Battle of the Bulge: Fact vs. Fiction - Breaking It Down with Robert B. O'Connor

[@d.s.archer5903]

Bravo for an excellent analysis. Kudos to Mr. O'Connor for pointing out that it was NOT General von Manteuffel, Commander of 5th Panzer Army, who demanded the surrender of Bastogne, when in fact it was his subordinate, General von Luttwitz, Commander of the 47th Panzer Corps. Sloppy writers and documentaries have incorrectly attributed the surrender demand to von Manteuffel. As Mr. O’Connor mentioned, von Manteuffel was furious that von Luttwitz made the demand, not only because it made threats which the Germans had to make good, but also because von Manteuffel felt the demand was in bad taste! “The Battle of the Bulge” is truly a mixed bag, with lots of action but flat characterizations, etc. However, I will mention two of my favorite moments: * when Hessler’s (Robert Shaw) young panzer commanders sing Panzer Lied to create camaraderie with their new commander, demonstrating to the ruthless Hessler that what they lack in experience, they make up for in spirt. Furthermore, in the same scene when Hessler gets that MAD GLEAM in his eyes as he recalls his past glories as a panzer leader, it’s priceless. * at the finale when we focus on Hessler’s former orderly and friend, Conrad (Hans Christian Blech). Conrad is a personification of the average German solider at the time; brave, loyal, but war-weary and no longer believing in victory. Conrad begins the film by admiring Hessler’s courage in the face of adversity, but ends the film by detesting Hessler as a murderer. “You would murder the whole world to stay in that uniform!” A nice touch is in the final moments of the film, when Conrad is shown throwing away his rifle and pack with disgust, and then smiling as he walks back to Germany - he’s going home and we’re happy for him.

[@scotttaylor7767]

Piper was killed in 1976 when his house was fire bombed. There were rumours at the time Mossad had done it. But nothing was ever proved. But given what happened after the Munich Olympics massacre. And you would have seen the Eric Bana movie. It wouldn’t surprise me if Mossad had decided to settle a few scores. Piper’s brigade had a nasty reputation in Russia.

[@pamelabryant7390]

My Uncle Jack survived this battle. He was paratrooper in the 551st battalion. Oh, don’t try to look it up. The Italian was nearly wiped out. There were only 97 that survived. It was swallowed up as part of the 504. Never to be heard from again. God bless all of these soldiers.💙💙💙💙🌹🌹🌹🌹🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@scotttaylor7767]

It’s a frustrating movie because this battle deserves a much better film than this one ! Lol. A good comic book movie but basically junk. Even Ike denounced this film. Robert Shaw was good but the tanks were dreadful and why was the tank battle fought in a desert ! Lol