CRUCIAL ENGAGEMENT

Along with the battles to hold St Vith and the Elsenborn Ridge, the Siege of Bastogne was one of the most important engagements in the Battle of the Bulge. A small market town of around 4,000 people, it was of vital strategic importance due to the network of solid roads that connected there. Its capture was therefore of prime concern for the Germans. As Panzer commander General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz put it, “Bastogne must be taken, otherwise it will remain an abscess in our lines of communication. We must clean out Bastogne and then march on.” But the attack was falling behind schedule.

When he realised just how big the German Ardennes Offensive was, General Eisenhower called on the SHAEF reserve, the 82nd and 101st Airborne divisions, which were in France, near Reims. Although elite divisions, they were at the time resting and training replacement recruits when called upon to defend the Allied lines. Their orders on 17 December were blunt, to the point and lacking in explanation – ‘Get to the front fast’. As the 101st’s Brigadier General Tony McAuliffe put it, “All I know of the situation is that there has been a break