CMH_Pub_72-26 Ardennes-Alsace.pdf

7/27/2019 CMH_Pub_72-26 Ardennes-Alsace.pdf

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Introduction

World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in

the history of mankind. However, the half century that now separatesus from that conflict has exacted its toll on our collective knowledge.While World War II continues to absorb the interest of military schol-ars and historians, as well as its veterans, a generation of Americanshas grown to maturity largely unaware of the political, social, and mil-itary implications of a war that, more than any other, united us as apeople with a common purpose.

Highly relevant today, World War II has much to teach us, not

only about the profession of arms, but also about military prepared-ness, global strategy, and combined operations in the coalition waragainst fascism. During the next several years, the U.S. Army willparticipate in the nations 50th anniversary commemoration of WorldWar II. The commemoration will include the publication of variousmaterials to help educate Americans about that war. The works pro-duced will provide great opportunities to learn about and renewpride in an Army that fought so magnificently in what has been

called the mighty endeavor.World War II was waged on land, on sea, and in the air over severaldiverse theaters of operation for approximately six years. The followingessay is one of a series of campaign studies highlighting those strugglesthat, with their accompanying suggestions for further reading, aredesigned to introduce you to one of the Armys significant military featsfrom that war.

This brochure was prepared in the U.S. Army Center of MilitaryHistory by Roger Cirillo. I hope this absorbing account of that periodwill enhance your appreciation of American achievements duringWorld War II.

GORDON R. SULLIVANGeneral, United States ArmyChief of Staff


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Ardennes-Alsace

16 December 194425 January 1945

In his political testament Mein Kampf(My Struggle) AdolfHitler wrote, Strength lies not in defense but in attack. ThroughoutWorld War II, attempts to gain or regain the initiative had character-ized Hitlers influence on military operations. Thus, when the militarysituation in late 1944 looked darkest on the Western Front, an enemyoffensive to redress the balance on the battlefieldand thereby crippleor delay the Allied advanceshould have come as no surprise.

Hitlers great gamble began during the nights of 13, 14, and 15December, when the initial assault force of German armor, artillery,and infantry gradually staged forward to attack positions along theBelgian-German-Luxembourg border. This mustered force, with morethan 200,000 men in thirteen infantry and seven panzerdivisions andwith nearly 1,000 tanks and almost 2,000 guns, deployed along a frontof 60 milesits operational armor holdings equaling that on the entireEastern Front. Five more divisions moved forward in a second wave,

while still others, equipped with at least 450 more tanks, followed inreserve.On the Allied side the threatened American sector appeared quiet.

The 15 December daily situation report for the VIII Corps, which layin the path of two of Hitlers armies, noted: There is nothing toreport. This illusion would soon be shattered.

Strategic Setting

In August 1944, while his armies were being destroyed inNormandy, Hitler secretly put in motion actions to build a largereserve force, forbidding its use to bolster Germanys beleaguereddefenses. To provide the needed manpower, he trimmed existing mili-tary forces and conscripted youths, the unfit, and old men previouslyuntouched for military service. Panzerdivisions were rebuilt with thecadre of survivors from units in Normandy or on the Eastern Front,while newly created Volksgrenadier(peoples infantry) divisions

were staffed with veteran commanders and noncommissioned officersand the new conscripts. By increasing the number of automaticweapons and the number of supporting assault gun and rocket battal-ions in each division, Hitler hoped to make up for hurried training andthe lack of fighting fitness. Despite the massive Allied air bombard-


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ment of Germany and the constant need to replace destroyed divisionson both the Eastern and Western Fronts, where heavy fighting contin-ued, forces were gathered for use in what Hitler was now callingOperationWACHT AM RHINE (WATCH ON THE RHINE).

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THE BATTLEGROUND15 December 1944

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In September Hitler named the port of Antwerp, Belgium, as theobjective. Selecting the Eifel region as a staging area, Hitler intendedto mass twenty-five divisions for an attack through the thinly heldArdennes Forest area of southern Belgium and Luxembourg. Once the

Meuse River was reached and crossed, these forces would swingnorthwest some 60 miles to envelop the port of Antwerp. The maneu-ver was designed to sever the already stretched Allied supply lines inthe north and to encircle and destroy a third of the Allies groundforces. If successful, Hitler believed that the offensive could smash theAllied coalition, or at least greatly cripple its ground combat capabili-ties, leaving him free to focus on the Russians at his back door.

Timing was crucial. Allied air power ruled the skies during theday, making any open concentrations of German military strength onthe ground extremely risky. Hitler, therefore, scheduled the offensiveto take place when inclement weather would ground Allied planes, orat least limit their attacks on his advancing columns. Because the req-uisite forces and supplies had to be assembled, he postponed the start-ing date from November until mid-December. This additional prepara-tion time, however, did not ease the minds of the few German generalsand staff officers entrusted with planningWACHT AMRHINE.

Both the nominal Commander-in-Chief West Field Marshal Gerd

von Rundstedt and Army Group Bcommander Field Marshal WalterModel, who had primary responsibility for WACHT AMRHINE, ques-tioned the scope of the offensive. Both argued for a more limitedattack, to pinch out the American-held salient north of the Ardennesaround Aachen. Borrowing a bridge-players term, they referred toHitlers larger objectives as the grand slam, or big solution, but pro-posed instead a small solution more compatible with the limited forcebeing raised.

Rundstedt and Model believed that Hitlers legions were incapableof conducting a blitzkrieg, or lightning war, campaign. The twinswords that had dominated the field during the 1940 drive acrossFrance, tanks and air power, no longer existed in the numbers neces-sary to strike a decisive blow, nor was the hastily conscripted infantry,even when led by experienced officers and sergeants, up to the earlywar standards. Supply columns, too, would be prone to interdiction orbreakdown on the Eifels limited roads. To Hitlers generals, the grand

slamwas simply asking for too much to be done with too little at hand.The determining factor was the terrain itself. The Ardennes con-sists of a series of parallel ridges and valleys generally running fromnortheast to southwest, as did its few good roads in 1944. About athird of the region is coniferous forest, with swamps and marshes in

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the northlands and deep defiles and gorges where numerous rivers andstreams cut the ridges. Dirt secondary roads existed, making north-south movement possible, with the road centersBastogne andHouffalize in the south, and Malmedy and St. Vith in the northcru-cial for military operations. After the winters first freeze, tanks couldmove cross-country in much of the central sector. Fall 1944, however,brought the promise of mud, because of rain, and the advancing daysof December, the promise of snow. Either could limit the quick

advance needed by WACHT AMRHINE. Once the Meuse River, west ofthe Ardennes, was gained, the wide river itself and cliffs on the eastbank presented a significant obstacle if the bridges were not capturedintact. Since the roads and terrain leading to Antwerp thereafter weregood, the German planners focused on the initial breakthrough and therun west to the Meuse. The terrain, which made so little sense as anattack avenue northwestward, guaranteed the surprise needed.

Previous offensives through the Ardennes in World War I and

early in World War II had followed the major roads southwestward,and had been made in good weather. The defenses then had alwaysbeen light screens, easily pushed away. In 1940 the weakly opposedGerman armor needed three days to traverse the easier terrain in thesouthern Ardennes in good weather, on dry roads. For WACHT AM

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Typical Ardennes terrain. (National Archives)


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RHINE, the American line had to be broken and crushed immediately toopen paths for the attacking panzers; otherwise, the offensive mightbog down into a series of fights for roads and the numerous villages onthe way to the Meuse. Precious fuel would be used to deploy tanks to

fight across fields. More importantly, time would be lost giving thedefenders the opportunity to position blocking forces or to attackenemy flanks. Only surprise, sheer weight of numbers, and minimalhard fighting could guarantee a chance at success. If the Americansfought long and well, the same terrain that guaranteed surprise wouldbecome a trap.

The Ardennes held little fascination for the Allies, either as astaging area for their own counterattacks or as a weak spot in theirlines. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme AlliedCommander, had concentrated forces north and south of the areawhere the terrain was better suited for operations into Germany. FieldMarshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomerys 21 Army Group to the northbegan preparations for the planned crossing of the Rhine in early1945. Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradleys 12th Army Group to the south andLt. Gen. J acob L. Devers 6th Army Group in the Alsace regionwould also launch attacks and additional Rhine crossings from theirsectors.

Located in the center of Bradleys sector, the Ardennes had beenquiet since mid-September. Referred to as a ghost front, one com-pany commander described the sector as a nursery and old folkshome. . . . The 12th Army Groups dispositions reflected Bradleysoperational plans. Lt. Gen. William H. Simpsons Ninth Army andmost of Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges First Army occupied a 40-mile area north of the Ardennes, concentrating for an attack into theRuhr industrial region of Germany. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, J r.s

Third Army was in a 100-mile sector south of the forest, preparing athrust into the vital Saar mining region. In between, the First Armyheld 88 miles of the front with only four divisions, two green unitsoccupying ground to gain experience and two veteran units lickingwounds and absorbing replacements; an armored infantry battalion;and two mechanized cavalry squadrons. Behind this thin screen wasone green armored division, whose two uncommitted combat com-mands straddled two separate corps, as well as a cavalry squadron

and an assortment of artillery, engineer, and service units.Bradley judged his decision to keep the Ardennes front thinlyoccupied to be a calculated risk. Nor was he alone in not seeing dan-ger. Probability, not capability, dominated Allied thinking about theWehrmachts next moves on the Western Front in mid-December 1944.

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Commanders and intelligenceofficers (G2) at every levelfrom the Supreme Headquarters,Allied Expeditionary Force

(SHAEF), to the divisions hold-ing the linejudged that theGermans were too weak toattempt regaining the initiativeby a large-scale offensive.Despite their awareness thatenemy units were refitting andconcentrating across the line,they concluded exactly whatHitler had intended them to con-clude. K nowing that theGermans were concerned withmajor threats to both the Ruhrand the Saar, Eisenhowers G2believed that they probablywould use the uncommittedSixth Panzer Army, suspected to

be in the northern Eifel, to bol-ster their weakening northerndefenses, or at least to cripplethe impending Allied pushtoward the Ruhr. Both Hodgesand Pattons G2s viewed theenemy as a reflection of theirown operational plans and thus

assessed the German buildup asno more than preparations tocounterattack the First and ThirdArmies assaults.

With only enough troops inthe Ardennes to hold a series ofstrongpoints loosely connectedby intermittent patrols, the

Americans extended no groundreconnaissance into the Germansector. Poor weather had maskedareas from aerial photography,and the Germans enforced radio

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silence and strict countersecuri-ty measures. Equally important,the Allies top secret communi-cations interception and decryp-

tion effort, code-named ULTRA,offered clues but no definitivestatement of Hitlers intentions.YetWACHT AMRHINEs best secu-rity was the continued Alliedbelief that the Germans wouldnot attack, a belief held up tozero hour on 16 Decemberdesignated by the Germans asNull-Tag(Zero-Day).

Battle Plans

Field Marshal Modelsattack plan, called HERBSTNEBEL(AUTUMNFOG), assigned Lt.Gen. Josef Sepp Dietrichs

Si xth Panzer Ar mythe maineffort. Dietrich would attack

Hodges First Army along the boundary separating Maj. Gen. LeonardT. Gerows V Corps in the north from Maj. Gen. Troy H. MiddletonsVIII Corps to the south, brushing aside or overrunning the V Corps99th Infantry Division and a cavalry squadron of the VIII Corps 14thCavalry Group before driving for the Meuse and Antwerp. South oftheSixth Panzer Army, Lt. Gen. Hasso von Manteuffels Fi fth Panzer

Armywould hit the VIII Corps 106th Infantry Division and part of its28th Infantry Division, tearing open Middletons thin front and addinga secondary effort. Farther south, Lt. Gen. Erich BrandenbergersSeventh Armywould attack the remainder of the 28th as well as theVIII Corps 4th Infantry Division and then cover the advance of thepanzersas far as the Meuse River. An airborne drop and infiltration bysmall teams disguised in American uniforms were added to createhavoc in the American rear.

North of the Sixth Panzer Army, the six divisions of Lt. Gen.Gustav von Zangens Fi fteenth Armyhad a dual role. In addition tofighting and thereby holding American divisions in the crucial Aachensector, Zangen would attack southward on order after Dietrichs panz-ershad broken the American line, a variation of the pincers attack

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Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges

(National Archives)


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originally preferred by Hitlersgenerals.

The Sixth Panzer Armywasto attack in two waves. The first

would consist of the LXVI ICorps, with the newly organized272dand 326th VolksgrenadierDivisions, and the I SS PanzerCorps, with the 1stand 12th SSPanzer, the 12thand 277thVolksgrenadier, and the 3dParachute Divisions. The 150thSpecial Br igadeand a parachutecontingent would seize terrainand bridges ahead of the mainbody after the two corps brokethrough the American defenses.Dietrich planned to commit histhird corps, the I I SS PanzerCorps, with the 2dand 9th SSPanzer Divisions, in the second

wave. The Sixth Panzer Armys1,000-plus artillery pieces and90 Tiger tanks made it the strongest force deployed. AlthoughDietrichs initial sector frontage was only 23 miles, his assault concen-trated on less than half that ground. Relying on at least a 6:1 troopsuperiority at the breakthrough points, he expected to overwhelm theAmericans and reach the Meuse River by nightfall of the third day.

According to Dietrichs plan, the LXVII Corpswould secure the

Sixth Panzer Armys northern flank. By sidestepping Monschau toseize the poorly roaded, forested hills and upland moors of the HoheVenn, the LXVIIs two divisions would block the main roads leadinginto the breakthrough area from the north and east. Simultaneously,the I SS Panzer Corpsto the south would use its three infantry divi-sions to punch holes in the American line and swing northwesterly tojoin the left flank of the LXVI I Corps. Together, the five divisionswould form a solid shoulder, behind which thepanzersof the Iand I I

SS Panzer Corpswould advance along theSixth Panzer Armys routesleading west and northwest.Three terrain features were critical to Dietrichs panzerthrust: the

Elsenborn ridge, the Losheim Gap, and the Schnee Eifel ridge. TheElsenborn ridge, a complex series of fingers and spurs of the southern

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Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton

(National Archives)


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Hohe Venn, controlled access to two of the westerly panzerroutes; athird passed just to the south. The 277th Volksgrenadier Divisionwould attack into the east defenses of the ridge, and to the south the12th SS Panzer Divisionwould debouch from its forest trail approach-

es onto the hard roads running through and south of the ridge.Further to the south the Losheim Gap appears as open rollingground between the Elsenborn ridge to the northwest and the long,heavily wooded Schnee Eifel ridge to the southeast. Measuring about 5miles wide at the German border and narrowing throughout its rough-ly 14-mile length as it runs from northeast to southwest, the gap is anunlikely military avenue, subdivided by lesser ridges, twists, and hills.Its roads, however, were well built and crucial for the Germanadvance. Over its two major routes Dietrich intended to pass most ofhis armor.

TheSixth Panzer Armyshared the Losheim Gap as an avenue withits southern neighbor, theFifth Panzer Army. Their boundary reflectedHitlers obsession with a concentrated attack to ensure a breakthrough,but the common corridor added a potential for confusion. The SixthPanzer Armywas to attack with the 12th Volksgrenadierand the 3dParachute Divisionsthrough the northern portion of the gap, while theFifth Panzer Armys northern corps, theLXVI, would open its southern

portions. Additionally, theLXVI Corpshad to eliminate the Americanforces holding the Schnee Eifel on the southern flank of the gap andseize the crucial road interchange at St. Vith about 10 miles furtherwest. Manteuffel wanted part of the 18th Volksgrenadier D ivisiontopush through the southern part of the gap and hook into the rear of theSchnee Eifel, the remainder of the division to complete the encir-clement to the south of the ridge, and the62d Volksgrenadier Divisionto anchor theLXVIs flank with a drive toward St. Vith.

To the south of the Losheim GapSchnee Eifel area, along thenorth-south flowing Our River, the Fifth Panzer Armys major thrustsdevolved to its LVIIIand XLVII Panzer Corps, aligned north to southwith four of their five divisions in the assault wave. Each panzercorpshad one designated route, but the Fifth Panzer Armycommander didnot plan to wait for infantry to clear them. Manteuffel intended tocommit his armor early rather than in tandem with the infantry,expecting to break through the extended American line quickly and

expedite his advance to the west. TheLVIIIs 116th Panzerand 560thVolksgrenadier Divisionswere to penetrate the area astride the OurRiver, tying the 106th and 28th Divisions together, and to capture thethree tank-capable bridges in the sector before driving west to theMeuse. To the south the XLVIIs 2d Panzerand 26th Volksgrenadier

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Divisionswere to seize crossings on the Our and head toward the keyBastogne road interchange 19 miles to the west. The Panzer LehrDivisionwould follow, adding depth to the corps attack.

Covering theFifth Panzer Armys southern flank were theLXXXV

and LXXX Corpsof BrandenbergersSeventh Army. TheLXXXVs 5thParachuteand 352d Volksgrenadier Divisionswere to seize crossingson the Our River, and the LXXXs 276thand 212th VolksgrenadierDivisions, feinting toward the city of Luxembourg, were to drawAmerican strength away from Manteuffels main attack. The 276thwould attack south of the confluence of the Our and Sauer Rivers,enveloping the 3-mile defensive sector held by an American armoredinfantry battalion, and to the south the 212th, after crossing atEchternach, would push back the large concentration of Americanartillery in the sector and anchor Army Group Bs southern flank. TheGermans had a fairly good idea of the American forces opposingthem. Facing Dietrichs Sixth Panzer Armywas the V Corps 99thInfantry Division. Newly arrived, the 99th occupied a series of forwardpositions along 19 miles of the wooded Belgian-German border, its395th, 393d, and 394th Infantry regiments on line from north to south,with one battalion behind the divisions deep right flank available as areserve. Gerow, the V Corps commander, was focused at the time on a

planned attack by his 2d Infantry Division toward the Roer River damsto the north and had given less attention to the defensive dispositionsof the 99th. This small operation had already begun on 13 December,with the 2d Division passing through the area held by the 99thDivisions northernmost regiment. Two battalions of the 395th Infantryjoined the action. Slowed by pillboxes and heavy defenses in thewoods, the 2ds attacks were still ongoing when the enemy offensivebegan on the sixteenth.

To the south of the 99th Division the First Army had split respon-sibility for the Elsenborn ridgeLosheim Gap area between Gerows VCorps and Middletons VIII Corps, with the corps boundary runningjust north of the village of Losheim. Middletons major worry was theLosheim Gap, which potentially exposed the Schnee Eifel, the latterheld by five battalions of the newly arrived 106th Division. WhenBradley refused his request to withdraw to a shorter, unexposed line,the VIII Corps commander positioned eight battalions of his corps

artillery to support the forces holding the Losheim GapSchnee Eifelregion.South of the corps boundary the 18th Cavalry Squadron, belong-

ing to the recently attached 14th Cavalry Group, outposted the 9,000-yard Losheim Gap. Reinforced by a company of 3-inch towed tank

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destroyers, the 18th occupied eight positions thatgave good coverage in fair weather but could beeasily bypassed in the fog or dark. To remedythis, Middleton had assigned an additional caval-

ry squadron to reinforce the gaps thin line underthe 14th Group. The cavalry force itself wasattached to the 106th Division, but with the 106thslowly settling into its positions, a coordinateddefense between the two had yet to be decided.As a result, the reinforcing squadron was quar-tered 20 miles to the rear, waiting to be orderedforward.

South of the Schnee Eifel Middletons forcesfollowed the Our River with the 106th Divisions424th Infantry and, to its south, the 28th Division.After suffering more than 6,000 casualties in theHuertgen Forest battles in November, the 28thwas resting and training replacements in a 30-milearea along the Our. I ts three regimentsthe112th, 110th, and 109th Infantrywere on linefrom north to south. Two battalions of the 110thInfantry held 10 miles of the front and the divi-sions center, while their sister battalion was keptas part of the division reserve. The 110th had sixcompany-sized strongpoints manned by infantryand engineers along the ridge between the Ourand Clerf Rivers to the west, which the troopscalled Skyline Drive. Through the center of thissector ran the crucial road to Bastogne.

South of the 28th Division the sector was heldby part of Combat Command A of the newlyarrived 9th Armored Division and by the 4thInfantry Division, another veteran unit restingfrom previous battles. These forces, with the 4thsnorthern regiment, the 12th Infantry, positioned asthe southernmost unit in the path of the Germanoffensive, held the line of the Sauer River cover-

ing the approaches to the city of Luxembourg.Behind this thinly stretched defensive line of newunits and battered veterans, Middleton had fewreserves and even fewer options available for deal-ing with enemy threats.

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62d Vg Div

3d PrchtDiv

SIXTHPZ

FIFTHPZ

XXXX

1st SSPz Div

I SS PzCorps

277thVg Div

12th SSPz Div

326th VgDiv

LXVII Corps

12thVg Div

18th Vg Div(-)

18th Vg Div(Elms)

LXVI Corps

XXX

423d Inf

422d Inf

424th Inf

Corps

XX

III

III

III

III

393dInf

394thInf

14th Cav(-)

99XX

XX99

2XX99

2

99XX

106

III

102d Cav

395th Inf

V Corps

Ou

rR

iver

Roer Riv er

Amblve

R

SCHN

EE

EI F E

L

EV

EN

N

Prm

G

E

R

M

A

N

Y

Losheim

Lanzerath

Holzheim

Krinkelt

Bllingen

Rocherath

Butgenbach

ELSEN

BORN

RIDGE

Elsenborn

Ormont

Habscheid

Winterspelt

Bleialf

Schnberg

Recht

Waimes

I U M

St. Vith

Monschau

Baraque Michel

Schleiden

BurgReuland

Auw

Manderfeld

Roth

Honsfeld

Ligneuville

RS

0 and Above

LL

g 15 Dec

ttacks, 1619 Dec

Attacks, 1619 Dec

g 19 Dec

ZONE

4

3


16/56

Opening Attacks, 1618 December

At 0530 on 16 December theSixth Panzer Armys artillery com-menced preparation fires. These fires, which ended at 0700, wereduplicated in every sector of the three attacking German armies. Atfirst the American defenders believed the fires were only a demonstra-tion. Simultaneously, German infantry moved unseen through the dark

and morning fog, guided by searchlight beams overhead. Yet, despitelocal surprise, Dietrichs attack did not achieve the quick breakthroughplanned. TheLXVII Corps attack north and south of Monschau failedimmediately. One division arrived too late to attack; the other had itsassault broken by determined resistance. The 277th VolksgrenadierDivisions infiltrating attacks followed the preparation fires closely.The Germans overran some of the 99th Divisions forest outposts, butthey were repulsed attempting to cross open fields near their objec-

tives, the twin villages of K rinkelt-Rocherath. By nightfall theAmericans still contested the woods to the north and east of the vil-lages. The 99ths southern flank, however, was in great peril. The12thVolksgrenadier Divisionhad successfully cleared the 1st SS PanzerDivisions main assault avenue, taking the village of Losheim in the

16

German troops advancing past abandoned American equipment.

(National Archives)


17/56

early morning and moving on to separate the VIII Corps cavalry fromits connection with the 99th.

South of the American corps boundary the Germans were moresuccessful. Poor communications had further strained the loosely coor-

dinated defense of the 106th Division and the 14th Cavalry Group inthe Losheim Gap. The German predawn preparation fires had targetedroad junctions, destroying most of the pole-mounted communicationswire interchanges. With their major wire command nets silenced, theAmerican defenders had to rely on radio relay via artillery nets, whichthe mountainous terrain made unreliable.

The attack in the Losheim Gap, in fact, was the offensives great-est overmatch. The 3d Parachute Di visionran up against only onecavalry troop and a tank destroyer company holding over half thesector, and its southern neighbors, the two reinforced regiments ofthe 18th Volksgrenadier D i vi si on, hit four platoons of cavalry.Although some American positions had been bypassed in the dark,the attacking Germans had generally cleared the area by late morn-ing. Poor communications and general confusion limited defensivefire support to one armored field artillery battalion. More important-ly, the cavalrys porous front opened the American rear to Germaninfantry; by dawn some of the defenders artillery and support units

behind the Schnee Eifel encountered the enemy. Subsequently, manyguns were lost, while others hastily clogged the roads to find saferground.

The uncoordinated defense of the 106th Division and 14th CavalryGroup now led to tragedy. The cavalry commander quickly realizedthat his outposts could neither hold nor survive. After launching oneabortive counterattack northward against 3d Parachute Divisionele-ments with his reserve squadron, he secured permission to withdraw

before his road-bound force was trapped against the wooded heights tohis rear. This opened the V and VIII Corps boundary and separated thecavalry, Middletons key information source on his northern flank,from the Schnee Eifel battle. Throughout the day of 16 December the3dpushed north, ultimately overrunning the cavalrys remaining out-posts and capturing a small force of the 99th Division. But all of thesescattered forces fought valiantly so that by dark the Sixth PanzerArmys route was still clogged by units mopping up bypassed

Americans and their own supply and support trains. To the south the18th Volksgrenadier Divisions attack in the Losheim Gap had slid bythe cavalry, but failed to clear the open ridge behind the Schnee Eifel.South of the Schnee Eifel the rest of the 18thwas unable to pushthrough the defenders to catch the 106ths units on top of the Schnee

17


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Eifel in a pincer. Further south the 106ths 424th Infantry had blockedthe path of the 62d Volksgrenadier Divisionacross the Our River. Bydark the 106th had thus lost little ground. It had committed its reserveto block the enemy threat to its south and was expecting Combat

Command B, 9th Armored Division, shifting from V Corps reserve, toconduct a relieving attack via St. Vith toward the Schnee Eifel. Butwhile the defenders moved to restore their positions, the 18th, bysearchlight and flare, continued to press south from the gap.

South of the 106th Division, the 28th Division fended off theFifthPanzer Armys thrusts. In the north the 112th Infantry held back theLVIII Panzer Corps two divisions, while the 110th Infantry blockedthe paths of theXLVII Panzer Corps three in the center. The 110thsstrongpoints, which received some tank reinforcement from the divi-sion reserve, held firm throughout the sixteenth, blocking the routewestward. By dark, although German infantry had crossed the Our andstarted infiltrating, American roadblocks still prevented any armormovement toward Bastogne.

South of the Fi fth Panzer Army, Brandenbergers Seventh Armyalso failed to break through the American line. The 28th Divisions109th Infantry managed to hold on to its 9-mile front. Although theLXXXV Corps two divisions had seized crossings on the Our and

achieved some penetrations between the regiments company strong-points, they failed to advance further. Similarly, the Germans south-ernmost attack was held by the 4th Divisions 12th Infantry. TheLXXXCorps divisions met with heavy resistance, and by nightfall theAmericans still held their positions all along theSeventh Armyfront,despite some infiltration between company strongpoints.

Hitler responded to the first days reports with unbridled optimism.Rundstedt, however, was less sanguine. The needed breakthrough had

not been achieved, no major armored units had been committed, and thekeypanzerroutes were still blocked. In fact, the first day of battle set thetone for the entire American defense. In every engagement theAmericans had been outnumbered, in some sectors facing down tanksand assault guns with only infantry weapons. Darkness, fog, and inter-mittent drizzle or snow had favored the infiltrating attackers; but, despiteinroads made around the defenses, the Germans had been forced toattack American positions frontally to gain access to the vital roads.

Time had been lost and more would be spent to achieve a completebreakthrough. In that sense, thegrand slamwas already in danger.American senior commanders were puzzled by the situation. The

Germans apparently had attacked along a 60-mile front with strongforces, including many new units not identified in the enemy order of

18


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battle. Yet no substantial ground had been lost. With many communica-tions links destroyed by the bombardment and the relative isolation ofmost defensive positions, the generals were presented with a panoramaof numerous small-unit battles without a clear larger picture.

Nevertheless, command action was forthcoming. By nightfall ofthe sixteenth, although response at both the First Army and 12th ArmyGroup headquarters was guarded, Eisenhower had personally orderedthe 7th Armored Division from the Ninth Army and the 10th ArmoredDivision from the Third Army to reinforce Middletons hard-pressedVIII Corps. In addition, shortly after midnight, Hodges First Armybegan moving forces south from the Aachen sector, while the ThirdArmy headquarters, on Pattons initiative, began detailed planning todeal with the German offensive.

Within the battle area the two corps commanders struggled torespond effectively to the offensive, having only incomplete and frag-mentary reports from the field. Gerow, the V Corps commander in thenorth, requested that the 2d Divisions Roer River dams attack be can-celed; however, Hodges, who viewed the German action against the99th Division as a spoiling operation, initially refused. Middleton, theVIII Corps commander in the south, changed his plans for the 9thArmored Divisions Combat Command B, ordering it to reinforce the

southern flank of the 106th Division. The newly promised 7thArmored Division would assume the CCBs original mission of reliev-ing troops on the Schnee Eifel via St. Vith. Thereafter, mixed signalsbetween the VIII Corps and the 106th Division led to disaster.Whether by poor communications or misunderstanding, Middletonbelieved that the 106th was pulling its men off the Schnee Eifel andwithdrawing to a less exposed position; the 106ths commanderbelieved that Middleton wanted him to hold until relieved and thus left

the two defending regiments in place.By the early morning hours of 17 December Middleton, whose

troops faced multiple enemy threats, had selected the dispositions thatwould foreshadow the entire American response. Already ordered byHodges to defend in place, the VIII Corps commander determined thathis defense would focus on denying the Germans use of the Ardennesroadnet. Using the forces at hand, he intended to block access to fourkey road junctions: St. Vith, Houffalize, Bastogne, and the city of

Luxembourg. If he could stop or slow the German advance west, heknew that the 12th Army Group would follow with massive flankingattacks from the north and south.

That same morning Hodges finally agreed to cancel the V CorpsRoer dams attack. Gerow, in turn, moved the 2d Division south to

19


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strengthen the 99th Divisions southern flank, with reinforcementsfrom the 1st Infantry Division soon to follow. The First Army com-mander now realized that Gerows V Corps units held the criticalnorthern shoulder of the enemy penetration and began to reinforce

them, trusting that Middletons armor reinforcements would restorethe center of the VIII Corps line.While these shifts took place, the battle raged. During the night of

1617 December theSixth Panzer Armycontinued to move armor for-ward in the hopes of gaining the breakthrough that the infantry hadfailed to achieve. The Germans again mounted attacks near Monschauand again were repulsed. Meanwhile, south of Monschau, the12th SSPanzer Division, committed from muddy logging trails, overwhelmed99th Division soldiers still holding out against the 277thand 12thVolksgrenadier Divisions.

Outnumbered and facing superior weapons, many U.S. soldiersfought to the bitter end, the survivors surrendering only when theirmunitions had run out and escape was impossible. Individual heroismwas common. During the Krinkelt battle, for example, T. Sgt. VernonMcGarity of the 393d Infantry, 99th Division, after being treated forwounds, returned to lead his squad, rescuing wounded under fire andsingle-handedly destroying an advancing enemy machine-gun section.

After two days of fighting, his men were captured after firing their lastbullets. McGarity received the Medal of Honor for his actions. Hiswas the first of thirty-two such awards during the Ardennes-AlsaceCampaign.

Ordered to withdraw under the 2d Divisions control, the 99thDivision, whose ranks had been thinned by nearly 3,000 casualties,pulled back to the northern portion of a horseshoe-shaped line thatblocked two of the I SS Panzer Corps routes. Although the line was

anchored on the Elsenborn ridge, fighting raged westward as theGermans pushed to outflank the extended American defense.

During the night of the seventeenth the Germans unveiled addi-tional surprises. They attempted to parachute a 1,000-man force ontothe Hohe Venns high point at Baraque Michel. Although less than halfactually landed in the area, the scattered drop occupied the attention ofcritical U.S. armored and infantry reserves in the north for severaldays. A companion special operation, led by the legendary Lt. Col.

Otto Skorzeny, used small teams of English-speaking soldiers dis-guised in American uniforms. Neither the drop nor the operationgained any appreciable military advantage for the German panzers.The Americans, with their resistance increasing along the Elsenbornridge and elsewhere, were undaunted by such threats to their rear.

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Further south, however, along the V and VIII Corps boundary, theSixth Panzer Armyachieved its breakthrough. In the Losheim Gap theadvanced detachment of the 1st SS Panzer Division, KampfgruppePeiper, moved forward through the attacking German infantry during

the early hours of the seventeenth. Commanded by Col. JoachimPeiper, the unit would spearhead the main armored assault heading forthe Meuse River crossings south of Liege at Huy. With over 100 tanksand approximately 5,000 men, Kampfgruppe Peiperhad instructionsto ignore its own flanks, to overrun or bypass opposition, and to moveday and night. Traversing the woods south of the mainpanzerroute, itentered the town of Buellingen, about 3 miles behind the Americanline. After fueling their tanks on captured stocks, Peipers men mur-dered at least 50 American POWs. Then shortly after noon, they ranhead on into a 7th Armored Division field artillery observation batterysoutheast of Malmedy, murdering more than 80 men. Peipers meneventually killed at least 300 American prisoners and over 100unarmed Belgian civilians in a dozen separate locations. Word of theMalmedy Massacre spread, and within hours units across the frontrealized that the Germans were prosecuting the offensive with a spe-cial grimness. American resistance stiffened.

Following a twisted course along the Ambleve River valley,

Kampfgruppe Peiperhad completed barely half of its drive to theMeuse before encountering a unit from 9th Armored Division andthen being stopped by an engineer squad at the Stavelot bridge.Unknown to Peiper, his column had passed within 15 miles of the FirstArmy headquarters and was close to its huge reserve fuel dumps. Butthe Peiperadvance was only part of the large jolt to the Americancommand that day. To the south the 1st SS Panzer Divisionhad alsobroken loose, moving just north of St. Vith.

As Kampfgruppe Peiperlunged deep into the First Armys rear,further south the VIII Corps front was rapidly being fragmented. The18th Volksgrenadier Divisioncompleted its southern swing, encirclingthe two regiments of the 106th Division on the Schnee Eifel. While asingle troop of the 14th Cavalry Group continued to resist the Germanspearheads, the 106ths engineers dug in to block the crucialSchoenberg road 2 miles east of St. Vith, a last ditch defense, hopingto hold out until the 7th Armored Division arrived.

St. Viths road junctions merited the priority Middleton hadassigned them. Although the I SS Panzer Corpshad planned to passnorth of the town and the LVIII Panzer Corpsto its south, the cross-road town became more important after the German failure to make abreakthrough in the north on 1617 December. There, the successful

21


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defense of the Elsenborn ridge had blocked three of the Sixth PanzerArmys routes, pushing Dietrichs reserve and supply routes southwardand jamming Manteuffels Losheim route. South of the Losheim Gapthe American occupation of St. Vith and the Schnee Eifel represented

a double obstacle, which neither Dietrich nor Manteuffel could afford.With thousands of American soldiers still holding desperately alongthe Schnee Eifel and its western slope villages, the Germans foundvital roads still threatened. Further west, the possibility of Americancounterattacks from the St. Vith roadnet threatened Dietrichs narrowpanzerflow westward as well as Manteuffels own western advance.And from St. Vith, the Americans could not only choke the projectedGerman supply arteries but also reinforce the now isolated SchneeEifel regiments.

For the 106th Divisions men holding the Schnee Eifel, time wasrunning out. The 7th Armored Divisions transfer south from the NinthArmy had been slowed both by coordination problems and roadsclogged by withdrawing elements. Led by Combat Command B, the7ths f irst elements arrived at St. Vith in midafternoon of 17December, with the division taking command of the local defenseimmediately. That night both sides jockeyed in the dark. While the18th Volksgrenadier Divisiontried to make up lost time to mount an

attack on the town from the northeast and east, the 7th, whose unitshad closed around St. Vith in fading daylight, established a northerlyfacing defensive arc in preparation for its attack toward the SchneeEifel the next day.

South of St. Vith the 106th Divisions southernmost regiment, the424th Infantry, and Combat Command B, 9th Armored Division, hadjoined up behind the Our River. From the high-ground positions therethey were able to continue blocking the 62d Volksgrenadier Division,

thereby securing the southern approaches to St. Vith. But unknown tothem, the 28th Divisions 112th Infantry was also folding rearward andeventually joined the 424th and the 7th Armored Division, completinga defensive perimeter around the town. During the night of 17December, with these forces combining, Middleton and the comman-ders in St. Vith believed that the VIII Corps northern flank would berestored and the 106ths trapped regiments relieved.

On 18 December Middletons hopes of launching a counterattack

toward the Schnee Eifel faded as elements of three German divisionsconverged around St. Vith. Although situation maps continued to markthe last-known positions of the 106th Divisions 422d and 423dInfantry on the Schnee Eifel, the massive weight of German numbersended any rescue attempts. Communicating through a tenuous artillery

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SIXTH PZARMY

FIFTH PZARMY

FIFTEENTHARMY

SEVENTHARMY

FIRSTARMY

XII SS

LXXXI

LXXIV

I SS PzII SS Pz

LXVII

LXVI

LVIII Pz

XLVII Pz

LXXXV

LXXX

G

B

HB

XXXXX

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

XXXXX

BR 21 Army Group

12th Army Group

6th Army Group

NINTHARMY

FIRSTARMY

BRSECONDARMY

THIRDARMY

BR 30

XVIII

XX

XII

IIIVIII

VII

BR 51ID5AD

9ID

2ID

99ID

1ID30ID

82

7AD3AD

75ID84ID2AD

9AD

101

28ID

4AD

26ID80ID 10AD

9AD

5ID4ID

35ID

90ID

95ID

6AD

16DEC

22DE

C

21DEC

17

DE

C20DEC

XII

VIIABN

XVIII

V

ABN

XXXX

XXX

XX

XXXXX20 DEC

16DEC

16DEC

20DEC

7AD 106ID

28ID

XXXX

XXXX

XXXX

19DE

C

F R A N C E

G

E

R

M

A

N

Y

B E L G I U M

NETHERLANDS

DSSELDORF

Cologne

BONN

SAARBRCKEN

TRIER

Bitburg

AACHEN

LIGE

LUXEMBOURG

VERDUN

METZ

Maastricht

Dren

Eupen

Schmidt

Losheim

Prm

Monschau

Malmdy

SpaHuy

Namur

Hotten

Dinant

Givet

St. Vith

Houffalize

Bastogne

Marche

Wiltz

Neufchteau

Sedan

Sarreguemines

Rhin

e

Riv

er

MeuseRi

ver

Roe

r

Rive

r

Meuse

River

Mosell

eR

iver

ELEVATION IN METERS

0 200 400 and Above

WACHT AM RHEIN

ID

ABN

AD

Infantry Division

Airborne Division

Armored Division

Front Line, 16 DecFront Line, 20 Dec

Front Line, 25 Dec

Allied Movements

German Attacks

0 30

Miles

1625 December 1944


24/56

radio net, both regiments believed that help was on the way and thattheir orders were to break out to the high ground behind the Our River,a distance of between 3 and 4 miles over difficult enemy-held terrain.

The following day, 19 December, brought tragedy for the 106th

Division. The two stranded regiments, now behind the Schnee Eifel,were pounded by artillery throughout the day as the Germans drewtheir circle tighter. With casualties mounting and ammunition dwin-dling, the 423ds commander chose to surrender his regiment to pre-vent its annihilation. The 422d had some of its troops overrun; others,who were both segmented and surrounded, surrendered. By 1600 mostof the two regiments and their attached support had thus been cap-tured. Nevertheless, one battalion-sized group evaded captivity untilthe twenty-first, and about 150 soldiers from the 422d ultimatelyescaped to safety. The confused nature of the final battles made specif-ic casualty accounting impossible, but over 7,000 men were captured.

The tragedy of the Schnee Eifel was soon eclipsed by the triumphof St. Vith. Every senior German commander saw the road octo-pusthe omnidirectional junction of six roads in the towns easternendas vital for a massive breakthrough, freeing up theSixth PanzerArmys advance. For the Americans, holding St. Vith would keep the Vand VIII Corps within a reasonable distance of each other; without the

town the enemys spearheads would widen into a huge salient, foldingback toward Bastogne further south. With intermittent communica-tions, the St. Vith defenders thus operated with only one order fromMiddleton: Hold at all costs.

Despite a goose-egg position extending 12 miles from east towest on tactical maps, the St. Vith defense literally had no depth.Designed to fight on the move in more favorable terrain, the four com-bat commands of the 7th and 9th Armored Divisions found themselves

moored to muddy, steep sloped hills, heavily wooded and laced withmud trails. The first action defined the defenses pattern. Unengagedcommands sent tanks and halftracks racing laterally across the perime-ter to deal with penetrations and infiltrators, with the engaged tanksand infantry holding their overextended lines as best they could. Aftertwo days of sporadic attacks, the German commanders attempted toconcentrate forces to crush the defense. But with clogged roads,German preparations for a coordinated assault encountered continuous

delays.Although the VIII Corps northern flank had been at least tem-porarily anchored at St. Vith, its center was in great danger. There, the28th Divisions 110th Infantry was being torn to bits. After failingrepeatedly to seize crossings on the Our, Manteuffel had passed some

24


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of the 116th Panzer Divisions armor through the2d Panzer Divisionto move up the Skyline Drive ridgeline and enter its panzerroute.Thus by 17 December the 110th had elements of five divisions bull-dozing through its strongpoints along the ridge, forcing back the 28ths

northern and southern regiments that were attempting to maintain acohesive defense. The2dentered Clervaux, in the 110ths center, by aside road and rolled on westward toward Bastogne; holdouts inClervaux continued to fight from within an ancient castle in the townseastern end. To the south some survivors of the ridge battle had fallenback to join engineers defending Wiltz, about 4 miles to the rear, andthe southern approach to Bastogne. Even though the 110th had suf-fered over 80 percent casualties, its stand had delayed the XLVIIPanzer Corpsfor a crucial forty-eight hours.

The southern shoulder provided VIII Corps only clear success.The 4th Division had absorbed the folded back defenses of the 109thInfantry and the 9th Armored Divisions Combat Command A, thuseffectively jamming theSeventh Armys attack. With the arrival of the10th Armored Division, a provisional corps was temporarily formed toblock any advance toward the city of Luxembourg.

The events of 17 December finally demonstrated the gravity of theGerman offensive to the Allied command. Eisenhower committed the

theater reserve, the XVIII Airborne Corps, and ordered threeAmerican divisions training in England to move immediately to north-eastern France. Hodges First Army moved the 30th Infantry and 3dArmored Divisions south to extend the northern shoulder of the pene-tration to the west. Although Bradley remained the least concerned, heand Patton explored moving a three-division corps from the ThirdArmy to attack the German southern flank.

Allied intelligence now began to discern German strength and

objectives with some clarity. The enemys success apparently was tiedto gaining the Meuse quickly and then turning north; however, most ofthe attacking divisions were trapped in clogged columns, attempting topush through the narrow Losheim Gap and enter the twopanzerroutesthen open. The area, still controlled by the VIII Corps, seemed to pro-vide the key to stabilizing the defensive effort. Somehow the VIIICorps, whose center had now been destroyed, would have to slowdown the German drive west, giving the Americans time to strengthen

the shoulders north and south of the salient and to prepare one or moremajor counterattacks.Middleton committed his only reserves, Combat Command R of

the 9th Armored Division and seven battalions of corps and armyengineers, positioning the units at critical road junctions. Teams

25


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formed from tank, armored infantry, and engineer units soon met the2d Panzer Divisions lead elements. Outgunned in a frontal fight anddisadvantaged by the wide-tracked German tanks cross-country capa-bility in the drizzle-soaked fields, Middletons armored forces were

soon overwhelmed, even though the fighting continued well into thenight. By dawn on the eighteenth no recognizable line existed as theXLVII Panzer Corps three divisions bore down on Bastogne.

Late on 17 December Hodges had requested the commitment ofSHAEF reserves, the 82d and 101st Airborne Divisions. Promised toMiddleton by the morning of the nineteenth, the VIII Corps comman-der intended to use them at Houffalize, 17 miles south of St. Vith, andat Bastogne, 10 miles further south, as a solid block against theGerman advance to the Meuse. But until the airborne divisions arrived,the VIII Corps had to hold its sector with the remnants of its ownforces, mainly engineers, and with an armored combat command fromthe 10th Armored Division, which was beginning to enter the battlefor the corps center.

Middletons engineer barrier line in front of Bastogne slowedthe German advance and bought critical time, but the arrival ofCombat Command B, 10th Armored Division, at Bastogne was cru-cial. As it moved forward, Middleton dispatched three armored teams

to the north and east during the night of the eighteenth to cover theroad junctions leading to Bastogne. A key f ight took place atLongvilly, just a few miles east of Bastogne, where the remnants of the9th Armored Divisions Combat Command R and the 10ths TeamCherry tried to block the Germans. Three enemy divisions convergedthere, trapping the CCR force west of the town and annihilating it andthen surrounding Team Cherry. But even as this occurred, the lead ele-ments of the 101st Airborne Division passed through Bastogne to

defensive positions along the villages and low hills just to the east ofthe town. Joining with the CCBs three armor teams and the two bat-talions of engineers from the barrier line, the 101st formed a crescent-shaped defense, blocking the five roads entering Bastogne from thenorth, east, and south.

The enemy responded quickly. The German commanders wantedto avoid being enmeshed in any costly sieges. So when Manteuffel sawa hole opening between the American defenses at St. Vith and

Bastogne, he ordered his panzerdivisions to bypass both towns andmove immediately toward their planned Meuse crossing sites some 30miles to the northwest, leaving the infantry to reduce Bastognesdefenses. Although Middleton had planned to use the 82d AirborneDivision to fill the gap between Bastogne and St. Vith, Hodges had

26


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been forced to divert it northwest of St. Vith to block theSixth PanzerArmys advance. Thus only the few engineers and support troopsdefending the road junctions and crossings along the narrow OurtheRiver west of Bastogne lay in the path of Manteuffelspanzers.

Command Decisions, 1920 December

WACHT AMRHINEs timetable had placed Dietrichs and Manteuffelspanzersat the Meuse four days after the attack began. The stubbornAmerican defense made this impossible. TheSixth Panzer Army, thedesignated main effort, had been checked; its attacks to open the Hohe

27

Left to r ight: Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradley, General Dwight D.

Ei senhower, and Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. (National

Archives)


28/56

Venns roads by direct assault and airborne envelopment had failed,andKampfgruppe Peipers narrow armored spearhead had been isolat-ed. To the south the Fi fth Panzer Armys northern corps had beenblocked at St. Vith; its center corps had advanced nearly 25 miles into

the American center but was still meeting resistance; and its southerncorps had been unable to break the Bastogne roadblock. The southernflank was in no better straits. Neither theSeventh Armys feint towardthe city of Luxembourg nor its efforts to cover Manteuffels flank hadgained much ground. Hitlers key requirement that an overwhelmingforce achieve a quick breakthrough had not occurred. Six divisionshad held twenty, and now the American forces, either on or en route tothe battlefield, had doubled. Nevertheless, theSixth Panzer Armys I ISS Panzer Cor pshad yet to be committed, and additional divisionsand armor existed in theGerman High Commandreserve. The unspo-ken belief among Hitlers generals now was that with luck and contin-ued poor weather, the more limited objectives of their small solutionmight still be possible.

Eisenhowers actions had also undermined Hitlers assumptionthat the Allied response would come too late. When Ike committedtwo armored divisions to Middleton on the first day of fighting and thetheater reserve on the next, a lightning German advance to the Meuse

became nearly impossible. Meeting with his commanders at Verdunon 19 December, Eisenhower, who had received the latest ULTRAintelligence on enemy objectives, outlined his overall operationalresponse. Hodges First Army would break the German advance;along the southern flank of the German penetration Pattons ThirdArmy would attack north, assuming control of Middletons VIII Corpsfrom the First Army; and Middletons Bastogne positions would nowbe the anvil for Third Armys hammer.

Patton, content that his staff had finalized operational planning,promised a full corps attack in seventy-two hours, to begin after anearly 100-mile move. Devers 6th Army Group would take up theslack, relieving two of Pattons corps of their frontage. In the northMontgomery had already begun moving the British 30 Corps to back-stop the First Army and assume defensive positions behind the Meuseastride the crossings from Liege to Namur.

Eisenhower began his Verdun conference saying, The present sit-

uation is to be regarded as one of opportunity for us and not disaster.That opportunity, as his generals knew, hung not on their own opera-tional plans but on the soldiers on the battlefield, defending the vitalSt. Vith and Bastogne road junctions, holding on to the Elsenbornridge, and blocking the approaches to the city of Luxembourg, as well

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as on the soldiers in numerous blocks and positions unlocated onany command post map. These men knew nothing of Allied opera-tional plans or even the extent of the German offensive, but in the nextdays, on their shoulders, victory or disaster rested.

One unavoidable decision on overall battlefield coordinationremained. Not one to move a command post to the rear, GeneralBradley had kept his 12th Army Group headquarters in the city ofLuxembourg, just south of the German attack. Maj. Gen. Hoyt S.Vandenbergs Ninth Air Force headquarters, which supportedBradleys armies, stayed there also, unwilling to sever its direct tieswith the ground forces. But three German armies now separatedBradleys headquarters from both Hodges First Army andSimpsons Ninth Army in the north, making it difficult for Bradleyto supervise a defense in the north while coordinating an attack fromthe south. Nor would communications for the thousands of messagesand orders needed to control and logistically support Bradleys twonorthern armies and Vandenbergs two northern air commands beguaranteed.

Eisenhower, therefore, divided the battlefield. At noon on 20December ground command north of the line from Givet on theMeuse to the high ground roughly 5 miles south of St. Vith devolved

to Montgomerys 21 Army Group, which temporarily assumed opera-tional control of both the U.S. Ninth and First Armies. Shifting theground command raised a furor, given the strained relationsMontgomery had with senior American commanders. Montgomeryhad been successful in attacking and occupying ground of his ownchoosing and then drawing in enemy armored reserves where theycould be destroyed by superior artillery and air power. He now intend-ed to repeat these tactics, planning to hold his own counterattacks

until the enemys reserves had been spent or a decisive advantagegained. The American generals, however, favored an immediate coun-teroffensive to first halt and then turn back the German drive. Equallydisconcerting to them was Montgomerys persistence in debatingcommand and strategy, a frequent occurrence in all coalitions, but onethat by virtue of his personal approach added to the strains within theAllied command.

The British 2d Tactical Air Force similarly took control of the IX

and XXIX Tactical Air Commands from Vandenbergs Ninth AirForce. Because the British air commander, Air Chief Marshal SirArthur Maori Coningham, had long established close personal rela-tions with the concerned American air commanders, the shift of aircommands passed uneventfully.

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Fi rst Army Battles, 2027 December

Eisenhower and Montgomery agreed that the First Army would

establish a cohesive defensive line, yielding terrain if necessary.Montgomery also intended to create a corps-sized reserve for a coun-terattack, which he sought to keep from being committed during thedefensive battle. The First Armys hasty defense had been one of hole-plugging, last stands, and counterattacks to buy time. Although suc-

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7th Armored Division tanks near St. Vith. (National Archives)


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cessful, these tactics had created organizational havoc within Hodgesforces as divisional units had been committed piecemeal and badlyjumbled. Complicating the situation even further was the fact that the

First Army still held the north-south front, north of Monschau toElsenborn, while fighting Dietrichs panzersalong a nearly east-westaxis in the Ardennes.

Blessed with excellent defensive ground and a limited lateral road-net in front of V Corps positions, Gerow had been able to roll with the

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German punch and Hodges to feed in reserves to extend the FirstArmy line westward. Much of theSixth Panzer Armys strength wasthus tied up in road jams of long columns of vehicles. But Americansuccess was still far from certain. The V Corps was holding four panz-

erdivisions along the northern shoulder, an elbow-shaped 25-mileline, with only parts of four U.S. divisions.To the west of the V Corps the 30th Infantry Division, now under

Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgways XVIII Airborne Corps, marchedsouth to block Kampfgr uppe Peiperat Malmedy and, along theAmbleve River, at Stavelot, Stoumont, and La Gleize. To the south ofPeiperthe XVIIIs other units, the 82d Airborne and 3d ArmoredDivisions, moved forward to the area between the Salm and OurtheRivers, northwest of St. Vith, which was still in danger of being isolat-ed. By 20 December thePeiperforce was almost out of fuel and sur-rounded. During the night of the twenty-third Peiper and his mendestroyed their equipment, abandoned their vehicles, and walked outto escape capture. Dietrichs spearhead was broken.

North of St. Vith the I SS Panzer Corpspushed west. Part of theLVII I Panzer Corpshad already bypassed the defenders southernflank. Standing in the way of Dietrichs panzerswas a 6-mile linealong the Salm River, manned by the 82d Airborne Division.

Throughout the twenty-first German armor attacked St. Viths north-western perimeter and infantry hit the entire eastern circumference ofthe line. Although the afternoon assault was beaten back, the fightingwas renewed after dark. To prevent being trapped from the rear, the 7thArmored Division began pulling out of its advanced positions around2130. The other American units around the town conformed, foldinginto a tighter perimeter west of the town.

Ridgway wanted St. Viths defenders to stay east of the Salm, but

Montgomery ruled otherwise. The 7th Armored Division, its ammuni-tion and fuel in short supply and perhaps two-thirds of its tanksdestroyed, and the battered elements of the 9th Armored, 106th, and28th Divisions could not hold the extended perimeter in the rollingand wooded terrain. Meanwhile, Dietrichs second wave of tanksentered the fray. The I I SS Panzer Corpsimmediately threatened theSalm River line north and west of St. Vith, as did the LVIII PanzerCorpscircling to the south, adding the 2d SS Panzer Divisionto its

drive. Ordering the St. Vith defenders to withdraw through the 82dAirborne Division line to prevent another Schnee Eifel disaster,Montgomery signaled them that they come back with all honor.

Mud threatened to trap much of the force, but nature intervenedwith a Russian High, a cold snap and snowstorm that turned the trails

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from slurry to hard ground.While the Germans seemed tem-porarily powerless to act, the St.Vith defenders on 23 December,

in daylight, withdrew across theSalm to reform behind the XVIIIAirborne Corps front. Ridgwayestimated that the successfulwithdrawal added at least 100tanks and two infantry regimentsto his corps.

The St. Vith defense pur-chased five critical days, but thesituation remained grave.ModelsArmy Group Bnow hadtwelve full divisions attackingalong roughly 25 miles of thenorthern shoulders east-westfront. Hodges army was hold-ing with thirteen divisions, fourof which had suffered heavy

casualties and three of whichwere forming in reserve.Montgomery had designatedMaj. Gen. J. Lawton LightningJoe Collins VII Corps as the First Armys counterattack force, posi-tioning its incoming divisions northwest of Hodges open flank, hop-ing to keep them out of the defensive battle. He intended both to bluntthe enemys assault and wear down its divisions by withdrawing the

XVIII Airborne Corps to a shorter, defendable line, thus knittingtogether the First Armys fragmented defense. Above all, beforelaunching a major counterstroke, Montgomery wanted to cripple theGerman panzerswith artillery and with constant air attacks againsttheir lines of supply.

The Russian High that blanketed the battlefield brought the Alliesone tremendous advantagegood flying weather. The week ofinclement weather promised to Hitler by his meteorologists had run

outand with it the ability to move in daylight safe from air attack.The Allied air forces rose to the occasion. Night bombers of the RoyalAir Forces Bomber Command had been attacking those rail yards sup-porting the German offensive since 17 December. In the five days ofgood weather following the Russian High, American day bombers

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Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuli ffe

(National Archives)


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entered the interdiction effort. As Allied fighter bombers patrolled theroads throughout the Ardennes and the Eifel, the Ninth Air Forcesmedium bombers attacked targets west of the Rhine and the Eighth AirForces heavy bombers hit rail yards deeper into Germany. Flying an

average of 3,000 sorties daily during good weather, the combined airforces dropped more than 31,000 tons of bombs during the first tendays of interdiction attacks.

The effects on the ground battle were dramatic. The sluggishmovement of fuel and vehicles over the Ardennes few roads had

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101st Airborne Division soldiers retrieving air-dropped medical

suppl ies near Bastogne. (National Archives)


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already slowed German operations. The added strain on resupply fromthe bombing and strafing now caused halts up and down the Germanline, making coordinated attacks more difficult. Still, panzerandinfantry units continued to press forward.

From Christmas Eve to the twenty-seventh, battles raged along theFirst Armys entire front. The heaviest fighting swirled around thepositions held by Ridgways XVIII Airborne Corps and Collins VIICorps, the latter having been piecemealed forward to extend the FirstArmy line westward. While the XVIII Corps battled theSixth PanzerArmys last attempts to achieve a northern breakthrough, the VIICorps 3d Armored and 84th Infantry Divisions held the lines westernend against the LVII Iand XLVI I Panzer Corps. These units hadbecome Models new main effort, swinging wide of Dietrichs stalledattack, and they now had elements about 5 miles from the Meuse.Upon finding the2d Panzer Divisionout of gas at the German salientstip, Collins on Christmas Day sent the 2d Armored Division, withheavy air support, to encircle and destroy the enemy force.

The First Armys desperate defense between the Salm and MeuseRivers had stopped the Sixthand Fifth Panzer Armies, including sixpanzerdivisions. The fierce battlesat places such as Baraque deFraiture, Manhay, Hotton, and Marchewere epics of valor and deter-

mination. Hitlers drive for Antwerp was over.

Third Army Battles, 2027 December

The 20 December boundary shift transferred Middletons VIIICorps and its Bastogne garrison to Pattons Third Army, which wasnow moving forces from as far away as 120 miles to attack positionssouth of the German salient. Bastogne had become an armed camp

with four airborne regiments, seven battalions of artillery, a self-pro-pelled tank destroyer battalion, and the surviving tanks, infantry, andengineers from two armored combat commandsall under the 101stAirborne Divisions command.

Manteuffel had ordered the Panzer Lehrand the 2d PanzerDivisionsto bypass Bastogne and speed toward the Meuse, thus isolat-ing the defenders. As the26th Volksgrenadier Divisionand theXLVIIPanzer Corps artillery closed in for the kill on 22 December, the

corps commanders emissary arrived at the 101st Divisions commandpost, demanding surrender or threatening annihilation. The actingdivision commander, Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, repliedNuts, initially confounding the Germans but not Bastognes defend-ers. The defense held.

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For four days bitter fighting raged in a clockwise rotation around

Bastognes southern and western perimeter, further constricting thedefense within the low hills and patches of woods surrounding thetown. The infantry held ground, with the armor scurrying to seal pene-trations or to support local counterattacks. Once the overcast weatherhad broken, the defenders received both air support and aerial resup-ply, making it imperative for Manteuffel to turn some of his preciousarmor back to quickly crush the American defense, a large deadlythreat along his southern flank.

Meanwhile, as Bastogne held, Pattons Third Army units streamednorthward. Maj. Gen. John B. Millikins newly arrived III Corps head-quarters took command of the 4th Armored and 26th and 80thInfantry Divisions, in a move quickly discovered and monitored by theGermans effective radio intercept units. In response, BrandenbergersSeventh Army, charged with the crucial flank guard mission in Hitlersoffensive, rushed its lagging infantry divisions forward to block theexpected American counterattack.

Jumping off as promised on 22 December some 12 to 15 milessouth of Bastogne, III Corps divisions achieved neither the surprisenor momentum that Bradley and Patton had hoped. No longer a lungeinto an exposed flank, the attack became a frontal assault along a 30-mile front against infantry holding good defensive terrain. With

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K-Rations by Aaron Bohrod. (Army Art Collection)


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Bastognes garrison totally sur-rounded, only a quick ThirdArmy breakthrough could pre-vent the brilliant holding action

there from becoming a costlydisaster. But how longBastognes defenders could holdout was a question mark.

To the east, as Millikins IIICorps moved against hardeningenemy resistance along the SureRiver, Maj. Gen. Manton S.Eddys XI I Corps attackednorthward on a front almost aswide as the III Corps. Takingcontrol of the 4th Infantry and10th Armored Divisions andelements of the 9th ArmoredDivision, all units ofMiddletons former southernwing, Eddy met greater difficul-

ties in clearing the ridges south-east of Bastogne. Meanwhile,the 35th and 5th InfantryDivisions and the 6th ArmoredDivision moved northward tostrengthen the counterattacks.Millikin finally shifted the main effort to the west, where the 4thArmored Division was having more success. Following fierce village-

by-village fighting in frigid temperatures, the 4th linked up withBastognes defenders at 1650 on 26 December, lifting the siege butsetting the stage for even heavier fighting for the Bastogne sector.

NORDWINDin Alsace, 31 December5 January

By 21 December Hitler had decided on a new offensive, this timein the Alsace region, in effect selecting one of the options he had disap-

proved earlier in favor ofWACHT AMRHINE. With the Fifteenth Armyssupporting thrust canceled due to Dietrichs failure to break the north-ern shoulder, and with no hope of attaining their original objectives,both Hitler and Rundstedt agreed that an attack on the southern Alliedfront might take advantage of Pattons shift north to the Ardennes,

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Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers, left,

and Lt. Gen. Al exander M .

Patch. (National Archives)


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which Wehrmachtintelligence had identi-fied as under way. The first operation, calledNORDWIND(NORTHWIND), targeted theSaverne Gap, 20 miles northwest of

Strasbourg, to split the Seventh Armys XVand VI Corps and retake the Alsace northof the Marne-Rhine Canal. If successful, asecond operation, called ZAHNARTZ(DENTIST), would pursue objectives west-ward toward the area between Luneville andMetz and into the Third Armys southernflank. Lt. Gen. Hans von Obstfelders FirstArmywould launch theXIII SS Corpsas themain effort down the Sarre River valley,while to the southeast four divisions fromthe XCand LXXXIX Corpswould attacksouthwesterly down the Low Vosges moun-tain range through the old Maginot Linepositions near Bitche. A two-divisionpanz-erreserve would be held to reinforce suc-cess, which Hitler believed would be in the

Sarre River sector. Reichsfuehrer HeinrichHimmlers Army Group Oberrhein, virtual-ly an independent field army reporting onlyto Hitler, was to pin the southern flank ofthe Seventh Army with holding attacks. Thenew offensive was planned for the thirty-first, New Years Eve. However, its target,the U.S. Seventh Army, was neither unready

nor unwarned.Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patchs Seventh

Army, part of Devers 6th Army Group,which also included the French First Army,had been among the theaters unsungheroes. After conducting assault landings on the coast of southernFrance in August 1944, the small army had chased a significantly larg-er force northward; but, much to the chagrin of his commanders, Patch

had been ordered not to cross the Rhine, even though his divisionswere among the first Allied units to reach its banks. In November theSeventh Army had been the Western Fronts leading Allied groundgainer. Yet, when Pattons Third Army found its offensive foundering,Patch, again following orders, had sent a corps northward to attack the

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Siegfried Lines southern flank, an operational lever designed to assistPattons attack.

On 19 December, at the Verdun conference, the 6th Army Group

was again relegated to a supporting role. Eisenhower ordered Deversto assume the front of two of Pattons corps that were moving to theArdennes, and then on the twenty-sixth he added insult to injury bytelling the 6th Army Group commander to give up his Rhine gains bywithdrawing to the Vosges foothills. The switch to the defense also

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scrapped Devers planned attacks to reduce the Colmar Pocket, theGerman foothold stretching 50 miles along the Rhines western bankssouth of Strasbourg. Held in check by two corps of General Jean deLattre de Tassignys French First Army, this area was the only

German bridgehead in Devers sector. But by Christmas Eisenhowersaw a greater threat than the Colmar Pocket opening on his southernfront.

Allied intelligence had confirmed that a new enemy offensive inthe Alsace region was imminent. Eisenhower wanted the SeventhArmy to meet it by withdrawing to shortened lines to create reserves,essentially ceding northern Alsace back to the Germans, including thecity of Strasbourg. Not surprisingly, Devers, Patch, and de Lattreobjected strongly to the order. In the end, rather than withdraw, Deversshifted forces to create a reserve to backstop the key enemy attackavenues leading into his front and ordered the preparation of threeintermediate withdrawal lines forward of the defensive line designatedby Eisenhower.

By New Years Eve, with two U.S. divisions withdrawn from theSeventh Army and placed in theater reserve, the 6th Army Groupsfront resembled the weakened defense that had encouraged theGerman Ardennes offensive. Patchs six divisions covered a 126-mile

front, much of it along poor defensive ground. Feeling that the SarreRiver valley just north of the Low Vosges would bear the brunt of anyattack, Patch assigned Maj. Gen. Wade Haislips XV Corps a 35-milesector between Sarreguemines and Bitche, with the 103d, 44th, and100th Infantry Divisions holding from northwest to southeast, backedby the experienced French 2d Armored Division. Maj. Gen. EdwardH. Brooks VI Corps took up the balance of Patchs front from theLow Vosges southeast to Lauterbourg on the Rhine and then south-

ward toward Strasbourg. Brooks corps had the veteran 45th and 79thInfantry Divisions and the 14th Armored Division in reserve. Patchinserted Task Force Hudelson, a two-squadron cavalry force, rein-forced with infantry from the uncommitted 14th Armored Division atthe boundary joining the two American corps.

The deployment of three additional unitsTask Force Linden(42d Infantry Division), Task Force Harris (63d Infantry Division),and Task Force Herren (70th Infantry Division)demonstrated how

far Devers and Patch would go to avoid yielding ground. Formed fromthe infantry regiments of three arriving divisions and led by theirrespective assistant division commanders, these units went straight tothe Seventh Army front minus their still to arrive artillery, engineer,and support units that comprised a complete division. By late


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