Thoughts on WWII

We are in the midst of the 60th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge and I would be ashamed of myself if I didn’t post some comments. The Battle of the Bulge is the more common name given to this offensive by us Americans but the official name of the operation was Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhein) by the Germans.

This was Hitler’s last chance of the war to “save some face.” I don’t believe anything the Germans could have done at this point would have won the war for them; they had been fighting too long on too many fronts to have the manpower and resources needed to beat the Allies.

One of Hitler’s objectives of this operation was to try and split the Allied command and this almost worked. Eisenhower gave the British General Montgomery command of the American 1st and 9th Armies on the north side of the operation. This was because communication had been lost between both of these Armies and General Bradley, the American Ground Commander. This decision by Eisenhower was made out of necessity and probably wasn’t an easy one for him to make.  Montgomery had success and in typical Montgomery fashion patted himself on the back and said something to the effect that when the times got tough Eisenhower put him in command. His comments also made it appear that the British had an equal, if not more share of the fighting. The American command took offense to these comments because the Americans had almost a 30 to 1 share of the fighting men. There were other comments, or lack of comments, by Montgomery that didn’t sit well on the American side. He never once praised the efforts of any American General except Eisenhower. Eisenhower got very close to firing Montgomery after these comments but reconsidered and Montgomery did make an apology. So, Hitler was close at achieving this one objective and that was the closest he came to having any type of victory in this offensive.

I have not toured the battle grounds of the Ardennes extensively, although I should since I live so very close.  I have driven through this area many times and each time I have a feeling of amazement that anyone could fight this big of a battle in this area. Several written accounts of the battle are at almost any bookstore you come across but no written word can describe the steep hills, deep valleys, and dense forest that scatter this land. I am lucky that I am driving through this area on the modern Autobahn and paved roads. The soldiers of 1944 didn’t have this luxury plus they had to deal with the worst winter in almost 60 years. To be able to maneuver and fight in this area is incomprehensible to me. I am in the US Air Force and we have combat training that we must go through and every one of us whines and moans when we have to train in the cold or rain. I would like to take some of these whiners through the battle fields of the Ardennes in the midst of winter so they can see and feel how our WWII heroes fought and won so we have the right to whine and moan today.

No one in today’s era of technology and comforts will ever know the sacrifice and hardship endured by the soldiers of this operation. So, my utmost respect and gratification goes out to all the soldiers, Allied and German, that fought the Battle of the Bulge; you are all (with few exceptions) heroes in my mind.