weeks later Bradley addressed our class with a question and answer session. Some one said hey don’t ask him about Patton, he gets that all the time. So he started with a dirty joke, which I can’t remember. About 15 min in he suddenly stops and looks at us, “ Damn, your not Going to ask me about Georgie? Well I’m going to tell you about him.”
I can tell you they were not best buds.
Probably led to some uncomfortable Thanksgiving conversations...
Hindsight is 20/20. Ike did a magnificent job.
I was stationed in Schewinfurt
...................................
My best friend in the D.C. suburbs in the late ‘50s and thereafter was born in Schweinfurt in 1940 and lived there until 1948. He and I visited his uncle there in 1968.
probably the best anti tank weapon in anyone’s army in WWII.
During WW II, the German's had underground ball bearing plants there, so the Allies bombed half of the city into the ground but never laid a glove on the plant.
By the early 60s {only 15 years after the war} there was about 30% of the damage rebuilt but the rubble from the bombing was everywhere.
I could speak German so I had an easier time than many GIs, because I didn't have to hang out in the GI bars with nothing but hookers or German gals that were looking for a husband and a free ride to the states.
I really learned to love the food {except the pastries}.
Thank you for reading.
History proves that Patton was the better general and had it not been for him the attack by the Germans would have succeeded and we possibly would have to negotiate with the enemy. Think about the 250,000 troops that would have been cut off by the attack. Bradley was well out of his capability. I’m sure that Ike knew it.
This uncle was also first wave at Normandy and managed to get into the Hurtgen fight, then was sent to a “quite” sector to recuperate in the Ardennes. I have read about the Hurtgen Forrest campaign, what a waste of men and effort. On a scale of the disaster of Peleliu in the Pacific which should have just been by-passed.
The other uncle in 3rd Army, would have been at D-Day but he got his ship torpedoed in Operation Tiger, one of the disastrous D-Day training exercises. He was ordered to stay silent about it. All he would say is his ship was torpedoed by a Uboat. He later fought in the Bulge as well when Patton’s turned his division north towards Bastogne. He said there was a crossroad and a lieutenant came up and told him to set up his AA gun in the middle of it, a panzer would be coming and he was to engage it. Yes sir he replied! The LT left and he promptly moved his gun back into cover near the crossroads and one of his buddies was like you heard the LT’s order! Yes I did and you see all those burning vehicles sitting out in the open don’t you? Yeah was the reply, well I don’t want to join them, but from here I can still engage with some cover and possible get off the first shot. He said the panzer never showed.
“...first wave at Normandy ...”
Good lord... Omaha was a debacle. Utah wasn’t as bad, because they actually landed at the wrong place. But Omaha beach was a slaughterhouse.
“Operation Tiger”
That was Slapton Sands, I believe, where the German torpedo boats (E-Boats) slipped into the coastal waters of Britain and torpedoed a transport ship loaded with troops.
“He said the panzer never showed.”
And was probably REALLY happy about that... :^)
I’ll tell you this - I go to a WWII Weekend show every year up in Reading PA. Two years ago, a Mark VI Tiger was there. This thing was an absolute Beast. Standing next to it, I can only imagine what my old man was thinking when he saw those in the Ardennes, but I can pretty much guarantee you it wasn’t “My oh my, Just Look At those German Engineering Skills on display!” Probably had a LOT of expletives in multiple languages...
There were two Shermans there as well, and the Tiger dwarfed them.
We come from a generation of magnificent Americans, Sarge...
I agree with your assessment of Bradley.
Bradley was a friend of Marshall. That is the reason he survived the possibility of loss of command for his incompetence.
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