Those who Hold Bastogne

Those who Hold Bastogne PDF Author: Peter Schrijvers
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300179022
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
A new telling of the brutal siege of Bastogne, where vastly outnumbered American forces held off a savage German onslaught and sealed the fate of the Third Reich Hitler's last gamble, the Battle of the Bulge, was intended to push the Allied invaders of Normandy all the way back to the beaches. The plan nearly succeeded, and almost certainly would have, were it not for one small Belgian town and its tenacious American defenders who held back a tenfold larger German force while awaiting the arrival of General George Patton's mighty Third Army. In this dramatic account of the 1944-45 winter of war in Bastogne, historian Peter Schrijvers offers the first full story of the German assault on the strategically located town. From the December stampede of American and Panzer divisions racing to reach Bastogne first, through the bloody eight-day siege from land and air, and through three more weeks of unrelenting fighting even after the siege was broken, events at Bastogne hastened the long-awaited end of WWII. Schrijvers draws on diaries, memoirs, and other fresh sources to illuminate the experiences not only of Bastogne's 3,000 citizens and their American defenders, but also of German soldiers and commanders desperate for victory. The costs of war are here made real, uncovered in the stories of those who perished and those who emerged from battle to find the world forever changed.

Those who Hold Bastogne

Those who Hold Bastogne PDF Author: Peter Schrijvers
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300179022
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
A new telling of the brutal siege of Bastogne, where vastly outnumbered American forces held off a savage German onslaught and sealed the fate of the Third Reich Hitler's last gamble, the Battle of the Bulge, was intended to push the Allied invaders of Normandy all the way back to the beaches. The plan nearly succeeded, and almost certainly would have, were it not for one small Belgian town and its tenacious American defenders who held back a tenfold larger German force while awaiting the arrival of General George Patton's mighty Third Army. In this dramatic account of the 1944-45 winter of war in Bastogne, historian Peter Schrijvers offers the first full story of the German assault on the strategically located town. From the December stampede of American and Panzer divisions racing to reach Bastogne first, through the bloody eight-day siege from land and air, and through three more weeks of unrelenting fighting even after the siege was broken, events at Bastogne hastened the long-awaited end of WWII. Schrijvers draws on diaries, memoirs, and other fresh sources to illuminate the experiences not only of Bastogne's 3,000 citizens and their American defenders, but also of German soldiers and commanders desperate for victory. The costs of war are here made real, uncovered in the stories of those who perished and those who emerged from battle to find the world forever changed.

The Ardennes

The Ardennes PDF Author: Hugh Marshall Cole
Publisher: U.S. Government Printing Office
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 762

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Book Description


Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1)

Battle of the Bulge 1944 (1) PDF Author: Steven J. Zaloga
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472800087
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
The Battle of the Bulge was the largest and most costly battle fought by the US Army in World War II. The Ardennes fighting was Hitler's last gamble on the Western Front, crippling the Wehrmacht for the remainder of the war. In the first of two volumes on the Ardennes campaign Steven Zaloga details the fighting in the northern sector around St Vith and the Elsenborn Ridge. The Sixth Panzer Army, containing the bulk of German Panzer strength, was expected to achieve the breakthrough here. It was the failure around St Vith that forced the Germans to look south towards Bastogne.

Searching for Augusta

Searching for Augusta PDF Author: Martin King
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1493029088
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 256

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Book Description
A brutal siege. A forgotten heroine. A war-torn romance. And a historian determined to uncover the truth. Untold millions who saw and read Band of Brothers can finally know the whole story of what happened to American soldiers and civilians in Bastogne during that arduous Winter of 1944/45. In the television version of Band of Brothers, a passing reference is made to an African nurse assisting in an aid station in Bastogne. When military historian Martin King watched the episode, he had to know who that woman was; thus began a multi-year odyssey that revealed the horror of a town under siege as well as an improbable love story between a white Army medic, Jack Prior, and his black nurse, Augusta Chiwy, as they saved countless lives while under constant bombardment. Based on the recent discovery of Prior's diary as well as an exhaustive and occasionally futile search for Augusta herself, King was at last able to bring belated recognition of Augusta's incredible story by both the U.S. Army and Belgian government shortly before she died. This is not only a little-known story of the Battle of the Bulge, but also the author's own relentless mission to locate Augusta and bestow upon her the honors she so richly deserved.

The Battered Bastards of Bastogne

The Battered Bastards of Bastogne PDF Author: George Koskimaki
Publisher: Open Road Media
ISBN: 1480406651
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 933

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Book Description
“Fleshes out in vivid detail the entire story of the Screaming Eagles’ valiant struggle . . . This is must reading for any student of World War II history” (Kepler’s Military History). The Battered Bastards of Bastogne is the product of contributions by 530 soldiers who were on the ground or in the air over Bastogne. They lived and made this history, and much of it is told in their own words. The material contributed by these men of the 101st Airborne Division, the Armor, Tank Destroyer, Army Air Force , and others is tailored meticulously by the author and placed on the historical framework known to most students of the Battle of the Bulge. Pieces of a nearly 60-year-old jigsaw puzzle come together in this book, when memoirs from one soldier fit with those of another unit or group pursuing the battle from another nearby piece of terrain.

The Tigers of Bastogne

The Tigers of Bastogne PDF Author: Michael Collins
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1612001823
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 202

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Book Description
This chronicle of an armored division’s bravery during the Battle of the Bulge sheds new light on the legendary Siege of Bastogne in WWII. Before the 101st Airborne Division’s famous Siege of Bastogne, there was already a US unit holding the town when they arrived. This unit—the 10th Armored Division—continued to play a major role in its defense through the German onslaught. The Tigers of Bastogne offers a detailed chronicle of the young armored division that withstood the full brunt of Manteuffel’s Fifth Panzer Army in the Ardennes. The 10th Armored had only arrived in Europe that September as part of Patton’s Third Army. They soon faced the onslaught of Nazi panzers bursting across no-man’s-land on December 16. But they earned their nickname, “The Tiger Division,” as they went on the defensive at Bastogne, surrounded by an entire German army. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe of the 101st Airborne said, “It seems regrettable to me that Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division didn’t get the credit it deserved at the Battle of Bastogne. All the newspaper and radio talk was about the paratroopers. Actually the 10th Armored Division was in there a day before we were and had some very hard fighting before we ever got into it.” Fortunately, in this book, the historical record is finally corrected.

Seven Roads to Hell

Seven Roads to Hell PDF Author: Donald R. Burgett
Publisher: Thorndike Press
ISBN: 9780783889948
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description
The Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division had just finished the battle for "the bridge too far", and, as Christmas 1944 approached, they were settling in for some hard-earned R&R. Then Hitler ordered a massive Nazi counterattack through the Ardennes Forest. The Screaming Eagles were rushed to Bastogne, a small Belgian crossroads where seven roads met and where the lightly armed and under-supplied division became the "cork in the bottle" of the Nazi onslaught. Burgett's stirring memoir (he was 19) recounts how epic courage bought the time needed for Patton's Third Army to redeploy.

The 101st Airborne Division’s Defense Of Bastogne [Illustrated Edition]

The 101st Airborne Division’s Defense Of Bastogne [Illustrated Edition] PDF Author: Colonel Ralph M. Mitchell
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782893792
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
[Includes 53 photos/illustrations and 11 maps] The defense of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II is one of the supreme achievements of American arms. Bastogne is deservedly identified with the finest characteristics of the American soldier, and the name Bastogne symbolizes a heroic battle. Bastogne has long held the attention of students of war, yet the battle offers new insights for soldiers with modern concerns. Colonel Ralph M. Mitchell’s study, The 101st Airborne Division’s Defense of Bastogne, reveals how a light infantry division, complemented by key attachments, stopped an armor-heavy German corps. Using original documents and reports, Colonel Mitchell traces the fight at Bastogne with emphasis on the organization, movement and, employment of the 101st Airborne Division. Although a variety of factors influenced the outcome at Bastogne, the flexibility of the 101st to reconfigure for sustained operations and to defeat strong opposition forces even when surrounded shows how properly augmented light infantry can fight and win.

Bastogne

Bastogne PDF Author: S. L. A. Marshall
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781516946709
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 280

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Book Description
The Center of Military History is pleased to present the second volume in the U.S. Army in Action series, a facsimile reprint of Brigadier General S.L.A. Marshall's Bastogne: The First Eight Days. Originally published in 1946, this brief study provides a combat history of a critical battle during the Allied liberation of Europe in World War II. Outnumbered and surrounded for five days, a U.S. Army combined arms force of airborne infantry, armor, engineers, tank destroyers, and artillery conducted a successful defense of the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne in late December 1944. They separated the German combined arms formations and destroyed the pieces, halting the offensive. The outcome of this battle was critical to the successful Allied defense against the German Ardennes offensive. Bastogne offers unique insights, capturing the immediate impressions of the soldiers who fought in this harsh winter engagement. The author penetrates the "fog of war" with a coherent narrative that clearly captures the strategy, tactics, and leadership of the battle. This action strangled the German logistical flow to their forward assault divisions, disrupting their offensive tempo and slowing their advance. What emerges is a vivid case study of how decisive leadership and incidents of individual heroism can contribute to overcoming enemy forces and weather.

Nuts! A 101st Airborne Division Machine Gunner at Bastogne

Nuts! A 101st Airborne Division Machine Gunner at Bastogne PDF Author: Vincent J. Speranza
Publisher: Vincent J. Speranza
ISBN: 9781941165515
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
On 22 December 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, with the Germans surrounding the Belgian town of Bastogne, a German messenger brought a message from his commander to Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe, acting commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division, demanding his surrender. McAuliffe's response was simply, "Nuts!"Manning a foxhole on the perimeter around Bastogne was nineteen-year-old Army private Vince Speranza, a machine gunner with the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment. This is Vince's story of the Battle of the Bulge and his life before and after the battle.Vince shares his memories from early childhood through his service in World War II and his life up until now as he stands on the verge of turning 90--a story you will long remember. Vince will be in Bastogne, at his original foxhole, on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, drinking Airborne Beer, which his actions many years ago inspired.