Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble (59 page)

BOOK: Ardennes 1944: Hitler's Last Gamble
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‘Huge gashes …’
, etc., ibid.

‘Reform. Save what vehicles …’
, RWHP, Box 1

St Vith and the St Josef Kloster;
‘He took a chalice …’
, Schrijvers,
Unknown Dead
, 169

I&R Platoon, 423rd Infantry, 106th Division, Richard D. Sparks, ‘A Walk through the Woods’, 2003,
http://www.ryansdom.com/theryans/sparks/adobe/walk2.pdf

‘a God-sent gift’
, etc., Generalmajor Siegfried von Waldenburg, 116th Panzer-Division, FMS A-873

‘It was known …’
, 4th SS Panzergrenadier-Regiment
Der Führer
, FMS P-109b

‘The troops began slowly …’
, Waldenburg, FMS A-873

Tenneville, NARA RG 407 270/65/8/2 ML 130

‘Ike and [Major General] Bull …’
,
PP
, 603

Kokott and stragglers, NARA RG 407 270/65/8/2 ML 130

‘It was like a tremendous …’
, Robert Harwick, ‘Christmas for Real!’,
The Magazine of the Gulf Companies
, November–December 1945, 70–1

‘Two prisoners came back’
, ibid.

‘One, terrified …’
, ibid.

The decision to send a negotiator to Bastogne, General der Panzertruppe Heinrich von Lüttwitz, XLVII Panzer Corps, FMS A-939

‘After he was finished …’
, George E. Koskimaki,
The Battered Bastards of Bastogne:
The 101st Airborne in the
Battle of the Bulge
, New York, 2007, 148

15 FRIDAY 22 DECEMBER
 

‘Your orders are …’
, Maurice Delaval Collection, Box 7, USAMHI

‘We crawled wearily …’
, etc., I&R Platoon, 423rd Infantry, 106th Division, Richard D. Sparks, ‘A Walk through the Woods’, 2003,
http://www.ryansdom.com/theryans/sparks/adobe/walk2.pdf

‘As we crossed …’
, Sam Bordelon, ibid.

‘I am throwing in …’
, 22.12.44, RWHP, Box 1

‘You have accomplished …’
, Misc’l AG Records, NARA RG 407 E 427 2280, Box 2425

‘The line troops vowed …’
, Sparks, ‘A Walk through the Woods’

‘broke the base plates …’
, Misc’l AG
Records, NARA RG 407 E 427 2280, Box 2425

Withdrawal across the Salm, ibid.

‘What the hell are you …’
, Maurice Delaval Collection, Box 7, USAMHI

Civilians in Bütgenbach, Peter Schrijvers,
The Unknown Dead: Civilians in the Battle of the Bulge
, Lexington, KY, 2005, 26–7

Stoumont and SS wounded, NARA RG 407 290/56/5/1–3, Box 7

‘very grave’
, ‘conspicuously marked’, Peiper, ETHINT 10

‘a single infantry division’
, Generalmajor Heinz Kokott, 26th Volksgrenadier-Division, FMS B-040

‘In the course of …’
, ibid.

Two German soldiers in Mande-Saint-Etienne, André Meurisse, quoted George E. Koskimaki,
The Battered Bastards of Bastogne:
The 101st Airborne in the
Battle of the Bulge
, New York, 2007, 221–2

‘I was never worried …’
, Bedell Smith interview, FCP
SC

‘The fog was sitting …’
, J. Lawton Collins, SOOHP, Box 1, USAMHI

‘engaged in a fight …’
, John S. D. Eisenhower,
The Bitter Woods
, New York, 1970, 453

Advance on Marche, General der Panzertruppe Heinrich von Lüttwitz, XLVII Panzer Corps, FMS A-939

23rd Hussars report, William H. Simpson Papers, Box 11, USAMHI

High ground south-west of Marche, Oberstleutnant Rüdiger Weiz, 2nd Panzer-Division, FMS B-456

Change of route for 116th Panzer-Division, Generalmajor Siegfried von Waldenburg, FMS A-873

‘a veritable postcard scene …’
, 22.12.44, CBHD

‘acutely worried over …’
, ibid.

‘The enemy is making …’
, Eisenhower,
Bitter Woods
, 422

‘kept his head magnificently …’
, CMH
SC
, 381

‘We learned that the …’
, Ralph Ingersoll,
Top Secret
, London, 1946, 201–4

16 SATURDAY 23 DECEMBER
 

‘visibility unlimited’
, CMH
Ardennes
, 468

‘God damn! …’
, John S. D. Eisenhower,
The Bitter Woods
, New York, 1970, 424

‘As soon as the enemy …’
, Generalleutnant Karl Thoholte, ‘Army Group B Artillery in the Ardennes’, FMS B-311

Jemelle repeater station, ETO Historical Division, NARA RG 498 290/57/17/6

Airdrops to Task Force Hogan, Royce L. Thompson, ‘Air Resupply to Isolated Units, Ardennes Campaign’, OCMH, Feb. 1951, typescript, CMH 2-3.7 AE P

‘Position considerably worsened …’
, General der Waffen-SS H. Priess, I SS Panzer Corps, FMS A-877

‘American troops are now refusing …’
, William H. Simpson Papers, Box 11, USAMHI

Civilians in Faymonville, Peter Schrijvers,
The Unknown Dead: Civilians in the Battle of the Bulge
, Lexington, KY, 2005, 27–8

‘Manteuffel’s report that he could not …’
, Major Herbert Büchs, ETHINT 34

‘up to ten men …’
, Generalmajor Heinz Kokott, 26th Volksgrenadier-Division, FMS B-040

‘The first enemy …’
,
‘Towards noon …’
, ibid.

‘Houses caught fire …’
, ibid.


Achtung!
Strong enemy …’
, ibid.

Pathfinders and drop, Thompson, ‘Air Resupply to Isolated Units, Ardennes Campaign’

‘The first thing you saw …’
, Martin Wolfe,
Green Light!
, Philadelphia, PA, 1989, 348

‘cheering them wildly …’
, George E. Koskimaki,
The Battered Bastards of Bastogne:
The 101st Airborne in the
Battle of the Bulge
, New York, 2007, 257

‘Watching those bundles …’
, ibid.

‘but the bottles …’
, CMH
Medical
, 420

‘Not a single German aircraft …’
, Kokott, FMS B-040

‘From then on’
, Koskimaki, 147

‘in this cold …’
, Louis Simpson,
Selected Prose
, New York, 1989, 138

‘I peer down the slope …’
, ibid., 139

Allocation of air assets on 23.12.44, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1455

Friendly fire and
‘Rules for Firing’
, V Corps, ibid.

‘chipper and confident as usual’
, 22.12.44, PWS

‘The German push …’
, A. J. Cowdery, Civil Affairs, IWM Documents 17395 10/18/1

‘battle-weary Shermans’
, Derrick Jones, IWM Documents 4309

‘That’s not a pig …’
, Henry Dubois, cited Jean-Michel Delvaux,
La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Rochefort
, 2 vols., Hubaille, 2004–5, i, 333

Chapois, Jean-Michel Delvaux,
La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Celles
, Hubaille, 2003, 38–9

‘But the road is mined …’
, ibid., 81–2

‘Right, let’s go! …’
, CMH
Ardennes
, 437

Civilians in Rochefort, Delvaux,
Rochefort
, i, 238–9 and ii, 236

‘I wish to direct …’
, 23.12.44, FDRL MR

17 SUNDAY 24 DECEMBER
 

‘almost hysterical with …’
, 24.12.44, CBHD

‘clinging stubbornly …’
, ibid.

‘Today a quartermaster soldier …’
, ibid.

‘General Patton was in …’
, ibid.

‘blew everything in sight’
, The Intervention of the Third Army: III
Corps in the Attack’, typescript, n.d., CMH 8-3.1 AR

‘it was usually …’
, VIII Corps, Third Army, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1463

‘rations were frequently …’
, VII Corps, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1459

German snipers, NARA RG 498, 290/56/5/2, Box 3

Combat observer reports, VIII Corps, Third Army, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1463

Aid men, ibid.

‘Knocking out tanks …’
, ibid.

‘corruption and profiteering’
,
‘So far these people …’
, Generalmajor Ludwig Heilmann, 5th Fallschirmjäger-Division, FMS B-023

‘the enemy managed …’
, Robert R. Summers et al., ‘Armor at Bastogne’, Armored School, Advanced Course, May 1949, CARL N-2146.71-2

‘Our company commander …’
, 24.12.44, Diary of Robert Calvert Jr, Company C, 51st Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division,
American Valor Quarterly
, Summer 2008, 22

‘Attacking waves …’
, NARA RG 407 290/56/5/1–3, Box 7

‘Despite the air’s …’
, 24.12.44, PWS

‘but apparently received little …’
, 8.1.45, CBHD

‘morale in the 82nd …’
, John S. D. Eisenhower,
The Bitter Woods
, New York, 1970, 449

82nd Airborne keeping German corpses, William A. Carter, typescript, 1983, CEOH, Box V, 14, XII, 22

‘An SS-Führer told me …’
, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4140 SRM 1150

‘bitter and ever-changing’
, Generalmajor Siegfried von Waldenburg, 116th Panzer-Division, FMS A-873


beaucoup
dead’
, VII Corps, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1459

‘Of the German Luftwaffe …’
, Waldenburg, FMS A-873

3rd Royal Tank Regiment at Sorinnes, Brigadier A. W. Brown, IWM Documents 13781 73/18/1

‘if forced’
, David W. Hogan Jr,
A Command Post at War: First Army Headquarters in Europe, 1943–1945
, Washington, DC, 2000, 223

‘The bastards are in …’
, Eisenhower,
Bitter Woods
, 466

‘If necessary, elements …’
, Oberstleutnant Rüdiger Weiz, 2nd Panzer-Division, FMS B-456

‘since both pockets …’
, ibid.

Bande massacre and Léon Praile, see Jean-Michel Delvaux,
La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Rochefort
, 2 vols., Hubaille, 2004–5, i, 17–41

Sondereinheitkommando 8, A. J. Cowdery, Civil Affairs, IWM Documents 17395 10/18/1

‘After the deed was done …’
, TNA WO 171/4184

‘It’s the greatest imposture …’
, Heinz Guderian,
Panzer Leader
, New York, 1996, 310–11

Hemingway and Gellhorn, Carlos Baker,
Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story
, New York, 1969, 558–9

Wounded in Bastogne, CMH
Medical
, 418

‘Do notx plan …’
, Stanley Weintraub,
Eleven Days in December
, New York, 2006, 137

‘Tomorrow we will cross …’
, Simone Hesbois, quoted Delvaux,
Rochefort
, i, 328–9

Liliane Delhomme, Rochefort, Delvaux,
Rochefort
, ii, 240

Frozen C-Rations, Gerald Astor,
Battling Buzzards: The Odyssey of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team 1943–1945
, New York, 1993, 300

‘The fellows are calling …’
, PFC Warren Wilson, Coy I, 2nd Bn, 395th Inf., Weintraub, 125

‘this General of stern expression …’
, Frederick A. McDonald,
Remembered Light: Glass Fragments from World War II
, San Francisco, 2007, 29

18 CHRISTMAS DAY
 

The bombing of Bastogne, Peter Schrijvers,
Those Who Hold Bastogne
, New Haven, CN, 2014, 119–20

‘taken, lost and re-taken’
, Generalmajor Heinz Kokott, 26th Volksgrenadier-Division, FMS B-040

‘strip and repair weapons …’
, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, VIII Corps, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1463

‘The Germans piled out …’
, PFC Leonard Schwartz, George E. Koskimaki,
The Battered Bastards of Bastogne:
The 101st Airborne in the Battle of the Bulge
, New York, 2007, 325

‘buttoned up’
, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, VIII Corps, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1463

‘success seemed very close’
, Kokott, FMS B-040

‘The Germans attacked our …’
, Cpl Jackson of the 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, VIII Corps, NARA RG 498 290/56/5/2, Box 3

‘cut off and annihilated’
, Kokott, FMS B-040

‘We were 900 metres …’
, TNA WO 311/54

‘irresponsible and unfeasible’
,
‘bloody, dubious and costly …’
, Kokott, FMS B-040

Airdrop on Christmas Day, Royce L. Thompson, ‘Air Resupply to Isolated Units, Ardennes Campaign’, OCMH, Feb. 1951, typescript, CMH 2-3.7 AE P

‘We have been let down’
, NARA RG 407 270/65/8/2 ML 130

Lutrebois,
‘to lie in wait …’
, NARA RG 498 290/56/5/2, Box 3

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