Siege of Bastogne

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Battle of Bastogne
Part of Battle of the Ardennes (World War II)

101st Airborne Division troops watch as C-47s drop supplies over Bastogne.
Date December 1944 – January 1945
Location Bastogne, Belgium
Result American victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States United States Flag of Nazi Germany Nazi Germany
Commanders
Flag of the United States Anthony McAuliffe (101st Airborne)
Flag of the United States William Roberts (10th Armored Combat Command B)		 Flag of Nazi Germany Hasso von Manteuffel (5th Panzer Army)
Strength
11,000 (101st) 15 German divisions (four armored)
Casualties and losses
1,000 Unknown

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.

Contents

[edit] Deployment

As Allied command determined that the German army was attacking through the Ardennes into Belgium, they began a series of troop movements to reinforce key points. As part of the troop redeployments to blunt and stop the German attack, the American 101st Airborne Division, Combat Command B of 10th Armored and the 463d Field Artillery Battalion were deployed to Bastogne.

[edit] Retreat from Noville

On December 19 and 20, the 1st Battalion of the 506th Regiment, supported by Team Desobry of the 10th Armored, engaged the 2nd Panzer Division at Noville, northeast of Foy. Together, they destroyed at least 30 enemy tanks and inflicted 500 to 1000 casualties. This delay 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 town of Foy had been captured, forcing the 1st Battalion to then fight its way through Foy. 3rd Battalion was ordered forward in an 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.

[edit] 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 gun positions 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 23rd, 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.

[edit] 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!”).

Map of troop movements during the battle of the Bulge. Bastogne is near the middle.

Letter from General McAuliffe on Christmas Day to the 101st Airborne troops defending Bastogne.

101st Airborne troops picking up air-dropped supplies during the siege.

44th Armored Infantry and 6th Armored Division tanks near Bastogne, 31 December, 1944

General Patton's jeep in Bastogne, 1 January 1945.

Members of C Company, 9th Engineers, conduct a memorial service for those killed during the siege, January 22, 1945.

[edit] Band of Brothers

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)

[edit] Computer Games

The online game Lightning War features a Bastogne scenario covering a period from the initial German advance to a few days after the arrival of the US 4th Armoured Division.

The 2003 game Call of Duty also contains the Siege of Bastogne. This time you play one of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne division. You must capture important papers in 2 bunkers and then take out 2 panzers who headed your direction.

In the Call of Duty: United Offensive expansion you are stationed some 2-3 miles in front of the city and you must repel the attack on the city. Then you have to make an offensive against the towns of Foy and Noville.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 50.0° N 5.7214° E