The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (157 page)

A suggestion in early December
: OH, W. B. Smith, Apr. 1949, SLAM, OCMH WWII General Miscellany, MHI;
TSC
, 365n (
ample reinforcements had been positioned
); corr, K. W. D. Strong to FCP, Aug. 31, 1951, NARA RG 319,
SC
background files, 2-3.7 CB 8 (
chose not to trouble
Eisenhower); OH, Edwin L. Sibert, May 11, 1951, FCP, NARA RG 319,
SC
background files, 2-3.7 CB 8 (“
I don’t think they will come
”). Bradley grew sufficiently concerned that he told Sibert he wanted Eisenhower to reinforce him with the 12th Armored Division.

Perhaps the only true prescience
:
TT
, 52 (“
has
not
been a rout
”); Third Army intel summaries, Dec. 7 and 14, 1944, Oscar W. Koch papers, MHI, box 12 (“
large panzer concentration
” and
persistent mystery
); Blumenson,
Patton: The Man Behind the Legend, 1885–1945
, 245 (
vulnerability of VIII Corps
);
TSC
, 366–67;
PP
, 582 (“
The First Army is making a terrible mistake
”).

Yet in other Allied high councils a confident swagger
: “Strategy of the Campaign in Western Europe, 1944–1945,” n.d., USFET, General Board study no. 1, 69; Hinsley, 563 (“
sudden attack in the West
”); OH, Edwin L. Sibert, May 11, 1951, FCP, NARA RG 319,
SC
background files, 2-3.7 CB 8 (
punch up the prose
);
TSC
, 369n; intel summary no. 18, 12th AG, Dec. 12, 1944, Oscar W. Koch papers, MHI, box 11 (“
Attrition is steadily sapping
”); Royce L. Thompson, “American Intelligence on the German Counteroffensive,” vol. 1, Nov. 1949, CMH, 2-3.7 AE P-1 (“
given time and fair weather
”).

Montgomery needed no ghostwriter
: Wilmot,
The Struggle for Europe
, 587n (“
cannot stage major offensive operations
”).

“
I still have nine days
”:
TSC
, 370n.

Marlene Dietrich cut a wide swath
: Weintraub,
11 Days in December
, 28–30; Atkinson, “Ghost of a Chanteuse,”
WP
, May 7, 1996; Joseph Edgar Martin, “From Casblanca to Berchtesgaden: A Memoir of World War II,” 2003, a.p., 53 (
sequined gown
); Goolrick and Tanner,
The Battle of the Bulge
, 41 (
lipstick autographs
); Kennett,
G.I.: The American Soldier in World War II
, 202 (
eleven pistols
); Codman,
Drive
, 200–201 (“
the first girl laughed
”); Spoto,
Blue Angel
, 196–200 (“
how could it have been Eisenhower?
”).

On a rainy Thursday evening, December 14
: corr, Malcolm Richard Wilkey, March 7, 1983, CBM, MHI, box 1, 3;
TT
, 96–97; McManus,
Alamo in the Ardennes
, 33.

The U.S. Army’s
Guide to the Cities of Belgium: Schrijvers,
The Crash of Ruin
, 31, 213;
Ardennes
, 238 (“
quiet paradise
”); Babcock,
Taught to Kill
, 63 (“
crisp and sunny day
”); Richard Henry Byers, “Battle of the Bulge,” 1983, a.p., 22–23 (“
I’ll be getting fat
”); Toland,
Battle
, 18 (
sang while eating crackers
); Blunt,
Foot Soldier
, 108; OH, Albert Handaly, ROHA,
http://oralhistory.rutgers.edu/Interviews/handaly_albert.html
*
(
death notifications
).

Among visitors to the First Army headquarters
: Benjamin A. Dickson, “G-2 Journal: Algiers to the Elbe,” MHI, 180–83; Sylvan, 211; Hogan,
A Command Post at War
, 207, 212 (
worn down by fatigue
); Holt,
The Deceivers
, 657 (“
The retreat we beat
”).

Ten thousand Belgian civilians
: Schrijvers,
The Unknown Dead
, 12 (“
connected with Germany
”); corr, Ralph G. Hill, Jr., Nov. 10, 1973, Maurice Delaval collection, MHI, box 9 (
Army trucks then hauled the beef
);
TT
, 127–28 (
Another roundup
); corr, John I. Hungerford, June 26, 1957, JT, LOC MS Div, box 36 (“
cornfield forest
”); Marshall,
A Ramble Through My War
, 170 (“
Go easy, boys
”).

Of the 341,000 soldiers in the U.S. First Army
: Royce L. Thompson, “Ardennes Campaign Statistics,” Apr. 1952, OCMH, NARA RG 319, E 97,
LSA
vol. 1, background files, box 7;
Ardennes
, 56; corr, Troy H. Middleton to theater historians, July 30, 1945, NARA RG 498, ETOUSA HD, UD 584;
TSC
, 371; Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography
, 212–13 (
phony shoulder flashes
); John C. Hollinger, “The Operations of the 422nd Infantry Regiment,” 1949, Infantry School, Ft. Benning, Ga. (
frontages
); Lauer,
Battle Babies
, 6–7.

For much of the fall, four veteran U.S. divisions
:
SLC
, 612–15; Beck, 461 (
eighteen-year-old draftees
); Alan W. Jones, Jr., “The Operations of the 423rd Infantry,” 1949, IS, 6 (
across the Losheim Gap
).

As with so many newer divisions
: John C. Hollinger, “The Operations of the 422nd Infantry Regiment,” 1949, IS (
seven thousand men had been transferred
); OH, “German Breakthrough in the Ardennes,” 106th ID, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427-A (
arriving at Le Havre
); Dupuy,
St. Vith: Lion in the Way
, 15–16 (“
numb, soaked, and frozen
”).

Few soldiers of the 106th had ever heard
: corr, John I. Hungerford, June 26, 1957, JT, LOC MS Div, box 36; Alan W. Jones, Jr., “The Operations of the 423rd Infantry,” 1949, IS, 8 (
calibration of new sets
); OH, “German Breakthrough in the Ardennes,” 106th ID, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427-A (
shortages of winter clothing
); Rosser L. Hunter, IG report, “Action of 106th Infantry Division,” Jan. 26, 1945, NARA RG 338, FUSA AG, 333.9, 1 (“
aggressive defense
”); report, M. C. Shattuck, VIII Corps, Dec. 13, 1944, NARA RG 498, G-3 OR, box 9 (
German war dogs
).

“
The woods are of tall pines
”: Richard Henry Byers, “Battle of the Bulge,” 1983, a.p., 14; “The Losheim Gap,” n.d., ETO HD, NARA RG 498, UD 584, box 4; OH, Mark Devine, 14th Cavalry Group, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder #329 (“
sugar bowls
”).

“
It has been very quiet
”: Dupuy,
St. Vith: Lion in the Way
, 15–16.

Straw and rags muffled gun wheels
:
Ardennes
, 70; OH, Hasso von Manteuffel, Oct. 12, 1966, John S. D. Eisenhower, CBM, MHI, box 6, 21–22 (
authorized to shoot out tires
); Parker, ed.,
The Battle of the Bulge: The German View
, 139–40 (
portaged ammunition
); memo, Walter Model, “Maximum Performance Without Sleep,” Dec. 17, 1944, NARA RG 498, ETOUSA HD, UD 584 (“
strengthening foods
”); Wilmot,
The Struggle for Europe
, 582 (“
Some believe in living
”).

Two hundred thousand assault troops
:
Ardennes
, 72–73, 650.

“
Tomorrow brings the beginning
”: ibid., 74.

In the red-roofed Belgian army barracks
:
TT
, 189; Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography
, 215–16 (
champagne corks
); Weigley,
Eisenhower’s Lieutenants
, 121 (“
outstanding infantry regimental commander
”).

A few miles to the east, the faint clop
:
Ardennes
, 194, 63 (“
Nothing to report
”); Royce L. Thompson, “Weather of the Ardennes Campaign,” Oct. 2, 1953, CMH, 22.

C
HAPTER
9: T
HE
B
ULGE

A Rendezvous in Some Flaming Town

Sheets of flame leaped
: Richard Henry Byers, “Battle of the Bulge,” 1983, a.p., 26; OH video, I&R platoon, 394th Inf, 99th ID, compiled by NWWIIM, 2008 (“
the end of the world
”).

For some, yes
: OH, 14th Cavalry Group, n.d., NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 329; Dupuy,
St. Vith: Lion in the Way
, 3; OH video, I&R platoon, 394th Inf, 99th ID, compiled by NWWIIM, 2008 (“
The whole German army
”).

The battle was joined, this last great grapple
: As described later in this chapter, Operation
NORDWIND
, effectively a coda to the Bulge attack, was the last substantial German offensive in the west (OH, 99th ID, Jan. 1945, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 209;
Ardennes
, 82).

Es geht um das Ganze: “Intelligence Notes on the Breakthrough,” 99th ID, G-2, n.d., CBM, MHI, box 4.

No man embraced the field marshal’s sentiments
: Royce L. Thompson, “The ETO Ardennes Campaign: Operations of the Combat Group Peiper,” July 24, 1952, CMH;
Ardennes
, 260–61;
http://www.ss501panzer.com/Trail_KG_Peiper.htm
.

As commander of the 1st SS Panzer Regiment
:
TT
, 198–99, 462–63; “Malmedy Massacre Investigation,” U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, Oct. 1949 (
Blow Torch Battalion
); Bauserman,
The Malmédy Massacre
, 5–6; MMB, 418; Reynolds,
The Devil’s Adjutant
, 25 (
Two brothers, also SS men
); memo, European Command judge advocate, March 28, 1949, CMH, LAW 2-7, 2. (
Hitler’s orders to wield fear
).

In early December, after a test run
: “An Interview with Obst Joachim Peiper,” ETHINT 10, Sept. 7, 1945, MHI, 2–3, 7, 13–14 (“
these roads were not for tanks
”).

Both German and American mines cost Peiper
: ibid., 15; Eisenhower,
The Bitter Woods
, 218; Royce L. Thompson, “The ETO Ardennes Campaign: Operations of the Combat Group Peiper,” July 24, 1952, CMH (
clattered into Honsfeld
);
TT
, 203;
Ardennes
, 261; “The Battle of the Bulge,”
AB
, no. 4 (1974): 1
+
(
stripped boots
).

German intelligence had correctly identified
:
Ardennes
, 261, 91; Royce L. Thompson, “The ETO Ardennes Campaign: Operations of the Combat Group Peiper,” July 24, 1952, CMH. “An Interview with Obst Joachim Peiper,” ETHINT 10, Sept. 7, 1945, MHI, 16 (
fifty thousand gallons
). The official Army history contends that fifty American soldiers were murdered in Büllingen, but Charles B. MacDonald, a particularly capable historian, asserts that a single GI was murdered there (
TT
, 206–9).

This serendipity proved catastrophic for Battery B
: Bauserman,
The Malmédy Massacre
, ix; Schrijvers,
The Unknown Dead
, 37–38 (“
Boches!
”);
TT
, 213–15.

Boches there were, and in a particularly foul mood
: Royce L. Thompson, “The ETO Ardennes Campaign: Operations of the Combat Group Peiper,” July 24, 1952, CMH; Bauserman,
The Malmédy Massacre
, 40–50, 62; Schrijvers,
The Unknown Dead
, 37 (
captors stripped them of rings
).

“Da kriegt noch einer Luft”: Bauserman,
The Malmédy Massacre
, 67.

“
I was wounded in the left arm
”: affidavit, Homer D. Ford, in memo to ONB, Dec. 29, 1944, NARA RG 498, ETOUSA HD, UD 584; Ed Cunningham, “The Battle of the Bulge,”
Yank
, March 2, 1945, in
Reporting World War 2
, 582 (“
then the click
”).

For twenty minutes executioners prowled
:
TT
, 219; author interviews, Bastogne, 50th anniversary, Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 17, 1994 (
claret color
).

Unaware for the moment that his minions
: “An Interview with Obst Joachim Peiper,” ETHINT 10, Sept. 7, 1945, MHI, 16–17; “The Battle of the Bulge,”
AB
, no. 4 (1974): 1
+
(
wolfing down the lunch
);
TT
, 229 (
killing seven. The eighth fled
).

“
God made me to know him
”: McNally,
As Ever, John
, 57–58.

Twilight had fallen when Pieper reached
:
Ardennes
, 265–66; Royce L. Thompson, “The ETO Ardennes Campaign: Operations of the Combat Group Peiper,” July 24, 1952, CMH (
strung out for twenty-five kilometers
).

Behind him, near Malmédy
: Bauserman,
The Malmédy Massacre
, 83 (
word of the massacre passed
); author interviews, Bastogne, 50th anniversary, Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 17, 1994 (
Vows to give no quarter
); Linderman,
The World Within War
, 139; war diary, Ninth Army, Dec. 23, 1944, William H. Simpson papers, MHI, box 11 (“
American troops are now refusing
”).

Peiper had bored a small, vicious hole
:
Ardennes
, 78, 101–6; Brower, ed.,
World War II in Europe: The Final Year
, 225 (“
red nightmare
”); Lauer,
Battle Babies
, 17, 42 (
flame pits
); OH, 99th ID, Jan. 1945, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 209 (
bayoneting GIs
).