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

by Parker, Danny S.

• ISBN13: 9780306813917
• ISBN10: 0306813912
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-12-01
• Publisher: Da Capo Press

Summary

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.

Author Biography

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.

Table of Contents

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)
Recommended Reading	367	(4)
Periodicals and Interest Groups	371	(2)
Film	373	(2)
Simulation Games	375	(2)
Battlefield Museums	377	(2)
Tours of the Ardennes	379	(2)
Table of Equivalent Ranks	381	(1)
Detail of Situation Map	382	(3)
Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations	385	(4)
Index	389	(13)
Photo Credits	402