The Americans and Germans at Bastogne

In December 1944 the Third Reich was retreating. It was almost inconceivable that they could mount a counter offensive. To the Allies, the capitulation of the Third Reich was just around the corner. Or was it? Could the Battle of the Bulge succeed in turning the tide of the war for the German high command ? The US 101st Airborne were the only Allied unit capable of slowing down the German advance towards Antwerp - and they were ordered to do just that - at a place called Bastogne. The battle for the small Belgium cross-roads town is now world famous and to add to that historical narrative, the author has located de-classified interviews with the German unit commanders who took part. Brought together for the first time - they provide a unique perspective on the battle as the Germans were forced to make continuous alterations to their plans - and the 101st resisted every attempt to dislodge them. This book offers significant and fresh research on this famous battle and the narrative unfolds in words of the men who were actually there.

This WWII oral history provides a fresh account of this famous episode in the Battle of the Bulge using declassified interviews with German commanders. In December of 1944, the Third Reich was in retreat and Allied victory was just around the corner—unless the Battle of the Bulge succeeded in turning the tide of the war. The US 101st Airborne were the only Allied unit capable of slowing the German advance towards Antwerp. And they were ordered to do just that at a small Belgium cross-roads town called Bastogne. In this volume, historian Gary Sterne offers a vivid account of the Siege of Bastogne using declassified interviews with the German unit commanders who took part. Brought together for the first time – these ground-level accounts provide a unique perspective on the battle as the Germans were forced to make continuous alterations to their plans.