I met Mike, through correspondence, in the early ’90s. He had been, and has been since, vacationing in the Ardennes area. He understands the 106th Infantry Division’s positions as well as any person I have ever met. His intimate knowledge of the area, gleaned over the years, makes him a good authority and a great choice for authoring such a fine history guide as Battleground St Vith.
St Vith was the primary objective for the Germans as they broke through the defences of the 106th Infantry Division, entrenched along the Schnee Eifel, 16th December 1944. St Vith, a transportation hub with a railroad and five main roads, was a major objective in the German Offensive time-table. Their Battle Orders dictated that it should be taken on the first day of battle. Had this been achieved their advance to the Meuse River would have been open. The Germans never seized St Vith until days later. Too much time, too many resources had been wasted because of the stubborn resistance of the 106th Infantry Division.
What would have happened at Bastogne had those German troops, held up at St Vith, been available for use in the fight for that town? The German General Staff realized that once their timetable had been thrown out at St Vith they would be unable to get back on schedule.
Mike Tolhurst’s use of veterans’ accounts makes his history very personal. Here you will read how it was from the soldiers that fought the battle. His intimate knowledge of the territory is invaluable to those who wish to browse the area, to feel and sense the happenings of those times. When you take the trails and roads through the battle area, you will, like me, wonder how the war was ever fought there. It is a fantastically beautiful country. It seems a pity that this land was raped by war.
One of my comrades, Dale Carver, a 2nd Lieutenant, an Ammunition and Pioneer Platoon Leader in the Headquarters Company, Third Battalion, 424th Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division, a Silver Star recipient, wrote in his book of poems the following:
ARDENNES
Majestic firs, snow laden,
in rank and file stand.
A man amid the pungent boughs
Needled boughs, star laden,
pressed by a grimy hand –
ice against an anguished brow,
alone in a troubled land.
As I read this I see a lonely rifleman, cold and hungry and in a strange land.
John Kline
M Company, 423rd Infantry WWII
Sergeant heavy machine gun squad leader
Past-President 106th Infantry Division Association
Editor The CUB magazine (The Association’s official quarterly)
September 1999