An eye-opening account of one American division's desperate attempt to hold back the might of the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II. Although the 106th Infantry Division was decimated, and the Germans captured over six thousand prisoners in one of the largest mass surrenders in American military history, the efforts of these American soldiers to defend St.-Vith disrupted the German timetable for reaching Antwerp, thus hampering the Bulge offensive.
This remarkable but often forgotten story of how an American division sacrificed itself to achieve a greater victory should be essential reading for fans of military history.
On December 16, 1944, the young men of the U.S. 106th Infantry huddled in their foxholes and tried to sleep. They had never been in battle before and were told they were unlikely to see fighting soon, as they occupied a "rest sector" on the front. Yet charging toward them was the might of the 18th Volksgrenadier Division: a quarter of a million German soldiers, two thousand artillery pieces, and nearly one thousand tanks.
This was the German Wehrmacht's first shattering blow in the Battle of the Bulge.
Yet why was this division so unprepared? What decisions or lack of them had Allied Command made prior to this monumental attack occurring?
Charles Whiting, a renowned military historian and veteran of the Second World War, brings to life the horrors experienced by ordinary combat soldiers during this terrifying battle. Through meticulous research, Whiting sheds light on the chaos of battle, explaining how this untested American division attempted to hold back the seasoned veterans of the German army.
"One small but important aspect of the Ardennes campaign... successfully conveys the chaos of the fighting." Kirkus Reviews
"This is a fast-moving, exciting, and fair account of the key battle of the Battle of the Bulge." Military Affairs
