This volume, one of the series UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II, is the eighth to be published in the subseries, THE EUROPEAN THEATER OF OPERATIONS. The volumes in the overall series will be closely related and will present a comprehensive account of the activities of the Military Establishment during World War II. A list of subseries is appended at the end of this volume.

 

UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II Stetson Conn, General Editor

Advisory Committee
(As of 1 July, 1964)  

Fred C. Cole Washington and Lee University	Lt. Gen. August Schomburg Industrial College of the Armed Forces
James A. Field, Jr. Swarthmore College	Maj. Gen. Hugh M. Exton U.S. Continental Army Command
Earl Pomeroy University of Oregon	Brig. Gen. Ward S. Ryan U.S. Army War College
Theodore Ropp Duke University	Brig. Gen. Elias C. Townsend U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Lt. Col. Thomas E. Griess United States Military Academy

 

Office of the Chief of Military History
Brig. Gen. Hal. C. Pattison, Chief of Military History

Chief Historian	Stetson Conn
Chief, Histories Division	Col. Albert W. Jones
Editor-in-Chief	Joseph R. Friedman
Chief, Editorial and Graphics Division	Col. Walter B. McKensie

. . . to Those Who Served

CONTENTS

	Forward		vii
	Preface		ix
Chapter			Page
I.	THE ORIGINS		1-18
		Hitler's Perspective, September 1944	3
		How the Plan Was Born	9
II.	PLANNING THE COUNTEROFFENSIVE		19-32
		Details of the Plan	19
		The Big Solution	27
		A Double Envelopment?	29
III.	TROOPS AND TERRAIN		33-47
		The Order of Battle	33
		The Allies Return to the Attack	36
		The Terrain	39
IV.	PREPARATIONS		48-74
		Deception and Camouflage	48
		The Western Front in Early December	51
		The Intelligence Failure	56
		The German Concentration	63
V.	THE SIXTH PANZER ARMY ATTACK		75-106
		The 99th Division Sector	77
		The Initial Attack, 16 December	80
		The First Attacks in the Monschau-Hofen Sector Are Repulsed, 16 December	86
		The German Effort Continues, 17-18 December	90
		Losheimergraben Is Lost	92
		The German Attack Toward Rocherath and Krinkelt, 16-17 December	95
		The 395th Infantry Conforms to the Withdrawal	101
		The 2d Division Gives Up the Wahlerscheid Attack	103
		The 394th Infantry Abandons the Murringen Position	105
VI.	THE GERMAN NORTHERN SHOULDER IS JAMMED		107-135
		The 2d Division Withdraws	107
		The 1st Infantry Division Sends Reinforcements to Butgenbach	112
		The Defense of the Twin Villages, 18 December	113
		The Last Attack at Hofen Fails, 18 December	119
		The 2d Division Withdraws to the Elsenborn Line, 19 December	120
		The Enemy Tries the Western Flank, 19-23 December	128
VII.	BREAKTHROUGH AT THE SCHNEE EIFEL		136-172
		Introductory Note	136
		Dispositions of the 106th Infantry Division	137
		Enemy Preparations for Another Cannae	142
		The Attack in the Losheim Gap	145
		The Attack Hits the 106th Division	151
		The 424th Infantry and CCB, 9th Armored	158
		Cannae in the Schnee Eifel	161
		The Question of Air Resupply	171
VIII.	THE FIFTH PANZER ARMY ATTACKS THE 28TH INFANTRY DIVISION		173-209
		The 110th Infantry Sector, 16-18 December	176
		The 112th Infantry Sector, 16-20 December	193
		The Fall of Wiltz	205
IX.	THE ATTACK BY THE GERMAN LEFT WING: 16-20 DECEMBER		212-237
		The 109th Infantry Defense on the Sauer and Our Rivers, 16-20 December	214
		Elements of the 9th Armored Division Battle at the Sauer, 16-20 December	227
X.	THE GERMAN SOUTHERN SHOULDER IS JAMMED		238-258
		The German Thrust Begins	240
		Southern Flank-A Summing Up	258
XI.	THE 1ST SS PANZER DIVISION'S DASH WESTWARD, AND OPERATION GREIF		259-271
		Kampfgruppe Peiper on the Move	260
		Operation Greif	269
XII.	THE FIRST ATTACKS AT ST. VITH		272-293
		The 7th Armored Division Move to St. Vith	273
		The Enemy Strikes at the St. Vith Perimeter	280
XIII.	VIII CORPS ATTEMPTS TO DELAY THE ENEMY		294-309
		CCR, 9th Armored Division, and the Road to Bastogne	294
		The Advance of the XLVII Panzer Corps	298
		Team Cherry on the Longvilly Road	300
		The 101st Airborne Division Moves Into Bastogne	305
XIV.	THE VIII CORPS BARRIER LINES		310-329
		Middleton's First Moves	311
		The Gap North of Bastogne	316
		Defense Southwest of Bastogne	322
		Renewed Drive Around Bastogne	323
XV.	THE GERMAN SALIENT EXPANDS TO THE WEST		330-367
		The 30th Division Meets Peiper	334
		The West Flank of the XVIII Airborne Corps, 20 December	352
		Action in Front of the XVIII Airborne Corps Right Wing, 20 December	354
		The Net Closes on Peiper	359
XVI.	ONE THREAT SUBSIDES; ANOTHER EMERGES		368-392
		The Attempt To Relieve Peiper's Kampfgruppe	368
		The 3d Armored Division Is Checked, 21-23 December	377
		The Fight at the Baraque de Fraiture Crossroads, 23 December	388
XVII.	ST. VITH IS LOST		393-422
		The Defenders of St. Vith Pass to the XVIII Airborne Corps	393
		The Enemy Closes on the St. Vith Salient	401
		The Final Withdrawal From the St. Vith Sector	407
XVIII.	THE VII CORPS MOVES TO BLUNT THE SALIENT		423-444
		Division of the Battlefield	423
		The VII Corps Assembles	427
		German Armor Advances on the VII Corps	435
		The Main Battle Is Joined, 24 and 25 December	438
XIX.	THE BATTLE OF BASTOGNE		445-481
		The Initial Deployment East of Bastogne	445
		Bastogne Is Encircled	459
		The Enemy Begins a Concentric Attack	464
		The Battle on Christmas Day	478
XX.	THE XII CORPS ATTACKS THE SOUTHERN SHOULDER		482-508
		The End of the Defensive Battle, 22 December	482
		The XII Corps Moves to Luxembourg	485
		The XII Corps' Counterattack	489
XXI.	THE III CORPS' COUNTERATTACK TOWARD BASTOGNE		509-555
		Preparations for the Attack	509
		The 80th Division Advance	515
		The 26th Infantry Division Attack	520
		The 4th Armored Division Attack	523
		The 80th Division Battle in the Woods, 25-26 December	532
		The 26th Division Fight for a Bridgehead on the Sure, 24-27 December	540
		The 4th Armored Division Reaches Bastogne	547
XXII.	THE BATTLE BEFORE THE MEUSE		556-577
		The Meuse River Line	556
		The Meuse Seems Within Reach	562
		The Celles Pocket	565
		The Fight at Humain	570
		The Fight at Verdenne	574
XXIII.	THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE SALM AND THE OUR: 24 DECEMBER-2 JANUARY		578-605
		The Battle at the Manhay Crossroads	583
		The Fight in the Aisne Valley	593
		The 2d SS Panzer Is Halted	595
		The 82d Airborne Withdraws From the Salm River Line	598
		"The Sad Sack Affair"	601
		The Elsenborn Shoulder	603
XXIV.	THE THIRD ARMY OFFENSIVE		606-648
		Widening the Bastogne Corridor	606
		The Opposing Grand Tactics	610
		The Sibret-Villeroux Actions	615
		The Two Attacks Collide	617
		The III Corps Joins the Attack	627
		The Lone Battle of the 26th Division	637
		The VIII Corps' Attack Continues	643
XXV.	EPILOGUE		649-676
		The Weather	649
		The Opposing Troop Strengths	650
		The Opposing Weapons	651
		The Artillery Arm in the Ardennes	656
		The Air Weapon	660
		Logistics	663
		The Turning Point in the Ardennes	668
		The Place of the Ardennes Offensive in World War II	673
Appendix			Page
A.	TABLE OF EQUIVALENT RANKS		677
B.	RECIPIENTS OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS		678-679
	BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE		680-681
	GLOSSARY
	CODE NAMES
	BASIC MILITARY MAP SYMBOLS

	MAPS
1.	The Western Front, 15 December 1944	52
2.	The XVIII Airborne Corps Meets Kampfgruppe Peiper, 20-25 December 1944	347
3.	The XVIII Airborne Corps West Flank, 20 December 1944	355
4.	Bastogne, 25-26 December 1944	473
	Maps I-X Are in Inverse Order Inside Back Cover
I.	The Ardennes Counteroffensive: The German Plan, December 1944
II.	The Sixth Panzer Army Attack, 16-19 December 1944
III.	The LXVI Corps Attacks the 106th Infantry Division, 16-19 December 1944
IV.	The Fifth Panzer Army Attacks the 28th Infantry Division, 16-19 December 1944
V.	The Seventh Army Attack, 16-19 December 1944
VI.	Bastogne, 19-23 December 1944
VII.	The XVIII Airborne Corps Sector, 21-23 December 1944
VIII.	Between the Salm and the Meuse, 24-27 December 1944
IX.	The Southern Shoulder, 22-26 December 1944
X.	Widening the Bastogne Corridor, 24 December 1944-2 January 1945
	ILLUSTRATIONS
1.	Adolf Hitler	2
2.	Generaloberst Alfred Jodl	16