Week 277 - The Battle of the Bulge Begins - WW2 - December 16, 1944
Vložit
- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- Adolf Hitler's Ardennes counteroffensive finally goes off this week, and it does indeed catch the Allies by surprise, and they suspend other offensive operations in the west. They are still attacking in Italy, and the Soviets are still advancing in Hungary, trying to cut off Budapest. In the Far East, there are Allied landings on Mindoro, and they are also on the march in Burma, hoping to pin down the enemy.
Join us on Patreon: / timeghosthistory
Or join the TimeGhost Army directly at: timeghost.tv/signup/
Check out our TimeGhost History CZcams channel: / timeghost
Between 2 Wars: • Between 2 Wars
Follow WW2 Day by Day on Instagram: @ww2_day_by_day
Follow TimeGhost History on Instagram: @timeghosthistory
Like us on Facebook: / timeghosthistory
0:00 Intro
0:55 Recap
1:22 Street fighting in Athens
04:07 Operation Queen ends
06:33 Autumn Mist Offensive plans
09:51 Allied intelligence failures
12:26 The Ardennes Offensive Begins
16:57 Allied attacks in Italy and Soviet plans to surround Budapest
20:07 The Allied offensive in Burma
22:10 Mindoro Landings
24:33 Summary
25:14 Conclusion
Hosted by: Indy Neidell
Director: Astrid Deinhard
Producers: Astrid Deinhard and Spartacus Olsson
Executive Producers: Astrid Deinhard, Indy Neidell, Spartacus Olsson
Creative Producer: Marek Kamiński
Community Management: Ian Sowden
Written by: Indy Neidell
Research by: Indy Neidell
Map animations by: Daniel Weiss
Map research by: Sietse Kenter
Edited by: Karolina Dołęga
Artwork and color grading by: Mikołaj Uchman
Sound design by: Marek Kamiński
Colorizations by:
Mikołaj Uchman
Daniel Weiss
FMSky, Ruffneck'88 pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plik:Bu...
Source literature list: bit.ly/SourcesWW2
Archive footage: Screenocean/Reuters - www.screenocean.com
Image sources:
Bundesarchiv
National Archives NARA
Imperial War Museums: SE 2758
Naval History and Heritage Command
Picture of ELAS fighters courtesy of Υπουργείο Εξωτερικών www.flickr.com/photos/greecem...
Canister by Claudiu Sergiu Danaila from Noun Project thenounproject.com/icon/canis...
Soundtracks from Epidemic Sound:
Break Free - Fabien Tell
Dark Beginning - Johan Hynynen
Disciples of Sun Tzu - Christian Andersen
Force Matrix - Jon Bjork
It's Not a Game - Philip Ayers
Last Minute Reaction - Phoenix Tail
Last Point of Safe Return - Fabien Tell
Leave It All Here - Fabien Tell
London - Howard Harper-Barnes
Please Hear Me Out TS - Philip Ayers
Rememberance - Fabien Tell
Secret Cargo - Craft Case
The End Of The World 2 - Håkan Eriksson
The Inspector 4 - Johannes Bornlöf
Weapon of Choice - Fabien Tell
A TimeGhost chronological documentary produced by OnLion Entertainment GmbH.
![Eminem - Houdini [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/22tVWwmTie8/mqdefault.jpg)
Any other great wartime intelligence failures spring to mind?
Soviets w Barbarossa
@@Emperor-Bando23Comrade Stalin the Germans are massing at the Border! Our spies have spotted thousands of Horses and AFVs coming this way!
Stalin: Eh must be nothing, carry on.
Great video as always but I wish you guys talked about the creation of the US 5-star rank this week and William Leahy. He was the first person to get the 5-star rank and was the highest-ranked US officer of WW2. I'm pretty sure you guys haven't talked about him at all yet during your series which is a shame. Leahy is the least talked about, vastly important person of WW2. It would be fair to say he was in reality the US President during the war when it came to anything regarding the war. Leahy was FDR's Chief of Staff during the war and any question that went up to FDR regarding the war went through Leahy and the decisions FDR would make always came down to what Leahy would tell FDR what to do. Other officers and diplomats of course had an influence on FDR and his decisions but when it was an argument of a "do this or do this" option and FDR's decision was needed on who's plan/decision to side on, it was Leahy who basically told FDR what to do and was ALWAYS included in any meeting where anything was being presented to the President.
FDR does get too much credit for his role as the US President during WW2. FDR was not a military man and he knew that, which is to FDR's credit. FDR relied on people who did know about the military and what decisions to make and Leahy was FDR's right-hand man throughout the war. George Marshall and Henry Stimson were right up there with Leahy and it was the 3 of them that really ran the US war effort at the top of the chain and all 3 of them are never given the credit they deserved. But Leahy is by far given the least credit for his work during WW2. Even many WW2 buffs won't know who Leahy was or what he did during the war. When people ask what officers were given the special 5-star rank Leahy is often the person everyone forgets. And he was the first person to get the rank which made him the highest-ranking US officer since the tiebreaker for who is the higher-ranked officer comes down to seniority. That always gives a good trivia question when you ask who was the higher-ranked officer, Eisenhower or MacArthur? The answer is MacArthur because he was given the 5-star rank before Eisenhower was.
Midway and coral sea for the Japanese. East Solomon's for the Americans
Battle of Blood River
"That is 15m per hour..."
WW1 Generals: This blitzkieg is crazy. A month's worth of progress every hour!
Lol, I like how we’re basically back at WWI rates of advancement in 2023
140000 casualties in three months...
The price payed by Eisenhower's broad front, where American units literally fought face to face with German defenders...
This was depicted in Easy Company's battle of Foy... And this went on and on all along the front line...
Eisenhower shouldn't have cut off Patton's fuel supply... Let the fast generals keep pushing until they meet resistance...
Bypass strongpoints like Metz and Hurtgen forrest and lay siege around them... It's cheaper...
Just push in between the German defending units before they set up to strong defenses...
Play it like Rommel did in 1940... Just keep pushing fast and hard...
Compare the casualty lists army by army.
I believe Patton will win... Or would have until he reached Metz.
Little faster than healthy snail...
@@TonyGModestoits better for business
Battle of the Bulge? That sounds like wild exaggeration! More likely it was the Battle of the Unremarkable Bump.
This week marks the end of my family's involvement in the war. My great uncle, serving in the American 78th Infantry Division, was killed in action while fighting the Germans in Hurtgen Forest, December 18,1944. Thank you to everyone at Time Ghost for all your work on this series. You ensure that many who've been voiceless, forgotten, or ignored in this conflict get their acknowledgements. Never Forget.
Thank you for sharing that story with us, and we deeply appreciate the kind comment. Never forget.
I had the same feeling back in February 43 when my great grandfather died (on the wrong side of the war) in the Caucasus. A huge thank you for the huge work that had been since then and until then !
My Uncle Elton Elise severed in the 78 Div also. I knew he was on the northern edge of the "Bulge" but I did not know he was right in it. The 78 Div had just arrived at the front. Uncle Elton said he was eyeing the local forest deer population for Christmas dinner, Then the Germans ruined his Christmas dinner plans. As he was stuck with a bazooka, not a very good deer hunting as he said. Interesting side note. The 78 div landed on Omaha beach uncle Elton said he drove his jeep off a LST onto Omaha Beach on Thanksgiving day!! 1944. He was the only one in his unit to drive the exact same jeep into Berlin !!
Mine was killed at Anzio, so I feel you. Both my grandfathers are still in the fight, though. One's in France and the other is with Patton.
“Steal Allied fuel” being the main point of the offensive meant it started doomed.
My Grandfather was in the Wehrmacht as a young boy and capitulated in early 1945 near Trier after fighting in the Ardennes.
He told me that he and his friends had to chew on old, tough and moldy bread, sometimes improved with some thin, watery and cold (under best circumstances lukewarm) soup.
He always told me that the warm rations of the US Army he got after he surrendered were like a epiphany to him.
It wasn't just the fuel or the ammunition. Germany ran dry on the most basic stuff.
A western miniature version of Barbarossa...
@@papaaaaaaa2625 American POWs captured in the Bulge were often severely underfed in the subsequent months of captivity. Some attributed it to German ruthlessness but as their war effort ground down the Germans were having increasing trouble feeding their own troops, let alone POWs. Germans who captured US rations found the chocolate bars especially appealing.
The main objective was to inflict so much damage that the western Allies would sue for peace. Even if all objective were reached, believing the allies would give up at this point is hilariously optimistic
@@stevekaczynski3793 Well, chocolate without meth is just better!
My uncle Peter died Sept 2, 1944 in Italy. He lives on in my mind, rent free. Each Time Ghost entry helps keep him real.
A grandfather who served in the Phillipines at the end of the war has a spot like that for me.
Thanks for sharing a part of your families legacy with us, we deeply appreciate your comment. Thank you.
In 1940 Germans literally eliminated the whole French army, and the UK still didn't surrender. Hitler's goal of forcing the allies to negotiate by encircling 2 of their armies is just pure lunacy.
He wasn't famous for rational thought processes.
Even if he captured the Dunkirk pocket instead of letting it evacuate: the UK probably would not have surrendered. And having a million prisoners of wars would only further strain Nazi economy.
This was the end of the war for my great grandpa, lived with shrapnel in the right side of his body the rest of his life. May he rest in peace.
Thank you for sharing this with us, rest in peace.
As a Belgian, we very often hear about that battle. I always wondered why it was called Battle of the Bulge in English, but Bataille des Ardennes in French…
Because in English newspapers it was accompanied by maps showing the German advance as a bulge into Allied lines
Because "Bataille de la Protubérance" doesn't sound right in French.
@@guillaumedeschamps1087oui, c'est bizarre
@@guillaumedeschamps1087That sounds hilarious tho
@guillaumedeschamps1087 Imagine if the history books called it the Battle of the Protuberance
My grandfather's platoon, near Bastogne ran smack into the lead elements of the SS Panzers. He was wounded, but he and his men blunted the first waves till they had to pull back.
A VERY courageous group of men. It may have been Hitler's desperation punch, but MAN was it a brutal one.
A good man. Thank you Tim UK.
My grandfather was on the other side of this. Read his diary, apparently he really valued the fight your gramps gave him. They killed alot of his friends and was still Like:"Well it was GOOD fithing"
Truly the greatest generation, doubt I would be able to value an enemy like that.
There were no SS panzer divisions assigned to the attack in the centre against Bastogne. All SS divisions were under Dietrich in the north, which was meant to be the main attack
@@stephenroberts4895 well it seems you’re as poorly sighted as I apparently am, there were no SS divisions NEAR Bastogne. TLDR I think you or your grandfather is mistaken
My at one time Step Father in law had been in the Battle of the Hurtgen forest and was wounded outside of Schmidt. He was recovering in a hospital when the Bulge began. He told me they rousted out of bed any man who could walk and could carry a rifle to go on the line. His war experience was incredible- he landed on D Day on Omaha as a Combat Engineer.
My (I know this is a stretch) my wife's step grandfather also served in France and Belgium during this time. Horace Kenyon served with the Services of Supply, as a mechanic / co-driver iirc (the guys that were in the "passenger seat" did pretty much anything, including acting as back up drivers, mechanics, and gunners) He talked little about his time, other than he had seen a few terrible things and had done his duty. He probably didn't want to admit he served with the legendary "Red Ball Express" that ran supplies to "Bastogne" and the Hurtgen Forrest - where most of his fellow troops would be African American. They worked around the clock, in all weather, so close to each other that they were gauging distance by brightness of the taillight of the truck in front of them - getting food, ammunition, fuel, and all that was needed to see our fighting men through that tough winter. I know he said he made it into Germany before they shipped him home. He sustained a head injury in the combat zone, that took the VA nearly 70 years to decide was partially "debilitating"... might be why he didn't like talking about his actions in the service all that much, idk.
r. i. p. Horace H Kenyon
My Dad, a WWII vet, talked about Glenn Miller's disappearance. There was a theory that his plane was hit by a jettisoned fuel tank of a military aircraft flying far overhead, but no definite proof of it. There were many ways people died and were never heard of again in the vastness of that war.
A theory I heard was that he was stabbed to death by a Brit, and in the interests of Allied harmony the incident was hushed up. It may be just a rumour.
G'day,
Back in the 1990s
Aeroplane magazine (UK) ran a big feature Article on what happened to Glen Miller.
He was in a USAAC Nordyn Norseman flying from England to France, at an altitude of about 2,000 ft, in daylight, tracking through the centre of the
Designated
Bomb Jettison Area, about 5 or 10 miles off the British Coast, which was marked on ALL the Maps issued to ALL the Stations launching Cross-Channel flights.
Nobody was supposed to overfly it, particularly not below 10,000 ft, because above that height...
Aircraft returning with unexpended Bombs were briefed to dump the Ordinance in the Jettison Area, from 10,000 ft or more, rather than trying to land with a full Bombload...
The Tail Gunners of a Formation of Lancaster's, returning from not being able to see their Targets in France, reported seeing a single-engined High-wing Aircraft flying at about 2,000 ft fly directly under the Bombs which had been toggled 30 seconds earlier.
They said that one Bomb was seen to knock one Wing off, and the wreckage spun down to splash in the middle of the Jettison Area.
All the Aircrew figured it out as soon as Miller was announced to be missing ; and immediately they were sworn to SECRECY (!) ; because nobody in the RAF wanted to announce that they'd bombed and killed a famous and popular Jazz-Band Leader...; whereas the US AAC didn't want to admit that their Army Co-operations & Communications Aircrew were far too casual, arrogant, hubristic and reckless as to actually READ what their issued Maps said about the Sea between Britain & France - when laying out their intended Course over the Channel...
Therefore
Thus and
Because, in the interests of
International Cameraderie and safeguarding Allied
Unity against the
Common Foe....
Glen Miller was officially reported as being
"Missing"..., for 45 or 50 years, and the last remaining Lancaster Aircrew decided to
"Come Clean" and reveal what they claimed was well understood and known - but was deliberately suppressed, at the time.
Before they fell off their Mortal Coils.
So, no, not a Droptank, but rather a
500 pound General Purpose, or a
2,000 pound "Cookie", or a
4,000 pound Blockbuster...
It was but a Blur
Among a cluster of falling Blurs, dropping at 300 or 500 ft per second.
No explosion, because jettisoned Bombs were dropped in "Safe" condition rather than "Live"...; but a quarter of a ton to two tons of Steel descending at 300 mph will make a total wreck of anything riveted up from Sheet Aluminium & Steel Tubes, beetling along low over the Sea, sneaking across to France....
I suppose nothing good could have come from releasing the known facts, at the time ; the RAF Aircrew didn't do anything "wrong", but the grieving Miller Fan Club would have taken a LOT of convincing before accepting that..., Miller couldn't be resurrected by the Truth being told ; and the bloke who caused the Crash was already dead, and his Family had already started mourning him as a Missing Hero...
Apparently such is the way the
Calculation was seen by they who decided the matter.
And, the Electorate used to be a lot less likely to
Question
Authority...
Back in the day.
Such is life,
Have a good one...
;-p
Ciao !
@@WarblesOnALot Thank you for explaining the details.
@@alansewell7810
No worries mate !
;-p
Ciao !
TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) has done extensive research on Glenn Miller's disappearance. The Forum page on their website has a section on Glenn Miller Research. It makes a good read. The bomb story has been discredited.
A sidenote this week on December 14 1944 is that HMS Aldenham will strike a naval mine in the Adriatic Sea off Pag Island, while leading a Royal Navy force in a bombardment mission against targets on the island of Pag and near the town of Karlobag in support of the Yugoslav Partisans. What is noteworthy is that she would be the last Royal Navy destroyer to be lost in the war, with the loss of 121 officers and men and only 63 of her crew rescued.
Man, i see you here every week with something new every time, it's simply amazing! keep up the good work but quick question though, where do you even get this kind of information? Wikipedia?
@@Ronald98 Well a combination of both Wikipedia and the World War 2 Database, amongst other sources too. Actually last week's episode was probably the first time in a very long time that I didn't post anything since I was away on holiday and did not have time to even check CZcams for once lol.
Can't wait for you to finally cover Bill Slim's late 1944-1945 exploits. Quiet a masterclass from one of the greatest generals of the war.
@@jackdoyle7453The advance to Mandalay and the subsequent crossing od the Chindwin (while simultanously having to deal with supply issues in the Chinese and American sectors) have to make it one of the most impressive military opertions in the war
@@extrahistory8956he didn't have to deal with the Chinese or American supply issues. By the end of 1944, the supplies going to the Brits, the Chinese, and the Americans had been separated.
Still quiet an impressive feat given how he was able to maintain the offensive pace while his forces consistently suffered being on the short end of the logistics stick as far as the wider war goes (especially compared to, say, the Western Front).
@@porksterbob I should have been more specific. I was referring to the period in late November when Wedemeyer wanted to transport some Chinese divisions back to China at a period where Slim's troops had begun to make crossings at the Chidwin, causing concern about logistics as the Chinese troops would have to carried back in planes that were crucial for the upcoming Operation Capital
Lyle Bouck's 22 Soldiers -- scouts and artillery observers -- delayed a 500-soldier German battalion for a day in the Losheim Gap. They are the only platoon to earn a U.S. Presidential Unit Citation, the unit equivalent of a Medal of Honor
Meanwhile, around this time, I’m sure my grandfather was freezing, his butt off north of Rome. In January 1945 he actually got shot multiple times… he had bullet fragments in his body until he passed in 2001
The Italian campaign is tragically and constantly overlooked, especially the portion after D-Day. We should never forget the battles where men like your grandfather fought. May he rest in peace.
There is nothing more dangerous than a desperate enemy, which applies to both the Germans and Japanese.
Thanks for another thrilling episode, which is filled with tumultuous events marking the approaching hard won victory.
The Japanese were way more vicious IMO. The Germans actually surrendered en masse. They also had some sense of self preservation. The Japanese planned on dying, that's a terrible enemy to fight. On Iwo Jima General Kuribayashi told his men to dig the fortifications well because they were digging their Graves.
I agree! A desperate enemy combined with arrogance in the upper commanders is a recipe for disaster.
The Mongols in battles tended to allow enemies an avenue of escape, as otherwise if completely trapped they would fight with the courage of desperation, in a time and place that did not have POW status for the defeated. Quite often the way out became a killing field as the enemies fled through it, as it became narrower all the time and under a hail of Mongol arrows.
@@firingallcylinders2949 The captured German general Ferdinand Heim, who had been put in charge of defending Boulogne and surrendered it in September 1944, told an Allied intelligence officer who interviewed him that fatalism about death increased the further east you were. Germans were, he said, more inclined to fight to the death than Americans and British, and the Russians more so than the Germans. (Heim had fought on the Eastern Front and was temporarily imprisoned as a scapegoat for the Stalingrad defeat. He was later released and re-assigned.) He had probably heard something about the fanatical resistance of the Japanese, who he said were most fatalistic of all.
Perhaps, but there also comes a point where Resistance is little more than a bitter gesture with no greater scope. All Axis efforts after the Allies did not capitulate in 1940-41 were little more than prolonging the inevitable. None of the Axis Powers could fight a war of attrition, that was the entire reasoning for their initial military and political doctrines for quick strikes to bring about a quick end to war, if their opponents didn't collapse from that initial blitz, the war for the Axis was already lost.
Went there on holiday and two things occured to me. A) the Ardennes is a very beautiful place but those wooded hills are about easy to get through as wading through glue and B) The German offensive in the Bulge is just a dream. They dont have the fuel or firepower to even come within range of success let alone close.
My grandfather was at the battle of the Bulge! He had a heart attack on the front line and was later put in a n ambulance with wounded English speaking Germans and later transferred to the rear in the transportation department!
At least he survived the heart attack
@@jtgd But in February of 45 they put him back on the front line!
@@mikaelcrews7232did he survive? Which sector was he in, cos that timing was just right to be crossing the rhine at
@@mnemo7096 he was in the first infinity Division ( the Big Red One)! He was still in a quiet area but they move them south of it and that's when all hell broke loose? I'm not sure exactly were he was, but he did survive the war.
thats good to know
Can we just agree that "Hasso von Manteuffel" is the most badass name ever for a German commander?
No can't agree the most badass was Hyacinth_Graf_Strachwitz von Gross Stauze und Camminetz. See the wiki page.
I cant not think about Kartoffel meaning potato every time i hear the name
@@saltzkruber732 It's "Manteuffel", not "Kartoffel"
And "Manteuffel" means the "Man devil".
@@florianlipp5452 You misread my comment it seems
Can we also agree that "Geilenkirchen" is a hilarious name for a sleepy German town?
My grandad was the youngest of three brothers. He came in late in the war. His unit showed up in Bastogne just before the BOB. He was pulled out of his unit because he ‘won’ an art contest run by a Generals cadre. They needed an artist to letter trucks , tanks , glass office doors. He was one of a dozen painters. His original unit was wiped out in the BOB. He came home wrecked with survivors guilt. Crawled in a bottle for a good 15 years. His older brother was in France and the oldest was heading to Japan in the Navy.
If I had a nickel for every surprise German Ardennes offensive in WWII, I'd have two nickels. Which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it's happened twice
*3
@@ivvan497 what was the third? Invasion of France, Battle of the Bulge, what else?
@@1987palerider 1914, 1940 and 1944
If it ain't broken...
@@ivvan497 To quote OP;
"every surprise German Ardennes offensive *IN WWII*"
I have to say, after watching these videos on and off all these years, I'm surprised how fast time went by. Its been just over three years since Pearl Harbor was attacked, and here's the US with the Allies at Germany's doorstep. It really shows the scale of industry and manpower America brought to the table.
Fortune was clearly offended by the 28th division. After heavy fighting in the Hurtgen Forest, she was transferred to rest in the most peaceful part of the front. Since this division was formed in Pennsylvania, and the symbol of the state is the keystone, the soldiers of the division who survived after 1944 called this sign "a bucket of blood".
Soldiers of the 106th division called themselves "the hungry and sick" after The Bulge started.
Oh, that's the one from "Where Trumpets Fade". Damn, what a bunch of unlucky bunch.
So that's why the symbol of the Pennsylvania Railroad was a keystone! Thanks for that; now I know why.
@@ktipuss Yes, each State has its own symbol. Pennsylvania is called the Keystone State. The badge of the 28th division was also in the form of keystone is red in color.
@@Dustz92 Yes, you can see the division's symbol on the helmets - the red keystone.
"Lieutenant, we're paratroopers. We're supposed to be surrounded."
Where's foxhole Norman？
Welp, time for the yearly watch of Band of Brothers
Good thing Jimmy Fallon was there to resupply them
I have a feeling that if you're entire offensive relies on bad weather it's not going to go so well. Guess we'll have to wait and see.
The low cloud preventing Allied air cover was the same low cloud which probably caused the plane crash which killed Glenn Miller.
To think that 'WW2 week by week' would end by christmas had the allies did well in market garden
Well, still would have had Japan to deal with, but yeah. Not great. And here we are this week with Monty again - AGAIN! - dismissing Germany’s strength and will to fight. Lessons were apparently not learned from the Market Garden failure…
Would they? Even had Market Garden succeded, they Allies would still have had major logistical issues until Antwerp was opened for shipping. They wouldn’t have been able to exploit their success in that scenario.
Telling the story in real time really makes it clear how unpredictable the events of the war must have been. While, from a bird's eye view, it is pretty clearly a story of axis success in the early war and allied success in pushing the axis back during the later half, it doesn't always feel that way when following it week by week. Reading about it in the newspapers (even of a neutral country) must have felt dramatically different when the wider trends weren't as clear
Not to mention it's nearly impossible to get accurate information about what's actually going on. Just look at how hard it is to figure out what's happening in Ukraine. Even knowledgeable analyses are done based on faulty and biased information and massive surprises happen constantly.
I just love The World at War's writing / Laurence Olivier's dry delivery on this:
"Surprise was total.. It was the beginning of a day of monumental confusion for the Allies, the worst they'd experienced in the whole European War. Even as the first Wehrmacht waves were overrunning the American positions along the Ardennes, talk at Allied headquarters back at Versailles was focused more on the news of band leader's Glen Millers death, than of the possibility of the biggest German offensive in the West since 1940.. It was the day Eisenhower was promoted 5-star general.. and the day Field Marshal Montgomery happened to apply for leave to go home to England for Christmas.. Ike was in fact attending his chauffeurs wedding that morning.. while Monty was playing golf...
Indy: "It has taken the Allies 31 days to advance 11 kilometers."
WW1 generals: "That quickly??"
Crack of the lightning, splitting the ground
Thunder resounding, artillery pounding
Rath of the Nazis decent on the town trapping our forces alone!
12:32. Keep those locations mentioned by Indy in mind for future episodes. We'll almost certainly be hearing more about Elsenborn Ridge and the villages of Krinkelt and Rocherath. This was actually the main thrust by the best troops slated for the offensive but it (spoiler alert) gets no farther than Elsenborn.
There is a popular misconception that Bastogne was the most important battle of the Ardennes Offensive and the point at which the German offensive stalled, partly because of a lot of press coverage during the war (much of the Allied press in this sector was in Bastogne) and partly because a lot of film and TV coverage of Bastogne since, but that was really not the case. The more important fight was about 46 miles/74 km to the northeast in and around Elsenborn, and the fighting was every bit as savage as that around Bastogne even going at times hand-to-hand.
St. Vith was also an important point to hold. Hopefully, Indy will cover the controversy on wether they should/shouldn’t have pulled out or wether it would’ve been wise to make it a second Bastogne:
yes absolutely
That - 'The Cuban Missile Crisis' - that you guys did is absolutely fantastic.
I already knew most of what you showed us, but, most importantly, the one thing you showed that I was not that aware of was just how recklessly deep the US was into fighting Communism that everything it did was due to upcoming Presidential Elections. And the Vietnam War was just such an example of this, and beyond.
At that time in history no candidate could be show in anyway as soft to the Soviets, and thus they became reckless in the moves they made in countering them.
My Grandfather, a Lieutenant in the Royal Army Service Corps attached to an infantry battalion in the 51st Highland Division (“Monty’s Bodyguard”) was on R&R with his battalion in Antwerp when the Ardennes offensive began. He was the Orderly Officer when the order that all leave was cancelled and to get the Battalion on the wagons and head to the front, so it was his job to get a battalion of pissed up (and off!) Glaswegians and Highlanders out of the bars and brothels of Antwerp, make sure they have their personal weapons, 150 rounds of .303 and a bayonet and sling them on the Lorrie’s to head east! He claimed that in May 1945 none of them had drawn any more ammunition but they had all been through at least two bayonets!
Really strange to think that only 79 years ago, my grandfather was there fighting the Germans, and now I’m hearing watching a video about it. Keep up the amazing content, guys.
Yup. My dad was there as well as a 21 year old Sgt. He had been with his unit at a castle in Belgium, but was then detached to drive supplies to Bastogne before it was encircled. He said that it was quite grim and all the GIs were afraid that the leaders were going to surrender. He was overjoyed when the General in charge made the reply “Nuts” to the German demand to surrender. He said that the Americans had heard about the Malmedy massacre, and he figured that as an enemy soldier of Native American ancestry, that the Germans would be less than kind to him if they got their hands on him.
I got lost Hitchhiking through the Ardennes in the Winter of 89 and can easily understand how a Panzer Division can lose its way not to mention the Freezing Fog and Cold Damp Forbidding Forests the whole place had an Eerie feel to it and im sure that if one was to listen on the Darkest of Nights they would still hear those Clattering Tracks and Steel Shod Boots Marching down the Roads into the Distance!
I wonder if you're going to mention Germans in US uniforms speaking fluent English sowing chaos behind the lines... and US troops checking each other if they're American or not. Read about this in Thomas F. Brooks "Hello Boys" some years ago.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Greif
I am interested in the linguistic side of WW2, and it is interesting to me how much difficulty the Germans had in actually finding fluent and convincing speakers of American English. Apparently they found no more than about 10, mostly former sailors who had spent a lot of time in US ports. To distinguish themselves from real US troops, the Germans reportedly wore pink or blue scarves and at night used German torches/flashlights to signal in a particular sequence of lights that would hopefully prevent German troops from firing on them. Any tanks they drove were supposed to keep the gun turret pointing at the three o' clock position - it seems they were afraid of "friendly fire".
My guess is that most genuinely fluent speakers of English in the German armed forces in late 1944 would have had a berth in Intelligence or were attached to POW camps - volunteering for a risky special forces mission would be something to be avoided.
Especially since they would be shot immediately after being captured.
@@aaroncolby6124 SPOILER
Which will happen to a number of them.
The German Brandenburger unit had specialised in spearheading German attacks, using troops who dressed up in Polish, Dutch or Soviet uniforms and who spoke the appropriate languages. But at this point of the war it was an ordinary Army unit, serving on the Eastern Front.
This week in French news.
The 10th, France and the USSR signed a treaty of mutual assistance. Article 1 and 2 are in favor of the cooperation against Germany and not to make any unilateral peace. Article 3 is on taking at the end of the war in mutual assistance every measure to avoid any future threat by Germany. The article 4 is a clause of assistance in case of hostility from Germany (after the war); article 5 is not on Germany but engages each party to no make any alliance or coalition against each other. Article 6 is on economic assistance. This treaty is to be on a bilateral negotiation with the USSR and to avoid any resurgence of a big Germany, and for De Gaulle to be half away between the USSR and the USA. During the reunion, De Gaulle asks for Saarland, Rhenania and the Ruhr to be under French occupation and not form a country. Then, after Stalin refused, he proposed that the Ruhr would be under international law and France would recognize the Oder-Neisser frontier of Germany, again Stalin refused to avoid confrontation with the US. To be signed, France had to recognize the Committee of Lublin as the official government of Poland (the 27th)
The 14th, nationalization of coal mining and creation of the Houillères du bassin du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais. There was 18 different compagnies in those departements, now, there is only one, with the objective to increase the output of coal. The “battle of coal” is launched by the PCF and the government in order to produce the maximum of it and reconstruct France.
I am rereading Steven Zaloga Smashing Hitler's Panzers an excellent book on the fighting in the North covering the SS Hitler Jungend and SS Liebstandarte Adolph Hitler which were supposed to lead the attack to Antwerp because they were closest to that goal. This attack will decide whether or not the operation in the Ardennes will be successful and the coverage of it is not at all as commonly known as the fighting fo Bastogne. I recommend the book for anyone interested in the battle.
RIP Glen Miller, what an inspiration and a great talent, lost to a war full of horrors
"If we wouldn't do that, they wouldn't do it." Same thinking as the Allies will land at Pas-de-Calais.
My grandfather missed the Bulge, as he had been reassigned as a shooting instructor and stayed in France. He lost a lot of his friends though. The reassignment may have saved his life.
I just made a comment about my grandfather being pulled out the week before. It messed him up bad for years being one of the few survivors of his original unit. Bless your grandfather
A British soldier on the eve of the Battle of the Somme in 1916 who worked in his battalion HQ was given a rifle and grenades by an NCO and told he would take part in the attack. Then an officer came and said he would not be sent into the attack as he was the only man in the battalion who knew shorthand. Most of the battalion that went over the top the next day was killed or wounded. According to him, "My shorthand saved me."
"We soon learned that fate, not the Germans or Italians was our real enemy. Fate, as callous and indifferent as army orders - "you and you, dead. The rest of you, on the truck".
@@christopherrasmussen8718 bless your grandfather too. Mine also had a hard time being a survivor.
My grandfather didn't get reassigned, he was wounded a few days before his platoon commander wanted to offer him squad command. A lot of guys in his unit didn't turn 21, he was one of the lucky ones.
Patton absolutely did not predict the Ardennes offensive. It was added into his diary after the war by his wife. Patton was as clueless as the rest of the allied leaders about the potential for Germany to go on the offensive.
How do you know this? Is there a source?
He's clueless? And would you have done in his shoes (without hindsight? ) you'd probably smash it I'm sure! With all your war experience
@@ladyzapzap9514 Kevin Hymel new biography of Patton covers it. Patton's wife altered the transcript of her husband's diary in the 1950s before publishing. Then the originals were sealed until something like 2015.
Patton had a plan to swing his forces toward Bastogne, before Eisenhower gave the order; he knew something was going on.
Well his argument does have some merit to it. My great-grandfather William Ambrose GoForth was an intelligence officer on Pattons staff in the 3rd Army. He said that Patton had two versions of his diary. A private diary which he kept to himself and a typed version that he intended for public consumption. He often added in compliments from his superiors that are nowhere in the original diary. After the war, his wife and son added in their own notes to the copy (typed version) submitted to the library of congress. Various authors and biographers also did the same. My grandfather said he wouldn't be surprised if Patton didn't add that segment about predicting the Ardennes himself to inflate his own genius 😂
Some pedantry here : Organisation X is not called X in the Greek language but Organosis Chi. The equivalent of the latin X in Greek being the letter Ξ (Xi). The Greek letter Χ (or χ in the low case) is pronounced like the spanish hota and is transcribes in to the latin ch like in schema, technique, Christ, mechanics etc. End of pedantry.
There is a Bulge yes, but it has been contained. It will never reach Antwerp!
Arrogance seems to be a virus among all military commanders.
Re Dirlewanger's unit, about this time a German who had been imprisoned in a concentration camp for homosexuality was sent with others to Dirlewanger's unit. When Dirlewanger heard of this he ordered them tied to trees in a forest with pink triangles attached to their uniforms, and they were left to freeze to death overnight. However a Red Army patrol turned up and freed them. The survivor who gave the account formed a relationship with an Armenian doctor in the Red Army. Postwar he and his partner escaped to the USA, with the doctor using Armenian diaspora connections, but the doctor later died there. The story is mentioned in Richard Plant's "The Pink Triangle", an account of the treatment of homosexuals in the Third Reich.
Thanks for sharing! 👍
It's often overlooked that sexual minorities were among the victims of the holocaust, and the association of the color pink with gayness literally stems from reclaiming a concentration camp designation.
Found you guys in 1917 then binged watched to catch up and have followed every week since then. The whole timeghost team does a fantastic job at putting together great episodes every week. I’ve read and studied WWII for over 20 years and still learn from you every week. Thank you and keep up the good work.
You mean 2017, surely? You ain't 100 years old..
That's great to hear! It's amazing to hear that even as a seasoned WWII enthusiast, you're finding new insights with us. Thank you for watching.
Wow, last time I heard about German communist shooting their own commanders was in 1918, didn’t expect that to come back in 1944
I was more surprised that the Germans were desperate enough to let them out of the camps and arm them. What exactly did they expect to happen?
Well, December 1944, with the Red Army getting closer, was a good time to set the Hegelian dialectic in motion.
That kinda confused me. They were sabotaging Germany on purpose to make them lose faster right?
@@patrickstephenson1264 They were imprisoned in jails or concentration camps but in Germany's increasingly desperate condition they were released to join penal units like Dirlewanger's, as were some other categories of inmate like the homosexual detainee I mentioned in another comment. But if given the chance, they would turn on the officer or NCO commanding them and go over to the Red Army, or if appropriate, the Western Allies. The set-up was a bit like "The Dirty Dozen" but with Lenin's "State And Revolution" as the playbook, in a manner of speaking...
It isn't murder, it is self-defense.
In the book "No Drums, No Bugles" by Charles Durden, "Lt. Whiffle" (Don't squeeze the Charmin) leads a "little patrol", "just outside the wire", "where no one had gone in six months", and gets himself and a "real good kid, just wanted to get a job in the Post Office, his uncle had warned him" killed.
I'm a bit disappointed that your discussion of "15 meters per hour" for the Allied advance into Germany wasn't compared to other very slow things. For example, that's less than 1/3 of a literal snail's pace (they go about 48 meters an hour, according to Google.)
I just found that funny.
He (Montgomery) had told Eisenhower's deputy chief of operations, the British officer Jock Whitley, that Eisenhower should put him in command of all troops north of the German penetration. Somebody, Montgomery added, meaning either the Combined Chiefs of Staff, of which Brooke was a member, or the British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, should give Eisenhower "a direct order ... to do so."
page 416 A Time For Trumpets MacDonald
24:56 rip to miller
I found that elvis guy for you. he's some schoolkid.
I love when they make references like that in their episodes it reminds you it is "1944"
"But not like a schoolboy."
Allied intel failures all linked to the misconception of "Hitler can't be THAT crazy."
My dads 2 uncles, who were in separate units met up during the battle of the bulge, and they always got mad at my dad when he didn’t care/listen to them describing this event during family reunions
The set and image has never looked better. Nice work everyone
The application of the destroyer-based radar picket here is the genesis of the modern carrier battle group. Interesting to see that next generation of tactics being developed.
The Chemical Mortar Battalions fielded a very powerful, accurate and versatile weapon (especially with their high explosive and smoke ammunition) that was in great demand throughout the war, resulting in troops from these units being in near-constant action and taking many casualties. One of those cases where the name of the unit really belies its importance.
503rd Para Reg. Will earn their nickname "The Rock" when they conduct an airborne drop on Corregidor Island. They still carry that name as part of the 173rd ABN Bde today.
This is one of those videos where I just watch it again after it finishes. Great Job guys. Amazing work 👏
Thanks so much for your kind words!
-TimeGhost Ambassador
My great uncle Chuck was at the Bulge with the Americans. I never had the honor of meeting him. But from what I’ve heard, he was never the same after that battle. He survived, but a significant part of him, simply didn’t come home.
The way they show the battle of the bulge on the 2001 HBO miniseries Band of Brothers was insane.
The Battle of Bastogne is amazing and to this day I still don't know how the 101st held it
Nuts!
@@firingallcylinders2949i am glad they did hold out because the 101st airborn div liberated my home town.
@firingallcylinders2949
Because.
A) They weren't deep behind enemy lines.
B) Already had armour support with them.
C) Never ran out of supplies.
D) Most of the German force moved off towards the River Meuse and left Bastogne alone.
Seems like yesterday that the British retreated over the Irrawaddi river. Time is moving fast.
I have been fighting the battle of the bulge for many years now. So far the bulge is winning.
😂 Yep. Ever since I turned 40. Now I'm nearly 50 so I've given up the fight. I assume I'll go back to my shape of my 30's when I hit 50.
I hope that is the case for you. I have crossed that milestone and so far no retreat in sight. @@jxchamb
You should look to the Eastern Front for inspiration. Have you tried the Stalingrad diet yet? Heard it works wonders at shedding those excess pounds - and territory.
@@gilwhitmore9682 Bummer but I refuse to accept help from fruits and vegetables. I will continue the fight with my trusty cheeseburgers by my side.
Weird, my wife loves my bulge. Always has.
On the Burma side, there was a missed opportunity to mention that the Chinese take Bhamo in the north on december 15.
This is the new first army under Sun lijen and he really should get a bio special.
Also, there is the replacement for merrils marauders, the MARS task force which is a part of this mission.
So it’s finally begun, own of the most famous/infamous battles of ww2.
Yes indeed! But the next day of the battle went ugly.
Germany in December 1944: "Let's do the same thing we did in 1914 and 1940.... What could go wrong?"
Go to Bastogne, the crossroads must hold.
Stand, alone in the cold.
I love this series. CRAZY is the right way to describe this decision, Indy. By the way, can we get update on the fighting in Courtland?
Wow, only two more weeks of 1944
Over by Christmas right? Thanks for watching!
@@WorldWarTwo we’ll see about next Christmas
A guy from my church was in the 99th Division. He said that the attack was such a surprise, the soldiers didn't understand what was happening when the attack began. Also, a bunch of guys were on leave behind the lines.
Nice touch on the slideshow effect for the summary!
Some of you have given the very exact explanation for that discrepancy between two names, but we (I am 93 ) always speak of the VonRundstedt offensive. At a moment when everyone thought the hated occupiers were finally gone, it was as if everything was starting again. 😊
Rundstedt actually really hated being associated with the offensive since, as we've seen multiple times, he had little to no faith in its success and at one point said that if they did reach as far as the Meuse, they should fall down on their knees and thank god, let alone Antwerp.
Great video, the imagery always looks so good
Glad you enjoyed, thanks for watching!
Wonder if there was even a hope of victory in this battle with essentially everything against them
It was VERY slim. Everything would have had to go right for the Germans to succeed. The Allies would have to be caught off guard, they would have to be rapidly pushed back, and the supplies the Germans needed would have to be snatched before the Allies could destroy it. On top of this, they would need to make a dash for a better strategic line or else they couldn't defend these gains. Basically, the odds were INCREDIBLY against them. And EVEN IF the Germans won here, it may AT VERY BEST have just delayed the war's end by a few months. The Soviets were still advancing in the east, and the western allies were going to storm western Germany no matter the manpower or material cost. There was no chance that FDR and Churchill were going to make a peace deal with Hitler. Germany was done for barring the biggest and most unthinkable miracle in all of warfare history.
None at all.From the start lines to objective Antwerp,it was around 130-150 miles.Through forest and broken terrain,poor unmetalled roads,narrow gorges.Bridges not rated much to carry tanks.Also driving into the massive bulk of allied forces in Europe..
@@j.4332 Agreed. Even if the plan had worked perfectly and the Germans made it to Antwerp, then what? The Western Allies still had air superiority and the Soviets were still breathing down their neck in the East. The German's basic supply problems would not be solved, and Roosevelt and Churchill would not sue for peace even with the loss of an entire army group. The best it could have achieved was a delay in Allied offensive operations in the West, but no chance of changing the ultimate outcome of the war.
After months of retreat quite a few German troops, generally their best ones, were elated to be on the attack, but the operation made little military sense and was
SPOILER
doomed to ultimate failure.
Thank you so much for the shout out but, more importantly, for preserving this history.
Thanks for being such a lovely member John!
As a Frenchman, it makes me feel slightly better to know that the American also thought an armored push through the Ardennes couldn't happen, even though they had seen it happen four years earlier.
They did not see it in 1940 because they were not there, and the only sources on what happened were Germany and Vichy France.
I know you guys don't really cover individual acts of heroism, but Lt Eric Fisher Wood is a good guy to look up here...
When Time Ghost advances to Okinawa & Alamogordo I’m gonna be BUMMED
Will you also talk about Skorzeny's Operation Greif or will perhaps Astrid make an episode about it?
An interesting film to watch this week may be the 1965 American war film *Battle of the Bulge* , which tells a fictionalized account of the battle. It was released on the 21st anniversary of the start of the battle and there are some notable inaccuracies, such as the German King Tiger tanks being portrayed by post-war M47 Patton tanks and the American M4 Sherman tanks being portrayed by M24 Chaffee tanks. There is also a memorable scene where German tank commander crews under Colonel Hessler break into a chorus of the German war song Panzerlied to showcase their fighting spirit.
pattons are definitely an upgrade from the dreaded shermanpanzer of some films, though they were also going to show up in Patton posing as the wehrmacht
Heavily fictionalized.
Although the Panzerleid scene has spawned ten thousand CZcams videos by itself.
@@kemarisite HEAVILY.
'Ob es schturmt oder schneit, ob die Sonne uns wacht. Der Tag gluhend heiss, oder eiskalt die Nacht....'
@@chrisk1208Sing!
LOUDER!
The Operations Room channel has several excellent videos that examine some battles Operation Autumn Mist in detail.
They even brought Indy and Jesse as guest narrators
bro i swear every like 2 years or so I forget this series exist and I have to rewatch a year of material, abseloutely worth it love this. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK YOURE HELPING ME ACE MY HISTORY CLASSES ❤❤
Good luck in any future exams!
Here in 2023, from 12/17 to 12/27, Bastogne in Belgium is expected to only dip below freezing on two nights, with above freezing temperatures the rest of the 10 days. No snow but significant rain. It would have been a totally different battle.
Nicely done video
These are the highlight of my week!
I have been watching this entire series from the start. After all this time, we finally get to the Bulge! Next year is 1945. I heard that WW2 is going to end with a pretty big BANG or two!
I heard the war might also end with an massive blitzkrieg in an massive, unknown part of the world. I wonder where it will be or who vs who.
It'll be a blast I'm sure!
It needs to be pointed out that Mindoro is to the south of Manila as the video has a circle near San Bernardino Strait or Legaspi.
7th Fleet was exposed a bit and retreated after the initial landings which even allowed the Japanese to launched a cruiser striking force (Ashigara and Oyodo & Destroyer Squadron 2 against the beach head at San Jose on Boxing Bay.
It’s funny you mention Elvis. I had an uncle who passed away a few years ago who served with Elvis.
It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage video about that week in 1944 ...WW2 wagon
Thank you for the lesson.
Right on schedule every Friday
My grandfather was a staff sergeant in the 423rd of the 106th division. From what I’ve read they were positioned on the Schnee Eifel just days before the German attack. That was their first experience in combat and after a few days of fighting and being encircled were taken prisoner. He was liberated from Stalag 9A on Good Friday.
The 106th indeed only moved into the area a few days before, they were one of the newly arrived US divisions. The area it was sent to was considered to be a "quiet" sector suitable for a new and inexperienced unit.
That's a pretty fascinating story, thanks for sharing it with us.
-TimeGhost Ambassador
Very engaging episode.👍👍
There is a slight issue with map on 1:05, Montenegrin cities were already liberated by now, except Podgorica on 19. december
I've wondered if this battle should be called "The Second Ardennes Offensive," since it had a similar effect on the Allied armies then as it had in the Summer of 1940 at the Battle of Sedan.
Not the same at all except for the location.
What do you mean? The earlier Ardennes offensive led to the fall of France, the Battle of the Bulge didn't defeat any Allied nation, and if anything hastened Germany's defeat as they threw so much manpower and equipment away.
That thumbnail, the picture of the soldier is iconic. Has the soldier ever been identified?
I think this particular unit was from Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. A lot of them were Volksdeutsche from Romania and Hungary. At the same time, the 22nd SS Division Maria Theresia, which consisted mostly of Hungarian Volksdeutsche, was attempting to hold onto Budapest.
@@stevekaczynski3793 These sequences and photos were taken around the 19th.They feature men of Kampfgruppe Hansen,1st SS,around the town of Poteau,near St Vith.There was a skirmish with advanced units of US 7th Armd Div.The photos and film although showing some wrecked US vehicles was largely staged.
@@stevekaczynski3793 I wonder if he survived the war. Thank you very much for the information. I wonder who he was in particular, whenever I see pictures from war I often wonder what the individual in the picture, what their life was like.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_World_War_II_camouflage_patterns#/media/File:133-Waffen_SS_jas.jpg This seems to be the same or similar to what he is wearing. Waffen-SS, Wehrmacht and police (the latter increasingly used as combat troops as Germany's situation turned dire) all had different camouflage patterns. I believe Luftwaffe ground troops also had at least one pattern.
Interesting to learn that things were kind of screwed from the get go for the Germans in the Ardenne Offensive. I always assumed that the initial assault had been a great success.
Commanders on the ground knew at the end of day two they did not have a prayer in hell of reaching Antwerp and asked hitler to allow a change to the much less ambitious plan they had lobbied for before the battle started.
So close this week to pronouncing all Filipino place names correctly! So close!
Hi Indy
Another wonderful week.
Seems German counteravensive might lead some gain. But it was futile approach. Want to learn more of this.
Thanks for the video.
The biggest was the failure of the Germans to figure out where and when the Allies were landing in Northern France in the spring of 1944.
To be fair to German intelligence, they were being bombarded with a massive deception campaign on all fronts. False radio traffic, false document drops, spies who had been turned into counter-spies and feeding them false information. Calling it a failure doesn't feel like an accurate term to use, more like the Allies had a huge intelligence success when hiding their plans from the Germans.
It was mainly Hitler being insistent on Calais and overriding his generals decisions it happened alot later in the war
@@jackbloomer1334
Mainly due to the British deception plan
@WorldWarTwo I don't want to be "that guy" by pointing out an error, but Peiper was never commander of the 1st SS Division (referenced at the 16:56 mark). Highest command he ever had was 1st SS Panzer Regiment.
OK to point out. You did it in a way that was appropriate.