The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (160 page)

MPs at checkpoints sought to distinguish
: FUSA G-2, Operation GREIF, NARA RG 407, E 429, ML #994; “The History of the CIC,” n.d., Intelligence Center, Ft. Holabird, CBM, box 6, 18 (
Sinatra’s first name?
); Elstob,
Hitler’s Last Offensive
, 189 (
Where is Little Rock?
); Capa,
Slightly Out of Focus
, 208 (
capital of Nebraska
); Pogue,
Pogue’s War
, 302–3 (“
The capital is Frankfort
”); Weintraub,
11 Days in December
, 59 (“
Who won the World Series
”). Niven was attached to 12th Army Group as a liaison officer.

Cooks, bakers, and clerks were tutored
: Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography
, 223; memo to W. B. Smith, Dec. 21, 1944, NARA RG 331, E 1, SGS, “Assassins,” box 8 (
gunned down four French civilians
); war diary, Dec. 22, 1944, Ninth Army, William H. Simpson papers, MHI, box 11 (“
get out of my way
”); Murphy,
Diplomat Among Warriors
, 239 (“
We deployed into the garden
”).

a perfect body double
: “The History of the CIC,” n.d., Intelligence Center, Ft. Holabird, CBM, box 6, 14;
TT
, 226.

The real Eisenhower, traveling with Tedder
: diary, Dec. 19–20, 1944, CBH, MHI, box 4; Baldwin,
Battles Lost and Won
, 335 (“
What the hell is this?
”).

“
The present situation is to be regarded
”: Eisenhower,
Crusade in Europe
, 371.

Two staff officers reviewed the battlefront
: “Record of Meeting,” Dec. 19, 1944, Harold R. Bull papers, DDE Lib, box 2;
TT
, 419–20 (
seventeen German divisions
), 417 (
180,000 troops
); “Allied Air Power and the Ardennes Offensive,” n.d., director of intelligence, USSAFE, NARA RG 498, ETOUSA HD, UD 584, box 1 (
Daily Luftwaffe sorties
); “Task Force Thrasher: History of the Defense of the Meuse River,” 1945, NARA RG 407, ML #945, box 24198 (
Seven French infantry battalions
).

Eisenhower then spoke
: “Record of Meeting,” Dec. 19, 1944, Harold R. Bull papers, DDE Lib, box 2 (“
positive concerted action
”); “Counter-offensive Measures,” SHAEF, Dec. 22, 1944, NARA RG 498, ETOUSA HD, UD 584, box 1 (“
a supply desert
”);
Ardennes
, 487; “The Intervention of the Third Army: III Corps in the Attack,” n.d., CMH, 8-3.1 AR, I-1 (
three corps facing the Saar
).

“
George, how soon
”: Verdun conference participants left varying accounts of this exchange, including one staff officer who recalled Patton saying he could attack in two days (OH, Reuben Jenkins, 6th AG G-3, Oct. 14, 1970, Thomas E. Griess, YCHT, 39–40). Most recalled a claim of three days. “Notes on Bastogne Operation,” Third Army, Jan. 15, 1945, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, “The Siege of Bastogne,” folder #227.

“
On December 22
”:
PP
, 599–600. John Nelson Rickard notes that some evidence suggests Patton may have proposed Dec. 21 (
Advance and Destroy
, 106).

Leaning forward, Eisenhower quickly calculated
: OH, Reuben Jenkins, 6th AG G-3, Oct. 14, 1970, Thomas E. Griess, YCHT, 39–40;
TT
, 421 (“
Don’t be fatuous
”).

“
We can do that
”: Hirshson,
General Patton: A Soldier’s Life
, 577.

Before leaving the barracks, Patton phoned
: “Notes on Bastogne Operation,” Jan. 16, 1945, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 49, folder 13; Allen,
Lucky Forward
, 33 (“
Everyone is a son-of-a-bitch
”).

“
Yes, and every time you get attacked
”: Codman,
Drive
, 233–34; diary, Dec. 19, 1944, GSP, LOC MS Div, box 3, folder 9; diary, Dec. 19, 1944, CBH, MHI, box 4 (“
great expansive exuberance
”).

“
There’s something about the guy
”: diary, Nov. 8, 1944, CBH, MHI, box 4.

Eisenhower had urged his lieutenants
: “Record of Meeting,” Dec. 19, 1944, Harold R. Bull papers, DDE Lib, box 2 (“
avoid any discouragement
”).

British intelligence on Tuesday evening
: Belchem,
All in the Day’s March
, 247; msg, BLM to Brooke, Dec. 19, 1944, IWM, PP/MCR, C46, Ancillary Collections, micro R-1 (“
Ike ought to place me
”);
Ardennes
, 423–24 (
best be managed by two commanders
).

Bradley’s subordinate generals to the north
:
Ardennes
, 423–24; Merriam,
Dark December
, 123; Belchem,
All in the Day’s March
, 248–49; notes, phone conversation, A. Coningham and James M. Robb, SHAEF, Dec. 22, 1944, DDE Lib, PP-pres, box 98 (
not a single staff officer
); OH, ONB, Dec. 1974 to Oct. 1975, Charles Hanson, MHI, VI, 34 (“
That would startle the people of Luxembourg
”).

Rousted from his bed
: Strong,
Intelligence at the Top
, 224–25.

As Whiteley and Strong slunk away
: Bradley Commentaries, CBH, MHI, boxes 41–42;
Ardennes
, 423–24;
TT
, 422–23 (
drew a line on the map
).

“
Ike thinks it may be a good idea
”: Bradley,
A Soldier’s Story
, 476; Bradley and Blair,
A General’s Life
, 363–64 (“
I’d question whether such a changeover
”).

By Wednesday morning, when Eisenhower called
: Ambrose,
Eisenhower: Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect, 1890–1952
, vol. 1, 368; Strong,
Intelligence at the Top
, 226 (“
those are my orders
”), 233; OH, BLM, March 29, 1949, R. W. W. “Chester” Wilmot papers, LHC, LH 15/15/127 (“
I think you’d better take charge
”).

At 12:52
P.M.
, a SHAEF log entry
: corr, H. R. Bull to Hanson Baldwin, Sept. 12, 1946, Harold R. Bull papers, DDE Lib, box 2; OH, Arthur Coningham, Feb. 14, 1947, FCP, MHI (“
absolutely livid
”).

Amid the dogs, goldfish, and singing canaries
: Hamilton,
Monty: Final Years of the Field-Marshal, 1944–1976
, 181; Hastings,
Armageddon
, 205–7 (“
now have to pay the price
”).

“
There is great confusion
”: corr, BLM to A. Brooke, Dec. 19, 1944, IWM, PP/MCR, C-46, Ancillary Collections, micro R-1.

Little of this was true
: Weigley,
Eisenhower’s Lieutenants
, 505 (“
energy and verve
”); Sylvan, 223 (“
bedside conference
”); “Operations of 30 (Br) Corps During the German Attack in the Ardennes,” n.d., NARA RG 498, ETOUSA HD, UD 584, box 2; Belchem,
All in the Day’s March
, 247 (
piled carts
).

The field marshal himself arrived
: OH, BLM, Oct. 1, 1966, John S. D. Eisenhower, CBM, MHI, box 6, 6; Hamilton,
Monty: Final Years of the Field-Marshal, 1944–1976
, 246 (
eight pullovers
); Carpenter,
No Woman’s World
, 215–16 (“
Unwrapping the bearskin
”); Wishnevsky,
Courtney Hicks Hodges
, 161 (“
monkey on a stick
”); Wilmot,
The Struggle for Europe
, 592 (“
Christ come to cleanse
”).

Three hours later they had both a plan
: Hogan,
A Command Post at War
, 219–20; Belchem,
All in the Day’s March
, 248–49 (
Hodges feared that two First Army divisions
); Wilmot,
The Struggle for Europe
, 593;
Ardennes
, 426–27; war diary, Ninth Army, Dec. 20, 1944, William H. Simpson papers, MHI, box 11 (
assemble a strike force
); “Operations of 30 (Br) Corps During the German Attack in the Ardennes,” and tally of British equipment transfers, n.d., NARA RG 498, ETOUSA HD, UD 584, box 2 (“
enemy’s hopes of bouncing
” and
British stocks
); “Combat Engineering,” Aug. 1945, Historical Report No. 10, CEOH, box X-30, 89–90 (
all Meuse bridges
).

“
Hodges is not the man I would pick
”: OH, W. B. Smith, May 8, 1947, FCP, MHI.

“
Hodges is the quiet reticent type
”: Chandler, 2369.

SHAEF ordered the new command arrangement
: “The Old Army Game,”
Time
(Jan. 1, 1945): 45; Elstob,
Hitler’s Last Offensive
, 462 (“
They seemed delighted
”); Hamilton,
Monty: Final Years of the Field-Marshal, 1944–1976
, 238 (“
a 1st Class bloody nose
”).

As for Bradley
: OH, James M. Robb, n.d., FCP, MHI (
Bronze Star
); Chandler, 2367–68 (“
I retain all my former confidence
”).

War in the Raw

Civilian refugees with woeful tales
: “The Battle of Bastogne, 19–28 Dec. 44,” n.d., Battle Studies, CMH, Geog Belgium 370.2, 2; Rapport and Northwood,
Rendezvous with Destiny
, 665 (“
ancient town in the dreariest part
”); “The Battle of the Bulge,”
AB
, no. 4 (1974): 1
+
(“
unattended vehicles
”);
TT
, 506–7 (
hundreds took refuge
).

The first paratroopers from the 101st Airborne
:
Ardennes
, 305–9; Booth and Spencer,
Paratrooper
, 244 (“
Get out of the sack
”); Toland,
Battle
, 94 (
interrupted a ballet performance
).

Since leaving Holland in November
: memo, MBR to Maxwell D. Taylor, Nov. 12, 1944, MBR papers, MHI, box 21 (
AWOL incidents
); Schrijvers,
The Crash of Ruin
, 171 (
drunken brawls
); Kennett,
G.I.: The American Soldier in World War II
, 209–10 (
troopers held contests
); Marshall,
Bastogne
, 10 (
in England with seventeen officers
); Blair,
Ridgway’s Paratroopers
, 362, 513 (
killed himself with a pistol
).

Anthony Clement McAuliffee
: MMB, 351. McAuliffe was born in Washington, D.C., and attended West Virginia University before West Point (
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/amcauli.htm
;
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_McAuliffe#cite_note-2
; “Gale Encyclopedia of Biography,”
http://www.answers.com/topic/anthony-mcauliffe
; Blair,
Ridgway’s Paratroopers
, 221, 336–37).

Several thousand replacement troopers
: OH, A. C. McAuliffe, Jan. 2, 1945, Paris, in Brereton,
The Brereton Diaries
, 378–82; Bowen,
Fighting with the Screaming Eagles
, 161 (“
olives in a jar
”); “Bastogne,” n.d., NARA RG 498, ETOUSA HD, UD 584 (
without helmets or rifles
); “Battle of the Bulge,” 101st Airborne miscellany, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder #229 (
emergency convoy
); OH, William L. Roberts, CCB, 10th AD, Jan. 12, 1945, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, folder #305 (“
fluid and obscure
”); “The Battle of Bastogne, 19–28 Dec. 44,” n.d., Battle Studies, CMH, Geog Belgium 370.2, 2 (
first wounded
);
Ardennes
, 315; Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography
, 248 (
in his Packard
).

Bearing down on Bastogne
:
Ardennes
, 449, 229 (
Foot soldiers slouching westward
); Cirillo, “Ardennes-Alsace,” 26; Ritgen,
Die Geschischte der Panzer-Lehr Division im Westen
, no pagination; “The Battle of the Bulge,”
AB
, no. 4 (1974): 1
+
; Charles V. von Lüttichau, “Diary of Thuisko von Metzch,” Army Group B, May 1952, and OH with von Metzch, n.d., NARA RG 319, R-series, #10, 25–26 (
Model now privately doubted
).

“
an abscess on our line
”: Toland,
Battle
, 119.

Two straggling artillery battalions at Longvilly
:
Ardennes
, 449, 303–4 (“
We’re not driven out
”), 319–20.

No less vital in delaying the enemy
: Price,
Troy H. Middleton: A Biography
, 230; OH, William R. Desobry, 1978, Ted S. Chesney, SOOHP, MHI (“
by guess and by God
”); Marshall,
Bastogne
, 57–59 (
ripped into nine panzers
).

All morning and through the afternoon
: OH, William R. Desobry, 1978, Ted S. Chesney, SOOHP, MHI; AAR, 506th PIR, Jan. 8, 1945, in “Battle of the Bulge,” NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder 229 (
pounded Noville to rubble
).

At midday on Wednesday, December 20
:
Ardennes
, 454–55 (“
Situation critical
”); OH, R. Harwick, 506th PIR, n.d., HI (
four remaining Shermans
);
TT
, 500; McManus,
Alamo in the Ardennes
, 252; author visit, Noville, Bastogne, June 3, 2009, tourist pamphlet (
Gestapo agents
).

Strongpoints east of Bastogne, now reinforced
: OH, J. Ewell, “Action of 501st Regiment at Bastogne,” Jan. 6, 1945, NARA RG 407, E 427-A, CI, folder #230 (“
mantrap
”); OH, Stanfield Stach, 501st PIR, n.d., HI (“
We took no prisoners
”); Marshall,
Bastogne
, 76 (“
dam of fire
”);
Ardennes
, 456–58.