Posted on 3/17/2009, 7:36:05 PM by Welcome2thejungle
Last night on the Military Channel there was an interesting program on the Battle of the Bulge from the perspectives of the leading American commander in the region, General Omar Bradley and the German officer in charge of the offensive, Field Marshall Walter Model.
The Battle of the Bulge occurred in Belgium in December of 1944 and was Germany's last major offensive in WWII. Many of Hitler's leading generals advised against the operation due to Germany's worsening military situation and dangerous lack of resources, soldiers, and material, especially oil.
Despite massive Allied bombardment of German cities and industrial areas, Germany was able to keep up with the production of huge quantity of armaments as much of the production was transferred to underground complexes. One of the key new weapons systems used in the Battle of Bulge was the German King Tiger or Tiger II Tank. Weighing over 64 tons and equipped with 180mm armor and armed with an 88mm cannon, this monster of a tank was virtually indestructible. Much smaller American Sherman Tanks were unable to pierce the King Tiger's armor even when firing at point blank range. Because of the King Tiger's size and complex engineering, it was subject to mechanical difficulties and it was impossible to mass produce. It also consumed enormous quantities of scarce fuel.
The Battle of the Bulge occurred in a lightly defended heavily forested section of the front called the Ardennes Forest which was considered inhospitable for tank warfare. Despite the advice of many of his top generals, Hitler hated playing on defense and loved to take big gambles. His plan was to cut the allied armies in half by marching straight to the port city of Antwerp despite the German lack of fuel needed to power their gas guzzling tanks especially the gigantic Tiger I and Tiger II tanks.
Leading the German spearhead in the surprise attack was the SS Liebstandardte Adolf Hitler Division. It was commanded by the 29 year old Standartenfuhrer (the SS version of a Colonel) Joachim Peiper. Despite his young age, Peiper was a seasoned veteran who had seen much action on the Eastern Front including at the Battles of Kursk and Kharkov. The Waffen SS Divisions were the most fierce and ruthless of all German fighting units. They were equipped with the best and newest German weapons systems including the Tiger I, Tiger II, and Panther Tanks. They literally took no prisoners and in one notorious incident at Malmedy they brutally executed 88 American POWs. Hundreds of English speaking German troops donned American uniforms, slipped behind our lines and wreaked havoc by targeting American officers, redirecting traffic, and changing street signs to divert American troops in the wrong directions. Thousands of Americans were taken prisoner, but their will to fight was greatly enhanced when our troops learned of the Malmedy massacre.
Eventually the weather improved and Allied planes which dominated the skies were able to pounce on the German panzers. The Germans also ran out of fuel and were forced to abandon many of their prized super tanks. Also, General Patton's Third Army rose to the rescue and provided relief for the legendary 101 Airborne Division which was completely surrounded in the Begian town of Bastogne. By January 16th, the German Army had given up all the territory it had taken in the bulge of the American front line.
Just weeks before the end of WWII, Field Marshall Model, himself surrounded in the Ruhr Pocket, took his own life as opposed to surrendering to Allied forces. After the war, Col. Peiper and others were tried for the atrocity they committed against American POWs at Malmedy. Peiper escaped the death penalty only to be murdered many years later in France in 1976. On Bastille Day (July 14th) Peiper was murdered in his home by French Communists. At the time of his death he was writing a book about about his WWII exploits.
Since last year's presidential election I find watching the Military Channel and History Channel a lot more interesting than cable news channels which focus on BHO 24/7. I sometimes need a break.
Thanks for posting.
Now the green people are going to ban tanks because they are gas-guzzlers. Global warming!
‘Since last year’s presidential election I find watching the Military Channel and History Channel a lot more interesting than cable news channels which focus on BHO 24/7. I sometimes need a break.’
Same here, and this program is one of my ‘must see tv’ things.
The only quibble I had with this episode was it gave Patton a cursory mention as it relates to the battle. Fact is he saw the Germans trying a desperate last gasp offensive from one of three directions, one of which was through the Ardennes and Bastogne.
He didn’t save the town, Airborne and a rather curious collection of cooks, clerks, and truck drivers did that.
But he was as the movie Patton portrayed, aware ‘we could still lose this war’.
One thing generally included in the narrative of this battle is that the weather was “unusually cold”.
Have you ever heard any specific statements on how cold it actually was?
Kampfgruppen Peiper was essentially a mixed armor/infantry recon unit of regimental/brigade size following the German practice of forming task groups for the duration of certain operations. As such it was the recon element of SS Liebstandarte. The garbled writing leaves the reader with the impression that Peiper -- a colonel -- commanded the entire division which was not so.
Being somewhat of a WWII buff, Peiper had a fanaticism that Hitler loved. Apparently he was as ruthless as he was fearless. It would be interesting to learn about his book - did he finish it before his death in France?
If you read a book on these subjects, you'll find the amount of information you get from these shows is extremely limited. Better still to listen, by downloading a selection at Audible.
For example, Battle for the Rhine , which provides a different, British, perspective on the Generalship of the American and British forces.
I recommend “Iron Tide” Combat Simulation Game from Pacific Rim games.
And Battle of the Bulge 1965 from Avalon Hill.
Enjoy!
Thanks. Do you remember the name of the show? I looked but didn’t see anything similar scheduled for the next week.
Little mention is often given to the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, which led up to the Battle of the Bulge, and is critical to describing it. It is known for three reasons.
1) It was the longest battle on German ground during World War II.
2) It was the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought in its history.
3) Hürtgen was so costly that it has been called an Allied “defeat of the first magnitude”, with specific credit being assigned to German General Model.
It took place over a mere 50 square miles. In the heaviest fog that Europe had ever recorded. And though the Maginot Line had not stopped the German invasion, the German Siegfried Line proved far more effective in the defense.
The Americans, at times outnumbering the Germans five to one, had to fight through thick forest and rough terrain, with established German defensive positions and pre-planned artillery, mortar, and machine gun fires. Without air support, and minimal visibility.
At times, the American command did not understand that their soldiers would have to fight uphill, through dense forest in heavy fog, on slick oil shale, against German bunkers, while artillery shells rained down into the tree tops above them, sending deadly slivers of wood into the men below. Advance up these mountains was by the inch per day.
One American battalion wiped out another battalion by calling in artillery on an adjacent mountain side, having detected movement through the fog. American casualties in the battle were 2 to 1 or more greater than German casualties. All leading up to the Ardennes Offensive, which became the Battle of the Bulge.
The Battle of the Bulge itself began on an area the size of a football field. On one side, an American anti-tank company had set up a defensive position. A German soldier, on foot far in advance at the head of a tank column, was seen by an American NCO, who had to leave his fox hole and approach him, to get close enough to identify his uniform.
When they were able to identify each other, the German reportedly laughed, because of all the armor behind him. The American turned tail and ran, jumping first into the foxhole to warn his men, then jumping out to tell his company commander. Shooting began shortly thereafter.
Both sides immediately sent reinforcements to the spot, as the battle became more and more pitched. Burning tanks provided a little illumination, but guns larger than pistols were useless, because you had to be so close to another man to see their uniform. Pistols and trench knives were best in the melee.
The battle, on an area the size of a football field, lasted for two days. A large monument exists there today.
It was just the beginning.
I believe Sepp Dietrich commanded 1 SS Liebstandarte.
Joachim Peiper commanded Kampfgruppe Peiper, a smaller portion of 1 SS Liebstandarte which was at the tip of the spear.
I posted before checking as a sort of quiz for myself.
There is a great deal of controversy about this incident.
Peiper's kampfgruppe took a good many prisoners, and especially at La Gleize, these were released unharmed.
There's a very good book called The Damned Engineers (291st Engineer Battalion) detailing one of the incidents that stopped Kampfgruppe Peiper's massive Tigers.
At the village of Trois Ponts (Three Bridges), a lone 57mm American antitank gun disabled the lead German armored vehicle, then held off the following armored vehicles long enough for the engineers to blow up the only bridge the tanks could use to get across the waterway blocking their advance.
Braver men could not be found, because the 57mm was like a spitwad shooter compared to the German 88. I believe the crew was killed in the action.
Peiper was a professional soldier. His good name was not stained by the Ardennes action, despite attempts to do so.
His actions on the East Front may be less able to survive scrutiny, but it was a vile war on that front on both sides.
You'll have to remember that the French communists in the Resistance took the opportunity to murder many fellow Resistance members (who didn't share the same ideology) during the confusion following Liberation. This happened in many other liberated European countries just after the war. Communists don't like their subjects to be intelligent or defiant.
I have no doubt that the scum that killed Peiper were the same sort of dog squeezings.
If yer gonna play a “Bulge” war game play “Wacht am Rhein”!
I totally agree and I have read hundreds of books on WWII. I love reading military history.
The SPI version went out of print way before I thought of getting it and the New Edition of WaR from Decision Games is so bad (besides the fact that it’s from DG) that all I have heard about it was that it sucked. No positives at all.
I’ll stick with my favorites. :) Bulge 65 has it’s problems, but, it is exciting and fun.
I had heard there was a new issue but assumed it was simply a reprint with some cosmetic graphics changes (and a crippling price). Gaming is mostly confined these days to a weekend while on vacation with old roomies/fellow gamers and the game is usually a multi player ancients topic with cards and treachery/diplomacy. (Lets the wife creatures participate.)
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