Panzers in Winter : Hitler's Army and the Battle of the Bulge

by Mitcham, Samuel W., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780275971151
• ISBN10: 0275971155
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-06-30
• Publisher: Praeger Security Intl

Summary

The Battle of the Bulge was the "last hurrah" for the German Army on the Western Front. With the help of various unpublished sources, Samuel Mitcham sets out to tell the story of that battle and of the Ardennes Offensive from the German point of view. The greatest military disaster the United States suffered in the European Theater of Operations in World War II occurred in the Ardennes Offensive, when most of the U.S. 106th Infantry Division was destroyed in the Schnee Eifel (Snow Mountains). This defeat was not inflicted by the vaulted panzer troops, the elite paratroopers, the hardened SS men, or Skorzeny's commandos. It was administered by a mediocre and unheralded unit-the 18th Volksgrenadier Division. Mitcham covers the Battle of the Schnee Eifel from the German point of view in greater depth than any book has ever done, using unpublished German after-action reports and manuscripts, especially those of Lieutenant Colonel Dietrich Moll, the chief of operations of the 18th Volksgrenadier. Similar unpublished works, as well as the papers of Theodor-Friedrich von Stauffenberg, contribute to a unique account of the Battle of the Bulge. Readers will find the organizational structure of Panzers in Winter different from that of other works on the topic. Mitcham uses the first two chapters to set the stage for the offensive and details the opening day in Chapter Three. Thereafter, the battle is discussed by sector, from north to center to south. This approach allows general readers to achieve a better feel for the engagement overall. Final chapters cover the clearing of the bulge and the lives and careers of the major participants.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures	vii
Preface	ix
I Setting the Stage	1	(24)
II Planning and Preparations	25	(32)
III The Offensive Begins	57	(10)
IV The Battle on the Northern Flank	67	(16)
V The Destruction of KG Peiper	83	(12)
VI The Schnee Eifel	95	(18)
VII St. Vith	113	(10)
VIII The Siege of Bastogne	123	(22)
IX The High Water Mark	145	(10)
X Clearing the Bulge	155	(8)
XI Epilogue	163	(8)
Notes	171	(24)
Bibliography	195	(6)
Index of Military Units	201	(6)
General Index	207