The Battle of the Bulge

P

piper4

Active member
I am currently reading the book A Blood-Dimmed Tide: The Battle of the Bulge by the men who fought it, this book has certainly opened my eyes to the regiments etc., that was involved when the Germans made their breakthrough and the hard fighting that took place and the tremendous losses.
From anything I have read previously they seemed to focus on 101st & 82nd Airborne and also what took place around Bastogne. I feel those men who fought at the onset seemed to be overlooked, I'm probably wrong in that assumption as I live in England. I think they are owed a debt of gratitude but nothing seems to appear on any of the History Channels etc., to show this or what they went through.
Once I finish my book I will be reading a book about Hurtgen Forest, so if anyone could recommend books that have the soldiers accounts in WW2 that would be great, I recently read a book about Monte Casino and found that interesting too.

Kind regards
Piper4
 
tomtom22

thank you so much for the link, just had a look and it's got so much that's of interest to me, reckon I won't surface for days!

piper4
 
I'm curious, Were the 82nd in Bastogne with the 101st, too? :? I thought 101st were the only that trapped or encircled by the Germans in Bastogne.
 
Fox said:
I'm curious, Were the 82nd in Bastogne with the 101st, too? :? I thought 101st were the only that trapped or encircled by the Germans in Bastogne.
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No the 82nd were not there but they did their part. The 82nd and 101st are two very hard headed units, thats why they get the credit. Here is a good poster to give you an idea of their mentality. Airborne Infantry is always going to get the credit, I cant say they dont deserve it either.


http://www.military-quotes.com/forum/ww2-poster-t33532.html
 
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Hi
Thanks for the poster.

I agree with you on the airborne infantry. Facing the germans when they broke through the lines must have been hellish for the men as I am learning more about who was there and their accounts of what happened I just think more could be said about them.

Thanks
piper4
 
Piper 4 Try "The Last Assault" by Charles Whiting. A great book on the
Battle of the Bulge!
 
Piper4
My Grandpa was a Sergeant in WW2 He fought in The Battle of the Bulge. He was with the 194th Division, 17th Airborne Glider Infantry Regiment "Thunder from Heaven" then toward then end of the war was transferred to the 101th "Screaming Eagles". He told many stories about that time.
There are some very interesting and amazing stories to be heard from the men that were in the Glider Infantry because they played a huge part in the war. Here is one of the site you can get on if you like.

www.ww2-airborne.us/18corps/17abn/17_overview.html
 
Hi! (firstly sorry for;) my english)
I'm making a project for History and I have to use some historical material (quotes or pictures - but not maps)
I choose Ardennes Offensive and I also found a quotation:
"This is undoubtedly the greatest battle of the War and will, I believe, be regarded
as an ever famous American Victory."
-Sir Winston Churchill, addressing the House of Commons
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But it's not very good, so can you please help me? I am sure, you know (or you know, where I can find) some other historical material about Ardennes Offensive.
Thanks a lot
 
well, that was the first, what I did, but more than images I need some quotations or at most some caricature
but thx
 
I have copied some of Hitler’s quotes during the Ardennes offensive period from Hitler’s War by the Controversial Historian David Irving. (I have no reason to doubt these) although they are rather pitiful except the last which is a classic quote said to Hitler.

"If we succeed" he explained on Dec2 to Generals Hasso Von Manteuffel and Sepp Dietrich, "the two Panzer generals involved, "we will have knocked out half the enemy front, then lets see what happens".

Commenting on the Allies overconfidence. "Perhaps there was also the belief that I might already be dead, or at least suffering from cancer somewhere - unable to drink or live much longer, which would rule me out as a danger".

"There must not be one gun barrel that does not join in this artillery preparation"

Commenting to Model, "If you comply with all these basic operational guidelines a great victory is certain".

After learning the super-heavy Jagd-Tiger tanks were not even deployed, Hitler said "They must be insane, if the enemy attacks our defences with ten or twelve tanks there’s enough screaming to bring the house down, but when we’ve got twenty four of the heaviest tanks in the world they aren’t even used".

"When all goes well people are on top of the world but when everything starts going wrong they just fold up and give in" Hitler explained to a Panzer General.

"The purpose of these attacks will mainly be to eliminate the Americans south of our entry point – to destroy them bit by bit, to eliminate them division by division".

"We can’t rely on the v1 or v2 bombardment alone".

On Jan 15, after the Ardennes offensive had failed and bad news came in about the Eastern front, an SS Colonel on Hitler’s staff said to him; "Berlin will be the most practical as our headquarters, we'll soon be able to take the streetcar from the eastern to the western front". Hitler laughed wanly at this witticism and the rest of his staff joined in.
 
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Band of Brothers has a quote in the section on the battle of the Bulge were one paratrooper says " They have us surrounded--the poor bastards.Which shows how tough the airborne units fought.Also in regards to the Churchill quote he was probably referring to Patton who pulled off all but one unit off his attack on the Siegfried line and rescued Bastogne in a couple of days.
 
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