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| 74th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in color |
| 2018-12-16 |
| [Mail] The terrible wintry conditions soldiers were forced to fight in during the last major German offensive of World War Two have been brought to light thanks to a series of colorised images to mark the 74th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge. Striking pictures show three gunners prepare to fire a shell on New Year's Eve in 1944 with the inscription 'For Adolph, unhappy new year', American GIs are pictured resting on railway tracks after combat in Duren and two soldiers can be seen inspecting a deserted Panther tank formerly of the Panzer Division Das Reich near Grandmenil, Belgium. Other vivid colour photographs show a US half track cross a temporary bridge over the Ourthe River, members of the US 101st Airborne Division move out of Bastogne and Panzergrenadier-SS Kampfgruppe Hansen in action during clashes in Poteau against Task Force Myers. |
| Posted by:Besoeker |
| #9 Met a CO for a tank unit at the Bulge. He shook every time he heard thunder here. Metal treads no rubber. The lighting was fierce as he recalled. My Uncle left his tank and it was destroyed and his crew shortly thereafter. He was lucky that day. |
| Posted by: Dale 2018-12-16 23:23 |
| #8 My Father-in-law was in an ordnance company. They realized that something was wrong when the artillery started firing behind his unit. They skeedadled just ahead of the German advance. |
| Posted by: SR-71 2018-12-16 17:32 |
| #7 Uncle died during the battle while flying recc missions. Cloud cover was so low, he ended up flying into large slag heap. |
| Posted by: Rex Mundi 2018-12-16 17:25 |
| #6 Uncle fought in that battle. Had 3 halftracks shot out under him before he said "The hell with roads" and took to forests. He was in Bastogne area until the siege was broke. He said it was still hell for 30 more days. Started at D-Day + 3 ... ended deep in the Ruhr. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2018-12-16 15:32 |
| #5 My uncle was in the 106th Division and was captured the second day. Spent the rest of the war in a POW camp slowly starving. When liberated weighed just over 100 lbs because virtually the only thing they got to eat were the few Red Cross parcels that got past the guards. I saw his little army bible from his captivity, filled every blank space with food descriptions. The ship that brought them home kept the gally open 24 hours a day and the picture of him home at Walter Reed was still skeletal. Ever missed a meal the rest of his life. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2018-12-16 13:15 |
| #4 Good analysis, P2K -- I had never thought to compare the two like that. |
| Posted by: Matt 2018-12-16 12:35 |
| #3 My godfather fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was 18 years old. Kids today need "safe spaces" if somebody might say something they don't like. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2018-12-16 10:39 |
| #2 The Bulge - surprise attack by an enemy declared all but defeated. Casualties - 89,500 (includes killed, wounded, missing, captured), Loses - 733 tanks and tank destroyers. Destroyed the 106th Infantry Division. By the end of January, the Allies controlled the area lost in the German offensive. Reported as an American victory in the (Old) Media. Tet Offensive - surprise attack by an enemy declared all but defeated. South Vietnamese Casualties - 4,954 killed, 15,917 wounded, 926 missing. US and allied Casualties - 4,124 killed, 19,295 wounded, 604 missing. The Viet Cong basically destroyed with the NVA doing the fighting for the rest of the war. All territory lost during the fight regained by the South Vietnamese and allied forces. Reported as an American defeat by the (New) Media. And they wonder why so many people today consider the Media to be the enemy. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2018-12-16 08:09 |
| #1 ...My ex-wife had an uncle there. It was late January before they knew for sure he was okay. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2018-12-16 05:49 |