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Battle lines bulged but didn't breakOn Jan- 23, 1945, the Battle of the Bulge ended. The Germans had lost a third of their attacking force The U S Army had won its biggest — and bloodiest battle How7 Not by brilliant generalship but by the fighting skill, character and guts of the ordmarv American GI, the civilian in uniform, the amateur at warThe high command had been caught by surprise The sudden snattering cf the think held American line in the Ardennes had rattled brass all the way back to Washington As in 1940, -Allied generals thought the wooded Ardennes were too rugged to pass an armv through So Adolf Hitler hurled three armies two big pan/nrarmees, one of those an SS panzerarmee - against two U S divisions thereOnce the Line was broken, die Germans’ blitzkrieg struck west The fiery point was the SS — Nazi Party pets of the fiihrer and hence better equipped, better supplied and ruthless killers Close behind them' came mechanized units that were to peel off to each side to broaden the penetration and widen the hole m the U S line Above all, German replace ments and supplies iiad to be rushed west up the few good roads that ran through the woods region, as m tne ltk-0 blitz This pumping up the mam artery was essential if ihe point of the blitz was to split the U S defenses Both surprise and speed were critical tor the German armyIt got the surprise When it pierced the Line, some U S units broke, and some soldiers ran. But the Germany army didn’t achieveJIM WRIGHTthe 7th, 9th and 10th .Armored fought dogged rearguard actions, bo1 ding St Vith aid other road blocks to the last roundB\ the fifth dav of the battle, the whole German timetable nad been wrecked, and the Wehr 'macht generals knew their battle was lost The bulge was deep but thin, and without broadening at the shoulders, it would become a trap for thS attackers And the Germans trying to widen the bulge wem being cut to pieces Meanwhile, the man the Ger mats feared most, Gen George Patton, was jabbmg his 3rd Arrry, an even more deadly spearhead, into rheir left flank as h charged to relieve beleaguered Bastogne Standing against the frenzied attack of the Germans were manysmaller outfits, some not even umis, just sudden teams of GIs, who joined to fight 1'ather than Qee Team Snafu,” GOO survivors from the 9th Armored and 28th Infantry divisions, hooked up with paratroopers to defend Bastogne ‘ Team Stone” was a mixed group of ordnance, quailemiaster, engineer and signal corps soldiers fighting as infantry Their leader, a Col Stone, said it for ail those hardheads “By God, the others may run, but I’m staving here and will bold at ah costs1”* . ___ . i. . . i _ ..
Newspaper Details
The Chronicle Telegram
Elyria, Ohio, US
Sun, Jan 22, 1995
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 17 Apr 2019
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