Contents Chapter I. THE ORIGINS.....................................................1 Hitler's Perspective, September 1944............................3 How the Plan Was Born...........................................9 II. PLANNING THE COUNTEROFFENSIVE..................................19 Details of the Plan............................................19 The Big Solution...............................................27 A Double Envelopment?..........................................29 III. TROOPS AND TERRAIN.............................................33 The Order of Battle............................................33 The Allies Return to the Attack................................36 The Terrain....................................................39 IV. PREPARATIONS...................................................48 Deception and Camouflage.......................................48 The Western Front in Early December............................51 The Intelligence Failure.......................................56 The German Concentration.......................................63 V. THE SIXTH PANZER ARMY ATTACK...................................75 The 99th Division Sector.......................................77 The Initial Attack, 16 December................................80 The First Attacks in the Monschau-Hofen Sector Are Repulsed, 16 December..................................86 The German Effort Continues, 17-18 December....................90 Losheimergraben Is Lost........................................92 The German Attack Toward Rocherath and Krinkelt, 16-17 December.............................................95 The 395th Infantry Conforms to the Withdrawal.................101 The 2d Division Gives Up the Wahlerscheid Attack..............103 The 394th Infantry Abandons the Murringen Position............105 Page xvi Chapter VI. THE GERMAN NORTHERN SHOULDER IS JAMMED.......................107 The 2d Division Withdraws.....................................107 The 1st Infantry Division Sends Reinforcements to Butgenbach................................................112 The Defense of the Twin Villages, 18 December.................113 The Last Attack at Hofen Fails, 18 December...................119 The 2d Division Withdraws to the Elsenborn Line, 19 December...............................................120 The Enemy Tries the Western Flank, 19-23 December.............128 VII. BREAKTHROUGH AT THE SCHNEE EIFEL..............................136 Introductory Note.............................................136 Dispositions of the 106th Infantry Division...................137 Enemy Preparations for Another Cannae.........................142 The Attack in the Losheim Gap.................................145 The Attack Hits the 106th Division............................151 The 424th Infantry and CCB, 9th Armored.......................158 Cannae in the Schnee Eifel....................................161 The Question of Air Resupply..................................171 VIII. THE FIFTH PANZER ARMY ATTACKS THE 28TH INFANTRY DIVISION......173 The 110th Infantry Sector, 16-18 December.....................176 The 112th Infantry Sector, 16-20 December.....................193 The Fall of Wiltz.............................................205 IX. THE ATTACK BY THE GERMAN LEFT WING: 16-20 DECEMBER............212 The 109th Infantry Defense on the Sauer and Our Rivers, 16-20 December....................................214 Elements of the 9th Armored Division Battle at the Sauer, 16-20 December.....................................227 X. THE GERMAN SOUTHERN SHOULDER IS JAMMED........................238 The German Thrust Begins......................................240 Southern Flank-A Summing Up...................................258 XI. THE 1ST SS PANZER DIVISION'S DASH WESTWARD, AND OPERATION GREIF.......................................259 Kampfgruppe Peiper on the Move................................260 Operation Greif...............................................269 XII. THE FIRST ATTACKS AT ST. VITH.................................272 The 7th Armored Division Move to St. Vith.....................273 The Enemy Strikes at the St. Vith Perimeter...................280 Page xvii Chapter XIII. VIII CORPS ATTEMPTS TO DELAY THE ENEMY........................294 CCR, 9th Armored Division, and the Road to Bastogne...........294 The Advance of the XLVII Panzer Corps.........................298 Team Cherry on the Longvilly Road.............................300 The 101st Airborne Division Moves Into Bastogne...............305 XIV. THE VIII CORPS BARRIER LINES..................................310 Middleton's First Moves.......................................311 The Gap North of Bastogne.....................................316 Defense Southwest of Bastogne.................................322 Renewed Drive Around Bastogne.................................323 XV. THE GERMAN SALIENT EXPANDS TO THE WEST........................330 The 30th Division Meets Peiper................................334 The West Flank of the XVIII Airborne Corps, 20 December.......352 Action in Front of the XVIII Airborne Corps Right Wing, 20 December...............................................354 The Net Closes on Peiper......................................359 XVI. ONE THREAT SUBSIDES; ANOTHER EMERGES..........................368 The Attempt To Relieve Peiper's Kampfgruppe...................368 The 3d Armored Division Is Checked, 21-23 December............377 The Fight at the Baraque de Fraiture Crossroads, 23 December...............................................388 XVII. ST. VITH IS LOST..............................................393 The Defenders of St. Vith Pass to the XVIII Airborne Corps....393 The Enemy Closes on the St. Vith Salient......................401 The Final Withdrawal From the St. Vith Sector.................407 XVIII. THE VII CORPS MOVES TO BLUNT THE SALIENT.....................423 Division of the Battlefield...................................423 The VII Corps Assembles.......................................427 German Armor Advances on the VII Corps........................435 The Main Battle Is Joined, 24 and 25 December.................438 XIX. THE BATTLE OF BASTOGNE........................................445 The Initial Deployment East of Bastogne.......................445 Bastogne Is Encircled.........................................459 The Enemy Begins a Concentric Attack..........................464 The Battle on Christmas Day...................................478 XX. THE XII CORPS ATTACKS THE SOUTHERN SHOULDER...................482 The End of the Defensive Battle, 22 December..................482 The XII Corps Moves to Luxembourg.............................485 The XII Corps' Counterattack..................................498 Page xviii Chapter XXI. THE III CORPS' COUNTERATTACK TOWARD BASTOGNE..................509 Preparations for the Attack...................................509 The 80th Division Advance.....................................515 The 26th Infantry Division Attack.............................520 The 4th Armored Division Attack...............................523 The 80th Division Battle in the Woods, 25-26 December.........532 The 26th Division Fight for a Bridgehead on the Sure, 24-27 December............................................540 The 4th Armored Division Reaches Bastogne.....................547 XXII. THE BATTLE BEFORE THE MEUSE...................................556 The Meuse River Line..........................................556 The Meuse Seems Within Reach..................................562 The Celles Pocket.............................................565 The Fight at Humain...........................................570 The Fight at Verdenne.........................................574 XXIII. THE BATTLE BETWEEN THE SALM AND THE OURTHE: 24 DECEMBER-2 JANUARY.....................................578 The Battle at the Manhay Crossroads...........................583 The Fight in the Aisne Valley.................................593 The 2d SS Panzer Is Halted....................................595 The 82d Airborne Withdraws From the Salm River Line...........598 "The Sad Sack Affair".........................................601 The Elsenborn Shoulder........................................603 XXIV. THE THIRD ARMY OFFENSIVE......................................606 Widening the Bastogne Corridor................................606 The Opposing Grand Tactics....................................610 The Sibret-Villeroux Actions..................................615 The Two Attacks Collide.......................................617 The III Corps Joins the Attack................................627 The Lone Battle of the 26th Division..........................637 The VIII Corps' Attack Continues..............................643 XXV. EPILOGUE......................................................649 The Weather...................................................649 The Opposing Troop Strengths..................................650 The Opposing Weapons..........................................651 The Artillery Arm in the Ardennes.............................656 The Air Weapon................................................660 Logistics.....................................................663 The Turning Point in the Ardennes.............................668 The Place of the Ardennes Offensive in World War II...........673 Appendix A. TABLE OF EQUIVALENT RANKS........................................677 B. RECIPIENTS OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS....................678 Page xix BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE................................................680 GLOSSARY............................................................685