Battle of France Ends - 1944

Nov. 8 - Ike ordered broad offensive; main HQ at Versailles, advanced HQ at Reims

Metz liberated - German officer captured, ILN 12/2/44

"A Nazi soldier, heavily armed, carries ammunition boxes forward with companion in territory taken by their counteroffensive in this scene from captured German film." Belgium, 12/44 from Patch/NA - bg

Pvt. 1st Class. Margerum, Philadelphia, PA, walks the road through a peaceful forest in the Bastogne area, as he returns from the front lines. Belgium or Luxembourg., 12/27/44, from NA

Hitler's "Bulge" offensive from Time, 12/44

Battle of the Bulge sources - bg

• Monty in north against Roermund & the Ruhr
• Bradley against Aachen & Hurtgen Forest
• Patton against Metz, taken Nov. 23
• Devers in south ag. Strasbourg, taken Nov. 23
• "The Big Push" map Time 11/26/44

"All Out Drive On Germany," Universal 17-349 newsreel, 11/22/44 (2) on DVD54

Allied December plans

• double envelopment of Ruhr after breeching West Wall, Monty from north, Bradley from south
• opposed by British at Dec. 12 meeting in London
• Ike & Tedder vs. Churchill & Brooke
• Brooke argued for principle of concentration of force, not dispersal of resources
• but Bulge caused decline of Monty and British

German December plans

• Hitler had proposed Wacht am Rhein offensive Sept. 16
• launched V-2 rockets against Antwerp
• infiltration by small SS units of Otto Skorzeny
• Autumn Mist Dec. 2 at Berlin Reich Chancellory
• 5th & 6th Panzer armies of Hasso von Manteuffel and Sepp Dietrich
• supported by Volksgrenadier divisions
• 2299 new tanks, 2998 new planes for west front
• for 1st time, west front stronger than east front (only 75 divisions)

Battle of the Bulge Dec. 16-31

• 2 Panzer armies (200,000 in 24 divisions) attacked Middleton's 3 divisions: 4th and 28th Divisions weak from Huertgen Forest; 106th Division untested
• 9th Armored Division helped 4th Division slow German attack in the south
• no response from Monty or Bradley
• Ike sent 7th & 10th Armored Divisions to Ardennes
• Dec. 17, Dietrich diverted at Saint Vith by 7th Armored
• Dec. 19, Manteuffel met at Bastogne by 101st Airborne (by truck)

101st Airborne McAuliffe: "Nuts!"

• but 8000 Americans did surrender - most since Bataan
• 1st Panzer commander Joachim Peiper ordered massacre at Malmedy
• caused hatred of Germans - cited at Nuremberg

Ike's response to Bulge attack

• not just defend, but an opportunity to destroy German army = attrition
• Monty ordered to attack from north, Patton from south
• "Battering the Bulge" map
• 11,000 trucks moved 60,000 U.S. troops starting Dec. 17
• Ike desparate for manpower - offer to criminals, but only 15+ sentences volunteered ("Dirty Dozen")
• better response from black service crews - were willing
• Ike also worried about his rear lines - need to secure Meuse bridges
• meant withdrawal from Strasbourg, but deGaulle opposed Jan. 3
• Ike decided to change his order - no withdrawal

Dec. 22 - Patton began to turn his army 90 degrees to north

• as he had promised Ike Dec. 19 - 250,000 troops 75 miles
• Dec. 26 - his 4th Armored Div. relieved Bastogne
• Collins thought like a corps; Patton like an army

Dec. 23 - weather change allowed air power and supply

• 155mm Long Tom - Time on Target artiillery serenade, with proximity fuse
• USAAF flew 11,000 sorties per day
• key was combination of tactics, weapons, supplies

Dec. 27 - Autumn Mist stopped at Celles

• 2nd Armored Division from Hodges' 1st Army attacked the stalled 2nd Panzer Division at Celles only 5 miles from the Meuse, and destroyed most of its 88 tanks and 28 assault guns

Monty delayed attack until Jan. 3

• had been given Bradley's 1st and 9th Armies by Ike
• real possibility of being replaced by Harold Alexander
• Patton wanted deep envelopment of base of Bulge, but overruled
• GI soldiers fought well, but Allied commanders did poorly
• 81,000 casualties including 19,000 dead; plus 15,000 prisoners lost
• but replacements of 28 Divisions by Feb. from U.S.

"Counterattack Clipped" map from Time, 1945/01/08

"Germans Halted," Universal 18-360 newsreel 12/29/44 from DVD54

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