The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (146 page)

An Army study also concluded
: Lerner,
Psychological Warfare Against Nazi Germany
, 276–79.

“
first German city to be taken
”: Knickerbocker et al.,
Danger Forward
, 402.

“Do Not Let Us Pretend We Are All Right”

The autumnal struggles at Arnhem and Aachen
: ALH, 142; Cundiff,
45th Infantry CP
, 207 (“
We have them licked
”); Royce L. Thompson, “Proposed CCS Directive to Eisenhower to End ETO War in 1944,” Jan. 19, 1950, Historical Section, CMH, 2-3.7 AE.P-9 (“
playing everything for a conclusion
”); OH, W. B. Smith, Sept. 14, 1945, OCMH WWII Europe Interviews, MHI (
fight in the Pacific
).

“
We have facing us now
”: Chandler, 2208.

“
Most people that write to me
”: ibid., 2288.

Eisenhower now commanded fifty-eight divisions
:
SLC
, 378, 388, 390; Chandler, 2168 (“
in a bad state
”);
TSC
, 296 (
insufficient means to support them
);
LSA
, vol. 2, 13 (
no more than twenty divisions
).

To further explain his plight
: Chandler, 2281–85; “G-4 History,” n.d., NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #553A-C, 82; Cooper,
Death Traps
, 239 (
enemy depot in Liège
).

The most desperate need was for ammunition
: Chandler, 2281 (
two tons every minute
), 2311n; “Ammunition Supply for Field Artillery,” n.d., USFET General Board study no. 58, NARA RG 407, E 427, 97-USF-0.3.0, 8–9 (
incessant rationing
), 24–27 (“
complete collapse
”);
LSA
, vol. 2, 247–48, 255–56 (
Patton wanted sixty
); Waddell,
United States Army Logistics
, 45 (“
silence policy
”).

The shortfall partly reflected an inability
:
LSA
, vol. 2, 269, 274, 255–56 (
largely on the defensive
); “Ammunition Supply and Operations, European Campaign,” USFET General Board study no. 100, NARA RG 407, E 427, 97USF-0.3.0 (
25,000 man-hours
); Eiler,
Mobilizing America
, 410 (“
Firepower for Eisenhower
”).

One senior American general believed
: “Ammunition Supply for Field Artillery,” n.d., USFET General Board study no 58, NARA RG 407, E 427, 97-USF-0.3.0, 28–29 (“
saved many lives
”); corr, Brig. Gen. John H. Hinds to Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward, July 6, 1951, NARA RG 319, E 97, background papers,
LSA
, vol. 1, box 6 (
thousands of tons were stacked
); Charles K. MacDermut and Adolph P. Gratiot, “History of G-4 Com Z ETO,” 1946, CMH, 8-3.4 AA, 86–87 (
actual number was less than 100
); “G-4 History,” n.d., NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #553A-C, 56, 87–88 (
246 cargo vessels
);
LSA
, vol. 2, 128 (
floating warehouses
).

The War Department, trying to supply a global war
: Charles K. MacDermut and Adolph P. Gratiot, “History of G-4 Com Z ETO,” 1946, CMH, 8-3.4 AA, 87–89 (“
no further commodity-loaded ships
”); “G-4 History,” n.d., NARA RG 498, ETO HD, admin file #553A-C, 92 (
Bronze Stars
).

If only Antwerp were free
: corr, BLM to H. Crerar, Sept. 13, 1944, M-523, National Archives of Canada, RG 24, vol. 1054 2, file 215A21.016(9) (“
We have captured a port
”); minutes, Sept. 22, 1944, conference, SHAEF forward war room, 2:30
P.M.
, Arthur S. Nevins papers, MHI (“
indispensable prerequisite
” and “
matter of urgency
”); Wilmot,
The Struggle for Europe
, 534 (
sent his chief of staff
); Chandler, 2202 (“
terribly anxious
”), 2212 (
“must retain as first mission”
); Crosswell,
Beetle
, 726.

Montgomery had assigned clearing the Scheldt
:
VW
, vol. 2, 59–67, 70–71, 104–7, 116;
SLC
, 220–21.

“
We need this place more than we need FDR
”: corr, Sept. 23, 1944, Everett S. Hughes papers, LOC MS Div, box II:3, folder 4.

Dempsey’s Second Army continued to look beyond the Rhine
: Love and Major, eds.,
The Year of D-Day
, 152n; Danchev, 600 (“
Antwerp must be captured
”); Callahan,
Churchill & His Generals
, 220 (“
I was wrong
”).

But in October 1944, the field marshal displayed
: ONB to C. Hodges, Sept. 23, 1944, “Memoranda for Record,” 12th Army Group, NARA RG 407, ML #205, box 24143 (
Ramsay warned that to clear the Scheldt
); Chalmers,
Full Cycle
, 251 (“
not taking this operation seriously
”); Love and Major, eds.,
The Year of D-Day
, 151 (“
I let fly
”); corr, BLM to DDE, Oct. 9, 1944, DDE Lib PP-pres, box 83 (“
he makes wild statements
”). Eisenhower denied getting “wild statements” from Ramsay (Chandler, 2216).

“
I can not agree that our concepts
”:
TSC
, 293.

Unchastened by the destruction
: Pogue,
George C. Marshall
, 475 (“
overwhelming egotism
”).

“
Our advance into Germany may be delayed
”:
LSA
, vol. 2, 107; Chandler, 2215n (
high winds that very day
).

“
This reemphasizes the supreme importance
”: Chandler, 2215.

Montgomery would assert
:
VW
, vol. 2, 95 (“
hardly justified
”); corr, BLM to DDE, Oct. 9, 1944, DDE Lib PP-pres, box 83 (“
You can rely on me
”); corr, BLM to Canadian First Army, M-530, Oct. 9, 1944, National Archives of Canada, RG 24, vol. 1054 2, file 215A21.016(9) (“
port will take priority
”);
SLC
, 220;
VW
, vol. 2, 85.

“
Nothing that I may ever say or write
”: Chandler, 2216.

“
It may be that political and national considerations
”:
VW
, vol. 2, 85–88.

“
The questions you raise are serious ones
”: Chandler, 2221–24.

The threat could hardly be misconstrued
:
VW
, vol. 2, 92, 103, 109.

“
You will hear
no
more
”: corr, BLM to DDE, Oct. 16, 1944, DDE Lib PP-pres, box 83.

a newer model from Detroit was somewhere
: Chandler, 2265.

With Kay Summersby behind the wheel
: Summersby,
Eisenhower Was My Boss
, 191; Chandler, vol. 5, chronology, Oct. 13–14, 1944; Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 432–33 (“
I must have shot a dozen
”).

Bidding farewell to king and comrades
: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 433.

“
has not visibly aged
”: Eisenhower,
Eisenhower at War, 1943–1945
, 489; Chandler, vol. 5, chronology, Oct. 14, 1942, and Oct. 14, 1943.

Yet even
Time
’s omniscience
: John P. Roche, “Eisenhower Redux,”
NYT Book Review
, June 28, 1981 (“
calculating quality
”); Larrabee,
Commander in Chief
, 419 (“
veiled man
”); Wilson, ed.,
D-Day 1944
, 212 (“
far more complicated
”).

He would never be a Great Captain
: Ambrose,
The Supreme Commander
, 610 (
Cannae
), 338 (“
chairman of the board
”); D’Este,
Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life
, 467 (
exceptional political instincts
); Kingston McCloughry,
Direction of War
, 168 (“
genius of getting along
”).

He was by temperament a reconciler
: Graham and Bidwell,
Coalitions, Politicians & Generals
, 193;
VW
, vol. 2, 92; Kingston McCloughry,
Direction of War
, 168 (“
shrewd without being subtle
”).

“
no one knew better than he
”: Churchill,
Triumph and Tragedy
, 31;
DOB
, 50 (“
solve problems through reasoning
”).

“
We’ve now been apart
”: Eisenhower,
Mrs. Ike
, 226.

The miles slid past, and with them the day
: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 432 (
steam-heated stone buildings
); OH, William H. Simpson, 1971, Thomas R. Stone, SOOHP, MHI; OH, James E. Moore, 1984, Larry F. Paul, SOOHP, MHI, 111; “Brief Historical Survey of the War Years in Luxembourg,” National Museum of Military History,
http://www.luxembourg.co.uk/NMMH/waryears.html
*
(
germanized
); David Lardner, “Letter from Luxembourg,” in
The New Yorker Book of War Pieces
, 399–401 (
and conscripted ten thousand
). Lardner was killed in Aachen a week after writing this article.

Bradley’s office on the Place de Metz
: MacDonald,
A Time for Trumpets
, 71; author visit, June 4, 2009;
A Walk Through Luxembourg
, tourist booklet, n.d., 2–3, 24, 29.

Here in the dining room
: Summersby,
Eisenhower Was My Boss
, 191; Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 433.

The Worst Place of Any

The Belgian town of Spa
: Baedeker,
Belgium and Holland
, 249–53;
PP
, 632–33 (
Hindenburg concluded
); Keegan,
The First World War
, 417–19 (
fantasize about unleashing the army
).

Now GIs hauled the roulette wheels
: Andrew T. McNamara, “QM Activities of II Corps Through Algeria, Tunisia & Sicily and First Army Through Europe,” 1955, PIR, MHI, 149; Benjamin A. Dickson, “G-2 Journal: Algiers to the Elbe,” MHI, 171 (
triple bunks
); Knickerbocker et al.,
Danger Forward
, 333 (“
take the ‘hit’ out
”); William A. Carter, “Carter’s War,” 1983, CEOH, box V, 14, XI, 25 (
eleven drinking water sources
), 27 (
grand ballroom with mirrors
); Marshall, ed.,
Proud Americans
, 258 (
horsemeat
); OH, Charles G. Patterson, First Army AA officer, 1973, G. Patrick Murray, SOOHP, MHI, 118 (
monthly consignment
); Sylvan, 155 (
hilltop mansion
), 154 (
clatter of a V-1
);
Medicine Under Canvas
, 138 (Gaslight
and
A Guy Named Joe); Middleton,
Our Share of Night
, 344 (“
song had been taken prisoner
”);

Lieutenant General Courtney H. Hodges moved
: Wishnevsky,
Courtney Hicks Hodges
, 10–13 (“
#10 Blue
”); MacDonald,
A Time for Trumpets
, 188 (“
pessimistic
”); Sylvan, 119 (“
a little too sad
”).

A crack shot and big-game hunter
: “Precise Puncher,”
Time
(Oct. 16, 1944): cover story; OH, Mildred Lee Hodges (widow), 1973, G. Patrick Murray, SOOHP, MHI, 12 (“
sissy
”), 40 (
dash of bitters
); OH, Charles G. Patterson, First Army antiaircraft officer, 1973, G. Patrick Murray, SOOHP, MHI, 18; Miller,
Ike the Soldier
, 705 (“
I wish everybody
”); corr, Walter E. Lauer, CG, 99th ID, May 8, 1963, MHI, Maurice Delaval collection, box 13 (“
Unexcitable. A killer
”); Wishnevsky,
Courtney Hicks Hodges
, 187–88 (“
a Georgia farmer
”), 52 (“
sir
”); OH, ONB, [1966?], Kitty Buhler, MHI, 45–47 (“
very dignified
”).

First Army was the largest American fighting force
: Beetle Smith called him “the weakest commander we had” (OH, W. B. Smith, May 8, 1947, FCP, MHI).

Capable enough during the pursuit
: Hogan,
A Command Post at War
, 288–90 (
illness, fatigue
); corr, David T. Griggs, advisor to secretary of war, Feb. 22, 1945, to Edward L. Bowles, AFHRA, 519.161-7 (“
a little confused
”);
SLC
, 619–20 (“
lacking in vigor
” and “
pretty slow
”), 21–22 (
platoon dispositions
);
LSA
, vol. 2, 349 (“
least disposed to make any attempt
”); Bolger, “Zero Defects: Command Climate in First U.S. Army, 1944–1945,”
Military Review
(May 1991): 61
+
(
rarely left Spa
and “
refused to discuss orders
”); Sylvan, 144 (
Hobbs never laid eyes on him
), 76 (“
quicker to keep smashing ahead
”).

Peevish and insulated
: Hogan,
A Command Post at War
, 184–85, 288–89.

Of thirteen corps and division commanders relieved
: The initial First Army firings were of course under Bradley before he relinquished command to Hodges. Bolger, “Zero Defects: Command Climate in First U.S. Army, 1944–1945,”
Military Review
(May 1991): 61
+
.

“
like a mendicant
”: Pogue,
Pogue’s War
, 111–12.