Download or read book German Special Operations In The 1944 Ardennes Offensive written by Major Jeffrey Jarkowsky and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study is a historical analysis of the German special operations conducted in support of their overall Ardennes offensive. It focuses on the two major special operations of the German offensive, Operations “Greif” and “Stoesser.” Operation Greif was the German attempt to infiltrate a commando unit behind American lines disguised as American soldiers. Operation Stoesser, the last German airborne operation of the war, was designed to secure a key cross-roads behind American lines. These special operations failed because of faulty planning, inadequate preparation, and a lack of coordination between the special and conventional forces. These problems, exacerbated by a lack of preparation time, resulted in a pair of ad-hoc units that were unable to accomplish their primary missions, although the operations were characterized by boldness, initiative, and improvisation. This study also examines the strategic setting, planning, preparations, and conduct of these operations, as well as their impact on the overall campaign. This study also examines the key lessons-learned that can be derived from both operations. Lastly, the study explores the implications of these lessons for the U.S. military of today.
Download or read book The Ardennes written by Hugh Marshall Cole and published by . This book was released on 1965 with total page 754 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ardennes 1944 written by Antony Beevor and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-11-03 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The prizewinning historian and bestselling author of D-Day, Stalingrad, and The Battle of Arnhem reconstructs the Battle of the Bulge in this riveting new account On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched his ‘last gamble’ in the snow-covered forests and gorges of the Ardennes in Belgium, believing he could split the Allies by driving all the way to Antwerp and forcing the Canadians and the British out of the war. Although his generals were doubtful of success, younger officers and NCOs were desperate to believe that their homes and families could be saved from the vengeful Red Army approaching from the east. Many were exultant at the prospect of striking back. The allies, taken by surprise, found themselves fighting two panzer armies. Belgian civilians abandoned their homes, justifiably afraid of German revenge. Panic spread even to Paris. While some American soldiers, overwhelmed by the German onslaught, fled or surrendered, others held on heroically, creating breakwaters which slowed the German advance. The harsh winter conditions and the savagery of the battle became comparable to the Eastern Front. In fact the Ardennes became the Western Front’s counterpart to Stalingrad. There was terrible ferocity on both sides, driven by desperation and revenge, in which the normal rules of combat were breached. The Ardennes—involving more than a million men—would prove to be the battle which finally broke the back of the Wehrmacht. In this deeply researched work, with striking insights into the major players on both sides, Antony Beevor gives us the definitive account of the Ardennes offensive which was to become the greatest battle of World War II.
Download or read book The Ardennes Battle of the Bulge written by Hugh M. Cole and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 1965 with total page 752 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Hitler s Ardennes Offensive written by Danny S. Parker and published by Skyhorse. This book was released on 2016-08-23 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this gripping, unusual volume, insight into the Battle of the Bulge is told through firsthand accounts by German officers. The battle, a major German offensive, caught the allied forces off-guard in Belgium, France, and Luxembourg and, lasting from December 1945–January 1945, had devastating consequences for both sides. There were eighty-nine thousand Americans casualties and between eighty thousand and one hundred thousand German ones. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the Americans during the war—and, yet, in the end, an allied victory. There are Western accounts of the battle, but very little has been told from the German perspective. In Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive, acclaimed military historian Danny S. Parker has compiled together accounts by German officials who reveal how they perceived the battle, how they believe Adolf Hitler perceived it, and what, in their opinion, went wrong. The assessments featured include ones from Nazi leaders such as SS-generals Josef Dietrich and SS-Brigadeführer Fritz Krämer, and they are paired with nine rarely seen photographs and three maps. The images include a photograph of Josef Dietrich taken by Eva Braun, one of Adolf Hitler pouring over a map, and one of SS grenadiers pausing to enjoy captured American cigarettes. The maps show different parts of the German offensive. The unique volume was created after Parker spent twenty-five years studying World War II and conducting more than two hundred interviews on it. Released ten years ago in a limited print run, it is now, shortly after the seventieth anniversary of the battle, finally back in print. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Download or read book Failure Of German Logistics During The German Ardennes Offensive Of 1944 written by Major James L. Kennedy Jr. and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2015-11-06 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study investigates the role that logistics played in the failure of the German Offensive in the Ardennes in 1944. The thesis explains that despite the incredible build-up of forces and supplies, the inability of the German strategic and operational logistics systems to properly equip, fuel, arm, and move forces caused the failure of the Ardennes Offensive. The concept of this thesis starts with the overall strategic military and political situation of Germany in the fall of 1944 that Hitler used to base his decision to conduct the offensive in December 1944. The study then examines in detail the strategic capabilities during the build-up of supplies and the operational level organization and planning for the offensive. An analysis of the details on the impact of terrain, climate, allied air interdiction, and Operation Point Blank is included in this chapter. Then it examines the first weeks of the offensive and looks at the failure of the fuel and arm and move tactical logistics functions. An analysis of the impact of logistics on supporting operations is included in this chapter.
Download or read book Hitler s Ardennes Offensive written by Edited by Danny S. Parker and published by . This book was released on 2016-10-31 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ardennes 1944 written by Yves Buffetaut and published by Casemate. This book was released on 2018-10-19 with total page 130 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: German army deficiencies are often cited as the reason for the failure of the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes region of France, Belgium and Luxembourg in December of 1944 to January 1945 which the Germans called Operation Wacht am Rhein, the Allies named the Ardennes Counteroffensive, and was also commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge. It is certainly true that the three German armies regrouped for the offensive were in differing states; only the 5th Panzer Army was in something resembling good condition, with the 6th and the 7th mediocre at best. The divisions were also often not mobile enough because of the lack of automotive equipment and were short on tanks and artillery. But these cannot be considered the only reasons for the German failure: it was also the speed of the Allied reaction, and especially the conduct of the Americans, who experienced some of the fiercest combat of the war, and suffered over 100,000 casualties. This volume in the Casemate Illustrated series, with over 100 photographs and 24 color profiles describes in detail the different events that caused the German defeat, from the beginning of the offensive on December 16, 1944 to the retreat behind the Siegfried Line. It looks at several topics in particular: the American resistance at St. Vith; the resistance of the 101st Airborne in Bastogne; German obstinacy in persisting with the siege at Bastogne; the airlift and the intervention of the 9th US Air Force; the rapid regrouping of the 3rd US Army; Patton's counterattack; the British counterattack; and finally how the Allies failed to transform the German withdrawal into rout, missing an opportunity to cross the Siegfried line and the Rhine on the heels of the Germans, leading to an incomplete victory.
Download or read book The German Counteroffensive in the Ardennes written by Charles V. P. Von Luttichau and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Ardennes 1944 1945 written by Christer Bergström and published by Casemate / Vaktel Forlag. This book was released on 2014-12-19 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive, photo-filled account of the six-week-long Battle of the Bulge, when panzers slipped through the forest and took the Allies by surprise. In December 1944, just as World War II appeared to be winding down, Hitler shocked the world with a powerful German counteroffensive that cracked the center of the American front. The attack came through the Ardennes, the hilly and forested area in eastern Belgium and Luxembourg that the Allies had considered a “quiet” sector. Instead, for the second time in the war, the Germans used it as a stealthy avenue of approach for their panzers. Much of US First Army was overrun, and thousands of prisoners were taken as the Germans forged a fifty-mile “bulge” into the Allied front. But in one small town, Bastogne, American paratroopers, together with remnants of tank units, offered dogged resistance. Meanwhile, the rest of Eisenhower’s “broad front” strategy came to a halt as Patton, from the south, and Hodges, from the north, converged on the enemy incursion. Yet it would take an epic, six-week-long winter battle, the bloodiest in the history of the US Army, before the Germans were finally pushed back. Christer Bergström has interviewed veterans, gone through huge amounts of archive material, and performed on-the-spot research in the area. The result is a large amount of previously unpublished material and new findings, including reevaluations of tank and personnel casualties and the most accurate picture yet of what really transpired from the perspectives of both sides. With nearly four hundred photos, numerous maps, and thirty-two superb color profiles of combat vehicles and aircraft, it provides perhaps the most comprehensive look at the battle yet published.
Download or read book Ardennes Alsace written by Roger Cirillo and published by . This book was released on 1995 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Battle Of The Bulge written by Danny S. Parker and published by Da Capo Press, Incorporated. This book was released on 1991-10-21 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On December 16. 1944, Hitler launched his last desperate offensive of World War II. It was his final great gamble and later became known as the Battle of the Bulge.
Download or read book The Battle of the Bulge 1944 written by Robin Cross and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In December 1944, the German Army launched an attack through the Ardennes forest that aimed to seize the port of Antwerp and cut the Allied supply lines, hoping to force the Western Allies either to delay their advance or agree to a peace settlement. The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Last Hope is a comprehensive history of Hitler's last offensive in the West, the failure of which undoubtedly hastened the end of the war. The book begins with a study of the background to the battle, and a description of events in the West leading up to the offensive. The strategic importance of Antwerp as a major port close to the Allied lines is explained, as are the factors which led Hitler to believe an attack could be successful. The poor state of the Allies' defenses and the low readiness of the American troops on the front line in the Ardennes are covered in depth, as are the special tactics used by the Germans for the attack, most notably Jochen Peiper's commandos dressed in American uniforms. The book shows how, after initial German success, a bitter struggle developed between the German and American forces for the key town of Bastogne. It details how the offensive lost momentum and thus any chance of success, particularly once the skies cleared and the Allies were able to bring the full weight of their airpower to bear. The book's authoritative text is complemented with detailed maps explaining the troop movements, which took place during the battle. It also includes appendices with information on orders of battle, losses and equipment. The Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Last Hope is a comprehensive account of the battle that saw a German attempt to relive the successes of 1940, but one that was effectively doomed from the beginning, and the consequences of that failure for Hitler's Third Reich.
Download or read book Hitler s Last Offensive written by Peter Elstob and published by Leo Cooper Books. This book was released on 2003 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the full story of the Battle of the Ardennes. in the last weeks of 1944 the German armies in the west, after a continuous retreat since the battle of Normandy five months earlier were regrouping in what they thought was to be the last battle in defense of the Fatherland. But Hitler had other plans - to mount an offensive through the Ardennes that would deal such a blow to the Western Allies that they would be willing to negotiate a separate peace. This is the offensive known as the Battle of the Bulge. Could Hitler's gamble have succeeded? Could he have reached his objective, the port of Antwerp? Peter Elstob unfolds the whole panorama of the "last offensive" which was one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World war, punctuated with many acts of individual acts of heroism and many errors of judgment by the firebrand General George Patton, the superb German generals and others. Paradoxically, all it ensured was that the Russians would reach Berlin first.
Download or read book Ardennes 1944 An Analysis Of The Operational Defense written by Major Francis M. Cain III and published by Pickle Partners Publishing. This book was released on 2014-08-15 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study examines the nature of the defense at the operational level of war by analyzing the Battle of the Bulge in Dec. 1944 using the concepts of blitzkrieg and "web" defense. The monograph begins by discussing the influence of defensive theory on the operational concepts of blitzkrieg and "web" defense. The German concept of blitzkrieg incorporates Clausewitz’s theory of the offense by emphasizing surprise, speed, and concentration at the decisive point. The counter to the blitzkrieg offense is found in COL F.O. Miksche’s concept of "web" defense. The Battle of the Bulge provides an excellent example of a "web" defense pitted against a blitzkrieg offense. The German blitzkrieg in the Ardennes in 1944 failed for many reasons: 1) Army Group B did not concentrate its strength against the most vulnerable section of the Allied line; 2) The rugged Ardennes terrain could be easily defended against attacks by mechanized forces; 3) Key American commanders (Eisenhower, Gerow, and Middleton) quickly recognized the value of holding several key road junctions (St. Vith, Malmedy, Bastogne, Marche, and Rochefort) which dominated movement through the Ardennes; 4) The Allies held the shoulders of the German penetration; 5) The Allies quickly concentrated armored and motorized units to blunt the German penetration; and 6) Army Group B lacked operational reserves and adequate logistic support. The analysis of the Ardennes shows that the defense is indeed the stronger form of war and that a "web" defense can be employed effectively against a blitzkrieg offense...The Allies effectively used a "web" defense to counter these threats. If NATO is to defeat a Soviet attack without resorting to the use of nuclear weapons, it must adopt a viable operational defensive concept. "Web" defense is such a concept.
Download or read book Battle of the Bulge written by Robert E. Merriam and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 1983-06 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Hitler s Winter written by Anthony Tucker-Jones and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-06-09 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'What a brilliant book this is... a terrific narrative of Hitler's Ardennes offensive of December 1944 – superb storytelling that achieves a skilful balance between drama and detail.' - James Holland The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive in the West. Launched in the depths of winter to neutralize the overwhelming Allied air superiority, three German armies attacked through the Ardennes, the weakest part of the American lines, with the aim of splitting the Allied armies and seizing the vital port of Antwerp within a week. It was a tall order, as the Panzers had to get across the Our, Amblève, Ourthe and Meuse rivers, and the desperate battle became a race against time and the elements, which the Germans would eventually lose. But Hitler's dramatic counterattack did succeed in catching the Allies off guard in what became the largest and bloodiest battle fought by US forces during the war. In this book, Anthony Tucker-Jones tells the story of the battle from the German point of view, from the experiences of the infantrymen and panzer crewmen fighting on the ground in the Ardennes to the operational decisions of senior commanders such as SS-Oberstgruppenführer Josef 'Sepp' Dietrich and General Hasso von Manteuffel that did so much to decide the fate of the offensive. Drawing on new research, Hitler's Winter provides a fresh perspective on one of the most famous battles of World War II.
