Siege of Bastogne

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Bastogne
partof= Battle of the Ardennes (World War II)


caption=101st Airborne Division troops watch as C-47s drop supplies over Bastogne.
date= December 1944 – January 1945
casus=
territory=
place= Bastogne, Belgium
result= American victory
combatant1=flagicon|USA|1912 United States
combatant2=flagicon|Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
commander1=flagicon|United States|1912 Anthony McAuliffe (101st Airborne)
flagicon|United States|1912 William Roberts (10th Armored Combat Command B)
commander2=flagicon|Nazi Germany Hasso von Manteuffel (5th Panzer Army)
strength1=101st Airborne Division
10th Armored Division
463rd Artillery Batallion
Total: 11,000 enlisted + 800 officers
strength2=15 German divisions (four armored)
casualties1=6 Tanks 1,000 dead
casualties2=43 Tanks 6,700 dead

The Siege of Bastogne was a smaller battle in and around the Belgian town of Bastogne, during the larger Battle of the Bulge. Success of the German offensive, seizure of the harbor at Antwerp with encirclement and destruction of Allied armies, required the German Army mechanized forces to use the roadways in order to maintain the speed of the offensive. All seven main roads in the Ardennes mountain range converged on the small town of Bastogne. Control of the crossroads of Bastogne was vital to the Germans to speed up their advance and improve resupply of the German columns, as the poor weather conditions made cross country travel difficult. The battle lasted from mid-December 1944 to January 1945.

Background

After the successful Invasion of Normandy and the subsequent eastward push through France, the Allied front lines extended from Nijmegen in the north down to neutral Switzerland in the south. The valuable port city of Antwerp had been captured during the push, and by the time winter arrived, the Allies even had control of German territory near the city of Aachen. Hitler soon laid out a plan to attack the Allied lines in Belgium - 55 divisions would launch a surprise attack, with the aim of crossing the Meuse and recapturing Antwerp. Despite major misgivings from his senior commanders, including Gerd von Rundstedt and Walther Model, the plan was not modified and the jump-off date was eventually set as December 16, 1944. Meanwhile, the Allied commanders considered the Ardennes area to be unsuitable for a large-scale German attack, mainly because of terrain issues. In addition, intelligence reports suggested that the only German divisions stationed in the area were weary, and in the weeks leading up to the assault, no Allied commander saw reason to believe that an attack was imminent. Bastogne, a hub city that commanded several important roads in the area, was defended mainly by the 28th Infantry Division, which had seen continuous fighting from 22 July to 19 November, before being assigned to this relatively quiet area. The Allies believed only infantry division was present opposite the 28th Infantry, and they believed any attack along this sector would be limited in scale.

Hasso von Manteuffel, commanding the Fifth Panzer Army, gave Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz's XLVII Panzer Corps the responsibility of capturing Bastogne, before crossing the Meuse near Namur. von Lüttwitz planned to attack a 7-mile front with three divisions: the 26th Volksgrenadier and the 2nd Panzer would lead the assault, with the Panzer Lehr Division behind them. Opposing this significant force were two battalions of the 110th Infantry Regiment (the third was held back as a division reserve), responsible for a nine-mile front along the Our River. The Allied forces were gathered into small groups at major villages, with outposts along the river manned only during the daytime. Since the forces were too thin to maintain an even battle line, they focused their attention on the four roads that crossed the Our. Due to heavy rain preceding the German attack, only one of the roads was in good enough condition to be used as a crossing point - the northernmost road, which crossed the Our at Dasburg on its way to Clerf and Bastogne. The 2nd Panzer Division was assigned to cross the river along this road, while the 26th Volksgrenadier would construct a bridge near Gemünd for its crossing. von Lüttwitz realized the importance of the road network of Bastogne - he knew that the city had to be captured before his corps could venture too far westward. Therefore, he ordered the Panzer Lehr Division to push forward to Bastogne as soon as his other troops had crossed the Clerf River.

The attack

On the evening of 15 December, the 26th Volksgrenadier established an outpost line on the west bank of the Our, something they did routinely during the nighttime. At 0300, engineers began ferrying men and equipment over the river, and they began assembling at the departure point, quite close to the American garrisons. At 0530 the German artillery began bombarding the American positions, knocking out telephone lines, as the infantry started to advance. The Germans attacked swiftly, often carrying villages by sheer weight of numbers - in Weiler, one American company, supported by some mortars and a platoon of anti-tank guns, lasted until nightfall against repeated attacks from multiple German battalions. German engineers completed bridges over the Our before dark, and armor began moving to the front, adding to the Germans' vast numerical superiority. But in the end, the Germans were significantly delayed by the American defenders - their plan to cross the Clerf River by nightfall on the first day was delayed by two days.

On 19 December, the 28th Division command post transferred to Bastogne from Wiltz, a large village to the southeast. At Wiltz, the division put up its last stand - 3rd Battalion of the 110th, supported by armor and artillery, arrived at the city around noon of that day. The 44th Engineer Battalion was set up north of the town, but they were soon overwhelmed and retreated into the city, blowing up a bridge behind them. This small force, numbering no more than 500 in total, held out until the evening, when their position became completely untenable and they retreated to the west. With the 110th Infantry completely destroyed as an effective combat unit, it would be up to the rest of the Allied army to defend Bastogne.

Deployment

Despite several notable signs in the weeks preceding the attack, the Ardennes Offensive achieved virtually complete surprise. By the end of the second day of battle, it became apparent that the 28th Infantry was near collapse. Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton, commander of VIII Corps, ordered his armored reserve, Combat Command B of the 10th Armored, to support the 28th. Meanwhile, Gen. Eisenhower ordered the SHAEF reserve forward, composed of the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne, veteran troops that had served with distinction since the parachute drops behind Normandy. The 101st Airborne headed for Bastogne located on a 445m (1463 ft) high plateau, while the 82nd Airborne took up positions further north.

Preliminary action at Noville

On December 19 and 20, the 1st Battalion of the 506th Regiment of the 101st airborne division, supported by Team Desobry of the 10th ArmoredFact|Military Channel covered the tank destroyers as the 6th Armored? Perhaps both?|date=August 2008 in just fourCite Sm
Military Channel, Program "Tank Overhaul" ca 22:51, Wednesday 13 August 2008 (UTC) "18:00-19:00 hrs EDST", mixed documentary featuring M18 Hellcat refurbishment with interviews of WW-II veterans and expert commentary by WW-II historians.] M18 tank destroyers, engaged the 2nd Panzer Division at Noville located north-northeast of both Foy and of Bastogne just mi to km|4.36 away. The 2nd Panzer was to proceed by secondary roads via Monaville (just northwest of Bastogne near) to a key north-northwest running highway to capture, among other objectives, fuel dumps—the lack for which, the overall German counter-offensive faltered and failed. The tenth's high speed highway journey to reaching the blocking position is one of the few documented cases wherein the legendary top speed of the M18 Hellcat (mph to kph|55, faster than today's M1A2 Abrams) was actually used to get ahead of an enemy force as envisioned by its specifications.

Together, the 101st and M18 Helcats destroyed at least 30 enemy tanks and inflicted 500 to 1000 casualties on the attacking German forces from defensive positions. A Military Channel expert historian credited the M18 destroyers with 24 kills, including several Tiger tanks, and believes that, in part, their ability to shoot and scoot at high speed and then reappear elsewhere on the battlefield and therefore 'seem' to be another vehicle entirely played a large part in confusing and slowing the German offensive, which subsequently stalled as the Noville defense progressed. After two days, the 2nd Panzer Division finally turned aside, as its commander decided to head for a more southerly route—consequently involving the column at the road block at Bastogne. The heavy losses inflicted by the destroyers induced the German commander into believing the village was being held by a much stronger force and he recoiled from further attacks on the village, committing a strategic error while seeking tactical advantage—significantly delaying the German advance and setting the stage for the Siege of Bastogne just to the south. This delay also gave the 101st Airborne Division enough time to set up its defenses at Bastogne.

By the time the battalion pulled out of Noville on the 20th, the village of Foy half-way to Bastogne center had been captured, forcing the 1st Battalion of the 506th to then fight its way through Foy. 3rd Battalion was ordered forward (outward from the defenses at Bastogne proper) in an relieving attack to ease the pressure on 1st Battalion. By the time 1st Battalion made it to the safety of Allied lines, it had lost 13 officers and 199 enlisted men, out of about 600 troops.

Battle

The Allied forces were soon surrounded by elements of the German Fifth Panzer Army. The Allied soldiers were outnumbered and lacking in cold-weather gear, ammunition, food, medical supplies, and leadership (as many officers, including the 101st's commander, Major General Maxwell Taylor, were elsewhere). Due to some of the worst winter weather in years, the surrounded Allied forces could not be resupplied by air nor was tactical air support available. However, the Germans probed different points of the defensive perimeter in sequence, rather than attacking with a single large force (essentially violating the military principle of "mass"). This played into the American advantage of interior lines of communication and tended to dissipate the Germans' superior numbers; the defenders were able to reposition artillery and machine guns to meet each successive assault.

Artillery from the 463rd Battalion consisted of 105 and 155 mm howitzers. These were active in the first few days of the siege. However, by December 23, the ammunition had been almost completely exhausted. The remaining rounds were reserved for anti-tank purposes in the event of a German panzer attack. The battalion resumed shelling of German positions later that day, after a break in the weather allowed Allied supply drops and tactical air support.

Allied control of Bastogne was a major obstacle to the German armored advance, and the morale of Allied forces elsewhere on the Western Front was boosted by news of the stubborn defense of the besieged town.

Breaking of the Encirclement

Elements of General George Patton's Third Army, spearheaded by Lt. Col. Creighton Abrams of the 37th Armor Regiment, succeeded in punching through to Bastogne, augmenting the defenders the day after Christmas. The 101st's ground communications with the American supply dumps were restored, and the wounded were evacuated to the rear.

With the encirclement broken, the men of the 101st expected to be relieved, but were given orders to resume the offensive, and were not taken off the front until Noville had been recaptured.

The most famous quote of the battle came from the 101st’s acting commander, Brigadier General McAuliffe. When awakened by an enemy request for his surrender, he replied “NUTS!” (his interpreter translated it as “Go to hell!”).

Band of Brothers television program

The legendary Easy Company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, U.S. 101st Airborne Division was one of the units present at Bastogne. "Band of Brothers", an HBO miniseries based on a book of the same name by Stephen Ambrose, dedicates two episodes ("Bastogne" and "The Breaking Point") to its experiences there. After the battle, newspapers called them the "battered bastards of Bastogne".

"The 101st Airborne still had a complaint. As the story of the Battle of the Bulge is told today, it is one of George Patton and his Third Army coming to the rescue of the encircled 101st, like the cavalry come to save the settlers in their wagon circle. No member of the 101st has ever agreed that the division needed to be rescued!" (Ambrose, 191)

ee also

*Battle of the Bulge
*101st Airborne Division
*Third United States Army

References

*Ambrose, Stephen E. Band of Brothers. New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 1992.
*Turow, Scott. Ordinary Heroes. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (October 27, 2005)

External links

* [http://www.101airborneww2.com/warstories3.html Summary of the battle]
* [http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/bastogne.aspx The Battle of the Bulge - Fortunes of War]
* [http://www.historynet.com/historical_conflicts/3031921.html Battle of the Bulge - 4th Armored Division Help End the Siege of Bastogne]
* [http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wwii/Bastogne/bast-fm.htm Bastogne, the first eight days]