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
‘We feel like we …’, Denyse de Coune, ‘Souvenirs de guerre: Assenois 1944–5’, p. 125, quoted Peter Schrijvers, The Unknown Dead: Civilians in the Battle of the Bulge, Lexington, KY, 2005, p. xiii
‘showed understanding’, General der Panzertruppe Heinrich von Lüttwitz, XLVII Panzer Corps, FMS A-939
Haid, Jean-Michel Delvaux, La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Rochefort, 2 vols., Hubaille, 2004–5, i, 341
Advance from Sorinnes, Brigadier A. W. Brown, IWM Documents 13781 73/18/1
Armoured vehicles at Celles, TNA WO 231/30
‘The Americans were mad …’, Jean-Michel Delvaux, La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Celles, Hubaille, 2003, 103
‘divisional units which …’, Generalmajor Siegfried von Waldenburg, 116th Panzer-Division, FMS A-873
‘a lot to learn’, VIII Corps, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1463
‘Their tanks left …’, VIII Corps, NARA RG 407 270/65/8/2 ML 299
‘A clear cold Christmas …’, PP, 606
‘It cut deep …’, Schrijvers, Unknown Dead, 31
‘The bombers have fine …’, Richard Henry Byers, ‘Battle of the Bulge’, typescript, 1983
‘like a swarm of wasps’, etc., Leutnant Martin Opitz, 295th Volksgrenadier-Division, NARA RG 407 290/56/ 5/1–3, Box 7
‘Monty was always expecting …’, etc., Chester B. Hansen Collection, Box 42, S-7, USAMHI
‘the First Army
cannot attack …’, PP, 606
‘I am sure …’, Chester B. Hansen Collection, Box 42, S-7, USAMHI
‘You know, we exploited …’, Bedell Smith, FCP SC
‘Months Added to War?’, Daily Express, Stanley Weintraub, Eleven Days in December, New York, 2006, 79
19 TUESDAY 26 DECEMBER
‘The Kraut has stuck …’, 26.12.44, CBHD
‘This has been a very bad …’, PP, 605
‘Today has been rather …’, PP, 607
The fires in Bastogne, Peter Schrijvers, Those Who Hold Bastogne, New Haven, CN, 2014, 130
‘cut loose at 300 feet’, Royce L. Thompson, ‘Air Resupply to Isolated Units, Ardennes Campaign’, OCMH, Feb. 1951, typescript, CMH 2-3.7 AE P
‘The medical personnel …’, 26.12.44, CBHD
‘many amputations’, CMH Medical, 422
37th Tank Battalion, American Valor Quarterly, Summer 2008, 19
Assenois, NARA RG 407 270/65/8/2 ML 130
‘it was all over’, Generalmajor Rudolf Freiherr von Gersdorff and Generalmajor Heinz Kokott, ETHINT 44
‘But what spirit!’, Major Frank, commander III/13th Fallschirmjäger, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4140 SRM 1148
‘the Führer Begleit Brigade …’, General der Panzertruppe Heinrich von Lüttwitz, XLVII Panzer Corps, ETHINT 42
Martha Gellhorn and Leland Stowe, 26.12.44, CBHD
‘Fortunately, the RAF were not …’, Brigadier A. W. Brown, IWM Documents 13781 73/18/1
Order to Kampfgruppe Holtmeyer to withdraw, General der Panzertruppe Heinrich von Lüttwitz, XLVII Panzer Corps, FMS A-939
‘Luckily the enemy was …’, Oberstleutnant Rüdiger Weiz, 2nd Panzer-Division, FMS B-456
‘Moi, pas Allemand! …’, Jean-Michel Delvaux, La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Rochefort, 2 vols., Hubaille, 2004–5, i, 218
Buissonville, ibid., 304 and 308
‘It was estimated that …’, Colonel Shaffer F. Jarrell, VII Corps, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1459
‘a vast cemetery …’, Jean-Michel Delvaux, La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Celles, Hubaille, 2003, 94
‘We want to do in Belgium …’, diary of Sister Alexia Bruyère, 26.12.44, quoted Delvaux, Rochefort, i, 143
Surrounded Kampfgruppe of 116th Panzer-Division, Generalmajor Siegfried von Waldenburg, FMS A-873
‘motor fuel was so scarce …’, Generalmajor Otto Remer, ETHINT 80
‘four or five tanks with …’, CC A from 3rd Armored Division, TNA WO 231/30
3rd SS Panzergrenadier-Regiment and Grandménil, FMS P-109
‘the enemy opened fire …’, Alfred Zerbel, 3rd SS Panzergrenadier-Regiment Deutschland, FMS P-109
‘If the soldier does not need …’, NARA RG 498 290/56/2/3, Box 1463
‘people were struggling …’, Peter Schrijvers, The Unknown Dead: Civilians in the Battle of the Bulge, Lexington, KY, 2005, 183
‘Most of them were burned …’, ibid., 184
‘Saint-Vith is still burning …’, Leutnant Martin Opitz, 295th Volksgrenadier-Division, NARA RG 407 290/56/5/1–3, Box 7
‘a giant heap …’, ibid.
Bombing campaign, La Roche, TNA WO 231/30
‘Things continued to look …’, 26.12.44, PWS
‘stagnating conservatism …’, 26.12.44, CBHD
‘Monty is a tired …’, 27.12.44, PP, 608
‘Mein Führer …’, etc., Samuel W. Mitcham Jr, Panzers in Winter, Mechanicsburg, PA, 2008, 153–4
‘traitors’, ‘I know the war is lost …’, Nicolaus von Below, Als Hitlers Adjutant, 1937–1945, Mainz, 1980, 398
20 PREPARING THE ALLIED COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
Airdrop on Bastogne, 27 December, Royce L. Thompson, ‘Air Resupply to Isolated Units, Ardennes Campaign’, OCMH, Feb. 1951, typescript, CMH 2-3.7 AE P
Belly landing, George E. Koskimaki, The Battered Bastards of Bastogne: The 101st Airborne in the Battle of the Bulge, New York, 2007, 365–6
‘With the enemy attack losing …’, ‘further delay will …’, 12th Army Group, NARA RG 407 270/65/7/2 ML 209
‘counter-attack started too early …’, ‘from total …’, Generalmajor Siegfried von Waldenburg, 116th Panzer-Division, FMS B-038
‘high intelligence channels …’, 28.12.44, PWS
‘much smitten with …’, 28.12.44, CBHD
‘the Americans have taken …’, Montgomery letter to Mountbatten, 25.12.44, Nigel Hamilton, Monty: The Field Marshal 1944–1976, London, 1986, 238
‘in as grave a light …’, CMH Ardennes, 610
‘General Hodges has had enough …’, 27.12.44, PWS
‘the most conservative …’, ibid.
‘You’re going to push …’, J. Lawton Collins, SOOHP, USAMHI
‘Praise God from …’, CMH Ardennes, 612
‘The roads are a sheet of ice …’, William H. Simpson Papers, Box 11, USAMHI
Montgomery’s plan outlined at Zonhoven, Crerar diary, TNA CAB 106/1064
‘from four to five panzer divisions’, 31.12.44, CBHD
‘Americans are very poor …’, 2.1.45, CBHD
‘It looks to me as if …’, Alanbrooke Diary, 30.12.44, LHCMA
‘full operational direction …’, quoted Russell F. Weigley, Eisenhower’s Lieutenants, Bloomington, IN, 1990, 542–3
‘Under no circumstances …’, quoted Hamilton, Monty: The Field Marshal, 275
‘In your latest letter …’, DDE Lib, Box 83
‘the British public …’, Eisenhower at SHAEF meeting on 30.12.44, Air Chief Marshal Sir James Robb’s notes, NARA RG 319 270/19/5-6/7-1, Boxes 215–16 2-3.7 CB 8
‘What shall I do …’, F. de Guingand, quoted Hamilton, Monty: The Field Marshal, 279
‘Dear Ike …’, DDE Lib, Box 83
‘It was so cold …’, diary of Robert Calvert Jr, Company C, 51st Armored Infantry Battalion, 4th Armored Division, American Valor Quarterly, Summer 2008, 22
‘a fighter-bomber attack …’, Generalmajor Otto Remer, ETHINT 80
‘ten cargo-carrying …’, ibid.
‘If this attack failed …’, General der Panzertruppe Heinrich von Lüttwitz, XLVII Panzer Corps, FMS A-939
Fighting for Chenogne and Sibret, Remer, ETHINT 80
‘His instructions before …’, Stephen E. Ambrose, Band of Brothers, New York, 2001, 194
‘Oscar’, Koskimaki, 393
‘Now by God …’, ibid., 391
35th Division, MFF-7, C1-107
‘cut to pieces’, CMH Ardennes, 626
Battle round Lutrebois, III Corps, NARA RG 498 290/56/5/2, Box 3
‘The SS spread the rumor …’, etc., Generalmajor Ludwig Heilmann, 5th Fallschirmjäger-Division, FMS B-023
‘These road conditions …’, Generalmajor Heinz Kokott, 26th Volksgrenadier-Division, FMS B-040
‘broke into houses …’, TNA WO 311/54
‘bombers from the Eighth Air Force …’, Third Army daily log, 31.12.44, Gaffey Papers, USAMHI
‘It is obvious that …’, 30.12.44, CBHD
‘You could hear …’, Letter, Eugene A. Watts, S-3, 52nd Armored Infantry Bn, 9th AD, 28.2.85, CBMP, Box 1
Horrocks on medical leave, Hamilton, Monty: The Field Marshal, 255–6
6th Airborne, Edward Horrell, IWM Documents 17408 10/4/1
Belgians and abandoned German equipment, Jean-Michel Delvaux, La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Celles, Hubaille, 2003, 40
Dead German officer, ibid., 36
‘The Ardennes has a pronounced …’, A. J. Cowdery, Civil Affairs, IWM Documents 17395 10/18/1
‘with his beret and …’, Liliane Delhomme, Jean-Michel Delvaux, La Bataille des Ardennes autour de Rochefort, 2 vols., Hubaille, 2004–5, ii, 241
Lance-Sergeant Walker, Letter to author from his son, Air Marshal Sir David Walker, 27.4.14
highballs and turkey, William H. Simpson Papers, Box 11, USAMHI
‘In his mess every night …’, G. Patrick Murray, 1973, SOOHP
‘indiscriminately firing …
’, 31.12.44, PWS
‘talked passionately …’, etc., 31.12.44, CBHD
‘At midnight all was still …’, Ursula von Kardorff, Diary of a Nightmare: Berlin 1942–1945, London, 1965, 161
‘My prayer …’, Leutnant Martin Opitz, 295th Volksgrenadier-Division, NARA RG 407 290/56/ 5/1–3, Box 7
21 THE DOUBLE SURPRISE
‘The Reichsmarschall has …’, HLB, 514, 517
‘They are all young …’, Fähnrich Schmid, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4134 SRA 5615
‘What sort of training …’, Oberleutnant Hartigs, 4/JG 26, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4135 SRA 5767
‘engine trouble’, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4134 SRA 5515
‘used to fly …’, Hartigs, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4135 SRA 5764 20/1/45
‘In our Staffel …’, Feldwebel Halbritter, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4134 SRA 5569
‘seems to have run …’, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4135 SRA 5760 23/1/45
‘Well, what’s our Reichsmarschall …’, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4177
‘He had no understanding …’, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4292 USAFE/M.72
‘practically cried’, ‘unless we …’, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4164 SRX 21091
‘take-off’ rations, ibid.
‘poured out his troubles …’, Oberstleutnant Johann Kogler, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4177
‘the worst-informed …’, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4178
‘Herr General …’, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4177
‘We had been stationed …’, Oberleutnant Hartigs, FW 190 4/JG 26, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4164 SRX 2086
‘Whoever [returns after failing] to attack …’, ibid.
‘What a smashing …’, CSDIC, TNA WO 208/4164 SRX 2086
‘One frustrated Typhoon pilot …’, Sebastian Cox of the Air Historical Branch of the Ministry of Defence, e-mail to author, 18.8.14. I am most grateful for his corrections and precise figures for aircraft losses on both sides
‘closely parked in formation’, 1.1.45, PWS
‘They caught the British …’, 2.1.45, PWS
‘Mid-morning saw …’, William H. Simpson Papers, Box 11, USAMHI
‘which tore a large hole …’, Sebastian Cox, e-mail to author, 18.8.14
‘Jerry made one big error …’, William H. Simpson Papers, Box 11, USAMHI