Battle of the Bulge Hitler's Ardennes

On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched his last desperate offensive of World War II, a final great gamble designed to smash his American and British attackers.

Danny S. Parker is a former research consultant to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the Battle of the Bulge. He is the author of To Win the Winter Sky: The Air Way Over the Ardennes, and editor of The Battle of the Bulge: The German View and Hitler's Ardennes Offensive. He lives in Cocoa Beach, Florida.

Acknowledgments

ix

Abbreviation of Ranks

x

Preface

xi

Introduction

xiii

The Setting

1

(66)

The Situation

3

(3)

Hitler Plans His Last Gamble

6

(4)

Hitler Overrides His Generals

10

(6)

The Final Days

16

(4)

The Allies

20

(15)

The Men at the Top

23

(12)

All Quiet in the Ardennes

35

(13)

Ultra: The Secret Battle

38

(10)

The Ardennes

48

(19)

The Influence of Terrain

52

(4)

Arms and Equipment

56

(11)

The First Day: ``We March!''

67

(42)

The Sixth Panzer Armee

69

(10)

The Fifth Panzer Armee

79

(6)

The Seventh Armee

85

(3)

The View from OB West

88

(2)

The First Day: An Assessment

90

(14)

How the Battle Was Fought

92

(12)

The Allied Reaction

104

(5)

Progress of the Battle

109

(218)

Breakthrough: December 17th--18th

111

(41)

Operation Stosser: The Last German Parachute Operation

129

(10)

The Incident at Malmedy

139

(5)

Heroes of the Elsenborn Ridge: 644 TD Bn

144

(8)

The Allied Crisis and the German Advance: December 19th--20th

152

(27)

Materialschlact: The War of Supply

170

(9)

The Shoulders Hold, the Center Collapses: December 21st--22nd

179

(23)

Skorzeny's Commandos

192

(7)

Nuts to Nuts!

199

(3)

The Germans Approach the Meuse: December 23rd--24th

202

(19)

Hitler's Weather

213

(6)

Patton's Prayer

219

(2)

The Turning Point: December 25th--26th

221

(19)

The War Correspondents

232

(3)

Hitler's Last Christmas

235

(5)

``We Must Have Bastogne'': December 27th--28th

240

(20)

Forgotten Legions

249

(11)

Stalemate: December 29th--30th

260

(7)

Offensives Collide: December 31st--January 1st, 1945

267

(14)

The Tigers of Winter

273

(8)

The Final German Thrust: January 2nd--4th

281

(19)

The Guns of December

289

(11)

The Allies Attack: January 5th--11th

300

(15)

The Civilians

307

(5)

Hemingway in the Battle of the Bulge

312

(3)

The Bulge Is Erased: January 12th--28th

315

(12)

Looking Back

327

(62)

Aftermath

329

(1)

Reasons for German Failure

330

(4)

An Inventory

334

(6)

The Place of the Ardennes Campaign in World War II

340

(3)

Appendices

Organization of Combat Forces in the Ardennes Campaign

343

(24)

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Battle of the Bulge Hitler's Ardennes Offensive, 1944-1945

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials