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On this day, General George S. Patton employs an audacious strategy to relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium, during the brutal Battle of the Bulge.
The capture of Bastogne was the ultimate goal of the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive through the Ardennes forest. Bastogne provided a road junction in rough terrain where few roads existed; it would open up a valuable pathway further north for German expansion. The Belgian town was defended by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, which had to be reinforced by troops who straggled in from other battlefields. Food, medical supplies, and other resources eroded as bad weather and relentless German assaults threatened the Americans’ ability to hold out. Nevertheless, Brigadier General Anthony C. MacAuliffe met a German surrender demand with a typewritten response of a single word: “Nuts.”
Enter “Old Blood and Guts,” General Patton. Employing a complex and quick-witted strategy wherein he literally wheeled his 3rd Army a sharp 90 degrees in a counterthrust movement, Patton broke through the German lines and entered Bastogne, relieving the valiant defenders and ultimately pushing the Germans east across the Rhine.
The capture of Bastogne was the ultimate goal of the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive through the Ardennes forest. Bastogne provided a road junction in rough terrain where few roads existed; it would open up a valuable pathway further north for German expansion. The Belgian town was defended by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, which had to be reinforced by troops who straggled in from other battlefields. Food, medical supplies, and other resources eroded as bad weather and relentless German assaults threatened the Americans’ ability to hold out. Nevertheless, Brigadier General Anthony C. MacAuliffe met a German surrender demand with a typewritten response of a single word: “Nuts.”
Enter “Old Blood and Guts,” General Patton. Employing a complex and quick-witted strategy wherein he literally wheeled his 3rd Army a sharp 90 degrees in a counterthrust movement, Patton broke through the German lines and entered Bastogne, relieving the valiant defenders and ultimately pushing the Germans east across the Rhine.
Patton relieves Bastogne - Dec 26, 1944 - HISTORY.com
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WWII World War Two
WWII World War Two
Posted 7 y ago
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TSgt Joe C., when BG Anthony MacAuliffe was later interviewed about the relief of the 101st, his comments left everyone with different thoughts about their status.
"It didn’t occur to us, until it was all over, that the eyes of the world were on the 101st Airborne Division and the attached armor during the defense of Bastogne.
The first thing we heard was that we’d been ‘rescued’ by the 4th Armored Division. Now I, and everyone else in the 101st, RESENT the implication that we were rescued or that we needed to be rescued.
When General Taylor arrived on the 27th, the first thing he asked me was what kind of shape we were in. I told him, ‘Why, we’re in fine shape: we’re ready to take the offensive.’ General Taylor said, 'I should have known it, but all that stuff I read in the newspapers was beginning to worry me just a little.’
The fact is we were thinking about what a tough time the Kraut was having. We weren’t alarmed about our own position at all. After all, we’d deliberately jumped into that kind of position in Normandy and Holland."
LTC Stephen F.
"It didn’t occur to us, until it was all over, that the eyes of the world were on the 101st Airborne Division and the attached armor during the defense of Bastogne.
The first thing we heard was that we’d been ‘rescued’ by the 4th Armored Division. Now I, and everyone else in the 101st, RESENT the implication that we were rescued or that we needed to be rescued.
When General Taylor arrived on the 27th, the first thing he asked me was what kind of shape we were in. I told him, ‘Why, we’re in fine shape: we’re ready to take the offensive.’ General Taylor said, 'I should have known it, but all that stuff I read in the newspapers was beginning to worry me just a little.’
The fact is we were thinking about what a tough time the Kraut was having. We weren’t alarmed about our own position at all. After all, we’d deliberately jumped into that kind of position in Normandy and Holland."
LTC Stephen F.
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Thanks TSgt Joe C. for letting us know that on Boxing Day 1944 General George S. Patton employed an audacious strategy to relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne, Belgium, during the brutal Battle of the Bulge.
The skies dark cloud had lifted allowing allied pursuit aircraft d bombers to engage
The skies dark cloud had lifted allowing allied pursuit aircraft d bombers to engage
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Caught totally by surprise, after weeks of intel from soldiers in the trenches, the rag-tag bunch defenders put up a hell of a fight, in brutal conditions. If you are interested in this battle, check out Alamo In The Ardennes: The Untold Story of the American Soldiers Who Made the Defense of Bastogne Possible, by John McManus. Not a long book, but a classic look at the struggle, told from the point of view of the combatants.
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