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Thursday, 11 December 2014 and into Belgium. Allied bombers did a fine 28:05 Volume 28 Number 5 job destroying rail links and roads that the Published by WW II History Round Table Germans were trying to use in retreat; those Edited by Dr. Connie Harris successes seriously impeded the Allied pursuit www.mn-ww2roundtable.org of the Germans. Logistical links were stretched thin; most supplies had to be carried overland Welcome to the December meeting of on the Red Ball Express, a trucking system that the Harold C. Deutsch World War II brought supplies to the line, but also ate up History Round Table. Tonight’s speakers much needed fuel supplies. The Allied are Leo Barron and Don Cygan, authors of No advances slowed in October 1944 to allow for Silent Night: The Christmas Battle for Bastogne. re-supply - especially of gas and ammunition - Combat veterans from Bastogne will join them and rest. The densely forested Ardennes area, to explore the turning point in the Battle of the between Wallonia in Belgium, Luxembourg, Bulge. and France, appeared to be a quiet sector This year marks the 70th anniversary of the perfect for the acclimatization of inexperienced Battle of the Bulge, and although there have divisions, such as the US 99th and 106th been many historical monographs have been Infantry Divisions, and a rest area for battle written about it, a number of controversies still weary troops like the 28th Infantry and the 82nd exist. Many question Hitler’s real intentions; did and 101st Airborne Divisions. he really believe that if he could reach Antwerp There were indications that the Germans and split the British and Americans to broker a were up to something. Ultra intercepts separate peace? Or was he being a modern indicated that they were building up Samson, who – realizing his defeat – decided to ammunition and fuel dumps in the Ardennes. destroy the German nation by allowing the With the advantage of short, interior lines, and Russians to wreak havoc? the use of telephone and telegraph lines instead Whatever the motivations the idea of an of radio, the Germans reduced their problems offensive in the West came to Hitler in of supply and the effectiveness of Ultra. September of 1944. Hitler’s chosen target was The Wehrmacht struck on 16 December Antwerp; the destruction of a vital logistical link along a fifty mile front in the Ardennes for the Allies. He gave his Generals the task of between Monschau and Echternach. The putting it together, and shifting troops from the weather cooperated with thick cloud cover and Eastern Front to the Western Front. The snow which obscured the area and negated the Germans realized that four things were Allied air superiority; the Germans took the imperative for a successful attack: surprise; poor First US Army by surprise. They launched a weather to effectively negate Allied air three-pronged offensive. In the north Sepp superiority; rapid progress; and, the capture of Dietrich’s Sixth SS Panzer Army attacked Allied fuel stocks to refuel the Wehrmacht on against stiff resistance from the 99th and 2nd the march. Divisions, holding the critical Monschau and Eisenborn Ridge, which denied the Germans The Allied high command optimistically critical roads. In the south, Brandenberger’s believed the Germans did not have enough Seventh Army pushed toward Luxembourg to remaining capability to launch a major offensive. secure the left flank from Allied armies. In the Eisenhower met with Bradley and Montgomery center, von Manteuffel’s Fifth Panzer Army in early December 1944 to outline plans for a attacked toward Bastogne and St. Vith, each January 1945 offensive. While maintaining the having critical road junctions. broad-front strategy, that is pushing the Germans back all along the front, Ike wanted a strong While St. Vith held out for six days before strike in the north. British Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery Following the Normandy landings and ordered a withdrawal to more defensive breakout in the summer and fall of 1944, the positions, Bastogne was different. A critical Allies had pushed the Wehrmacht out of France juncture in the Germans drive toward Antwerp,

If you are a veteran, or know a veteran, of one of these campaigns – contact Don Patton at cell 612- 867-5144 or [email protected]

The Round Tablette 11 December 2014 — 2 eleven hard-top roads converged at Bastogne. It Station, TX: Texas A&M University Press, was imperative for the advance that it be taken. 2007). The Allies had other things in mind. Defended by the elements of the 10th Armored Division, Announcements: st Twin Cities Civil War Round Table - reinforced by the 101 Airborne, the forces in st Bastogne refused to surrender. The Germans Dec. 16, 2014 – 1 Minn at Gettysburg- www.tccwrt.com - [email protected] flanked the town to the north and south, causing St Croix Valley Civil War Round Table - Jan. 26, considerable delays to their offensive schedule. 2015 – Carbines, Cavalry & Re-enacting - 715- By 21 December the Germans had Bastogne 386-1268 – [email protected] surrounded, and they asked the acting Rochester WWII History Round Table –507-280- commander of the 101st Airborne, Brigadier 9970; www.ww2roundtable-rochester.org General Anthony McAuliffe to surrender. His Minnesota Military Museum, Camp Ripley, 15000 Hwy 115, Little Falls, MN 56345, 320-616-6050, immortal reply: “NUTS”. The “Battered http://www.mnmilitarymuseum.org/ Bastards of Bastogne” refused to be overrun and Honor Flight - Jerry Kyser - were finally relieved by Patton’s 4th Armored crazyjerry45@hotmail - 651-338-2717 Division on 26 December. CAF - Commemorative Air Force - www.cafmn.org 651-455-6942 (Forewarned by Col. Oscar Koch, his G-2 Minnesota Air Guard Museum - (Intelligence), Patton had anticipated the need to www.mnangmuseum.org 612-713-2523 shift his axis of advance 90° and move almost Friends of Ft. Snelling, www.fortsnelling.org the entire Third US Army northward - all Fagen Fighters WWII Museum, Granite Falls, MN, 320-564-6644, http://www.fagenfighterswwiimuseum.org. moving under Verbal Orders that provided World Without Genocide, 651-695-7621, routes, movement times, and so on. Trusting http://www.worldwithoutgenocide.org/ XIX Tactical Air Command and Magic, Patton Airshow - Eden Prairie - 11/12 July 2015 used the 1303rd Engineer General Service www.wotn.org 952-746-6100 Regiment, a combat engineer unit, as his right flank guard. Patton’s lead element, the 4th AD, We need volunteers to drive our veterans first entered the fray near Bastogne on 22 to and from meetings. Please contact Don Patton at cell 612-867-5144 or December.) [email protected] By mid-January 1945, the Germans were pushed back to their Main Line of Departure. Round Table Schedule 2014 - 2015 They lost 100,000 men and severely crippled 8 Jan. Myth of the German Offensive their remaining military capabilities. As for the 12 Feb. Italian Struggle 12 Mar. Logistics of War Americans, the Battle of the Bulge was the 26 Mar. Return to the Philippines bloodiest battle of World War II, with over 9 Apr. Air War in the Mediterranean 100,000 casualties. 14 May Retrospective: Goals of WW2 Leaders Further Readings: Leo Barron and Don Cygan, No Silent Night: The Christmas Battle of Bastogne (New York: NAL Caliber, 2012). George Koskimaki The Battered Bastards of Bastogne (New York: Presidio Press, 2007). S. L. A. Marshall, Bastogne: The First Eight Days (Washington D.C.: Infantry Journal Press, 1946). Mark Bando, 101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles in World War II (St. Paul, MN: Zenith Press, 2007). Robert Bowen & Christopher Anderson, Fighting with the Screaming Eagles: With the 101st Airborne From Normandy to Bastogne (Havertown, PA: Casemate Publishers, 2010) Robert E. Merriam, Dark December: The Full Account of the Battle of the Bulge (Yardley, PA: Westholme Pub., 2011) MAJ Keith H. Barber, “The German Ardennes Counter Offensive, Joseph C. Fitzharris, ed., Patton’s Fighting December 16 1944 – January 2 1945 (Ardennes-Alsace Campaign),” in Bridge Builders: Company B of the 1303rd Student Paper Maps Collection, Donovan Research Library, Army Engineer General Service Regiment (College Maneuver Center of Excellence Libraries, Ft. Benning, GA.

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