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Post by Dark Cloud on Dec 14, 2014 22:14:00 GMT -6
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Post by Beth on Dec 14, 2014 23:26:52 GMT -6
WHich party weren't you expecting?
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Post by quincannon on Dec 15, 2014 8:07:29 GMT -6
I have this book on order, along with another that concentrates on Patton's III Corps attack into the southern flank.
After reading this piece I am almost sorry I did, for if this author is so flimsy in his research to state that Patton carried Pearl Handled revolvers, as evidently he states, vice Ivory handled revolvers as he did, then for me the rest of his scholarship is suspect. I will wait and see.
Patton famously remarked when someone made a statement about Pearl Handled revolvers that "Only a pimp in a New Orleans bawdy (He said a word beginning with W, but I could not get it through the board censor) house carries pearl handled revolvers, mine are ivory" That can be verified by visiting the West Point museum where those revolvers reside.
The one thing that is verifiably true in this whatever it is, is that the Bulge is more Madison Avenue than U S Army. The name of the campaign is ARDENNES-ALSACE. The official history is "The Ardennes Campaign" written by Hugh Cole. Splendid book, dry in style but full of meat with outstanding maps.
The author may, and I say MAY, have a point in that Watch on the Rhine and Autumn Mist may have been an attempt to re-solidify Hitler's control on the German Army. If find it absolutely ludicrous to say that the Ardennes was chosen because of the impact of woods and forests have on German culture and mythology. Balderdash. Humbug, Cheap sensational horse crap. Antwerp was the operational objective. The road to the Meuse and on to Antwerp led through the Ardennes, Wagnerian opera not withstanding.
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Post by quincannon on Dec 15, 2014 22:36:43 GMT -6
16 DECEMBER 1944. The starting date of a battle where the U S Army came of age. Seventy Years ago tomorrow.
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Post by quincannon on Dec 16, 2014 17:43:12 GMT -6
Seventy years ago today the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon of the 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division held a hilltop position overlooking the vital crossroads of Lanzerath, Belgium. This platoon led by 1LT Lyle J. Bouck held the position for eighteen hours, outnumbered better than fifteen to one, until finally being surrounded and captured, after running out of ammunition and without means to further resist.
For this action, the platoon was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, and each of the 18 soldiers present was awarded a medal for valor, including four Distinguished Service Crosses, five Silver Stars, and nine Bronze Star Medals with V Device.
One of the most gallantly conducted small unit actions in the history of the United States Army.
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Post by Yan Taylor on Dec 17, 2014 5:48:02 GMT -6
Chuck, here is snippet on you tube concerning that action. linkYes it was a brave effort from those young men, some had only been on the line a few weeks, so it is fitting to know that their actions are still being mentioned on boards like this. Ian.
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Post by quincannon on Dec 17, 2014 8:58:22 GMT -6
Ian: I think this is one of the most outstanding small unit actions ever conducted. The 99th ID had been in the line since 14 November when they relieved the 9th ID on those positions. The I & R Platoon had only been on the hill top since 10 December, when they relieved a company of the same regiment that initially occupied it.
The significance of the position is that it was the start point of Rollbahnen B and C for the drive to the Meuse and on to Antwerp, and as such overlooked a highway junction of considerable importance.
Getting this back to LBH just a little. Oberstleutnant Wilhelm Osterhold who led one of the regiments assaulting the 394th Infantry stated emphatically that he was prohibited from making a reconnaissance, he attacked by compass azimuth only, and had absolutely no idea that the 2nd Infantry Division had moved in behind the 99th ID. Reconnaissance, look before you leap.
I received those two books I mentioned earlier yesterday. The first is the one cited above by DC "Snow and Steel" and appears that it concentrates of the U S Army in the Ardennes although it is written by a Major, evidently combat experience in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan in your own Territorial Army. The second is "Patton at the Battle of the Bulge" concentrating from the looks of it on III Corps and specifically 4th Armored Division., and the author served in combat with the 101st Airborne Division. I will let you know what I think of them by and by.
Today we remember another small unit action at Buchholz Station, another action largely forgotten. The northern shoulder, not the better known Bastogne and St. Vith, is where the Bulge would be won or lost.
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Post by Yan Taylor on Dec 17, 2014 9:20:12 GMT -6
Chuck, the German frontal assaults by the Fallschirmjager over open ground either showed that they were under orders to be quick and keep moving or arrogance, they must have wanted the area cleared fast so that follow up units could progress and keep the momentum moving. These Amerikana's must have been a shock to the Germans.
Buchholz Station, that would be our old friend “Peiper” and his Panzergruppe.
I hope those books were as good as "Company Commander".
Ian.
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Post by quincannon on Dec 17, 2014 9:33:24 GMT -6
That is exactly right Ian. The Fallschirmjager that assaulted the hilltop were largely untrained and went at the I & R platoon with frontal assaults and were murdered. It was the crossroads they were to seize, and later other positions in the area such as Buchholz. The three German division in the area were the 12th and 277th Volksgrenadiers and the 3rd Fallschirmjagers. None were of great quality, the 12th being the best of the lot, but they had numbers, and relatively excellent leadership, that in the end could not make up for the training shortfalls of the individual units. The Germans fought hard, make no mistake about it, but the 99th had just enough experience to hold them, and none of the German forces were a match for the very experienced 2nd ID, but still the Germans gave them a run for their money.
The Bulge was won because of the depth of the American positions east of the Meuse. The Germans had as much chance at getting to and over the Meuse as Wiley Coyote has catching the Road Runner
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Post by quincannon on Dec 17, 2014 9:58:34 GMT -6
Buchholz was the 3rd Battalion, 394th, under MAJ Norman Moore, against Oberstleutnant Heinz-Georg Lemm's 27th Fusiliers, 12th VG Their job was to open the way for Peiper. The battle started on the 16th through the 17th
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Post by Yan Taylor on Dec 17, 2014 9:59:03 GMT -6
Yes in Company Commander he mentions about the German attackers charging like crazy men in to the American automatic weapons, you expect that short of stuff from the Japanese, but not from the Germans who by this time were running out of men, seems like they were pretty desperate to break through, even with green troops. McDonald mentions about these attack as being "uncoordinated" and with no artillery or suppressing fire, now that dose not sound like the Germans to me, but like you said they were scraping the bottom of the barrel by 1944.
Ian.
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Post by Yan Taylor on Dec 17, 2014 10:06:12 GMT -6
Here is a closer look of Lemm's Regiment; link"the dam thing was in English when I added the file, my translator must not work over on your end. Ian.
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Post by quincannon on Dec 17, 2014 10:07:06 GMT -6
The VG divisions were once pretty darn good, the 12th when it was known as the 12th Infantry Division was very combat experienced, but by 44 only had an experienced cadre, and were filled with Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine personnel who were excess, and had little if any training. The VG honorific that Adolph gave them was supposed to make up for this, but only in the delusions of a feeble minded paperhanger. They were barely combat effective if you only consider their strength alone which averaged 80 percent or less.
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Post by montrose on Dec 17, 2014 21:02:23 GMT -6
I ended up looking up the VGs on Wikipedia. I saw that there is a new book on the 272nd VG division. In the small world department, the author is Douglas Nash. He is a retired Civil Affairs officer. He is one of the most brilliant officers I served with, and an excellent writer. I haven't read his book yet, but I plan to do so. aberjonapress.com/catalog/vwbtg/index.html
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Post by quincannon on Dec 19, 2014 9:36:33 GMT -6
I mentioned earlier that "Snow and Steel" had arrived. After reading half of it so far I can honestly say that for first time exposure to the Ardennes it serves its purpose. It is not without its editorial flaws, which is unfortunate. It breaks no new ground, so far.
The "myth" chapter referred to above could have been left out and no damage done. It is a waste of several printed pages. The author starts off with " However there is much more behind his (Hitler's) allegedly 'spontaneous' choice of the Ardennes", then spends several pages in the discussion of Wagnerian opera, the Teutobergerwald, Indiana Jones and Raiders of the Lost Ark (I made that up, but if you have seen the movie you get the picture), and ends with "Against this backdrop of Wagner, Arminius, myth and reality somehow intertwined in Hitler's mind, and it becomes obvious why Hitler was drawn to the timeless , misty Ardennes as the setting for Germany's final test". Very weak tea, and yes it is obvious, through the Ardennes was the way to the Meuse and Antwerp, which the author spends an equal amount of time and print on justifying why Antwerp was the operational objective.
Will may find the chapter entitled Brandenberger's Grenadiers informative on the subject of the VG Divisions.
Tom will like the intelligence "who knew what" discussions informative. I did, and got a new appreciation of Koch.
My one really big complaint about the book is that this book like almost all the others stops right at Christmas, when the Ardennes fight lasted much longer and the heaviest of the fighting took place cleaning the damned place up. I attribute this to the most exciting part of the Bulge story is when the issue was in some doubt between 16-25 December. A shame really. Both sides fought very hard during the latter phase, and it largely goes unnoticed.
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