Bastogne – Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge – the costliest action ever taken by the US Army, 108,347 casualties!
Civilian deaths – 3,000 due to military action and execution
German strength – more than 250,000 men, 1,000 tanks and assault guns (including new 70 ton Tiger II tanks), 1,900 artillery, 2,000 aircraft.
US Army strength- 80,000 men, less than 250 pieces of armor, 400 artillery guns
On December 16, 1944, the German army did what they had done 3 times before (September 1870, August 1914, May 1940), they attacked through the Ardennes forest. The action on May 1940 resulted in the evacuation of nearly 340,000 British troops at Dunkirk. The action on December 16,1944 was a last ditch effort to divide Allied lines and secure the port of Antwerp. The Battle of the Bulge was the result of this action which created a “bulge” in Allied lines 50 miles long and 70 miles deep.
The month long battle would see approximately 600,000 American troops, 55,000 British troops pitted against approximately 500,000 German troops.
So, December 16, 1944 at 5:30am the German assault began with a 90 minute barrage from more than 1,600 pieces of artillery across an 80 mile front. This was a prelude for the attack by the 5th and 6th Panzer Army, the 5th was to attack Bastogne. On December 21, the German Army had surrounded Bastogne which was defended by the American 101st Airborne, the 969th Artillery Battalion (an all African-American battalion) and part of the 10th Armored Division.
Quad-50 Cal. machine guns
By 22 December ammunition had run low and was limited to 10 shots per day per gun. Food, medical supplies, and medical personnel were also in limited supply. German Commander Lt. Gen. Heinrich Feiherr von Lutzwitz sent a message requesting Bastogne’s surrender to which Gen. Anthony McAuliffe replied, “Nuts!”. Both the Germans and non-US allied personnel needed to have the message explained. Bastogne had been completely surrounded by the Germans.
Gen. Eisenhower met with his staff to decide how to address the dire situation at Bastogne. One of these officers was Lt. Gen. George S. Patton who told Eisenhower he could be in Bastogne within 48hrs with 3 full divisions. 125 miles away, over 100,000 troops, supply truck, tanks, etc. began their journey to rescue Bastogne before Lt. Gen. Patton had left the meeting! At 4:50pm on 26 December, the first units of Gen. Patton’s 4th Armored Division, 37th Tank Battalion, “D” Company reach Bastogne. The siege had ended.
The Bois Jacques (Jacques Woods) of the Ardennes is located just outside a small crossroads town named, “Foy” (pronounced, “Foj”), north of Bastogne. There the 101st Airborne Division, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry, Easy Company (Band of Brothers) had dug in preparing to secure the town.
View of the forest
View from foxhole
Original foxholes from Easy Company
Easy Company had seen much action. On D-Day they were dropped behind Utah Beach with the objective of securing Causeway-2, later in September they were sent to Eindhoven to secure roads and bridges for British armor (Operation Market Garden), and finally, to Ardennes to capture and hold Foy.
From December 1944 to January 1945, Easy Company fought German forces in the Ardennes with no winter clothing, limited ammunition and low food supplies. From January 1 to January 13, 1945, Easy Company took control of the woods and turned their action towards taking Foy. This completed the Allied action to take Bastogne.
After Foy, Easy Company was sent to Berchtesgaden, The Eagles Nest, on occupation duty.
140 men formed the original Easy Company, but by war’s end, 366 men are listed as belonging to Easy Company. 49 men of Easy Company were killed in action.
