Comments for 22 December, 1944

22 December, 1944

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:52:08 -0600

...in the Bastion of the Battered Bastards of the 101st, Bastogne. "To the U.S.A. Commander of the encircled town of Bastogne. The fortune of war is changing. This time the U.S.A. forces in and near Bastogne have been encircled by strong German armored units. More German armored units have crossed the river Our near Ortheuville, have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert by passing through Hompre-Sibret-Tillet. Libramont is in German hands. There is only one possibility to save the encircled U.S.A. troops from total annihilation: that is the honorable surrender of the encircled town. In order to think it over a term of two hours will be granted beginning with the presentation of this note. If this proposal should be rejected one German Artillery Corps and six heavy A. A. Battalions are ready to annihilate the U.S.A. troops in and near Bastogne. The order for firing will be given immediately after this two hours' term. All the serious civilian losses caused by this artillery fire would not correspond with the well known American humanity. The German Commander. "To the German Commander: Nuts! The American Commander. The American Commander was Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, Division Artillery Commander of the 101st Airborne Division. Redlegs (like yours truly) aren't usually noted for their brevity. McAuliffe's troops weren't the only ones inspired by his response. There was extra effort on the home front, too. Unaware of the mistake they made by surrounding the 101st, thus making it easier for the Screaming Eagles to kill Germans, the evening situation report that reached OB WEST (German Western Front HQ) on the 21st made good reading for the assembled staff. FeldMarschall von Rundstedt was convinced that the time was ripe for a concentric attack to crush those uppity light infantry in Bastogne and more importantly clear this key road junction so the the build-up required to support the Fifth Panzer Army in its efforts to get over the Meuse river. This year I'm excerpting from the Official History - The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge, by Hugh Cole. Let's let Mr. Cole pick up the story

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-12-23

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:21:56 -0600

I've flown with you guys before. Jumping out of your perfectly good airplane was a relief.

Nothing wrong with your airplanes, just the way you fly them.

You guys got the passenger pallets. We got the red seats facing the wrong way.

Comment from Josh on 2008-12-23

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:11:35 -0600

Mike - The way I heard the story, the Airborne never asked anybody to "rescue" them...but then, these are the people who want to jump out of our perfectly good airplanes, so what do they know...

Heroes like these really make me proud of this country.

Comment from RetRsvMike on 2008-12-23

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 14:55:18 -0600

...thank goodness the tankers got there in time to rescue those poor grunts and redlegs!

Comment from John of Argghhhh! on 2008-12-23

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 07:23:21 -0600

BBB - that's an excellent idea. I'll have to remember to suggest that to readers next time I do a similar post!

Comment from BeachBumBill on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:47:22 -0600

John,
I found your "abridged" version quite stimulating and so to get a better idea of what was happening, I opened up Google Earth, zoomed in to the crossroads of Michelshof, then I laid the view down to near horizontal (aka birdseye view) and then continued to read your version. Adding the "fog of war" in my mind it is now easy to see what a challenge thse men were up against.

Thanks,
BBB

Comment from Grumpy on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:00:14 -0600

John, THANK YOU! You did something very important, you simply told the narrative about the military action at Bastogne on or about 22 DEC 1944. But what is more important, is what you did not do, you let the record stand on its own merit, without embellishment. You did not compare or contrast, I'm aware this was the work of Hugh Cole, but you put this up on your site. This says a great deal. You and Cole write a little about the framework, but the primary focus is on the nameless "Battered Bastards of Bastogne."

Grumpy

Comment from Justthisguy on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:39:24 -0600

P.s. Oh, what Goetz said: "Er aber, sags ihm, er kann mich im Arsche lecken!"

Comment from Fishmugger on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:36:20 -0600

Yes...yes...I just toured all over the Bulge. And yes McAuliffe's one word answer was wonderful. But I also liked the translation by Col Joseph Harper of the 327th Glider Reg who's lines the German surrender team came through. When asked what the response means Harper said "Nuts is plain English for Go to Hell. And I'll tell you something else. If you continue to attack, we'll kill every goddam German that tries to break into this city."

The Germain saluted and said "We will kill many Americans"

Harper, "On your way, Bud, and good luck to you."

It seems in retrospect Harper wished he never wished good luck but hey, manners are manners.

Comment from John of Argghhh! on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:27:27 -0600

Well, we're working with the *Official* history of the event.

We're down with all the myth-building.

Comment from Justthisguy on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:26:31 -0600

Would that Gen'l McAuliffe had been enough of a German scholar to say, "Goertz von Berlichingen!". That expresses a similar sentiment to the one Brab mentions.

Comment from Barb on 2008-12-22

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:06:56 -0600

Story I heard is that Gen. McAuliffe actually said two words ... the second was 'You', and the first would have the PG-17D nipping at my heels. *grin*