Dec

16

December 16th is the 65th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. Many historians consider this the turning point of the war.

I would love to hear people who are more knowledgeable about military history write on this subject. A simple exercise in counting tells us that there aren't many of these warriors left.

They, and all veterans of American wars, deserve our utmost respect and, if you're lucky enough to know one, maybe a handshake, a warm smile, and a thank you.

I am very grateful to those that have served and would like to extent my personal warm wishes and a thank you to those who were there in the Ardennes 65 year ago.

Chris Tucker replies:

My grandfather's brother Uncle Rube (Reuben Henry Tucker III) was the commander of the 82nd Airborne Divisions 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment or as the Germans in Sicily called them "Those Devils in Baggy Pants". Their exploits in The Bulge are chronicled at this Wikipedia entry.

 I only met Rube a couple of times as he passed when I was very young, but he was loved and respected by everyone that knew him. In the film "A Bridge Too Far" a character played by Robert Redford is a montage of two commanders, my uncle and Major Julian Cook. Rube distinguished himself throughout the war. To quote the wiki entry on him:

Lt Gen James M. Gavin, who originally commanded the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and later the Commanding General of the 82nd Airborne Division, stated in his book, "On to Berlin", "The 504th was commanded by a tough, superb combat leader, Colonel Reuben H. Tucker was probably the best regimental commander of the war.

Interestingly, Gavin would admit that Tucker "was famous for screwing up everything that had to do with administration. One story going around was that when Tucker left Italy, he had an orange crate full of official charges against his soldiers and he just threw the whole crate into the ocean. Ridgway and I talked about it and we decided we just couldn't promote Tucker." (from 9/28/82 interview of Gavin by Clay Blair)

Colonel Tucker was one of the most decorated officers in the United States Army. He was awarded two Distinguished Service Crosses, the United States' second highest medal for bravery, one of which was personally awarded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt during a visit to Castelvetrano, Sicily, in December 1943, for extraordinary heroism under hostile fire in Italy in September.

Stefan Jovanovich comments:

KurskThe only historians who consider the Battle of the Bulge "the turning point of the war" are those who believe in the Band of Brothers version. Hitler launched the offensive in the Ardennes because he thought it would scare the British and Americans into suing for a separate peace and that would allow the Germans to have one more chance to halt the advance of the Red Army. What is remarkable about the Battle of the Bulge is how close the Germans came. All they needed was another week of bad weather to keep away the Allied air cover. After Bradley woke up to the fact that something was happening (it took him over a day from the time he heard the news until he returned to his headquarters), his assessment was that the Allied had to pull back towards Paris. (One of Eisenhower's many great accomplishments is that he ignored Bradley's hysteria and ordered Patton north to support the 101st.)

The turning point, if any, in the European part of WW II was Kursk. The war diaries of the Germans soldiers are consistent; those in the West still thought they had a chance to win until the Allies finally crossed the Rhine. The Germans in Italy actually thought they were winning; and, given Clark's performance, they probably were. But, in the East, no German with any sense thought the war could be won after the summer of 1943. The best evidence is how people acted. The largest single civilian migration in modern history remains the flight westward by Germans and others in 1944 and 1945 in hopes of escaping the Red Army.

Alston Mabry writes:

"Turning point" arguments are always fun. The Bulge would rank lower down the list (a tense operational showdown, but not a strategic turning point), and Kursk would definitely be at the top, along with the air campaign in the West.

The Allied air effort, though causing significant industrial damage, actually reached a low point in fall 1943 because of the loss rate, but then had an extended "bull run" (including the introduction of the P-51 in early 1944) which devastated the Luftwaffe and established Allied air supremacy in the West. The Red Army was the hammer, while the USAAF and the RAF were the anvil.


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14 Comments so far

  1. naked capitalism on December 16, 2009 2:27 am

    […] Battle of the Bulge, from Scott Brooks Daily Speculations […]

  2. Steve Leslie on December 16, 2009 2:37 am

    Some would argue that the turning point in WW2 was just after the Invasion of the Continent by Allied forces at Normandy. This was the beginning of the end for the German occupation of Europe as the German Army despite some maneuverings were largely placed on the defensive. Others would suggest that Prior to this, the battle on the Eastern Front during the brutal winter of 1942 at Stalingrad signaled the beginning of the end for German occupation in Russia.

    The Battle of the Bulge actually was the last major engagement for the Germans in WW2 and signaled the end of the war in Europe. It was actually known as the Battle of the Ardennes or the Ardennes offensive. After the Germans lost this engagement, the door was left wide open for the Allied forces to march directly to Berlin. Once Germany lost in Belgium there was nothing left to stop the allied forces from crossing the Rhine a military feat unaccomplished by foreign forces dating back to Napoleon.

    It is interesting to note that after The Ardennes offensive, Germany asked for terms of surrender to Eisenhower. He was so incensed as to the brutality of the German Army that his reply was unconditional thus prolonging the war longer than necessary. Germany preferred to surrender to Allies rather than the Russians for fear of reprisals.

    The offensive by Allied forces was chronicled extremely well in my view in Patton the movie. It also was portrayed quite fairly in Band of Brothers available on DVD and in the movie by the same name with Henry Fonda and Robert Shaw.

    Some great military characters were immortalized as a result of the Ardennes. Of course General Patton who commanded the third army and Gen Anthony McAuliffe who was commander of the 101st Airborne. the 101 was pinned down in Bastogne battling furiously against long odds. The German command inquired as to surrender and McAuliffes reply was the famous "nuts"

    Great stuff here and my great friend Scott should be lauded for reminding us of what true patriots all veterans are and especially those who served in the greatest of wars. My father was a WW2 vet and respectfully, I thank you sincerely for this reminder. G_d Bless America land that I love.

  3. Peter T on December 16, 2009 3:39 am

    Many historians consider this to be turning point of the war.

    Which historians? That battle was merely the last and unexpected offensive of a defeated army. The war had turned much earlier, at Moskow 1941, and at Stalingrad and at Kursk 1943. After the successful landing in Normandy, the US even scaled back plans to increase the army, because their major step had been made and peacetime planning could begin.

  4. rkka on December 16, 2009 6:47 am

    Many historians consider this to be turning point of the war.

    Not really. The Germans suffered about 80,000 casualties out of the whole affair, and no German forces were surrounded.

    At Stalingrad in 1942, nearly 300,000 German troops were surrounded by the Red Army, and were eventually taken prisoner. the battle of Kursk in 1943 utterly wrecked entire Panzercorps. During the summer of 1944, the Germans suffered around a million troops killed or taken prisoner in a series of Soviet offensives. And while the Battle of the Bulge was still going on, the Red Army obliterated an entire German Army Group of over half a million just getting from the Vistula River in Poland to the Oder River in Germany.

    And after the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans undertook an even bigger offensive to lift the siege of Budapest. A total failure.

  5. M Dobrol on December 16, 2009 7:11 am

    Many historians consider this to be turning point of the war.

    With the utmost respect to the Allies veterans, I have to point out that the scale of the Battle of the Bulge cannot be compared to the the scale of many battle on the Russian front, such as Stalingrad, Kursk, Operation Bagration, which essentially destroyed the Nazi war machine. This is not to downplay the importance the sacrifice of the Allied troops at the Battle of the Bulge but to remind many Americans and British of the "forgotten war on the Eastern front".

  6. Voislav Voda on December 16, 2009 11:14 am

    I would say that the Bulge together with the Operation Konrad (attempt to relieve Budapest) on the Eastern Front signaled the effective end to the war. These two battles destroyed the last combat-ready units in the German Army. Even if Germany was successful in both of these battles it would have only prolonged the end by a few weeks at the most.

    The real turning point of the war occurred in June-July 1944 with Operation Bagration on the Eastern Front and D-Day landings that established the Western Front. These two battles ended any hope Germany had for winning the war. Bagration was especially important from the Western point of view since creation of a large gap in the Eastern Front defenses prevented any reinforcement of the Normandy front for some months. This allowed the Allies to grind their way out of the rough "bocage" of Normandy into open terrain further South, where Patton's armoured force could be properly utilized.

    My belief is that the reason Battle of the Bulge has received such mythical status in the West is because it is the only real crisis that Allies faced on the Western Front. The surprise achieved by the Germans served to increase the shock to the public expecting a quick victory.

    We should always remember that war was not won by a single army or a country but by the sacrifices of whole nations, be it Allied soldiers and sailors, resistance fighters or simply workers in a factory or farmers in the fields. While the attention tends to be focused on the soldiers, who sometimes paid the ultimate price, we should also remember that every soldier on the front represented the quiet work of 10 or a 100 people.

  7. Richard Hadden on December 16, 2009 1:49 pm

    I’m not even sure the Battle of the Bulge looms large in the minds of the Allies.
    - For the French, it was after the Liberation.
    - For the British, the North African war and the Japanese advance through Burma on India were far more threatening.

    It occupies US minds because it was overwhelmingly the US army’s battle, though I imagine the Belgians are mindful of it too. The Wikipedia quote supports this: “Winston Churchill, addressing the House of Commons following the Battle of the Bulge said, “This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory”.”

  8. Steve Leslie on December 16, 2009 5:31 pm

    Mr Brooks is a very excellent man who does not claim to be a miltary historian the contributors all made excellent points. To that end. I wish to applaud all the noble and fine servicemen and women who have served to protect and preserve peace for the US and all other countries sanctity and safetyl

    I sleep comfortably knowing that My Military is there 24/7 to protect me and my family. I respectfully thank them for their service regardless of the campaing they serve in in be it WW2 Korea Vietnam Bosnia Afghanistan Iraq and against all enemies foreign and domestic.

    G_d Bless America and God bless our troops.

    Can I get an Amen to that?

  9. John Puzzo on December 16, 2009 9:44 pm

    Is it just me? I think there was a war on in the South Pacific that involved half the world…

  10. Craig Bowles on December 17, 2009 9:49 am

    Victor Zarnowitz wrote about how in Poland they were fleeing both the Russians and the Germans. He ended up in a Russian gulag. Nobody had much in the way of food. If the soldiers couldn’t be fed, you can imagine how bad the camps were. Zarowitz’s life story is pretty amazing as he ended up in the U.S. and became one of the top developers of the business cycle research techniques that we use now.

  11. vniederhoffer on December 17, 2009 11:37 am

    I had the pleasure of being research assistant and student to Vic Zarnowitz. he was a very good man. very dedicated. very scholarly. good teacher. not quantitative at all. entrepreneurialzed forecasting data collection and did some good summaries of the data. Had another life as head of offshoot of Moore's business cycle work. active till he passed away. loved his wife. vic

  12. William Mitchell on December 17, 2009 6:21 pm

    One might argue the turning point in a war of attrition is essentially random. The outcome is instead foreordained by the relative GDP and population of the rivals. USSR had big numbers, and US had big GDP. Unless Germany had developed nukes, the Allies would win eventually.

    But wars are still fought by real people at great personal cost. We owe WWII vets respect for that sacrifice, regardless of whether their service happened to coincide with a “turning point.”

  13. mannie corrado on March 20, 2010 7:07 pm

    I would first say a very special thank you to all of our vets they all have given us freedom america should our solders every day and do some thing special for them and there families my uncle was in the battle of the buldge his name richard francis it takes special americans to stand tall me i am adopted dont know my real family so thats why i am looking at this web site to all you vets a big thank you mannie corrado

  14. Danie J. Dannenberg on June 11, 2013 4:38 pm

    My late father, Woodrow J. Dannenberg, was a member of the 1292 Military Police Co. (Avn.) in the European Theatre. He is deceased and spoke very little of his experiences in WWII while living. He did briefly mention once how cold it was during the Battle of Bulge. Evidently, he suffered from “battle fatigue,” because he received treatment in Europe and in the US after the War. He name last appears in 1292’s roster on Oct. 31, 1944. The records I’ve been able to gather do not show where he was or what he was doing from that date until his honorable discharge from the service on December 5, 1945. My most recent contact was with Alan Askew, an aide to Congresswoman Lynn Jenkins (R-Ks). Mr. Askew contacted the Personnel Center in St. Louis, MO, but they have no information to add to the records I have. In fact, they kept copies of the information I sent Mr. Askew. Is there anyone who could make the proverbial “educated guess” about how someone like my father may have come to be involved in the Battle of the Bulge? Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

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