Chapter Five
For four days First Army had successfully delayed the German advance by sacrificing its reserves in small groups while fresh troops gathered ready to counter-attack. The remains of V Corps were holding the northern shoulder of the attack while 30th Infantry Division marched south to block Kampfgruppe Peiper. That SS battlegroup finally ran out of fuel on the 23rd. Two more divisions, the 82nd Airborne and 3rd Armoured, were well on the way to securing the area between the Salm and Our Rivers in front of Sixth Army’s Panzers.
St Vith continued to hold but as the noose tightened around the town after five days hard fighting, Montgomery decided it was time to withdraw. With Dietrich’s second wave of tanks on their way, the survivors left the ruins of the town as the weather took a turn for the worse, and paralysed the Panzers. A new line was formed behind XVIII Airborne Corps behind the River Salm, and for a second time Sixth Panzer Army ground to a halt.
General ‘Lightning Joe’ Collins’ VII Corps was organising the influx of divisions behind First Army’s centre and while he prepared to strike back his plans were assisted by a break in the weather. Clear skies allowed the Allied air forces to join the battle and strike at the columns of German vehicles snaking across the Ardennes. Planes patrolled the skies and an average of 3,000 sorties a day played havoc with the German armour. On Christmas Day 2nd Armoured Division lived up to its nickname of ‘Hell on Wheels’ and encircled 2nd Panzer Division at the tip of the German Salient. The tide on First Army’s front had finally turned.
Since 20 December, VIII Corps and the troops in Bastogne, had been assigned to Third Army and Fifth Panzer Army pushed on past the besieged town. Patton’s tanks fought to relieve the paratroopers.As Manteuffel’s troops tightened their stranglehold, an emissary offered surrender terms to Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe. Struggling for a rational reply, McAuliffe gave a single word answer to the offer – ‘Nuts!’ The ‘Screaming Eagles’were in no mood to surrender. Fifth Panzer Army had no option, it would have to push on west towards the Meuse, leaving vital troops behind to contain the town.
Previous page: Tanks and armoured infantry of the ‘Super Sixth’ assemble in the snow. After helping to relieve Bastogne, 6th Armoured Division reinforced the line east of the town and finally drove 1 SS Panzerkorps back across the Our River. 111-SC-198856
Lieutenant General ‘Lightning Joe’ Lawton Collins, VII Corps’ leader observes German positions from a forward post. His nephew, a member of the Corps staff is alongside. VII Corps assembled four divisions between the town of Marche and the Meuse to block XXXXVII Panzerkorps drive to the river. 111-SC-198682
A paratrooper of the 504 Regiment runs for cover as his buddy gives covering fire with his .03 calibre machine gun. 82nd Airborne Division had just run into elements of the 9th SS Panzer Division near the village of Bra. 111-SC-197861
Private Frank Kelly of 4th Armoured Division’s Military Police Detachment leads a group of prisoners to the rear. A halftrack heads in the opposite direction towards the division’s objective – Bastogne. 111-SC-198450
A patrol of the 2nd Infantry Division hits the dirt, or in this case the snow, as German shells whistle overhead near the village of Krinkelt. 111-SC-199682
Private Gene Heathcoat directs traffic as the 30th Infantry Division moves through Malmedy ready to launch a counter-offensive. The ‘Old Hickories’ would strike at the boundary of Fifteenth Army and 6th Panzer Army. 111-SC-198745
A halftrack of 30th Infantry Division has slipped off the road near Malmedy. The passengers have dismounted to watch as the driver tries to extricate his vehicle with the aid of skid chains. 111-SC-198744
The ‘Spearhead’ and the ‘Thunderbolt’ unite. Elements of 3rd Armoured Division and 83rd Infantry Division pass through the streets of Lieurneux as they head towards the front line ready to attack Rochefort. 111-SC-198764
With only thin groundsheets or ‘Pup’ tents to protect themselves from the cold, men of the 75th Infantry Division stir after a night in the open.The division had moved up to relieve 82nd Airborne Division. 111-SC-198777
After three weeks on the defensive the counter-offensive is underway. These reconnaissance troops of the 83rd Division look eager to get to grips with the German troops holding the Rochefort Salient. 111-SC-198778
212th Armoured Field Artillery Battalion waits for new targets to be announced under its camouflage nets. These particular M7 105mm Self-propelled Howitzers established a record number of 1,000 rounds expended a day as they supported the 6th Armoured Division. 111-SC-198786
291st Infantry Regiment and Sherman tanks advance through the woods to relieve 82nd Airborne Division. 111-SC-198788
17th Airborne Division entered the line at Mande-Sainte-Etienne on 3 January, the first action for Major General ‘Bud’ Miley’s men. Here the paratroopers assemble on a hillside near Morhet, ten miles south-west of Bastogne. 111-SC-199015
The British XXX Corps moved to reinforce Field Marshal Bernhard Montgomery’s 21 Army Group. These Bren-Gun Carriers of the 51st (Highland) Division are cutting across country to join the division’s attack towards La Roche. 111-SC-199069
Soldiers of the 5th Black Watch, 51st (Highland) Division show their new snow capes to Technician Runyan, a US Army Signal Corps photographer. XXX British Corps suffered over 1,400 casualties in the fighting around La Roche. 111-SC-199070
87th Division reorganise in St Hubert’s main street having cut the main German supply line north of Bastogne. Panzergrenadiers of the Panzer Lehr Division withdrew from the town as VIII Corps’ attack developed. 111-SC-199207
Brigadier General Frank Culin, 87th Division’s commander, is in high spirits as he talks to local girls in St Hubert. The ‘Golden Acorn’ Division had just liberated the town. 111-SC-199206
Halftracks of the 44th Armoured Infantry Battalion have been covered with white paint to try and make them blend in with a fresh fall of snow. Men huddle for warmth beneath a thin ground sheet as they wait for new instructions inside their vehicles. 111-SC-199347a
GIs of the 317 Infantry Regiment queue up for hot ‘chow’. The men belong to 80th ‘Blue Ridge’ Division which participated in III Corps drive towards Bastogne and hit the flank of LXXXV Armeekorps as it pushed past the southern outskirts of the town. 111-SC-119539
These men of the 325 Glider Regiment were more used to flying into battle than marching in.They are moving through the woods near Werbomont to take up positions in front of I SS Panzerkorps. 111-SC-200487
As the ‘All American’ moves towards Cheneux, a chaplain meets a group from 504 Parachute Regiment and holds an impromptu service. 111-SC-200715
Two 155mm ‘Long Tom’ Howitzers shell German positions east of Bastogne as 35th Infantry Division attempts to advance east of the town. 111-SC-202035
Tank crews wait in a defensive laager for fresh orders to arrive as snow falls across the Ardennes. 111-SC-455219
Sherman tanks give support fire to 32 Armoured Regiment as it ‘Spearheads’ 3rd Armoured Division’s advance towards Trou de Bra. 111-SC-198597
82nd Airborne Division blocked Sixth Panzer Army’s advance towards the Meuse on the northern shoulder of the Bulge’s. Major General ‘Slim Jim’ Gavin, the division’s commanding officer, is pictured returning from a reconnaissance of 508 Regiment’s front after the paratroopers had repelled an attack by SS troops. 111-SC-198407
