Fact & Fiction

[dieseltaylor]

Following on from a JK linky and as I rather loathed the style of writing for "The Longest Winter " and I wondered about it.

Looking at Wikipedia gives the battle and the information there comes from an Army captain writing in the 90's. Looking at the bio of Boucks on Wikipedia reveals a very large discrepancy of around 300+ casualties on a total of 500 men.

Which then makes you wonder about the unit citation. They did a superb job and were well lead but it is kind of interesting where the casualty figures derived from. Heroes in anyones book but the Paratroop Battalion seem duncelike and it would be nice to hear the other side of the story.

Despite heavy fighting, the I&R platoon's status was good. Only one soldier had been wounded. He was hit in the face by a rifle grenade, which miraculously failed to explode. The second attack again decimated the German unit. The paratroopers managed to bring in some mortar support, but the I&R platoon was safe in their covered foxholes. The third attack by the Germans in the afternoon yielded the same outcome. Hundreds of German soldiers lay dead in the snow. The Germans had been unable to approach the I&R position. Several U.S. soldiers had exhibited extreme boldness to prevent penetrations of their perimeter.

As the afternoon continued the I&R platoon's efforts started to wane. Many soldiers had been up most of the night, and the day's fighting had exhausted them. Some were also running low on ammunition. A U.S. field artillery forward observer had shown up but helped the situation little due to the confusion caused by the German attack throughout the Ardennes sector. Lieutenant Bouck sent two soldiers to regimental headquarters for reinforcements or orders to withdraw. They were both captured before reaching the headquarters.

Lieutenant Bouck planned to withdraw his platoon when they had expended all ammunition. However, as dusk arrived on 16 December, about 50 paratroopers flanked the platoon's position and were quickly inside the perimeter. The Germans moved to each foxhole clearing them out as they went. A German soldier fired into Bouck's position hitting the lieutenant in the leg and seriously wounding his foxhole mate in the face. Every platoon member became a prisoner, except one who was killed in action.

Consequence

The engagement at Lanzerath was over but its effect was astounding. The 18 men of the I&R platoon had inflicted between 400 and 500 casualties, decimating an entire battalion of the German 3d Parachute Division.

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/army/mipb/1996-1/delagius.htm

From Wikipedia

Lyle Bouck, Jr. (December 17, 1923) enlisted in the U.S. National Guard at age 14. During World War II, he was a 20 year old Lieutenant in charge of the Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon, 394th Infantry Regiment, 99th Infantry Division. On the first morning of the Germans' advance during the Battle of the Bulge, his 18 man unit along with four forward artillery observers held off an entire German battalion of more than 500 men for nearly an entire day, killing or wounding 92, and significantly delayed the German advance in a vital sector of the northern front. Every single member of the platoon was later decorated, making it one of the most decorated platoons in all of World War II. Bouck was one of the youngest commissioned officers in the U.S. Army.[1]:6

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyle_Bouck

Looking at the 1981 award citation they quote the holding of the position for a delay of 18 hours however the actual battle was apparently from dawn in mid-winter to dusk so that would be roughly 6- 7am to 4 pm. I will be more precise on the 16th!.

http://www.ww2awards.com/person/35716

Just as an interesting aside someone decides to add a novel twist in 2011.

Lt. Bouck is still alive in St. Louis and will turn 88 on December 17. You see he was captured just before the cuckoo clock struck mid-night and he turned 21.

http://www.ives42.com/ives42/about-2/veterans-day-speech-2011/

[JonS]

Rule of thumb: if JK provided it, it should not be trusted.

[dieseltaylor]

I actually trust no one : )

Check everything but most particularly populist military writers.

[LongLeftFlank]

This sounds just like a lot of the dramatic DienBienPhu accounts of mowing down waves of screaming barbarian hordes: "eyewitnesses" claim (and likely sincerely recall) hundreds of enemy bodies left in the wire -- but since they didn't end in possession of the battlefield, those claims are unverifiable (unless the enemy does, of course).

[JonS]

http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/bastogne.html

[dieseltaylor]

Cracking link Jon.

What a site.

Thanks

[JasonC]

dt - I think the operative part of the actual fight was the artillery observer part...

18 men held off a battalion because they were calling in indirect fire. Yes their own small arms (especially MGs) had a final protective fire effect in preventing the Germans from just running out of the barrage over the Americans, and in creating a target in the first place by providing a reason for the German infantry to attack and expose themselves. But artillery fire is the reason the Germans broke up and could not press home, took losses etc. Basically that fire undoubtedly separated the forces several times, breaking up the engagement in time, and the German unit in cohesion and confusion terms.

Plenty of the German forces for the Bulge were extremely green, having been brought up to strength by rear area "comb outs" of former naval or luftwaffe personnel. FJ formations were often nearly pure comb outs from ground crews and Flak manning teams made redundant by the lost air war, for example. Others were 16 year old recruits with only the briefest training. There are repeated reports from the US side of decidedly clumsy, dumb tactics, by some of those formations, too many for it all to be made up.

The smarter formations bypassed through the woods and cut retreat routes behind small US blocking positions, and cut them up when they ran. But not all were that well led or that smart...

[JonS]

NP.

You need to be a bit careful, though. AIUI, the Allies were on some weird timezone during WWII (British Double Daylight Savings, or sumfink), while the Germans were on Berlin(?) time. So where the site says dawn was at 0830 ... the clock time for dawn for the Allies might have been 0730, and for the Germans 0930.

Or sumfink.

Anyway, I've found that generally can't just take times noted in reports and whatnot as being directly useful. Hopefully, and report (such as an official OpOrd or AAR) will note exactly when dawn was, and you can then key off that.

[dieseltaylor]

JasonC

This report

http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/army/mipb/1996-1/delagius.htm

seems to indicate that the artillery fire was not available. But then again it is the the report that does not mention the four artillerymen and is highlights hundreds of bodies. Disappointing froma military man if he is the one in the wrong.

Fortunately dawn and dusk are not time zone dependent : )

[JonS]

Fortunately dawn and dusk are not time zone dependent : )

If the report just says something happened at 0830 ... is that before dawn, after dawn, or just at dawn? Dunno. Depends what time they're using.

Alternately, if the report says something happend "just after dawn", is that 0745, 0845, or 0945? Dunno. It depends what time they're using.

An example from closer to home:

On Saturday, 30 March 2013, at 0600 in London it will be light.

On Saturday, 31 March 2013, at 0600 in London it will be dark.

[JasonC]

dt - you are right, having read the more detailed reports, they called for it but did not receive fire.

I do find, however, that all the reports of 500 casualties are US side and seem to misunderstand the size of the total German force for its losses. The German side reporting gives their losses as 16 killed, 63 wounded, and 13 missing. The US lost 1 killed, 14 wounded, all still alive (wounded or not) taken prisoner.

[ForwardObserver]

I do find, however, that all the reports of 500 casualties are US side and seem to misunderstand the size of the total German force for its losses. The German side reporting gives their losses as 16 killed, 63 wounded, and 13 missing. The US lost 1 killed, 14 wounded, all still alive (wounded or not) taken prisoner.

To be honest, a 5:1 exchange ratio is much more believable than a 25:1 ratio, which looks like an episode borrowed from the Somme battles. In any case, quite an achievement.

[John Kettler]

dieseltaylor,

Nice work! When I dug up at the link, I was trying to find an account, any account, of using the .50 against infantry in Europe. Who am I kidding? I would've gladly taken one from the PTO.

JonS,

Your statement is a sweeping generalization. Also, do you know what the origin is of the "rule of thumb" term you invoked in reference to me? Answer, please, without first looking it up.

LongLeftFlank,

Counts of bodies in the wire were also distorted by the pesky VM practice of dragging off their dead and carrying off their wounded. So unfair--to the French and the historians!

JonS,

The British at home (and ALL Allied troops in Normandy) were on Double British Summer Time (+2 hrs.) in June of '44, this per Balkoski, UTAH BEACH, page xviii. What it was at the Bulge, I couldn't say. That site is remarkable, but it doesn't seem to have a move back the clock feature, so it doesn't automatically follow, given all the relative movements involved, that what's true now was then. Certainly that wasn't the case for the weather, where Bulge winter conditions were some of the worst in a long time.

dieseltaylor,

My read matches yours. Repeated requests for fire. Nothing available. Wire KOed first, then radio. I freely grant covered foxholes are great, concealed ones better, and a fence (see Pickett's Charge, Gettysburg) a gift of great value. Throw in a proper LMG and a Ma Deuce, and things look pretty good, but there's something off with the math, methinks. The toll reported in the article seems awfully high to me--absent artillery, but an unknown is how many "some" is when it comes to BARs. At this level, it could make a big difference. I see no mortars in the I&R platoon formation, but the fence is at point blank range for anything with longer effective range than an SMG.

http://www.iandrplatoon.org/What%20is.html

This guy, Dog Company, puts Kershaw's account through a Veg-A-Matic. Says the German lost 50, not 500! Link shows ground, provides orientation and painful dissection of practically every point in the story except the heroic defense.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16833954@N00/1418267706/

National War Museum vid of the fight (which I can't get to work; do I have to subscribe, or is it broken?)

Regards,

John Kettler