Five Things About the Battle of the Bulge with The Chieftain - World of Tanks

Five Things isn't limited to just vehicles. In this episode Nicholas "The Chieftain" Moran branches out to cover some lesser known facts about the Battle of the Bulge. Was Bastogne the decisive battle? Tune-in to learn more.
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[@alanrogers7090]

My Dad was in the Seventh Armored at St. Vith. He was the driver of a M5A1 Stuart reconnaissance tank. He told me, (this was in the 1960's), that the one time his tank was hit by the enemy, was outside of St. Vith as his crew was tasked with finding the enemy's strength. As they were clearing a small woods, their tank had its tracks blown off. Everyone jumped out, carrying their .30 cal. machine guns and the breech from the cannon, just to deny the German's is use. The crew ran for their lives, and did return to American lines safely. Other than this one episode, and talks about his training at Fort Polk, Louisiana and in the California desert, near Victorville, he really never spoke of his service. Maybe I was too young to understand in those days, but by the time I was old enough to write his experiences, he was taken from us by a drunk driver.

[@johnbrooks1269]

Thanks for sharing and God Bless Your Dad!

[@paoloviti6156]

I'm really sorry that you lost your father that way, thanks for sharing it with us.

[@syncmonism]

rip - most road accidents are very preventable :(

[@anthonyirwin6627]

What tank was that??? Hand-holding a cannon breech while running away from germans under fire dosent sound very fun unless it was a stuart

[@angelof.manguiat3924]

Bgb

[@bumblebeebob]

5 Panthers knocked out with 6 shots.... That's good shooting Tex!

[@axelrajr]

that bit about montgomery and the deceptive broadcast. thats a new one.

[@reecewestmoreland6137]

Credit to the Germans on this one, their intelligence and deception ops rarely went well in the war so that little radio broadcast was more effective then the whole silly disguise ops they tried during the battle

[@stevewindisch7400]

Agreed. The 5th column antics were effective in one way at least, in that they forced a close reexamination of US security and road march traffic control practices, which probably benefited from the shake up. Even Ike himself got a wake up call from his headquarters suddenly being a suspected target. The Germans had made plans for their "werewolf" guerrilla campaign within occupied Germany and the Allies' greater awareness and intel from the Ardennes experience helped thwart them. As it was, after the surrender the werewolves killed some soldiers and civilians for no good reason or benefit (mostly terror bombings), but had little effect otherwise... besides getting hundreds of wrongly suspected werewolves executed and thousands imprisoned by the Soviets and western Allies. Those killed by the Soviets and held in bad conditions in the west may not have been "innocent" in a strictly moral sense but were clearly not part of that group.... But at the time, after seeing the effects of the Holocaust and other crimes, it seems the Allies were far more willing to let God sort them out.

[@lavrentivs9891]

The SOE branch in the Netherlands and the dutch underground would probably disagree^^

[@thomasellysonting3554]

I rechecked and most American popular history sources - including Ambrose - don't even acknowledge the German fake news broadcast and still pretend it was Monty who did it.

[@nickdanger3802]

How did they do it? A Monty impersonator or re-editing seem the only methods.

[@sean640307]

@@thomasellysonting3554 Ambrose is a hack. As a historian, he should move to writing Marvel comics.

[@patrickwentz8413]

So glad you mentioned both of the divisions from my home state. The 28th Infantry and 99th Infantry Divisions. Pennsylvania was well represented in the battle. Oh yeah a good chunk of the 291st Engineer Battalion was recruited in PA. If you want to read a good book about them blowing up bridges in front of Peiper please read "The Damned Engineers".

[@KPen3750]

The 28th was the Keystone Division, yeah? Nice to see Pennsylvania shine as a fellow PA native

[@stephanl1983]

The 28th under the command of Norman Cota was the only Division with combat experience in the first line when the Wehrmacht started Operation Wacht am Rhein, the other Divisions were just arrived in Europe, straight away from their training in the US. As most of it's soldiers came from the southern Part of the US, they were deployed to the Ardennes because it was such a quiet sector, they should beicame familiar with the European winter climate. There were also just 4 or 5 Divisions in a frontline of 80km or 50 miles, and the only unit with combat experience, as I already mentioned the 28th, was deployed to regroup there a reinforce the casualties they suffered in the Hürtgenwald!

[@paulgus73]

Great Book! Peiper's quote: "verdammte Ingenieure" was the source of the title. He was pounding his first onto the turret of the Panther he commanded as he watched another tank splash into the river courtesy of the 291st. The 291st Engineer Battalion also Shanghai'd a truck and trailer loaded with bazookas and ammo. They stymied columns of Peiper's panzers by firing them at high angles to simulate a heavy artillery bombardment and the Germans scattered off the road losing hours of valuable time getting reorganized. They obviously drove Joachim Peiper crazy.

[@boomslangCA]

This was one of the best 5 things you've ever done. Thanks. (Not dissing the rest, this was just exceptional).

[@ddraig1957]

I've read that the VT fuse, previously considered a secret weapon ,was released for ground use for the battle,and proved devastatingly effective. I suppose any conventional artillery round can be used for air busts using a time fuse but it would require a bit more maths on the gunner's part to get the desired result. This would need information like accurate target range, atmospheric conditions etc.

[@brucerobert227]

My Uncle Frank Brannon fought this battle. he carried the baseplate of the 60mm mortar. TWICE 'snipers' or more rather good shots did shoot him, but as he wore the baseplate on the chest as opposed to the back, his life was spared

[@markcantemail8018]

Bruce Robert My Uncle Bill was There and had Nightmares most of his life . He drove Truck and it had something to do with driving over frozen Bodies stacked on the Road ? He was a Wildman .

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

On Monty, Churchill "I swear he's after my job" The King "Thank heavens for that, I thought he was after mine!"

[@nicholasconder4703]

That is one of my favorite quotes about Monty. Great general, but one with appalling people skills.

[@johnrobison6152]

That is in fact a conversation between Eisenhower and the King.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Nicholas Conder Montgomerys personality only seemed to be a problem to those on his command level and above. Those under Montgomerys command in general liked and appreciated him. He was hell to work over, difficult to work alongside but great to work under.

[@bigwoody4704]

Monty was a fine example of a bad example and only won whe the advatages were so one sided that even he couldn't lose - but he tried

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

@@bigwoody4704 I think he was better than that, his record as a divisional commander in France in 1940 suggests he was competent (especially his redeployment to replace the surrendering Belgium's). His experience in WW1 is often pointed to as making him 'cautious', in that any action has casualties, so make it worth it by making sure you win. A few too many generals behave more like gamblers and can often come unstuck.

[@grahamlait1969]

My uncle was Bradley's signals intelligence officer at the Battle of the Bulge. He was the man who warned Bradley well before the battle that the Germans were up to something. He received warnings from Bletchley park (British signals intelligence HQ) that the Germans were planning an offensive, but the warnings were not specific because for over a week before the Germans advanced, they shut down all their radio communications in the west completely. This was another reason he had for warning Bradley about the impending offensive. Bradley was prepared to believe that the Germans were indeed up to something, but all allied intelligence also suggested that by this stage of the war the Wehrmacht were so weak that they couldn't mount anything more than local attacks, so Bradley didn't place his armies on a defensive footing. In fact, this assessment of the poor capability of the Wehrmacht turned out to be the case, except that the local attack was much more powerful than anything that the Americans had expected. Perhaps the most interesting thing in all this was that as the Germans shut down all radio communications before their advance, then they no longer believed, as all war histories seem to claim, that their Enigma encoding machines made their coded messages unreadable by the allies. The claim is always that the Germans never knew that Enigma had been broken. Clearly by this stage of the war this was not the case or they wouldn't have shut down. The other contribution my uncle made during the Battle of the Bulge was to be the man who played the piano in a Belgian brothel just behind the front lines while the Germans were advancing. He claimed he didn't realise what he was doing and he might well have been telling the truth in this - he just saw a piano through an open door on the street and he could never pass a piano without giving it a little tinkle. It was dark inside and it was only as his eyes grew accustomed to the poor light that he realised where he was, so he just played on, while the GIs and the ladies involved attended to their business, apparently to the enjoyment of all concerned. Incidentally, he held not only Bradley, but Montgomery too, in the highest regard. He certainly never blamed Bradley for being unprepared for the German advance. On the other hand, he had little time for Patton.

[@bradandres1978]

Great series, i love the background stories that are not commonly known. Well done.

[@davidrendall7195]

Love the exposure of point 5.

[@witchking8497]

Hail Chieftan! Certainly correct about the American Combat Engineers. It is also my understanding that the German Intelligence Analysis was undermined by an Inherent bias. Note I carefully used the American designation of the time, Combat Engineer. (IIRC one motto ran something like 'We dig 'em then we die in 'em.') Certainly 99% of the time they were busy with bridging, mineclearing, minelaying and the 101 specialty tasks they were there for, but they were also trained and equipped to act as infantry AT NEED. (Up to the Bulge really hadn't been much need for it). In the German Army equivalent troops were called Pioneers and were not equipped or expected to participate in infantry combat (except as part of scratch typist-cook-mechanic units in desperate times). As I understand it the German Intel knew (roughly) that Engineering Units were there, but they discounted the role they could and would play as additional infantrymen. My 2 pfennig.

[@Arcane1954]

Patton's G-2 was concerned that the location of 2/3 of the German tank divisions was unknown. He posited an offensive was likely in the offing and Patton ordered contingency plans drawn up. When the shoe dropped Patton was ready.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Actually Patton wrote that even a couple of days after the Germans attacked he didn't appreciate the seriousness of it. Montgomery was already in the Ardennes before Patton even started moving.

[@johnburns4017]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Without consulting Eisenhower, on hearing of the attack Monty proactively moved XXX Corps down to cover the Meuse crossings. He had also been in contact with the US First and Ninth armies which Eisenhower and Bradley had not. On 20 December, *four* days into the battle, Montgomery had sent a signal to Alanbrooke regarding the US forces: _"Not good... definite lack of grip and control. I have heard_ *_nothing_* _from Ike or Bradley and had no orders or requests of any sort. My own opinion is that the American forces have been cut in half and the Germans can reach the Meuse at Namur without opposition."_ During the Battle of the Bulge Eisenhower had remained locked up more than 30 days communicating little with Montgomery, and that is when he thought he was doing _ground control_ of the campaign, when in effect Montgomery was in control as two US armies had to be put under his command after the German attack. On 5 Nov 1944 Patton told Bradley he would be over the Westwall in The Lorraine in a few days. He failed. Patton could not get through the 2nd rate German troops in front of him. He was looking to getting through by moving north, then into Germany that way. That is why he was prepared to move north to Bastogne.

[@janibeg3247]

#6 little known fact: my father's outfit was ordered into the Ardennes just prior to the German attack but they received conflicting orders. So, they remained where they were until they could clarify the orders. As a result they were not overrun by the advancing Germans and i got to be born - as told to me by my father. one of the few things he ever mentioned about the war.

[@RedcoatT]

Thanks for an accurate account of Monty's press conference, even today the vast majority of Americans seem to think he did nothing but insult the US Army.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

And he only held the press conference in the first place to support Eisenhower, who was getting hammered in the British press for the US retreat. Montgomery said captains win battles and his captain was General Eisenhower.

[@nickdanger3802]

He blatantly exaggerated the number of British and Canadian forces in the battle and made it sound like the victory was the result of his leadership.

[@sean640307]

@@nickdanger3802 in reality, his speech doesn't do that. The edited version most certainly does. The worst thing about the edited version was that a certain daily US paper ran it as the official version, too. (Once again, as mentioned elsewhere, it's covered in Richard Lamb's book "Montgomery in Europe 1943-1945: Success or failure")

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Nick Danger, You are completely wrong. In fact Montgomery himself never gave any number for British forces and he actually said Eisenhower was the leader. His actual quote was "captains win battles and on our team, our captain is general IKE" Montgomery also heaped lavish praise on the American soldiers, for which the New York Times said it was the finest tribute to American soldiers ever made by a foreign commander. You are still believing myths. You really need to inform yourself.

[@johnburns4017]

@@nickdanger3802 Rambo, you have been told about making things up.

[@joegoldberg8770]

Note that the 106th ID had been severely mauled on the first day of the Bulge and had only one regiment left at the time of St. Vith.

[@joevicmeneses8918]

422,423.424 Inf. Regt.

[@arronbarton2798]

The lack of mention of the 333rd Art. and the 661 Art. bn's which fell back into Bastogne should have been mentioned. As they were 2 of the few all Black unit's in the thick of the action. They were not even mentioned in the after actions and didn't get recognized till the 80's being added to the Monument In Bastogne.

[@billymule961]

Wasn't there a black artillery unit that was captured by SS troops? After being taken as pow's the SS troops murdered them all. During the battle of the bulge SS troops murdered many civilians and American POW's. After the battle SS soldiers were not taken prisoner but executed.

[@arronbarton2798]

@@billymule961 That was the starting place for the 333rd artillery bn. They were many mistakenly reported as killed yet ended up in a POW camp. There were 11 of them that hide the night and got away to be found later hiding in a farmer's house. There is now a monument to the 11 as they were killed by the Germans when caught the next day on the Farmers land.

[@arronbarton2798]

the U.S. Senate’s Armed Services Committee to revise a 1949 subcommittee report to include an appropriate recognition of the massacre of the 11 black soldiers of the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion of the U.S. Army who were beaten, stabbed and shot multiple times at the hands of their Nazi captors almost seven decades ago on December 17, 1944. The original subcommittee report documented a dozen similar massacres during the Battle of the Bulge, but did not include any reference to the killings in Wereth. The 11 soldiers massacred, known as the “Wereth 11”, were: Curtis Adams of South Carolina; Mager Bradley of Mississippi, George Davis Jr. of Alabama; Thomas Forte of Mississippi; Robert Green of Georgia; James Leatherwood of Mississippi; Nathaniel Moss of Texas; George Motten of Texas; William Pritchett of Alabama; James Stewart of West Virginia; and Due Turner of Arkansas.

[@averagehistoryenjoyer9017]

Ever read a book by Donald Miller by the title "Seven Roads to Hell" ? It's that or something like that and it's about his experience in Bastogne as a screaming eagle and he mentioned black artillery men

[@jaserisinger5137]

In 2004 I had the honor of traveling to Wiltz, Luxembourg for the dedication of a monument to the 28th Division Band and their actions defending that town during the bulge. After the battle 13 men out of 60 were alive to rebuild the unit. It was humbling to see the reaction from the townspeople when they saw the “bloody bucket” on our uniforms.

[@garycb8592]

One of my old neighbors was a member of the 106th Infantry Division. He was badly wounded and nearly bled to death. He was found by the Germans and given medical care. His wife said Christmas was a stressful time for her. When I asked her why she showed me the telegram she got from the War Department stating that her husband was listed as MIA. She didn't find out he was still alive till the Red Cross notified her in May 1945. Rest in Peace Mr. Gray.

[@craigkdillon]

The Chieftain strikes again. Thanks.

[@shanebisme]

I really enjoy these "5 Things" videos. Excellent concept, and very well executed. Perfect I would say! Thanks Chieftain!

[@michaelmorley7719]

My father was at St. Vith (Co. C, 38th Armored Infantry Btn., 7th Armored), and he always maintained that it was the most important battle of the offensive. Thank you for mentioning it.

[@sean640307]

but the relief of Bastogne gets the glory and recognition specifically because it was Patton, not because it was strategically important. Bruised egos dictated that a certain geographic region had to have a hero to cling to, as it was deemed unacceptable for the other two US Armies to be under the command of a Brit (again).

[@johnburns4017]

_“I find it difficult to refrain from expressing my indignation at Hodges and Ridgeway and my appreciation of Montgomery whenever I talk about St. Vith. It is my firm opinion that if it hadn't been for Montgomery, the First US Army, and especially the troops in the St. Vith salient, would have ended in a debacle that would have gone down in history.”_ _“I'm sure you remember how First Army HQ fled from Spa leaving food cooking on the stoves, officers' Xmas presents from home on their beds and, worst of all, top secret maps still on the walls... First Army HQ never contacted us with their new location and I had to send an officer to find them. He did and they knew nothing about us...(Montgomery) was at First Army HQ when my officer arrived. A liaison officer from Montgomery arrived at my HQ within 24 hrs. His report to Montgomery is what saved us...”_ - Hasbrouck of 7th Armor - “Generals of the Bulge” by Jerry D. Morelock, page 298.

[@johnburns4017]

@@sean640307 The 18,000 men inside Bastogne said they were not relieved, as they pretty well walked out as the Germans had left. Steven Zagola does a presentation on the Bulge hardly mentioning Bastogne. In the Q&As after, make it clear it was on the flank being of little importance in the battle as a whole. It was strange for an American to downplay Bastogne, but it seems Zagola is trying to be an objective historian. So credit to him.

[@Lance-Urbanian-MNB]

Really good work! Definitely one of the best desk presentations ever done by the Chieftain.

[@chrishoff402]

I recall reading what 30th Corp. Commander General Horrocks said about the Battle of the Bulge. He emphasized that at no time did the German attack have any chance of succeeding. There was a British Armored group 5 times the size of the German one in reserve and it was never even called up. Patton reached to the news of the German offensive with, "fine, we kill them on this side of the Rhine instead".

[@michaeldunne338]

A really valid point about the Germans. If any Germans got across the Meuse they would have been butchered by the British. Patton actually had anticipated an offensive, and supposedly had contingency plans drafted prior to December 16th for pivoting his force, and hence was not so crazy in making his promises when the time came.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Michael Dunne Not so sure about that and Patton. Patton himself said that even a couple of days after the Germans attacked he had still not appreciated how serious it was.

[@danielstickney2400]

The last ditch is usually defended by the engineers who dug it.

[@brianhuss9184]

The band of the 28th Infantry Division is the only US military band to be awarded its own Presidential Unit Citation, which it received for its defense of the town of Wiltz during this battle. There is a plaque there with "Bazooka Boogie" inscribed on it as a memorial.

[@donjones4719]

00:06 Impressive rifleman. Impressive trigger control and weapon control. He got off 3 or 4 rounds *very* rapid fire while keeping on target. Great use of an M1 rifle. Who needs select fire? (Looking at you, M14.)

[@whirving]

I expect by this time these guys had been so familiar with their weapons that there was no adjustment or surprise in their operation, it was a part of them. US soldiers are sometimes maligned for various reasons by other countries but I've never heard a peep about their marksmanship.

[@donjones4719]

@@whirving It's funny you say "a peep." The Garand was noted for its excellent peep sight. This greatly enhanced the accuracy of a moderately trained soldier. The familiar notch sight requires significantly more training to achieve the same level.

[@jarink1]

@@donjones4719 The US use of peep sights actually started in WWI with the M1917 rifle.

[@donjones4719]

@@jarink1 Yes. Othias at C&Rsenal is especially impressed/happy they were adopted.

[@Ihasanart]

Except the soldier in question isn't shooting an M1 of any variety, but a BAR. Use the < and > keys to go frame by frame if you want to pause and see for yourself.

[@RonJohn63]

5:06 The first things I read 30+ years ago about the Battle of the Bulge were Engineer detachments felling trees across forest roads as delaying actions to slow down Panzer columns. Does that count as "support troops"?

[@panzerdeal8727]

In my book it does...

[@garrettknox5266]

Excellent. Most interesting. I'd love to hear more about the TD battalions present.

[@averagehistoryenjoyer9017]

Thanks for mentioning the 394 I & R platoon

[@ARCNA442]

Great video covering little known details of the battle.

[@thechadillac1211]

Yes! DIVARTY did a hell of a lot of work on those formations from the ridge

[@mwhyte1979]

Ah those pesky American Engineers! Always blowing up your bridge at the most inconvenient time.

[@JamesWilliams-en3os]

Excellent points, and historically intelligent. Well done.

[@karenstein8261]

Great timing, as winter approaches.

[@johnnyjet3.1412]

Add the Red Ball Express which emptied 2 supply depots to the rear, part of which was over a million gallons of gasoline

[@frankgulla2335]

Fascinating video. Thank you

[@russwoodward8251]

Interesting and informative, for sure. Thanks again.

[@thagrifster594]

Love this info. My Grandfather commanded M10 Wolverine in France campaign but there M10 was knocked out by a panzer and he got captured. 🇺🇸

[@williamsquare2669]

Nicely done, to the point!

[@FuzzyMarineVet]

Thank you, Nicholas. that was nothing I hadn't known, but I had to dig for that info on my own. No one else talks about them.

[@999torino]

Really like this presentation, history needs to be explored and shared.

[@frankbarnwell____]

Can't say "nuts", too many times in this season.

[@richardbradley2802]

Thanks for this, I laughed out loud! I am so glad you celebrated the Non Bastogne defensive actions, that definitely deserve at least equal attention, Well done US!

[@sgtsnake13B]

4:20 23 BATTALIONS! of Field Artillery.... *excited 13B noises*

[@larrybomber83]

You were right. You have to dig in some books to find those facts. Thank You Chieftain.

[@davidllewellyn5236]

Can I add a shout out to the 110th Infantry at Clervaux. 95% casualties (??) Survivors withdraw only when a tank from 2nd Panzer rams its gun through the door of the CP and the delay it caused 2nd Panzer was surely significant in the rush to get 101st into Bastogne? Great video as always!

[@alanvaichus]

That last point was fantastic, I've never heard that before!

[@kodiakkeith]

The spearhead of the 6th Panzer Army, Kampfruppe Peiper (1st Waffen SS), still had an out after the bridges were blown beyond Stavelot by simply going back to Stavelot and proceeding north towards Froncorchamps. However, two companies of the 117th IR, 30th ID, had cut his column in half and occupied Stavelot on the afternoon of the 18th as the tail of his armored forces passed through the town. Essentially, all Peiper's beans, bullets and gas were on one side of the bridge while his armor and troops were on the other side. The big bridge at Stavelot was dominated by machine guns and nearby 81mm mortars for 36 hours (until blown on the night of the 19th) while the 1st SS tried to take the town back from both sides so they could rejoin. They failed again and again from either direction. That, in my opinion, was the critical moment when the German drive failed. Peiper's gas was across the bridge and his armor soon immobilized by that lack and beaten to death. Sepp Dietrich tried to redirect the attack north towards Malmedy with the 12th SS but that terrain was very unfavorable and increasingly dominated by artillery and elements of the 30th Division and other forces. People forget that the 5th Panzer Army (Bastogne) was not the main thrust, but only a flanking movement to protect the 6th Panzer Army which was stopped in its tracks at and around Stavelot/Malmedy on the 18th. The myth of Bastogne being the critical point is just that, a myth. The 5th Army would have had to break through to the Meuse much further south and east than the main spearhead, the 6th at Stavelot/Malmedy. If they had broken through Bastogne they would have had to then wheel right along the Meuse and cover much more ground (than the 6th) to reach Antwerp. And all of that ground would have to have been covered with strong American forces ahead and on both sides, and dominated by artillery and allied air as the skies cleared about the 20th of December. "Bastogne" was a propaganda myth to cover for the initial failure to stop the German attack. It might have been much better to back out of Bastogne and allow the Germans to stick their heads further into the noose and wipe them out instead of beating them back into Germany where much of their forces remained intact.

[@anthonyirwin6627]

Wow, where di you find all this info from?

[@kodiakkeith]

@@anthonyirwin6627 This is simply the history of the Battle. It gets distorted by the 101st fanbois and Bastogne. The 6th Panzer Army was the striking force and was stopped by the 20th/22nd of December at Stavelot-Malmedy. The 5th Panzer Army (Bastogne) was the flanking force protecting the main force. The 6th was supposed to cut through to the Meuse and take Antwerp, the main allied supply port by this point of the war. The 5th was to the south and intended to block American reinforcements. Antwerp was also roughly the line between US and British Commonwealth forces. If the drive had been successful, Montgomery and all his forces would completely cut off from supply. The Americans could still get supply from the Normandy ports, and the 5th was supposed to block them from breaking through to Antwerp or Montgomery. That was the German battle plan.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

The focus is on Bastogne because Montgomery took over command of US 1st Army on December 20th and Americans are loath to accept the Montgomery commanded northern sector (from the 20th) is where the Bulge was won and lost.

[@bigwoody4704]

monty took over nothing and wanted to fall back,General Joe Collins and Freddie DeGuingand - Monty's Cos pointed this out

[@glenschumannGlensWorkshop]

Thanks for the info.

[@ditzydoo4378]

I fight my own personal Battle of the Bulge this, and every holiday season... 0~o Darn delicious muffins and such... >~< I however was not aware of Montgomery's Speach, nor the German fake news broadcast of same... Learn something new every day... ^~^

[@edgross9874]

That was really good. I'm surprised by the 5th fact about the German counter intelligences creating a wedge between the the British and the United States. Sad to say how effective that was, and still is.

[@whisthpo]

Very informative!

[@schlirf]

Excellent as usual.

[@johnburns4017]

In mid-November, Eisenhower had to get his chauffeur, Mrs Summersby to find out if Bradley’s attack on the Rhine had gone ahead. When the Ardennes crisis unfolded, Eisenhower took five days to go see Montgomery after he had placed him in command of the US First and Ninth armies, arriving at the nearest railway station to Montgomery’s head in a special train.

[@kansasscout4322]

because he trusted Monty.

[@johnburns4017]

@@kansasscout4322 Eisenhower ran to Monty after the Germans scythed into US armies in the Bulge attack. The US armies were shambolic being led by inept commanders. Ike knew only Monty could do it, giving him command of two US armies, the First and the Ninth.

[@kansasscout4322]

@@johnburns4017 General Bradley had a kind of breakdown at the beginning of the battle. He was sidelined immediately. Lousy General.

[@johnburns4017]

@@kansasscout4322 Hodges ran away from his command post at Spa. _“I find it difficult to refrain from expressing my indignation at Hodges and Ridgeway and my appreciation of Montgomery whenever I talk about St. Vith. It is my firm opinion that if it hadn't been for Montgomery, the First US Army, and especially the troops in the St. Vith salient, would have ended in a debacle that would have gone down in history.”_ _“I'm sure you remember how First Army HQ fled from Spa leaving food cooking on the stoves, officers' Xmas presents from home on their beds and, worst of all, top secret maps still on the walls... First Army HQ never contacted us with their new location and I had to send an officer to find them. He did and they knew nothing about us... [Montgomery] was at First Army HQ when my officer arrived. A liaison officer from Montgomery arrived at my HQ within 24 hrs. His report to Montgomery is what saved us...”_ - Hasbrouck of 7th Armor - _“Generals of the Bulge”_ by Jerry D. Morelock, page 298. Eisenhower, Hodges and Bradley should have been fired.

[@bigwoody4704]

Monty fell back and did Nothing,now pull you nose out of his backside and take a deep breath

[@jarink1]

Many of the troops defending Bastogne were indignant over press reports of how Patton's troops had "saved" them.

[@enright13]

Yes, to this day you can still hear any remaining ones saying "relieved NOT rescued". I wouldn't disrespect them by arguing the point.

[@MarcosElMalo2]

@@enright13 Only the paratroops can say “We’re surrounded by the enemy, we got ‘em right where we want ‘em.” That said, the relief mission was no cakewalk. 3rd Army had three major fights getting to Bastogne.

[@johnburns4017]

The 18,000 inside Bastogne literally walked out, as the Germans had largely left going west, being stopped by Montgomery's forces before Dinant. West the prime focus for the Germans. Patton continually *stalled* on his way to Bastogne, performing poorly. Bastogne was a side show on the southern flank, hardly worth mentioning in the battle as a whole.

[@sean640307]

@@johnburns4017 I have finally manged to track down a copy of "The Battle of the Bulge: Britain's Untold Story" By Charles Whiting. With any luck, it should arrive before the month is through. Still can't get the "Battle of the Bulge Then and Now", unfortunately. I'll keep hunting as I really love the "Then and Now" books.......

[@johnburns4017]

@@sean640307 Whiting does give another angle that is never told. Some parts are quite revealing. He has a flowery writing style.

[@carloscabildo3732]

The Hell Cat needs a FULL in-depth look, failures and strengths in Battle. Just the HELL CAT!!!!

[@_datapoint]

That was interesting and informative.

[@johnburns4017]

I will let the Germans have the first say on the Bulge: *General Hasso von Manteuffel:* _‘The operations of the American First Army had developed into a series of individual holding actions. Montgomery's contribution to restoring the situation was that he turned a series of isolated actions into a coherent battle fought according to a clear and definite plan. It was his refusal to engage in premature and piecemeal counter-attacks which enabled the Americans to gather their reserves and frustrate the German attempts to extend their breakthrough’._ By November 1944, British SHEAF officer, Strong, noted that there was a possibility of a German counter-offensive in the Ardennes or the Vosges. Strong went to personally warn Bradley at his HQ, who said, _"let 'em come"._ Montgomery on hearing of the attack _immediately,_ without consulting Eisenhower, took British forces to the Meuse to prevent any German forces from making a bridgehead, securing the rear. He was prepared to halt their advance and attack them. This was while Eisenhower and Bradley were doing nothing. _even by 19 December,_ *_three days_* _into the offensive, no overall plan had emerged from 12th Army Group or SHAEF, other than the decision to send Patton’s forces north to Bastogne. Overall, the Ardennes battle was in urgent need of grip. General Hodges had yet to see Bradley or receive more than the sketchiest orders from his Army Group commander._ - Neillands, Robin. The Battle for the Rhine 1944 On 20 December, Montgomery had sent a signal to Alanbrooke regarding the US forces: _"Not good... definite lack of grip and control. I have heard_ *_nothing_* _from Ike or Bradley and had no orders or requests of any sort. My own opinion is that the American forces have been cut in half and the Germans can reach the Meuse at Namur without opposition."_ Omar Bradley, commander of the 12th Army Group, did very little: *16 Dec,* the first day, for 12 hours did *nothing.* *16 Dec,* after 12 hours, he sent two armoured divisions from the flanking Ninth and Third Armies. *17 Dec,* after 24 Hours, he then called in two US airborne divisions from Champagne. *18 Dec,* he ordered Patton to halt his pending offensive in the Saar. *18 Dec,* he had still not established contact with the First Army, while Monty had. *19 Dec,* he withdrew divisions from the Aachen front to shore up the Ardennes. *19 Dec,* he had still not produced an overall defensive plan. *19 Dec,* the Supreme Commander intervened directly late in the day. *20 Dec,* Eisenhower telephoned Montgomery telling him to take command of the US First and Ninth Armies While all this dillying by Bradley was going on, German armies were pounding forward into his lines. *Bradley should have been fired.* Hodges ran away from his command post. British officer Whiteley & American officer Betts of SHEAF visited the U.S. First Army HQ after the German attack, seeing the shambles. Strong, Whiteley, and Betts recommended that command of the armies north of the Ardennes be transferred from Bradley to Montgomery. Unfortunately only the two British officers approached Beddel Smith of their recommendations, who immediately fired the pair, claiming it was a nationalistic thing. The next morning, Beddel Smith apologized seeing the three were right, recommending to Eisenhower to bring in Monty. During the Battle of the Bulge Eisenhower was stuck self imprisoned in his HQ in des-res Versailles near Paris in fear of German paratroopers wearing US uniforms with the objective to kill allied generals. He had remained locked up more than 30 days communicating little with Montgomery, and that is when he thought he was doing _ground control_ of the campaign, when in effect Montgomery was in control as two US armies had to be put under his control after the German attack, the US First and Ninth armies. Coningham of the RAF had to take control of US air force units. The Ninth stayed under Monty's control until the end of the war, just about. And yet authors such as Stephen Ambrose said that Eisenhower took control of the Bulge and made the battle _his_ veneering it as an all American victory. Ambrose completely falsified history. The only thing Eisenhower did was tell Monty to get control of two out of control US armies, tell the US 101st to go to Bastogne (who were in northern France after the buffer Market Garden was created) and men under Bradley to counterattack. That is it. At the end of the Bulge would you believe it, Eisenhower gave Bradley an award. Read: _Battle of the Bulge_ by Charles Whiting

[@bigwoody4704]

Sorry johnny you are up to your pathetic pratice of rewritng content and putting it in italics to appear like you know what the hell you are talking about - which of course you don't *Patton:A Genius for War,By Carlo D'Este After the War General Fritz Bayerlein commander of Panzer Lehr Division and the Afrika Corp.He assessed the escape of Rommel's Panzers after Alamein "I do not think General Patton would have let us get away so easily said Bayerlein"* Comparing Patton with Guderian and Montgomery with Von Rundstedt. From a letter on exhibit at Wichita KS "Museum of World treasures" *Hasso Von Manteuffel 8018 Diessen am ammersee Mariahilfe Strasse 7. Dec. 16. 1976 Dear Mr. Dellingatti; I thank you for your letter, attached you find a photo as you asked for. In my opinion General Patton was a master of lightning warfare and the best commander in this reference! Evidence of his excellent command and control of an army are the campaign in Sicily, the break-out in Brittany 1944 and during the Battle of the Bulge Dec 1944. I agree with Ladislaw Farago first-rate book on Patton "Ordeal and Triumph"* - an excellent report! With very good wishes

[@nickdanger3802]

December 23, 1944 "After being initially hampered by bad weather, the 8th Air Force provides desperately needed air support to Allied troops engaged in the Battle of the Bulge. The bombers drop more tonnage than any other single day of the war, helping to turn the course of the battle."

[@nickdanger3802]

PBS American experience bombing-air-war-1939-1945

[@JamesLaserpimpWalsh]

Cheers for the vid Chief.

[@fyreantz2555]

More like this, please!

[@vaclavholek4497]

Read "The Damned Engineers" it tells the story of the US 291st Combat Engineer Batalion, the unit that stood alone at Malmady and then blew the bridges that stopped Kampfgruppe Peiper.

[@latch9781]

A good book on the battle is "Snow and Steel: Battle of the Bulge 1944-45" by Peter Caddick-Adams

[@waynehanley72]

A very good book, indeed!

[@sean640307]

It's a very good book. In addition to that one, others I have in my collection are Charles MacDonald's "The Battle of the Bulge; The definitive Account", Patrick Delaforce's "The Battle of the Bulge; Hitler's Final Gamble", & "Hitler's Ardennes Offensive" (edited by Danny Parker and gives the German view of the battle)

[@latch9781]

@@sean640307 I'll have to check them out

[@majorlee76251]

The dammed engineers gave Peiper fits.

[@laurisikio]

I didn't know much about the battle of the bulge beforehand, and now I'm certainly even more confused.

[@destroyer0685]

Excellent work. As a retired US Army Sapper I pass on to you the easy formula in blowing up bridges: P=Plenty.

[@davidhunt1947]

If those know-it-alls in my family bring up this topic at the dinner table, I will be ready for them

[@NordicTG]

The Chieftain is the one & only I reasons I keep following this Channel, I stopped Playing World of Tanks.. in Autumm of 2021. been active in WoT since more or less its beging, but I can t cope with all the .. bs tank ads that don t make sens no more & losing more Credits every match, than gaining it & if u want to play these "Free to play Games & not lose to much in cash.. either play every day.. don t sleep, dont work etc.. or use your own Hard Earned Cash"

[@fredorman2429]

Best update of the Bulge I’ve ever seen.

[@davidnemoseck9007]

Loved it!

[@jvleasure]

291st Engineers might have done much to save the day... if nothing else, they sure pissed Peiper off😆 have a uniform from a member of the 291st. They also received survivors from Malmedy and built the pontoon bridge across the Rhine at Remagen.

[@c3aloha]

Peiper got off easy but met justice in the end.

[@jvleasure]

@c3aloha yeah... but from what I have seen of internet humanity over the past couple years, I give it 5 minutes before some SS fanboy points out that the US executed prisoners too and that Peiper wasn't such a bad guy 😡

[@c3aloha]

@@jvleasure I used to be kind of a wehraboo. Then I grew up.

[@jvleasure]

@c3aloha that's what it is, really. US troops weren't angels, but show me one soldier of any nationality in 1945 that a kid in a bombed out town wouldn't be scared to death of... And it's OK to be interested in the Germans for a variety of reasons. One of my best friends reenacts german pioniers. His people came here in 1938. Just enough Jewish ancestry that they would have been put in the camps. Big red J on their passports and everything.

[@pyrtwistPyrtwistWorldInMotion]

Merry Christmas, Chieftan!!!

[@Blech319]

Like the briefing room graphics. Adds that certain... je ne sais quoi.

[@Idahoguy10157]

Bradley was already angry at getting one of HIS army’s handed to Montgomery by Eisenhower.

[@kaiserwilhelmshatner3156]

One M18 claimed 5 kills for 6 shots. Germans: Hellcat OP PLZ NERF!!!

[@ellsworth1956]

heck in WoT it was my Hellcat and one arty left at the end and I ended up with 7 kills and the win. (with only 10 rounds left.) lol!!!

[@thomasellysonting3554]

Best part about that story that Chieftain didn't mention - the SS commander was literally left in tears after the engagement as his company had been basically destroyed.

[@richardboll8763]

Thank you, Chieftain!!!!

[@mikehenthorn1778]

scrounged, the polite way of saying LT bouck had a good E4 mafia working for him.

[@billdennis2993]

WOTNA thx for your informative video It's great to see respect and recognition for those who gave their all to turn the tied of the Nazi surge. My Dad (rip) was on M7 with 501 Armord Div.

[@davidjamgochian]

Great video

[@e.s7093]

Brilliant.

[@joechang8696]

Monty had an American pilot for his personal DC-3, got along very well, and Monty wrote a letter of reference for his post war career as airline pilot

[@alganhar1]

Monty tended to get along very well with his subordinates, it was his peers and superiors he tended to clash with!

[@USS-SNAKE-ISLAND]

The nicest, coolest guy on KZbin.

[@Twirlyhead]

Odd then that the German version of Monty's speech is still the version always reported today despite the knowledge that it was faked. Perhaps it suited some, possibly American Generals, to have it believed; undermining Monty as it did.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

They would rather concentrate on Montgomerys ego than accept to rushed to their aid and helped out tremendously in their hour of need.

[@kellyshistory306]

Steven Zaloga quipped at one of his talks that he wonders if the US defense at Elsenborne Ridge and St. Vith were downplayed after the war because the forces there had been placed under Montgomery's command by Eisenhower. Bastogne, which was less important than Elsenborne Ridge and St. Vith, had US troops that were under Bradley's command and Bradley played a role in influencing the US army official history written after the war. I can definitely see the hatred of Montgomery by some US generals having played a role in influencing the subsequent memory of the campaign, from the speech to even the key battles.

[@nicholasconder4703]

@@kellyshistory306 That could be part of it. I know that Hodges basically ended up being stuck twiddling his thumbs in his HQ. As I recall, the northern shoulder of the Bulge was handed over to Monty, and the southern part to Patton. Which basically meant that Hodges had control over is HQ and that was about it. That had to rankle.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Nicholas Conder, At Hodges previously fled in panic from his HQ at Spa and retreated to Leige as soon as he heard the Germans had broken through. In truth the Germans got nowhere near his Spa HQ but Hodges abandoned it all the same.

[@steved5495]

@@kellyshistory306 Bradley was a curmudgeon. He not only disliked Montgomery, he also disliked Patton.

[@johnrobison6152]

My father was a courier aid to Eisenhower and present for most of the key events in the ETO. The German alterred broadcast was highly effective. Ike was absolitely livid and demanded initially with regard to Monty that is was "Him or me" A well worded apology saved Monty from getting sacked. I suspect Montgomery had Aspergers. He was a genius in many ways but literaly had no social filter and had no clue how he came across. My father always said what made Eisenhower unique among allied senior generals was that he wasnt "odd" All others Monty, Patton. Mark Clark, Devers , Bradley etc. were.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Montgomery liked Eisenhower as a person but was frustrated that a, desk general with no combat experience got to dictate allied strategy. Montgomery was right to question it because Eisenhowers broad front strategy was a complete failure.

[@johnrobison6152]

@@lyndoncmp5751 It's Typical and understandable that combat veterans frequently resent bosses that werent combat veterans like themselves. Montgomery didn't like any commander that wasn't him. As for the broad front strategy being a " complete failure" in hindsight I agree that a more focused attack (Probably by Devers) would havevbeen wiser but a "complete failure?" Last I checked we won, with far fewer casualties than the Russians.

[@bigwoody4704]

The single thrust debacle of Berard's was a failure.And everyone save monty would admit it.Ike simply went back the broad front which the Russians also were effectively employing in the East. With in 5 months the Two emerging world powers finished off the Reich

[@iatsd]

Fun factoid: the Germans regarded the US 99th Infantry Div as the worst Allied division on the Western Front. During Normandy they were a new division and mananged to suffer over 100% casualties in the first month. Max Hastings (cf. Normandy) spends some time detailing just how bad they were when talking about how the Germans regarded the various Allied units.

[@jabonorte]

This is Max Hastings though, who leads with 'The German soldier was better in every way'.

[@iatsd]

@@jabonorte A fair comment, but in this instance he's simply quoting the German appraisals across several units, so not really much room for him to fellate the Germans like he usually does.

[@joaoespecial4168]

6- Stravka made a analysis of this batle and send it to the western allies. In it was very critical of the slow response of the Nortern flank ( Montys command) that alowes that most of the German force could retreat back to the starting line.

[@johnsowerby7182]

Patton's idea of cutting off the entire salient in one fell swoop was simply unworkable. The same lack of roads that ultimately hampered the Germans would have stopped Patton.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

John Sowerby, Indeed. Montgomery explained this to his American commanders. Eventually they had to concede he was right. He knew more about the terrain via his own liaison and intelligence than they did. A north to south/south to north pinching off of the Bulge was totally impractical and unworkable for armoured attacks. The roads were not conducive for it. Montgomery was right. Patton even struggled with heavy casualties as it was. He sent green, untested divisions into battle without adequate recon, and they paid the prince. Montgomery was far more savvy.

[@bigwoody4704]

Monty was a malevolent drag on men/materiel and supplies - apropped up fraud really

[@ArchusKanzaki]

Would like to see the Battle of Kursk too next time. Also 4:42 lol

[@dcbanacek2]

The whole thing with Montgomery's speech reminds me of a quote from the 2004 movie "The Alamo" when Jim Bowie is talking to Travis: "Sometimes... it's just the way you say things, Travis. That's all. I swear to God."

[@lyndoncmp5751]

It was the complaining by Bradley and others later than made it infamous. In Montgomerys defence, he only did what Bradley did previously. In earlier press conferences, neither Bradley or Patton acknowledged that Montgomery was in command of US 1st Army and had been since December 20th.They gave the impression that Bradley was still in command of the whole battle, when he wasn't. I suspect Montgomery was merely reciprocating.

[@drewdederer8965]

@@lyndoncmp5751 Monty never "merely reciprocated". He didn't seem to try to sound supercilious, it just came out that way. He also had an ego perhaps only exceeded by MacArthur (to be fair he thought he was better than any general in the British Army too). A lot of his reputation was the result of the British press building him up to have good news (and American Forces heard a LOT of BBC in theater). The biggest hit to his reputation (as a battle-winner at least) came very long after the war. When the ULTRA story came out, this really made his failure to destroy Rommel in pursuit look bad (being cautious was expected of him, but having the enemy OOB and fuel state and still failing to bring him to battle looks very bad). Monty was NOT a bad general, but he was a limited one (not good in exploitation and tended to focus on one Corps, usually XXX at a time), and was really bad at interpersonal relations with anyone of similar rank and big-picture thinking. His time with 1st army went rather well (most agreed with him about pulling out of St. Vith, he even did some listening to lower commands. And 2nd armored just pretty much ignored him when they caught 2nd panzer (or at the least STRETCHED their permissions to the breaking point).

[@bigwoody4704]

Bernard in any other army would have lead a Battalion,maybe. In Russia he would have been dismissed maybe shot

[@TheHangarHobbit]

Could you do one of these on the "Ragtag Circus" aka the 83rd Infantry Division? I haven't been able to find out much on them other than they liked snatching German vehicles and putting them into combat, I've seen pictures of a USA painted German halftrack, Stug, Panther, and even what appears to be a Jagdtiger with American GIs driving them, all listed as being the 83rd Infantry Division.

[@Bill23799]

Wow, I did not know about the fake BBC broadcast. Thanks.

[@nickdanger3802]

3.55 "two tank destroyer battalions" Bastogne before 101st 4.20 23 batt arty Elsenborn Ridge Also largest bombing mission of AAF up to that time and probably the largest successful resupply by air.

[@a_shuchu_601]

The biggest battle of World War 2 - battle for the credit for success

[@PalleRasmussen]

Biggest battle of WW2? Have you heard of Brody? Moscow? Stalingrad? Kursk? Berlin? Or even Fall Gelb?

[@villeuusivuori7150]

@@PalleRasmussen I think @A_Shuchu was saying that the biggest battle was the generals fighting with eachother on who will be credited with successes, not that Bulge was the biggest.

[@PalleRasmussen]

@@villeuusivuori7150 ah maybe. If so I cannot agree, but it is not a bad observation.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Montgomery said Eisenhower was team captain and that captains win the battle. This has now been forgotten by most.

[@steveoconnor7069]

One of my Uncle's was in the tank destroyers and captured in the BOB. I am trying to find out more about what happened to him as he never spoke about it. His unit patch had a Black Panther on it.

[@nickdanger3802]

761st Tank Battlion

[@riverbluevert7814]

Excellent video. Despite all the criticism of American tank destroyers, I think they look great firing at 1:10

[@Autobotmatt428]

Those dammed engineers!

[@doncarlton4858]

5 Great points. As a retired Intel officer, I'm surprised I hadn't heard of "The Monty Speech incident" before. A masterful work of disinformation by the Germans!

[@markcantemail8018]

Don Carlton A book by Trevor N. Dupuy " Hitlers Last Gamble Mentions the letter and the German Radio Report . But Col Moran explains it better than i read it . Great Video !

[@sean640307]

@@markcantemail8018 if you look deeply enough, there are plenty of titles that also cover it. The speech, itself, was full of praise and is covered in depth in Richard Lamb's "Montgomery in Europe 1943-1945: Success or Failure?". The "tone", as The Chieftain mentioned, is difficult to convey in written form and it probably was delivered with a degree of smugness, but that's certainly not how Chester Wilmott reported it. However, it was Wilmott's report back that was intercepted, rewritten, retransmitted and the legendary feud compounded. There's no secret in that Monty absolutely sang the praises of the American soldiers, possibly gilding the lily a little TOO much in his attempt at being diplomatic. It's also no secret that he didn't sing the praises of any of the senior US commanders and Bradley, Hodges and Patton were most displeased. For a fair and reasonable assessment of how certain other US commanders saw things, it's worth reading the words of Gen Bruce Clark, who was unequivocal in his praise for the work of Montgomery and how his professionalism and calmness brought a sense of order to the otherwise panicking US chain of command.

[@lyndoncmp5751]

Sean O'Sullivan, It was likely tit for tat because in Bradley's previous press conferences, neither he or any of his commanders even acknowledged that Montgomery was commanding the northern fight of US 1st Army. Bradley gave the impression he was commanding the whole battle. Bedell Smith had to issue a SHAEF press statement on January 5th 1945 declaring that Montgomery was commanding the US 1st and 9th Armies and had been since December 20th.

[@davebell4917]

I have long known about the British-run fake radio stations, such as Soldatensender Calais, and the fake German broadcast here gave me a new context on the whole business.

[@panzerdeal8727]

Another book: Operation Nordpole: German infiltration of Dutch resistance.

[@danielhammersley2869]

#5 *For The Win* That is new to me!