The Siege of Bastogne was an engagement between American and German forces at the Belgian
town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German
offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup
and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize the
roadways through eastern Belgium. Because all seven main roads in the Ardennes mountain
range converged on the small town of Bastogne, control of its crossroads was vital to the
German attack. The siege lasted from 20-27 December when the besieged American forces were
relieved by elements of General George Patton's 3rd Army.
Background
After the successful Invasion of Normandy and the subsequent eastward push through France,
the Allied front lines extended from Nijmegen in the north down to neutral Switzerland in
the south. The valuable port city of Antwerp had been captured during the push, and by the
time winter arrived, the Allies even had control of German territory near the city of
Aachen. Adolf Hitler soon laid out a plan to attack the Allied lines in Belgium; 55
divisions would launch a surprise attack through the Ardennes, with the aim of crossing
the Meuse River and recapturing Antwerp. Despite major misgivings from his senior
commanders, including Gerd von Rundstedt and Walther Model, the plan was not modified and
the jump-off date was eventually set as 16 December 1944. Meanwhile, the Allied commanders
considered the Ardennes area to be unsuitable for a large-scale German attack, mainly
because of terrain issues. In addition, intelligence reports suggested that the only
German divisions stationed in the area were weary, and in the weeks leading up to the
assault, no Allied commander saw reason to believe that an attack was imminent. Bastogne,
a hub city that commanded several important roads in the area, was defended mainly by the
28th Infantry Division, which had seen continuous fighting from 22 July-19 November,
before being assigned to this relatively quiet area. The Allies believed only an infantry
division was present opposite the 28th Infantry, and they believed any attack along this
sector would be limited in scale.
Hasso von Manteuffel—commanding the 5. Panzerarmee—gave Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz′s
XLVII Panzer Corps the responsibility of capturing Bastogne, before crossing the Meuse
near Namur. von Lüttwitz planned to attack a 7 mi (11 km) front with three divisions: the
26. Volksgrenadier and the Second Panzer would lead the assault, with the Panzer-Lehr-
Division behind them. Opposing this significant force were two battalions of the 110th
Infantry Regiment (the third was held back as a division reserve), responsible for a 9 mi
(14 km) front along the Our River. The Allied forces were gathered into small groups at
major villages, with outposts along the river manned only during the daytime. Since the
forces were too thin to maintain an even battle line, they focused their attention on the
four roads that crossed the Our. Due to heavy rain preceding the German attack, only one
of the roads was in good enough condition to be used as a crossing point — the
northernmost road, which crossed the Our at Dasburg on its way to Clerf and Bastogne. The
2. Panzer Division was assigned to cross the river along this road, while the 26.
Volksgrenadier would construct a bridge near Gemünd for its crossing. von Lüttwitz
realized the importance of the road network of Bastogne — he knew that the city had to be
captured before his corps could venture too far westward. Therefore, he ordered the
Panzer-Lehr-Division to push forward to Bastogne as soon as his other troops had crossed
the Clerf River.
The attack
On the evening of 15 December, the 26. Volksgrenadier established an outpost line on the
west bank of the Our, something they did routinely during the nighttime. At 03:00,
engineers began ferrying men and equipment over the river where they began assembling at
the departure point, quite close to the American garrisons. At 05:30, the German artillery
began bombarding the American positions, knocking out telephone lines, as the infantry
started to advance. The Germans attacked swiftly, their advances made possible by sheer
weight of numbers. In Weiler, one American company, supported by some mortars and a
platoon of anti-tank guns, lasted until nightfall against repeated attacks from multiple
German battalions. German engineers completed bridges over the Our before dark, and armor
began moving to the front, adding to the Germans' vast numerical superiority. But in the
end, the Germans were significantly delayed by the American defenders —- their plan to
cross the Clerf River by nightfall on the first day was delayed by two days.
On 19 December, the 28th Division command post transferred to Bastogne from Wiltz, a large
village to the southeast. At Wiltz, the division put up its last stand; 3rd Battalion of
the 110th—supported by armor and artillery—arrived at the city around noon of that day.
The 44th Engineer Battalion was set up north of the town, but they were soon overwhelmed
and retreated into the city, blowing up a bridge behind them. This small force—numbering
no more than 500 in total—held out until the evening, when their position became
completely untenable and they retreated to the west. With the 110th Infantry completely
destroyed as an effective combat unit, it would be up to the rest of the Allied army to
defend Bastogne.
Commitment of reserves
Despite several notable signs in the weeks preceding the attack, the Ardennes Offensive
achieved virtually complete surprise. By the end of the second day of battle, it became
apparent that the 28th Infantry was near collapse. Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton, commander
of VIII Corps, ordered part of his armored reserve, Combat Command B of the 10th Armored
Division (United States) to Bastogne. CCB consisted of the 3rd Tank Battalion, 20th
Armored Infantry Battalion, C Company 21st Tank Battalion, B Company 54th Armored Infantry
Battalion, C Company 609th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 420th Armored Field Artillery
Battalion, and three companies of support troops. Meanwhile, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
ordered forward the SHAEF reserve, composed of the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne at
Reims. These were veteran troops that had served with distinction since the parachute
drops in Normandy and were resting and re-equipping after two months of combat in Holland.
Both divisions were alerted on the evening of 17 December, and not having organic
transport, began arranging trucks for movement forward. The 82nd—longer in reserve and
thus better re-equipped—moved out first. The 101st left Camp Mourmelon on the afternoon of
18 December, with the order of march the division artillery, division trains, 501st
Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), 506th PIR, 502nd PIR, and 327th Glider Infantry. Much
of the convoy was conducted at night in drizzle and sleet, using headlights despite threat
of air attack to speed the movement, and at one point the combined column stretched from
Bouillon, Belgium, back to Reims.
The 101st Airborne was routed to Bastogne, located 107 mi (172 km) away on a 1,463 ft (446
m) high plateau, while the 82nd Airborne took up positions further north to block the
critical advance of Kampfgruppe Peiper toward Werbomont. The 705th Tank Destroyer
Battalion—in reserve 60 mi (97 km) to the north—was ordered to Bastogne to provide anti-
tank support to the armorless 101st Airborne on the 18th and arrived late the next
evening. The first elements of the 501st PIR entered the division assembly area 4 mi (6.4
km) west of Bastogne shortly after midnight of 19 December, and by 09:00 the entire
division had arrived.
Gen. McAuliffe sent the 501st PIR east through Bastogne at 06:00 to develop the situation.
By 09:00, it had advanced and deployed on either side of the highway to Magéret and
Longvilly, where the Panzer-Lehr-Division was engaged in an all-day action to destroy the
armor-infantry teams assigned to slow the German advance. The 506th followed shortly
thereafter, its 1st Battalion instructed to establish a blocking position at Noville and
its other two battalions ordered to act as reserves north of Bastogne. The 502nd PIR
marched north and northwest to establish a line from Champs east to Recogne, while the
327th GIR, newly arrived, protected the division service area west of Bastogne until the
German intentions could be surmised.
Initial combat at Noville
On 19-20 December, the 1st Battalion of the 506th PIR was ordered to support Team Desobry
(Maj. William R. Desobry), a battalion-sized tank-infantry task force of the 10th Armored
Division assigned to defend Noville located north-northeast of both Foy and of Bastogne
just 4.36 mi (7.02 km) away. With just four M18 tank destroyers of the 705th Tank
Destroyer Battalion to assist, the paratroopers attacked units of the 2. Panzerdivision,
whose mission was to proceed by secondary roads via Monaville (just northwest of Bastogne)
to seize a key highway and capture, among other objectives, fuel dumps — for the lack of
which the overall German counter-offensive faltered and failed. Worried about the threat
to its left flank in Bastogne, it organized a major combined arms attack to seize Noville.
Team Desobry's high speed highway journey to reach the blocking position is one of the few
documented cases wherein the legendary top speed of the M18 Hellcat
({{convert|55|mph|km/h|abbr=on) was actually used to get ahead of an enemy force as
envisioned by its specifications.
The attack of 1st Battalion and the M18 Hellcat tank destroyers of the 705th TD Battalion
together destroyed at least 30 German tanks and inflicted 500-1,000 casualties on the
attacking forces in what amounted to a spoiling attack. A Military Channel expert
historian credited the M18 destroyers with 24 kills, including several Tiger tanks, and
believes that, in part, their ability to "shoot and scoot" at high speed and then reappear
elsewhere on the battlefield and therefore appear to be another vehicle entirely played a
large part in confusing and slowing the German attack, which subsequently stalled, leaving
the Americans in possession of the town overnight. The 3rd Battalion was ordered forward
from a reserve position north of Bastogne to ease the pressure on 1st Battalion by
occupying a supporting position in Foy to the south.
The heavy losses inflicted by the tank-destroyers induced the German commander into
believing the village was being held by a much stronger force and he recoiled from further
attacks on the village, committing a strategic error while seeking tactical advantage —
significantly delaying the German advance and setting the stage for the Siege of Bastogne
just to the south. This delay also gave the 101st Airborne Division enough time to
organize defenses around Bastogne. After two days, the 2. Panzerdivision finally continued
on its original mission to the Meuse River. As a consequence of its involvement at
Bastogne, and its failure to dislodge the airborne forces, the column ultimately ran out
of gas at Celles, where it was destroyed by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division and the British
29th Armoured Brigade.
By the time the 1st Battalion pulled out of Noville on the 20th, the village of Foy half-
way to Bastogne center had been captured from the 3rd Battalion by a separate attack,
forcing the 1st Battalion to then fight its way through Foy. By the time 1st Battalion
made it to the safety of American lines, it had lost 13 officers and 199 enlisted men, out
of about 600 troops, and was assigned as the division reserve. Team Desobry lost a quarter
of its troops and was reduced to just four medium tanks when it passed through the lines
of 3rd Battalion.
Battle
The 101st Airborne formed an all-round perimeter using the 502nd PIR on the northwest
shoulder to block the 2. Panzerdivision, the 506th PIR to block entry from Noville, the
501st PIR defending the eastern approach, and the 327th GIR scattered from Marvie in the
southeast to Champs in the west along the southern perimeter, augmented by engineer and
artillery units plugging gaps in the line. The division service area to the west of
Bastogne had been raided the first night, causing the loss of almost its entire medical
company, and numerous service troops were used as infantry to reinforce the thin lines.
CCB of the 10th Armored Division, severely weakened by losses to its Team Desobry (Maj.
William R. Desobry), Team Cherry (Lt. Col. Henry T. Cherry), and Team O'Hara (Lt. Col.
James O'Hara) in delaying the Germans, formed a mobile "fire brigade" of 40 light and
medium tanks (including survivors of CCR 9th Armored Division and eight replacement tanks
found unassigned in Bastogne).
Three artillery battalions—including the all-black 969th Field Artillery Battalion—were
commandeered and formed a temporary artillery group. Each had twelve 155 mm (6.1 in)
howitzers, providing the division with heavy firepower in all directions restricted only
by its limited ammunition supply. Col. Roberts, commanding CCB, also rounded up 600+
stragglers from the rout of VIII Corps and formed Team SNAFU as a further stopgap
force.
As a result of the powerful American defense to the north and east, XLVII Panzerkorps
commander Gen. von Lüttwitz decided to encircle Bastogne and strike from the south and
southwest, beginning the night of 20/21 December. German panzer reconnaissance units had
initial success, nearly overrunning the American artillery positions southwest of Bastogne
before being stopped by a makeshift force. All seven highways leading to Bastogne were cut
by German forces by noon of 21 December, and by nightfall the conglomeration of airborne
and armored infantry forces were recognized by both sides as being surrounded.
The American soldiers were outnumbered and lacking in cold-weather gear, ammunition, food,
medical supplies, and leadership (as many officers, including the 101st's commander—Major
General Maxwell Taylor—were elsewhere). Due to some of the worst winter weather in years,
the surrounded U.S. forces could not be resupplied by air nor was tactical air support
available.
However, the two panzer divisions of the XLVII Panzerkorps—after using their mobility to
isolate Bastogne, continued their mission towards the Meuse on 22 December, rather than
attacking Bastogne with a single large force. They left just one regiment behind to assist
the 26. Volksgrenadierdivision in capturing the crossroads. XLVII Panzerkorps probed
different points of the southern and western defensive perimeter in echelon, where
Bastogne was defended by just a single airborne regiment and support units doubling as
infantry. This played into the American advantage of interior lines of communication; the
defenders were able to shift artillery fire and move their limited ad hoc armored forces
to meet each successive assault.
The 26th VG received one panzergrenadier regiment from the 15. Panzergrenadierdivision on
Christmas Eve for its main assault the next day. Because it lacked sufficient troops and
those of the 26th VG Division were near exhaustion, the XLVII Panzerkorps concentrated its
assault on several individual locations on the west side of perimeter in sequence rather
than launching one simultaneous attack on all sides. The assault—led by 18 tanks carrying
a battalion of infantry—pierced the lines of the 327th's 3rd Battalion (officially, the
1st Battalion, 401st Glider Infantry), and advanced as far as the battalion command post
at Hemroulle.
However, the 327th held its original positions and repulsed infantry assaults that
followed, capturing 92 Germans. The panzers that had achieved the penetration divided into
two columns, one trying to reach Champs from the rear, and were destroyed in detail by two
companies of the 1st Battalion 502nd PIR under Lt. Col. Patrick F. Cassidy and four tank
destroyers of the 705th Tank Destroyer Battalion.
Allied control of Bastogne was a major obstacle to the German armored advance, and the
morale of Allied forces elsewhere on the Western Front was boosted by news of the stubborn
defense of the besieged town.
Breaking the encirclement
Elements of General George Patton's Third Army, spearheaded by Lt. Col. Creighton Abrams
commanding the 4th Armored Division's 37th Armor Battalion, succeeded in punching through
to Bastogne, reaching the lines of the 326th Engineers on the day after the Christmas
attack. The 101st's ground communications with the American supply dumps were restored on
27 December, and the wounded were evacuated to the rear. Gen. Taylor reached Bastogne with
the 4th Armored Division and resumed command.
With the encirclement broken, the men of the 101st expected to be relieved, but were given
orders to resume the offensive. The 506th attacked north and recaptured Recogne on 9
January 1945, the Bois Jacques on 10 January, and Foy on 13 January. The 327th attacked
towards Bourcy, northeast of Bastogne, on 13 January and encountered stubborn resistance.
The 506th retook Noville on 15 January and Rachamps the next day. The 502nd reinforced the
327th, and the two regiments captured Bourcy on 17 January, pushing the Germans back to
their point of advance on the day the division had arrived in Bastogne. The next day the
division was relieved.
The most famous quote of the battle came from the 101st’s acting commander, Brigadier
General Anthony McAuliffe. When confronted with a written request from German General
Luttwitz for surrender of Bastogne, his reply was one word: "NUTS!" (the commander of the
327th GIR interpreted it to the German truce party as "Go to hell!"). After the battle,
newspapers referred to the division as the "battered bastards of Bastogne".
Media portrayals
The 1949 Hollywood film Battleground told the story of the defense of Bastogne by the
101st Airborne Division through a fictional squad of the 327th Glider Infantry. The movie,
filmed in black and white, was lauded for its verisimilitude in portraying the infantry
unit, flaws included, and the miserable conditions in which the battle was fought.
The 1970 film "Patton" portrays the seige from the perspective of General Patton and the
Allied Command. When he learns of Gen. McAuliffe's "Nuts!" response to Nazi surrender
demands, Patton smiles and responds: "A man that eloquent has to be saved."
A 2001 HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers, based on a book of the same name by Stephen
Ambrose, dedicated one episode ("Bastogne") to the experiences at Bastogne of Easy Company
of the 506th PIR. Like Battleground, this series was notable for the authenticity and
attention to detail of the men, equipment, and experiences portrayed.
In 2001 Dean Hughes wrote a book titled "Soldier Boys". The book tells the stories of two
men on opposite sides of the war fighting in Bastogne.
In 2010, Swedish heavy metal band Sabaton released the album Coat of Arms which featured
the song "Screaming Eagles", based on the Siege of Bastogne. On May 26, 2011, they
released a video for the song which opens with the quote from General McAuliffe to the
Germans and features scenes of battle in a snow covered forest.
Photograph shows a C-47 cargo transport crash lands safely after having dropped supplies to elements of the 101st Airborne Division which has successfully repulsed all attempts to capture the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium on 30th Dec 1944 & was Hand Oil Tinted by
artist Margaret A. Rogers.
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