NUTS
December 16, 2019 12:58 PM Subscribe
The Battle of the Bulge began 75 years ago today. "On 16 December 1944 at 05:30, the Germans began the assault with a massive, 90-minute artillery barrage using 1,600 artillery pieces across a 130-kilometer (80 mi) front..." The final Nazi offensive crashed into American lines with initial surprise and success. After weeks of brutal fighting - the Malmedy massacre, the siege of Bastogne, Patton's relief drive - its ultimate failure by January 1945 spelled the end of the Third Reich's power in the west.
US Army official site and Battlebook.
Library of Congress timeline with documents.
A National Geographic interview.
US National WW2 Museum page.
From Liberation Route Europe.
Memories from Ohio.
Museums and cemeteries.
Video: early 1945 film about Bastogne. From Band of Brothers. Simple History. American Experience. Color footage from History Channel. BBC/Time documentary. Discovery Channel. German footage.
Prevviously.
US Army official site and Battlebook.
Library of Congress timeline with documents.
A National Geographic interview.
US National WW2 Museum page.
From Liberation Route Europe.
Memories from Ohio.
Museums and cemeteries.
Video: early 1945 film about Bastogne. From Band of Brothers. Simple History. American Experience. Color footage from History Channel. BBC/Time documentary. Discovery Channel. German footage.
Prevviously.
.
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 1:49 PM on December 16, 2019
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 1:49 PM on December 16, 2019
The allies knew the Germans were in bad shape, desperately short of fuel and ordnance and even food. They figured they could take it easy and let their soldiers rest. They didn't think they would need winter clothing and boots.
This battle and the invasion of Okinawa were the biggest actions of the war for the US.
posted by Bee'sWing at 2:44 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
This battle and the invasion of Okinawa were the biggest actions of the war for the US.
posted by Bee'sWing at 2:44 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
Useful read from Yergin's The Prize, in particular:
posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:16 PM on December 16, 2019 [5 favorites]
Interestingly, on December 17, a German unit under Jochen Peiper was within a thousand feet or so of a grand prize, the Stavelot supply dump, when the Allies set some fuel ablaze to create a wall of fire. Because the map Peiper had was dated, it failed to show him the correct location and magnitude of the dump, and they missed the bounty when Peiper had his forces go round the thin wall of fire instead of through it. The oil at the Stavelot dump would have enabled the German forces to push through to Antwerp and to the English Channel at a time when the Allies were disorganized and confused.Given the current rise of nationalism globally, it's hard for me to paint any Nazis as desperate or in bad shape. We win off of the opportunities granted by their mistakes or chance miscalculations more than anything.
posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:16 PM on December 16, 2019 [5 favorites]
According to family lore, my grandfather (d. 1960) lost his leg in the Battle of the Bulge, but the date of the telegraph to my grandmother regarding his injury was Nov 28. And given the division and regiment he was in, it's more likely he was injured during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, a battle that directly preceded the Bulge, and was, from personal and other historical accounts I've read, a horrific failure. Add this to the weather and other factors already mentioned and the event just deepens in complexity. (Also, I'm still reading through these materials, so this point might be better made elsewhere.)
posted by josephtate at 4:08 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by josephtate at 4:08 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
Just a little extra info about the Band of Brothers series regarding the Battle of the Bulge:
During the episodes set during the battle, Easy Company is commanded by one lieutenant Dike. Throughout the show he is represented as incompetent and a coward. The records tell a different tale and paint a picture of a different soldier - the man won two Bronze Stars during his service in WWII. One for rallying and commanding scattered airborne troops to victory in a defensive action during Operation Market Garden and again during the fight for Bastogne where he rescued three wounded soldiers of his company while in full view and under fire from the Germans.
A witness claims that during the assault on Foy, where the HBO series shows Dike freezing up due to cowardice, Dike had actually been wounded in the shoulder and that was the cause of his halt. The man then went on to be promoted to Captain during WWII and became aide to the General commanding the 101st. He went on to serve during the Korean War.
These don't really seem like the actions of a coward, methinks.
posted by dazed_one at 4:24 PM on December 16, 2019 [10 favorites]
During the episodes set during the battle, Easy Company is commanded by one lieutenant Dike. Throughout the show he is represented as incompetent and a coward. The records tell a different tale and paint a picture of a different soldier - the man won two Bronze Stars during his service in WWII. One for rallying and commanding scattered airborne troops to victory in a defensive action during Operation Market Garden and again during the fight for Bastogne where he rescued three wounded soldiers of his company while in full view and under fire from the Germans.
A witness claims that during the assault on Foy, where the HBO series shows Dike freezing up due to cowardice, Dike had actually been wounded in the shoulder and that was the cause of his halt. The man then went on to be promoted to Captain during WWII and became aide to the General commanding the 101st. He went on to serve during the Korean War.
These don't really seem like the actions of a coward, methinks.
posted by dazed_one at 4:24 PM on December 16, 2019 [10 favorites]
I don't know. Apparently several members of Easy Company despised him.
Winters later spoke in unflattering detail about Dike in his autobiography, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Richard Winters. Likewise, in Brothers in Battle—Best of Friends, William Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron do not refer to Dike favorably. His constant, unexplained disappearances, inattention to the men under his command and his preference for remaining in a foxhole, rather than fighting, earned him the pejorative nickname of "Foxhole Norman" among the members of Easy Company.
posted by etaoin at 4:58 PM on December 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
Winters later spoke in unflattering detail about Dike in his autobiography, Beyond Band of Brothers: The War Memoirs of Richard Winters. Likewise, in Brothers in Battle—Best of Friends, William Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron do not refer to Dike favorably. His constant, unexplained disappearances, inattention to the men under his command and his preference for remaining in a foxhole, rather than fighting, earned him the pejorative nickname of "Foxhole Norman" among the members of Easy Company.
posted by etaoin at 4:58 PM on December 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
Stavelot supply dump, when the Allies set some fuel ablaze to create a wall of fire
This is a major set piece in the weirdly awful movie Battle of the Bulge from 1965 with its M48 Patton tanks playing German tanks in the treeless deserts of Spain rather than the snowy Ardennes. I saw it in Germany as a kid and for years the only thing I remembered about it was the troops singing the Panzerlied in the underground bunker and Telly Savalas driving around in his blown up tank.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:00 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
This is a major set piece in the weirdly awful movie Battle of the Bulge from 1965 with its M48 Patton tanks playing German tanks in the treeless deserts of Spain rather than the snowy Ardennes. I saw it in Germany as a kid and for years the only thing I remembered about it was the troops singing the Panzerlied in the underground bunker and Telly Savalas driving around in his blown up tank.
posted by Bee'sWing at 5:00 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
it's more likely he was injured during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, a battle that directly preceded the Bulge, and was, from personal and other historical accounts I've read, a horrific failure.
Paul Fussell discusses it for six minutes or so. His books and essays are all worth reading.
posted by BWA at 5:01 PM on December 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
Paul Fussell discusses it for six minutes or so. His books and essays are all worth reading.
posted by BWA at 5:01 PM on December 16, 2019 [4 favorites]
>invasion of Okinawa were the biggest actions of the war for the US
Liberation of the Philippines was bigger, 1.25M US vs 530,000 Japanese, plus a truly monumental sea battle
Casualties in Belgium and in the 6th & 8th Armies in the Philippines were similar tho, approaching 100,000 missing, POW, and KIA.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 5:26 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
Liberation of the Philippines was bigger, 1.25M US vs 530,000 Japanese, plus a truly monumental sea battle
Casualties in Belgium and in the 6th & 8th Armies in the Philippines were similar tho, approaching 100,000 missing, POW, and KIA.
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 5:26 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
According to family lore, my grandfather (d. 1960) lost his leg in the Battle of the Bulge, but the date of the telegraph to my grandmother regarding his injury was Nov 28.
Well these personal histories get kind of telescoped to the biggest and most widely known events, over the years. A lot of Americans will tell you that their grandfather helped liberate Auschwitz, for example, which is impossible if they served in the US Army, not the Red Army. But it's easier to remember than the name of the Dachau subcamp that grandpa's unit did reach first.
posted by thelonius at 5:34 PM on December 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
Well these personal histories get kind of telescoped to the biggest and most widely known events, over the years. A lot of Americans will tell you that their grandfather helped liberate Auschwitz, for example, which is impossible if they served in the US Army, not the Red Army. But it's easier to remember than the name of the Dachau subcamp that grandpa's unit did reach first.
posted by thelonius at 5:34 PM on December 16, 2019 [2 favorites]
We're also coming up to the 30th anniversary of the most surprising Christmas in Romania since Vlad Țepeș said "Boy, have I got a great idea for some new holiday decorations!"
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:38 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 5:38 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
Meanwhile the 10th Mountain Division and the 18th Airborne chose an unusual person to feature to commemorate the 75th anniversary. A glammed up photo of SS soldier and war criminal Joachim Peiper.
(The images were posted to verified military Facebook accounts, including the DOD's own account. And then deleted a couple of hours later. Details pending.)
posted by Nelson at 6:49 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
(The images were posted to verified military Facebook accounts, including the DOD's own account. And then deleted a couple of hours later. Details pending.)
posted by Nelson at 6:49 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]
That photo comes from a rather suspicious source.
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:46 PM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Big Al 8000 at 7:46 PM on December 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
Followup on the US Army / Nazis on Facebook thing: 18th Airborne response ("we regret..."), Washington Post, NYTimes.
posted by Nelson at 7:55 AM on December 17, 2019
posted by Nelson at 7:55 AM on December 17, 2019
[I]ts ultimate failure by January 1945 spelled the end of the Third Reich's power in the west.
It should also be noted that the Battle of the Bulge, even before it got off the ground, doomed the Reich's power in the east. Hitler stripped the Eastern Front of badly needed resources for the offensive. Of course, by late '44, Soviet victory was a foregone conclusion, but wasting men and materiel in the Battle of the Bulge prevented any further attempts at slowing down the Red Army. On to Berlin!
posted by Fukiyama at 8:27 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
It should also be noted that the Battle of the Bulge, even before it got off the ground, doomed the Reich's power in the east. Hitler stripped the Eastern Front of badly needed resources for the offensive. Of course, by late '44, Soviet victory was a foregone conclusion, but wasting men and materiel in the Battle of the Bulge prevented any further attempts at slowing down the Red Army. On to Berlin!
posted by Fukiyama at 8:27 AM on December 17, 2019 [3 favorites]
The posting of Joachim Peiper's (lovingly colorized by a self-avowed fascist and difficult to find on the intertubes) image was not an accident.
Believe them when they tell you who they are.
The post hoc rationalizations are ass covering by folks who know they have a problem in their ranks but are unwilling to do what needs to be done to root it out.
posted by Seamus at 8:27 AM on December 17, 2019 [7 favorites]
Believe them when they tell you who they are.
The post hoc rationalizations are ass covering by folks who know they have a problem in their ranks but are unwilling to do what needs to be done to root it out.
posted by Seamus at 8:27 AM on December 17, 2019 [7 favorites]
Bee'sWing: “I saw it in Germany as a kid and for years the only thing I remembered about it was the troops singing the Panzerlied in the underground bunker and Telly Savalas driving around in his blown up tank.”In fairness, those are the best parts.
posted by ob1quixote at 9:15 PM on December 17, 2019
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posted by wenestvedt at 1:38 PM on December 16, 2019 [3 favorites]