Siege of Bastogne

The siege of Bastogne took place in December 1944 and was part of the Ardennes Offensive , the penultimate offensive of the Wehrmacht in World War II . This offensive began on December 16, 1944; their goal was to reach the port of Antwerp . To get there before the Allies could reorganize their troops and use their air superiority , the German armored troops had to take possession of the roads through East Belgium. Because all seven main roads through the Ardennes converge in Bastogne , it was essential for the German offensive to get or keep this traffic junction under control.

The Wehrmacht besieged Bastogne from December 20 to 27, until the encircled US forces were freed by a raid force from General George S. Patton's 3rd US Army .

prehistory

After the successful landing in Normandy (D-Day June 6, 1944) and the breakout from the Cotentin Peninsula at the end of July, the Allies made rapid progress. Among other things, on August 25, 1944, the German city commandant of Paris capitulated almost without a fight . The rapid advance made supplying the troops more and more difficult. The port of Antwerp was occupied by the British 2nd Army in early September . Because Antwerp is located in the hinterland of the Scheldt estuary , about 80 kilometers from the coast, it was only possible to use it after the strong German artillery positions on the offshore island of Walcheren had been successfully eliminated. This happened from October 2 to November 8, 1944 in the bloody battle of the Scheldt estuary . After that, the river had to be laboriously cleared of the sea mines laid there . The first convoy entered the port on November 28th. The Germans hoped to massively reduce the Allied supplies by recapturing the port.

On October 21, 1944, Aachen was the first major German city to fall. Adolf Hitler devised the plan to attack the front in Belgium; 55 divisions were to advance a surprise attack through the wintry Ardennes, cross the Meuse and recapture Antwerp. Although the Commander-in-Chief West, GFM Gerd von Rundstedt and his chief of staff, Lieutenant General Westphal and the leadership of Army Group B under Walter Model , expressed considerable doubts, the plan was not abandoned and the start date was set on December 16.

The Allied commanders considered the Ardennes unsuitable for a major German attack, mainly because of the terrain. In addition, intelligence reports reported that the German divisions stationed in the area were weak. In the weeks leading up to December 16, no commander had reason to believe that an offensive was imminent.

German attack

Map of the U.S. Army Center for Military History, December 19-23, 1944

Although there had been threatening signs in the weeks before the attack, the 1st US Army in the attack area was completely surprised by the German Ardennes offensive. Bastogne, an important road junction, was mainly defended by the 28th US Infantry Division (Lieutenant General Cota ). This has been in constant combat since July 22nd and was then assigned to this relatively quiet area. The German 5th Panzer Army under General Hasso von Manteuffel formed the center of the German attack troops alongside the 6th Panzer Army to the north . The XXXXVII attached to the left wing following the 7th Army . Panzer Corps under General von Lüttwitz had the task of conquering Bastogne and crossing the Meuse near Namur . General von Lüttwitz planned to attack with three divisions on an 11 km wide section of the front: The 26th Volksgrenadier Division and the 2nd Panzer Division were to lead the attack; the Panzer-Lehr Division followed behind as reserve. On the opposing side were two battalions of the US 110th Infantry Regiment (the third was division reserve), responsible for a 14 km long section of the front on the River Our .

On the evening of December 15, the German 26th People's Grenadier Division (Major General Kokott ) set up a line of outposts on the west bank of the Our, which they routinely did during the night. At three o'clock in the morning they began to move men and equipment across the Our, quite near American positions. At 5:30 am, German artillery began bombarding American positions and destroyed telephone lines as the infantry advanced. They made rapid progress because of their majority. In Weiler-lès-Putscheid , an American company, supported by a few mortars and anti-tank guns, was able to hold out against repeated attacks by German battalions until nightfall. The German plan to cross the Clerve on the evening of the first day of the attack could be delayed by two days. The Allies were distributed in small groups in larger villages and occupied posts on the Our during the day. Because they were too few to form an evenly occupied front line, they turned their main attention to the four roads that crossed the Our. Because it rained heavily before the German advance, only the northernmost of the four existing roads was in sufficient condition to be used as a transition point. It crosses the Our at Dasburg and then leads to Clervaux and Bastogne. The 2nd Panzer Division (Major General von Lauchert ) had the order to cross the river; the 26th Volksgrenadier Division was to build a bridge at Gemünd and then pass over there. Von Lüttwitz knew about the importance of the roads around Bastogne and that the city had to be captured before his corps could advance further west. So he ordered the Panzer Lehr Division (General Bayerlein ) to advance to Bastogne as soon as his other troops had crossed the Clerve .

On the morning of December 18, Manteuffel's troops broke through the opposing front south of St. Vith , and the Panzer-Lehr Division quickly pushed through to Bastogne. That night, the 101st Airborne Division and parts of the 10th Panzer Division arrived in the city before the German troops arrived. The 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion, which was in reserve 60 miles south of Bastogne, was also commanded to Bastogne to reinforce the anti-tank defense of the 101st Airborne Division.

On December 19, the command of the 28th US Division was transferred from Bastogne to Wiltz , a place southeast of Bastogne. The 44th Engineer Battalion was set up north of Bastogne; but it was soon attacked by German troops, withdrew to Bastogne and blew up a bridge while retreating. The approximately 500 men held out until evening; when their positions became untenable, they retreated westward. The 110th Infantry Regiment was no longer able to fight.

Allied countermeasures

At the end of the second day of the fighting it became apparent that the 28th Infantry was on the verge of collapse. Major General Troy H. Middleton , Commander of the VIII US Corps , ordered part of his armored reserve - Combat Command B of the 10th Panzer Division - to Bastogne. The CCB under Colonel William L. Roberts consisted of

the 3rd Tank Battalion, the 20th Armored Infantry Battalion,
the C Company of the 21st Tank Battalion,
the B Company of the 54th Armored Infantry Battalion,
the C Company of the 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion,
the 420th Armored Field Artillery Battalion and three company support troops.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower ordered the SHAEF reserve to the front. It consisted of the 82nd US Airborne Division and the 101st US Airborne Division in Reims . They were experienced troops; after two months of fighting at Operation Market Garden , they were on hiatus. Both divisions were alerted on the evening of December 17th and began arranging transportation for the advance. The 82nd US Airborne Division (General Gavin ), which had been in reserve for some time and was better equipped, marched out first. The 101st (General McAuliffe ) left Camp Mourmelon on the afternoon of December 18th. Large parts of the convoy were hindered by sleet. At one point in time, the marching column stretched from Bouillon in Belgium back to Reims , i.e. over 120 km. The 101st marched directly on Bastogne, while the 82nd tried further north to stop the advance of the German combat group Peiper via Werbomont in the Stavelot area . Major William R. Desobry, commander of the 20th Panzer Grenadier Battalion of the 10th US Armored Division was able to delay the advance of the German 2nd Panzer Division near Noville-lez-Bastogne on December 19 . The right wing of Manteuffel's troops took Houffalize north of it , on the left wing the Panzer Lehr Division occupied Wiltz and rolled on to St. Hubert . The enclosure of Bastogne emerged.

The siege

Brigadier General McAuliffe

McAuliffe and his units were surrounded by German troops in Bastogne on December 20th. In addition to the 'Combat Command B' of the 10th Panzer Division, the following formations defended in the pocket:

501st Parachute Infantry Regiment (Col. Julian J. Ewell)
506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (Col. Robert F. Sink)
502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment (Lt. Col. Patrick F. Cassidy)
327th Glider Infantry (Col. Joseph H. Harper)
705th Tank Destroyer Battalion (Lt. Col. Andrew D. Bruce)
333rd Field Artillery Battalion

General Eisenhower ordered that General George S. Patton with his 3rd Army, which was in the south before the Saarland , should swing left to the north in order to attack the advancing German troops on their southern flank. From December 19, the 4th US Armored Division (Maj. Gen. John S. Wood) was assigned to the III. Corps and had to travel more than 250 kilometers to the new area of operation.

On December 22nd, the American garrison was summoned to surrender by General Lüttwitz. McAuliffe's first verbal reaction is said to have been: "Aww, nuts". The official answer was: “To the German Commander, 'NUTS!' The American Commander. “( NUTS! Eng." Nonsense! ") And was handed over by the commander of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment, Colonel Joseph H. Harper. Harper had to explain to them whether the word was meant positively or negatively, and described it as go to hell ("goes to hell"). McAuliffe did not surrender and was able to hold Bastogne until the 3rd US Army brought relief from the southwest.

On the same day combat groups of the 4th Panzer Division attacked from the Léglise - Arlon line in the direction of Martelange in order to blow up the German siege ring around the city. Although there were only a few kilometers between Bastogne and the starting point of the relief attempt, it took the 4th Panzer Division until December 26th to open a corridor to the trapped troops in Bastogne. Through Patton's intervention and an improvement in the weather, McAuliffe and his troops were freed from Bastogne. The connection to the 101st Airborne Division was restored on December 27th via a narrow corridor and the wounded evacuated to the rear. At the head of the troops that had broken through was the 37th Panzer Battalion of the 4th Panzer Division under Lieutenant-Colonel Creighton Abrams . General Maxwell D. Taylor also reached Bastogne with the 4th Armored Division and took over command. The 101st Airborne Division suffered total losses of 105 officers and 1,536 men, while Combat Group B of the 10th Panzer Division lost around 25 officers and 478 men.

After the Maas line could not be reached at Dinant , General Manteuffel tried to get permission for the general withdrawal of the 5th Panzer Army, but Hitler forbade every step backwards and ordered the offensive to continue. German reserves gradually reached Bastogne with the task of enclosing the city again from the southeast and taking it again. The intention failed; Bastogne remained the focus of heavy fighting until the start of the American counter-offensive in early January. On January 8, 1945, Hitler could no longer deny that most of his remaining tanks threatened to be trapped and authorized Field Marshal Model General to abandon the area west of Houffalize .

Military cemeteries and memorials

The Mardasson Monument was erected in 1950 three kilometers northeast of the center of Bastogne. It commemorates the 76,890 American soldiers who were wounded, killed or missing ('casualties') in the Battle of the Bulge . The road from the center to the monument is called 'Liberation Road'. And the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial .

In Recogne, six kilometers north of Bastogne, there is a military cemetery with 6,807 German war dead. Originally there were about 2,700 US soldiers who had fallen in the area, but they were reburied in the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial Cemetery in the summer of 1948 . Also the German military cemetery in Lommel .

Others

The siege of Bastogne is also the subject of the feature film Kesselschlacht (1949) and the documentary The War by Ken Burns (episode A Ghost Front ) as well as the 6th part of the series Band of Brothers - We were like brothers "Bastogne".

gallery

Map of troop movements during the Battle of the Bulge. Bastogne is roughly in the middle of the map.
Members of the 44th Armored Infantry and tanks in the Bastogne area on December 31, 1944
General Patton's jeep in Bastogne on January 1, 1945
Members of the 9th Engineer Battalion at a funeral of fallen comrades on January 22, 1945.
Relief troops infantry in the vicinity of Bastogne in December 1944.