![]() Tankers from the 7th Armoured Division, the Desert Rats, who were out on rest suddenly found themselves travelling to the snowbound Ardennes where they took on German tanks. When called on to surrender, their commander’s reply was “Nuts!”Īs the situation was critical, British troops from 21st Army Group were asked to come and support their American Allies. Soon the town of Bastogne was surrounded, where men of the 82nd and 101st Airborne gallantly held on. Some German SS units murdered American prisoners, most notably at Malmedy, and several cases of battlefield atrocities against Belgian civilians also happened at this time. The German onslaught took the Americans completely by surprise, and in most sectors their lines were overrun, resulting in heavy losses including many prisoners. It was Hitler’s bold plan to break through the American positions, push them back from the German border, and re-take the port of Antwerp stopping the vital supplies from coming in. Operation Wacht Am Rhein, or later known as ‘Autumn Mist’ had begun. Suddenly they found themselves under attack from shell fire, then tanks and then masses of German infantry, including some of the best German troops available in the West. This was considered a ‘quiet’ sector and was defended largely by American troops that had limited combat experience. In the early hours of 16th December 1944 more than 1,600 German guns opened fire on the American positions in the Belgian Ardennes. While the weather prevented further operations, at least they could build up for the next big attack. Having just concluded Operation Market Garden in September 1944, clearing large areas of Holland in October, and with the landings on the Walcheren Island in November, finally the port of Antwerp was open – and supplies could be delivered nearer to the Allied lines. It was increasingly cold, deep snow was falling across Belgium and the Netherlands, and this wasn't enough to keep warm, let alone fight battles. As the winter of 1944 approached the Allied forces in Europe went into winter quarters.
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