Battle of the Bulge - Today 1944

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Battle Experience and related facts:

BATTLE of the BULGE
December 16, 1944 to January 25, 1945

On 16 December 1944 the Germans started their ARDENNES OFFENSIVE. The 106th Infantry Division, in place on a salient jutting out into Germany were hit with full force. After three days of battle, two of the Regiments, the 422nd and the 423rd were surrounded. The 424th, south of the other two regiments, was able to withdraw and join with the 112th Regiment of the 28th Infantry Division. They formed a Regimental Combat Team and were successful in the oncoming days of January 1945 in helping counter the German attack driving the Germans back through the same area where the 106th had been in position in mid-December 1944. This German Offensive became known in the U.S. Forces journals as The Battle of the Bulge.

BATTLE FACTS

· The coldest, snowiest weather “in memory” in the Ardennes Forest on the German/Belgium border.
· Over a million men, 500,000 Germans, 600,000 Americans (more than fought at Gettysburg) and 55,000 British.
· 3 German armies, 10 corps, the equivalent of 29 divisions.
· 3 American armies, 6 corps, the equivalent of 31 divisions.
· The equivalent of 3 British divisions as well as contingents of Belgian, Canadian and French troops.
· 100,000 German casualties, killed, wounded or captured.
· 81,000 American casualties, including 23,554 captured and 19,000 killed.
· 1,400 British casualties 200 killed.
· 800 tanks lost on each side, 1,000 German aircraft.
· The Malmedy Massacre, where 86 American soldiers were murdered, was the worst atrocity committed against American troops during the course of the war in Europe.
· My division, the 106th Infantry Division, average age of 22 years, suffered 564 killed in action, 1,246 wounded and 7,001 missing in action at the end of the offensive. Most of these casualties occurred within the first three days of battle, when two of the division’s three regiments was forced to surrender.
· In it's entirety, the “Battle of the Bulge,” was the worst battles- in terms of losses - to the American Forces in WWII.
Short History

On a wintery mid-December day in 1944, three powerful German armies plunged into the semi-mountainous, heavily forested Ardennes region of eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. Their goal was to reach the sea, trap four allied armies, and impel a negotiated peace on the Western front.
Thinking the Ardennes was the least likely spot for a German offensive, American Staff Commanders chose to keep the line thin, so that the manpower might concentrate on offensives north and south of the Ardennes.
The American line was thinly held by three divisions and a part of a fourth, while the fifth was making a local attack and a sixth was in reserve. Division sectors were more than double the width of normal, defensive fronts.
Even though the German Offensive achieved total surprise, nowhere did the American troops give ground without a fight. Within three days, the determined American stand and the arrival of powerful reinforcements insured that the ambitious German goal was far beyond reach.
In snow and sub-freezing temperatures the Germans fell short of their interim objective - that of reaching the sprawling Meuse River on the fringe of the Ardennes. All the Germans accomplished was to create a Bulge in the American line. In the process they expended irreplaceable men, tanks and material. Four weeks later, after grim fighting, with heavy losses on both the American and German sides, the Bulge ceased to exist.
Battle Action Credits: The 106th Infantry Division was credited with a holding action that used much of the precious time of the German Offensive. Time was an important and vital ingredient in Hitler's plan to break through to the Meuse River and then to go for Antwerp. The first three days of battle were vital and the 106th Infantry Division slowed his advance in the St. Vith area. By doing so the 106th played a large role in the final defeat of the German Army. The delay and extended battle used so much of the precious resources of the German Army that they were never again able to recoup and fight the style of war they had in earlier days. This delay in time was a big key in the final downfall of the German plans for their ARDENNES OFFENSIVE. The loss of their resources, both human and equipment accelerated their final defeat and caused an early end to the long war in Europe.
On 16 December 1944, the day the battle started, I was a 19 year old Sergeant, heavy machine gun squad leader (30 cal water cooled) turning twenty on January 10, 1945.
The 106th Infantry Division, my division, was spread over a 21 mile front. Normally a division covers five miles. We received the initial thrust of the German counter-offensive. I was captured on 19 December, 1944. I spent four months as a Prisoner of War, walking over 525 miles, with a loss of 50 pounds of “fighting” body weight. I was only in a sheltered camp for one month and one week... John Kline

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3AD on Google Video

WW2 US Veterans talking about the Battle of the Bulge on Google Videos

[51highland]

4 of the 200 British casualties.
On 10th January we carried out an attack across the main Laroche - Marche road. Reveille was 0600 hrs, breakfast, 06.45 hrs with the advance commencing at 09.00 hrs. We advanced in lorries to Hotton, and picked up our support tanks at Bourdon. We were to proceed down the main La Roche road through Rendeux, Hodister, Genes to Halleux. Between Hodister and Genes we came under shell-fire. We were advancing across bare hillsides in full view of German observation posts. There was no alternative.

I was sitting in the front of the truck with Lt. Bowen sitting between me and the driver. We were just cresting a hill when we took a direct hit from a German 88mm. I was blown out of the truck, dazed and a few singed hairs. When I regained my senses, I realised I was alone, I dived back and managed to pull Lt Bowen out. He had a bad face wound, and looked to have one eye missing.The driver was killed with 3 others in the back. There were 10 more wounded. This was the only truck to be hit. The leading battalion of 152 brigade had gone through unscathed.
When we had set out, a young soldier had asked if he could hve the tail gate down to let more fresh air in to the back. When the shell hit, it blew him and his mate clear, causing them minor injuries. It turned out that the young lad, George Thompson, of East Ham, London was only 17 years old and not old enough to be on active service. After treatment at an aid station he was returned home, a very lucky to be alive young man...........
Above from my Fathers memories.