The Battle of the Bulge

After capturing Metz, General Patton ordered a powerful drive into the
Siegfried Line, which he called, "A monument to the stupidity of
mankind." Using this attack, he planned on fighting its way into the
coal mining region of Germany. The Third Army was forced to give up
this attack because of a problem that developed in the First Army's
area to the north.

German General Von Rundstedt started an attack against the First Army
s VII and VIII Corps on the 16th of December. Von Rundstedt s forces
hit quickly and gained the element of surprise. Because of this, his
soldiers were making excellent progress.

Eisenhower and his staff at SHAEF began to worry that they had
underestimated the ability of the Germans. They feared that the
Germans might be able to use this massive offensive to go to the north
and west to capture the cities of Liege and Antwerp.

Liege was extremely important because the Allies had large supply
dumps there. If the Germans managed to seize those supplies, they
could possibly push the Allies back to the coastline, causing them to
lose all the ground they had gained.

Antwerp was important because it was a port city. If captured, the
Germans could use it to bring in badly needed supplies.

At a special meeting of all the highest ranking generals in the
American, British, and Canadian armies, it was decided that the
toughest job would go to General Patton and his Third Army. They would
have to relieve the soldiers who had been surrounded by the Germans at
the Belgian city of Bastogne.

After the meeting, Eisenhower, who had just been promoted to the five-
star rank of General of the Army, was talking with General Patton. He
remarked, "George, every time I get promoted I get attacked." Patton
shot back with the comment, "And every time you get attacked, I pull
you out!"

The 101st Airborne Division, commanded by Major General Maxwell D.
Taylor, was holding out and fighting off the fierce attempts by the
Germans to overrun Bastogne.

The Third Army had to stop a full scale attack they had started to the
east, pull back the entire army, swing around ninety degrees to the
north, and then begin another full scale attack on the southern flank
of the German forces. Nothing like that had ever been done in the
history of warfare. Everyone thought it was impossible except General
Patton. He knew his men could do the impossible.

It only took three days for the Third army to perform that massive
maneuver. Today, military historians readily admit that only Patton's
Third Army could have accomplished a maneuver like that and make it
look easy. Patton always demanded more from his soldiers than other
commanders did and they never let him down.

One of the reasons the Third Army performed so well is because they
expected the German attack. While Eisenhower and his friends were
playing cards in London and the First Army turned part of their area
into a R & R (Rest and Recuperation) area, Patton's intelligence
officers were hard at work.

The events leading up to the Battle of the Bulge have, like the
Falaise Gap and Operation Market-Garden, become controversial issues.
Many people believe that Eisenhower's staff at SHAEF made poor
decisions when they ignored Third Army reports about a possible
German offensive in the Ardennes.

Colonel Oscar Koch, head of Third Army's G-2 Intelligence department,
had sent intelligence reports warning SHAEF that the Germans were
probably planning a major attack against the First Army's R&R area.
His report was ignored. They refused to believe the Germans could
collect the mass of weapons, men, and material to launch a large
attack. It was a classic case of under-estimating the enemy. At
Colonel Koch's suggestion, General Patton gave the order for his staff
to design two separate plans in the event of a German attack. General
Patton believed Colonel Koch and considered him to be the best G-2 in
the European Theater of Operations.

When Patton attended the meeting with the other Allied commanders he
told them he could attack in two days with at least two divisions.
Everyone thought he was crazy, but he told them that he had already
set plans in motion before he left his headquarters. All he
had to was place a phone call. When it was finally decided that he
should attack as soon as possible, he phoned his headquarters and
said, "Nickel." The attack was on.

The General never returned to his headquarters. Instead, he and his
driver, Sergeant Mims, began traveling along the roads where he knew
he would meet his soldiers heading north. He gave orders on the spot
and told everyone he met to head north and kill Germans.  Sergeant
Mims once said to Patton, "General, the army is wasting a lot of money
on your staff officers. You and I can run the whole war from your
jeep."

While watching his men heading toward the Germans surrounding
Bastogne, he said, "No other army in the world could do this. No other
soldiers could do what these men are doing. By God, I'm proud of
them."

On the 26th of December a 4th Armored Division Task Force, commanded
by Major General H.J. Gaffey, made contact with the soldiers at
Bastogne.

By this time, urgently needed snow camouflage for both troops and
vehicles was being quickly supplied. Because of the problem of tanks
slipping on the icy terrain, supply troops had installed special
cleats on the treads of the tanks, much like the cleats on athlete's
shoes.

The Germans threw everything they had into the attack against
Bastogne. It was their last chance against the Allies. They made every
attempt to smash and close the corridor the 4th Armored Division had
opened to Bastogne. When failure was certain they began to
withdraw their armor behind the Siegfried line for the second and
final time. Badly hurt by the beating they had taken, the Germans used
what was left of their infantry to screen their movements.

Although they were handicapped by bitterly cold weather, ice, and
snow, the Third Army continued it's pressure on the south flank of the
enemy penetration.  By the end of December, the enemy had succeeded in
saving what armor had not been destroyed. The bulge slowly became a
wedge and the wedge finally disappeared.  Finally, another bulge
appeared except this time it was on the German side of the front
lines.

Officially, on the 28th of January, the Battle of the Bulge was over
and Von Rundstedt's Ardennes Offensive (as the Germans called it) had
lost all of the ground that it had originally won. The enemy was now
completely pushed back into German territory.

The soldiers of the First Army had fought gallantly and bravely
throughout the entire Battle of the Bulge. Although they were to be
commended for their courage and fighting ability, the truth is that
they would have lost the battle without the help of the Third Army.

It was General Patton's Third Army that performed the most crucial
role in stopping the Germans. Without their quick and decisive
maneuver and attack, the Battle of the Bulge would have been a massive
disaster for the Allies.

What cannot be understood was General Eisenhower's attitude toward
General Patton and the Third Army. General Bradley, 12th Army Group
Commander, and General Hodges, First Army commander, received
Distinguished Service Medals for their poor leadership. It was also
partly due to their lack of discipline among their soldiers that the
Germans were able to get so far in their attack. Yet, General Patton,
whose Third Army was mostly responsible for saving they day, was never
even thanked by Eisenhower.

Patton, however, didn't have time to worry about such small things. He
was getting ready for another drive into Germany. After The Bulge
became history, the Third Army began a powerful advance to the Kyll
River. It was during this advance that the Third Army captured the
German city of Trier.

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