World War II Daily: DDay to VEDay

Tidewater · Dec 25, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

The extent to which the Jerries weighted the effort in the Ardennes.

Hugh Cole said:
Of the armored complement on the Western Front-2,567 tanks and assault guns-Army Group B and OKW reserve had been given 2,168. About a third of this latter total would have to be left for the time being with the Fifteenth Army to shore up the right-wing defenses in the Roer sector. Some four hundred tanks and assault guns were all that remained to German divisions on the rest of the long Western Front. The hard-pressed armies on the Eastern Front likewise had been denied the armored matériel to replace their heavy autumn losses. At the beginning of December the Eastern Front total in operational tanks and assault guns was roughly 1,500.

2500 tanks and assault guns on the West Front, 1,500 on the Eastern Front.
Of the 2,500 on the West Front, 2,100 were devoted to Wacht am Rhein directly or indirectly. 400 (total!) were devoted to the entire Western Front other than the Ardennes.
That is what you call weighting your main effort. Still hopeless, but they gave it the best chance they could.

92tide · Dec 25, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

crimsonaudio said:
I'm doing this to (in an admittedly small way) honor the brave men who gave everything to defeat the evil of the Axis powers - if they didn't take a day off, neither should I.

i pop in from time to time to read some of the posts. i always find them interesting. thanks

dvldog · Dec 25, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

Just watched "Patton". Hard men.

TIDE-HSV · Dec 25, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

Tidewater said:
The extent to which the Jerries weighted the effort in the Ardennes.

2500 tanks and assault guns on the West Front, 1,500 on the Eastern Front.
Of the 2,500 on the West Front, 2,100 were devoted to Wacht am Rhein directly or indirectly. 400 (total!) were devoted to the entire Western Front other than the Ardennes.
That is what you call weighting your main effort. Still hopeless, but they gave it the best chance they could.

Hitler was a gambler. He won all of his gambles up until Russia, which I'll never understand. He was something of warfare historian, and yet gleaned nothing from what had happened to his predecessors. The Ardennes was his last, great gamble. He suffered from bad intelligence for most of the war, with regard to the West. The Bulge was no different. His estimate that the Ardennes was where the American lines were the thinnest was accurate. It was their best chance. However, he badly underestimated the other assets which could be brought to bear quickly. In fact, you would think that he would have finally understood the depth of American manufacturing strength, given the waves of fighters, bombers and tanks, etc. sent against him. However, in the end, he was the child of a backwater in upper Austria (The WaldViertel, or forested corner). He also never had a clue about naval warfare. One of his antecedents was named "Saloman," then, as now, a distinctively Jewish name. He was blackmailed about that his entire political life...

Tidewater · Dec 25, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

TIDE-HSV said:
Hitler was a gambler. He won all of his gambles up until Russia, which I'll never understand. He was something of warfare historian, and yet gleaned nothing from what had happened to his predecessors. The Ardennes was his last, great gamble.

I believe this trend started with the Rhineland in 1936, continued with the Sudetenland in 1938, Poland in 1939, France in 1940, Russia in the winter of 1941-2. Hitler was like Auburn football over the last few years: things that should not have worked did somehow. And like Auburn football, eventually they stopped working.

Hugh Cole said:
The return of Field Marshal von Rundstedt to command in the west had been marked with much interest by Allied intelligence staffs. Accepted in military circles as one of the best soldiers in the world, Rundstedt's reputation, even among his opponents, rose to new stature as the result of the stubborn German defense in the autumn of 1944. Here, then, was a commander who could be expected to act and react according to the rational and accepted canons of the military art. He would husband his dwindling resources, at an appropriate time he would counterattack in accordance with available means, and ultimately he would fall back to the Rhine for the major defensive battle. Had Rundstedt actually commanded in the west, as the Allies believed, this analysis would have been correct. (Rundstedt's effort to delimit the scope of the Ardennes counteroffensive in order to achieve a reasonable symbiosis between the means and the end proves the point.) But Hitler alone commanded. Intuition, not conventional professional judgment, would determine German action. Unaware of the true nature of the German decision-making process in the west, the Allied commanders and staffs awaited an enemy reaction which would be rational and therefore predictable. If the thought ever occurred to an Allied intelligence officer that Germany would gamble on one last great effort west of the Rhine, staking everything on a single throw of the dice, this idea disappeared in the aura of high professional military competence which attached to Rundstedt. In a way this may have been the field marshal's greatest personal contribution to the Ardennes counteroffensive.

Cole makes a great point. When Rundstedt was recalled to command in the West, the Allies believed that the Germans would do what made the most sense. Rundstedt (and Model for that matter) kept trying to "massage" Hitler's concept for Wacht am Rhein into a limited objective attack aimed at pinching off the Aachen salient (efforts Hitler nixed whenever they cropped up). This was clearly the better option. from a military perspective, but from the perspective of national strategy, the only thing that could work would be something to change the game. Antwerp and the encircling of the 21st Army Group was the only thing that had even a remote chance of changing the game. Even if the Germans had achieved great success in a limited objective attack, pinching off and capturing the entire Allied force in the Aachen salient, it would not have changed the war in any appreciable way.

crimsonaudio · Dec 25, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

Hitler's advisors tried to talk him out of the Ardennes Offensive before and during yet he refused to listen - they knew the Allied (particularly the American) forces, while thin, had superior supply lines and mobility, not to mention the massive war machine that was US manufacturing, which by this time had already shown itself to be unmatched in the world.

Hitler was almost completely mad at this pointn my opinion, and I believe that factored heavily into his hard-headed and ill-fated decision to try to take Antwerp. Even the basis for the action - that splitting the Allied troops would cause both the Brits and Americans to reconsider the effort - was silly. The Allies were in it to the end, even our own deaths. A 'simple' setback like losing Antwerp wouldn't shake the resolve, yet Hitler thought it the key to winning the west so he could focus on the Soviets...

TIDE-HSV · Dec 26, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

Tidewater said:
I believe this trend started with the Rhineland in 1936, continued with the Sudetenland in 1938, Poland in 1939, France in 1940, Russia in the winter of 1941-2. Hitler was like Auburn football over the last few years: things that should not have worked did somehow. And like Auburn football, eventually they stopped working.

Cole makes a great point. When Rundstedt was recalled to command in the West, the Allies believed that the Germans would do what made the most sense. Rundstedt (and Model for that matter) kept trying to "massage" Hitler's concept for Wacht am Rhein into a limited objective attack aimed at pinching off the Aachen salient (efforts Hitler nixed whenever they cropped up). This was clearly the better option. from a military perspective, but from the perspective of national strategy, the only thing that could work would be something to change the game. Antwerp and the encircling of the 21st Army Group was the only thing that had even a remote chance of changing the game. Even if the Germans had achieved great success in a limited objective attack, pinching off and capturing the entire Allied force in the Aachen salient, it would not have changed the war in any appreciable way.

It was Hitler's home run swing, but he struck out...

TIDE-HSV · Dec 26, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

crimsonaudio said:
Hitler's advisors tried to talk him out of the Ardennes Offensive before and during yet he refused to listen - they knew the Allied (particularly the American) forces, while thin, had superior supply lines and mobility, not to mention the massive war machine that was US manufacturing, which by this time had already shown itself to be unmatched in the world.

Hitler was almost completely mad at this pointn my opinion, and I believe that factored heavily into his hard-headed and ill-fated decision to try to take Antwerp. Even the basis for the action - that splitting the Allied troops would cause both the Brits and Americans to reconsider the effort - was silly. The Allies were in it to the end, even our own deaths. A 'simple' setback like losing Antwerp wouldn't shake the resolve, yet Hitler thought it the key to winning the west so he could focus on the Soviets...

Hitler never understood the Anglo bond. Despite our differences in the past with the British, most Americans could not have accepted the sight of German troops goose-stepping down London streets any more than down Washington streets. By this time, Hitler's health was, well, crappy. If you've read the accounts of what was going on in his private life, he was suffering greatly from the aftereffects of the failed assassination attempt. The naturopath who had taken over as his personal doctor was poisoning him. His tremors and partial paralysis are certainly characteristic of heavy metal toxicity. It's always amazed me that some of the experienced professional generals hung with him way past what ration would dictate. OTOH, where were they going to go?

GrayTide · Dec 26, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

Great reads from you all. My wife's father, who I never knew, was in the 101st Airborne at Bastogne. She said he never spoke of his combat experience, which is understandable. He received a Purple Heart and 2 Bronze Stars at Bastogne. Thanks.

crimsonaudio · Dec 26, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

December 26, 1944: It’s Tuesday - today marks 29 weeks (203 days) since the D-Day Invasion at Normandy and the beginning of the liberation of Europe.

The capture of Bastogne is one of the the ultimate goals of the German offensive as the town provides a road junction in rough terrain where few roads exist; it would open up a valuable pathway further north for German expansion, but the 101st Airborne Division (reinforced with various stragglers from other outfits) had held the Germans at bay for a week with limited food, medical supplies, and even ammunition. Finally, the US 4th Armored Division (of Patton's 3rd Army), commanded by Lt Charles P. Boggess (in the Cobra King, an M4 Sherman Tank), succeed in punching through to Bastogne from the southwest, arriving from the direction of Assenois. The spearhead breaks through German 5th Panzer Army and reaches the lines of the 326th Engineers on the day after the Christmas attack at approximately 4:50 PM. The 101st's ground communications with the American supply dumps are restored on December 27, and the wounded are evacuated to the rear and the USAAF 9th Troop Carrier Command conducts supply missions to Bastogne with gliders. With the encirclement broken, the men of the 101st expect to be relieved, but are instead given orders to resume the offensive.

Meanwhile, the US 9th Army mops up Obermaubach, the German 5th Panzer Army spearhead stalls around Celles and the German 6th Panzer Army unable to make forward progress along northern flank.

The Allies claim to have captured 13,273 German prisoners while the Germans claim over 30,000 Allied POWs and the destruction of 700 American tanks.

RAF Bomber Command sends 294 aircraft to attack German positions around St Vith during the day while RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force, US 9th Air Force, and US 8th Air Force attack ground targets, supports ground operations, and flies sweeps. USAAF fighters claim 63 Luftwaffe aircraft downed.

In Italy, the British 8th Army now holds a 17 mile frontage on the east bank of the Senio River from Alfonsine to south of Castel Bolognese. The German 14th Army counterattacks US 5th Army in the Serchio valley, pushing back the 92nd Infantry Division. US 12th Air Force aircraft support ground operations and attack targets throughout the Po valley and Brenner Pass.

A German V-2 rocket hits Islington, London at 9:26 PM, killing 68 and seriously injuring 99. The rocket leaves two craters, one 40 feet wide and 12 feet deep, the other 10 feet wide and 4 feet deep.

Pictured: Lt. Charles Boggess in ‘King Cobra’ leading the liberation of Bastogne, Belgium on December 26, 1944

American ambulance waiting outside a bombed building in Bastogne, Belgium while a searcher looked for persons injured during the ten-day defense by US 101st Airborne Division, December 26, 1944

Soldiers from the all-black 969th Field Artillery Battalion and some 101st Airborne troopers unload 155-mm howitzer shells from CG-4A glider that has just landed inside the surrounded American stronghold at Bastogne, December 26, 1944

An 8th Air Force B-24 Liberator pounds Sinzig, Germany on December 26, 1944

crimsonaudio · Dec 27, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

December 27, 1944: The Ardennes Offensive comes to an end as the Allied forces have stopped and even begun to push back the German troops. The catastrophic failure was part of Hitler’s last-ditch effort to win the war, and now what remains of the military might of Germany is in danger of being crushed.

Elements of the 4th Armored Division (of Patton's 3rd Army) enter Bastogne, ending the seven-day siege. The 590th Ambulance Unit (an all-black unit) follow closely behind - they were among the firs to teach and treat the badly wounded Americans there. The US 3rd Army expands the corridor to Bastogne and continues attacking southern border of the Ardennes salient. Attacks by the British XXX Corps (part of US 1st Army) force the German 2nd Panzer Division (an element of 5th Panzer Army) out of Celles. US 1st Army counterattacking northern border of the Ardennes salient, capturing Manhay. The US 7th Army continues regrouping. RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force attacks ground targets, supports ground operations, and flies sweeps, US 9th Air Force aircraft supports ground operations, attacks transportation targets, and conduct armed recon missions.

The Elsenborn Ridge is a ridge line east of the town of Elsenborn, Belgium in the Ardennes forest that was the blocking line on the northern shoulder of the Battle of the Bulge. Their area was the main line of advance for Hitler's prized 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. However, units of V Corps of the First U.S. 1st Army held the ridge against the elite division, preventing it, and attached forces, from reaching the vast array of supplies near the cities of Liège and Spa, Belgium and the road network west of the Elsenborn Ridge leading to the Meuse River and Antwerp.[1] This was the only sector of the American front line during the Battle of the Bulge where the Germans failed to advance. The width of the front held by about 600 front-line infantry men of the 1st and 3rd Battalions was about 6,000 yards long and they had no units in reserve. There were many gaps in the line. Despite being outnumbered five to one, US forces inflicted casualties that devastated the attacking Volksgrenadier formations. For example, the 99th lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. German losses were much higher. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included deaths on a scale that routed the attacking infantry, and included the destruction of many tanks and assault guns. This performance prevented the Sixth Panzer Army from outflanking Elsenborn Ridge, and resulted in many commendations and unit citations for the 99th.

Over Germany, the US 8th Air Force bombs Coblenz, Bonn, and Kaiserslautern (nominally railway targets) and the US 15th Air Force attacks an oil refinery near Vienna, transportation lines, and other targets. The RAF conducts nighttime raids on Munchen-Gladbach and Bonn, sends 211 aircraft to attack Rheydt during the day, and sends 328 aircraft to attack Opladen overnight. US fighters claim 73 Luftwaffe aircraft downed.

In Italy, German troops capture Pian di Coreglia, Italy and penetrate the Allied lines by 15 miles by the afternoon. The presence of fresh Indian troops, however, stops the Axis momentum. German 14th Army continues attacking US 5th Army in the Serchio valley, but US 12th Air Force fighter-bombers provide support and also attack transportation targets in the Po valley and Brenner Pass, along with fighters from the the US 15th Air Force.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders his secretary of war to seize properties belonging to the Montgomery Ward company because the company refuses to comply with a labor agreement.

Pictured: Infantrymen, attached to the 4th Armored Division, fire at German troops, in the American advance to relieve the pressure on surrounded airborne troops in Bastogne. December 27, 1944

Discarded artillery shell casings litter a U.S. Artillery position on Elsenborn Ridge

Situation map from December 27, 1944

Sewell Avery, defiant until the end, is escorted from his office by soldiers

Tidewater · Dec 28, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

crimsonaudio said:
The Elsenborn Ridge is a ridge line east of the town of Elsenborn, Belgium in the Ardennes forest that was the blocking line on the northern shoulder of the Battle of the Bulge. Their area was the main line of advance for Hitler's prized 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. However, units of V Corps of the First U.S. 1st Army held the ridge against the elite division, preventing it, and attached forces, from reaching the vast array of supplies near the cities of Liège and Spa, Belgium and the road network west of the Elsenborn Ridge leading to the Meuse River and Antwerp.[1] This was the only sector of the American front line during the Battle of the Bulge where the Germans failed to advance. The width of the front held by about 600 front-line infantry men of the 1st and 3rd Battalions was about 6,000 yards long and they had no units in reserve. There were many gaps in the line. Despite being outnumbered five to one, US forces inflicted casualties that devastated the attacking Volksgrenadier formations. For example, the 99th lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. German losses were much higher. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included deaths on a scale that routed the attacking infantry, and included the destruction of many tanks and assault guns. This performance prevented the Sixth Panzer Army from outflanking Elsenborn Ridge, and resulted in many commendations and unit citations for the 99th.

Probably the biggest surprises in the first week of the Bulge were the poor performance of the 12th SS (which had performed quite well in Normandy) and the outstanding performance of the 99th US Infantry Division. The 99th was new to the front. At the start of the Battle of the Bulge, it also had the 2nd Infantry Division in the middle of the 99th ID's sector. The 99th ID's sector was about three times as long as what was considered normal for an Infantry Division. That said, the 99th defended their sector with tenacity of a veteran division. The Germans' 12th, 272nd, 277th and 326th Volksgrenadier Divisions were all smashed in attacking that division. Model had overruled Dietrich's intention to breakthrough using the Panzers. Model insisted that the infantry cut through the American front, and then the armor exploit. In the northern portion of the 6th Panzer Army, the infantry never broke through.
Over and over, the German infantry would attack the 99th ID, who would call in artillery barrages to wipe out the German infantry or at least separate it from the German tanks (if panzers were used in the attack), then American anti-tank units would hunt down the German tanks.
By the 23rd, the V Corps had established itself on Elsenborn Ridge with the 9th Infantry Division, the 99th ID, the 2nd ID and the 1st ID, a bunch of artillery with plenty of ammunition.
And the northern shoulder of the Bulge was set.

* "Pfc. William A. Soderman, of Company K (3rd Bn, 395th US Infantry), stopped three enemy tanks with bazooka rounds during the night of battle but was badly wounded by machine gun fire from the last tank he attacked. Soderman was awarded the Medal of Honor." (Cole, p. 110). "During the fighting, in the twin villages (Krinkelt & Rocherath) on the 18th, 1st Lt. R. A. Parker destroyed or immobilized six enemy tanks with a rocket launcher. Parker was awarded the DSC." (Cole, p. 117). At Dom Butgenbach, "Cpl. Henry F. Warner, (26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division) one of the 57-mm. antitank gunners, fought the German tanks for two days, often by himself, and destroyed three panzers, but finally was killed by a machine gun burst from one of the panzers he was stalking. Warner was awarded the Medal of Honor." (Cole, p. 131). It should be noted that a 57mm anti-tank gun was grossly obsolete by 1944. Both of the Commanding Generals of the 2nd ID and the 99th ID, in their after actions reviews, recommended disbanding these units, since these guns "simply were tank fodder."

Tidewater · Dec 28, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

crimsonaudio said:
Hitler was almost completely mad at this point in my opinion, and I believe that factored heavily into his hard-headed and ill-fated decision to try to take Antwerp. Even the basis for the action - that splitting the Allied troops would cause both the Brits and Americans to reconsider the effort - was silly. The Allies were in it to the end, even our own deaths. A 'simple' setback like losing Antwerp wouldn't shake the resolve, yet Hitler thought it the key to winning the west so he could focus on the Soviets...

I believe seizing Antwerp was an intermediate (now we would say operational) objective. By seizing Antwerp, not only would the Germans retake Europe's most robust port, but they would have effectively surrounded the Brits & Canadians of the 21st Army Group. It is one thing to surround and destroy and Army (e.g. the German 6th Army at Stalingrad). An Army Group is another thing altogether.
After the war, Jodl told interrogators that, after seizing Antwerp, Hitler planned on "neutralizing" the 21st Army Group. In the best case (from the German perspective), this would mean destroying most of the units and their heavy equipment. Perhaps he had images of another Dunkirk: troops escaping, but leaving behind their gear, followed by another German offensive into France. All wildly optimistic, I know, but in December 1944, it was the best of a series of bad options still available to the Germans. The Rundstedt plan (limited offensive to pinch off Aachen, then fall back slowly to the Rhine) had zero chance of winning the war. At best it would have allowed the Russians to overrun more of Germany before they met up with the Western Allies.
Professionally, I would say that the moment the Russians launched their counterattack at Stalingrad, the war was won by the Allies. Certainly by 1 July 1944 it was hopeless from the German perspective. The best option for all concerned any time after that date would be for Hitler to take a Luger into his office and blow his brains out. I bet the Germans would have surrendered within a week if Hitler (and his senior henchmen) were out of the way. The Germans would have tried to get the best possible "unconditional" surrender they could have.

crimsonaudio · Dec 28, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

December 28, 1944: In the Ardennes the ‘Bulge’ shows the first sign of reduction as Allied (American) troops begin gaining ground in their counteroffensive. Hitler orders renewed offensives in Alsace and Ardennes regions against the advice of his generals.

In the 4th infantry Division, patrols entering Girsterklaus and Wasserbillig are engaged by German forces. The 1st Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment was enroute to the vicinity of Echternach and Lautenborn and the 3rd Battalion was enroute to the vicinity of Berdorf to effect the relief of CT 10 during the hours of darkness. At the direction of the Commanding General, action is initiated to obtain necessary information to recommend the 12th Infantry Regiment for the Presidential Unit Citation.

The US 9th Army mops up a German pocket south of Obermaubach. The US 1st Army pushes into Rochefort on northern border of Ardennes salient while Patton’s US 3rd Army attacks toward Wiltz on southern border of Ardennes salient. US 9th Air Force is grounded by poor weather conditions though US 8th Air Force attacks transportation targets with 1124 bombers and 568 fighters, of which two bombers and no fighters lost. RAF Bomber Command sends 12 aircraft on special operations with supplies and agents for Resistance forces overnight.

In the skies above Germany, US 15th Air Force attacks Regensburg and attacks Salzburg and other targets. RAF Bomber Command sends 167 aircraft to attack Cologne during the day, 186 aircraft to attack Monchengladbach overnight, 178 aircraft to attack Bonn overnight, and 87 aircraft to attack Frankfurt overnight.

In Italy, the 21st Brigade of Indian 8th Infantry Division arrives on the western end of the German Gothic Line in Toscana. The German 14th Army stops attacks against US 5th Army in the Serchio valley while US 12th Air Force aircraft support ground operations and attack transportation targets in the Po valley and Brenner Pass and US 15th Air Force attacks transportation targets around Brenner Pass.

Pictured: Armored reconnaissance jeep of US 82nd Airborne Division, Ardennes Forest, December 28, 1944

Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe and Lieutenant Colonel Harry Kinnard II at Bastogne, Belgium, late Dec 1944

PIAT gunner of 1st Battalion Rifle Brigade, British 7th Armoured Division, December 28, 1944

Tidewater · Dec 28, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

crimsonaudio said:
Pictured: Armored reconnaissance jeep of US 82nd Airborne Division, Ardennes Forest, December 28, 1944

An armored jeep? That may be the most ridiculous ride I have ever seen.

bama579 · Dec 28, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

Thanks for this, ca.

Dad was a tank driver in one of the units that broke the seige. He would tell stories and talk about the training, down-time, etc., but changed the subject if someone tried to focus on combat.

Miss you, Sarge.

TIDE-HSV · Dec 28, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

Tidewater said:
An armored jeep? That may be the most ridiculous ride I have ever seen.

I agree. Obviously Jury-rigged (the original expression about broken ship masts which elided to "jerry-rigged"). OTOH, before our technology caught up with the IEDs (not that it ever really did), our guys in Iraq were welding deflector plates on the bottom of their Humvees. The final factory editions actually followed that pattern pretty closely...

Tidewater · Dec 28, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

TIDE-HSV said:
I agree. Obviously Jury-rigged (the original expression about broken ship masts which elided to "jerry-rigged"). OTOH, before our technology caught up with the IEDs (not that it ever really did), our guys in Iraq were welding deflector plates on the bottom of their Humvees. The final factory editions actually followed that pattern pretty closely...

Yeah, I'm sure this is a field modification.
Adding metal plating is more effective against fragmentation (which is what an IED would produce), not rifled bullets. I'd bet a 7.92 Mauser round would go through that plating. If a mechanic put enough plating to stop a 7.92mm rifle bullet, it would weight so much that the jeep might not move.

Tidewater · Dec 28, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

bama579 said:
Thanks for this, ca.

Dad was a tank driver in one of the units that broke the seige. He would tell stories and talk about the training, down-time, etc., but changed the subject if someone tried to focus on combat.

Miss you, Sarge.

Cole said:
The German wave carried tanks and infantry inside Rocherath, the fight eddying from house to house, wall to wall, along streets and down narrow alleys. Tanks fought tanks; men were captured, then captured again. Meanwhile, Colonel Boos did what he could to form some defense behind what was left of the 1st Battalion of the 9th. He radioed Colonel McKinley that as soon as the 2d Battalion of the 38th could swing into position, a matter of an hour or more, the 1st Battalion should withdraw. With his remaining two companies transfixed by direct tank fire and surrounded by German infantry, McKinley replied that no withdrawal was possible unless friendly tanks or tank destroyers arrived. "Miraculously, " as the 1st Battalion later reported, a platoon of Sherman tanks came into view. This was a part of A company, 741st Tank Battalion, which had been patrolling the Wahlerscheid road. When the platoon commander was asked if he wanted to do some fighting the reply was profanely affirmative. First the tanks joined the infantry in a counterattack to reach the positions which had been held by Companies A and K. Two of the three German tanks which had been harassing the battalion were destroyed by the Shermans, but no contact was made with the lost companies. A second counterattack by the tank platoon covered the 1st Battalion withdrawal, but the last riflemen out had the Germans yelling at their heels.

This was not your father, but I bet he had courage and spunk similar to this unnamed lieutenant of the 741st Armored Battalion.

crimsonaudio · Dec 29, 2014

Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)

December 29, 1944: The The Battle for the Bulge continues to turn in favor of the Allied forces. The 4th Infantry Division has succeeded in holding the southern shoulder of the Bulge - the Germans abandon their defense of Gisterklaus area and 4ID patrols moved freely in that area, while 8th Infantry maintains its defensive positions and continues reorganization and training. 22nd Infantry sends combat and reconnaissance patrols and new outposts are established overlooking the Sauer river valley.

US 1st Army attacks around Rochefort on northern border of Ardennes salient while US 3rd Army continues attacking around Bastogne and Wiltz on southern border of Ardennes salient. The 55th Armored Infantry Battalion, 11th Armored Division crosses into Belgium and makes its way north to the vicinity of Neufchateau. Due to their lightening-fast march across France into Belgium to fight in the Battle of the Bulge, the men of the 11th Armored Division earned the name "Patton's Thunderbolts".

RAF 2nd Tactical Air Force attacks ground targets, supports ground operations, and flying sweeps. US 9th Air Force bombers are almost entirely grounded by poor weather conditions but fighters support ground forces and fly armed recon missions while US 8th Air Force attacks transportation targets with 570 bombers and 587 fighters, of which four bombers and three fighters lost.

In the Allied dominated skies, RAF Bomber Command sends 287 aircraft to attack Koblenz during the day, 346 aircraft to, and 16 aircraft on minelaying operations in the Elbe overnight.

In Italy, Indian troops advance to make contact with Axis troops that recently attacked in Toscana, but have since fallen back. US 12th Air Force aircraft support ground operations and attack transportation targets in the Po valley while the US 15th Air Force attacks transportation targets in northern Italy and around Brenner Pass.

In her December 29, 1944 My Day column Mrs. Roosevelt writes about the coming peace:
________
In the future, the peoples of the various nations will have to make up their minds whether they can pay the price of new wars. Deadlier inventions, with quicker destruction of human beings will be possible in the course of the next few years. If the peoples of the world do not wish to pay this price in blood and tears, then they must impress that fact indelibly upon the statesmen who, when this war is won, will represent them in creating the machinery for peace. They must insist that their representatives take what we have been able to do during the war and shape it into some framework within which the leaders of future generations can meet together and act to keep the world at peace. It is the people of the world, however, who will have to make these decisions and speak clearly to their leaders, for their leaders are older men who have lived through years when other objectives were dominant and who perhaps need encouragement to envision a new world.

It is still true that peace must be born in the hearts of individual human beings.
________

Pictured: Staff Sergeant George H Loss of the 466th Airborne Parachute Field Artillery Battalion along with an unknown solder fighting during the Battle of the Bulge

Allied soldier captures a German tank crewman

British Sherman Firefly tank in Namur on the Meuse River, December 29, 1944

The Luxembourg American Cemetery and Memorial was established on December 29, 1944 by the 609th Quartermaster Company of the U.S. Third Army while Allied Forces were stemming the Germans desperate Ardennes Offensive. The city of Luxembourg served as headquarters for General Patton's U.S. 3rd Army. General Patton is buried here. Sloping gently downhill from the memorial is the burial area containing 5,076 of our military dead, including 22 sets of brothers.

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Hall of Fame

Administrator

Administrator

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Administrator

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Senior Administrator

Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame

Administrator

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