Short description
Tells the story of the furious fighting and heavy losses and how close Adolf Hitler came to being successful. Featuring individual stories from the American, British and German combatants in the Ardennes battle, this book provides an account of one of the most important battles of the Second World War.
Long description
The so-called 'Battleof the Bulge' was one of the most important battles of the Second World War. It was certainly America's largest and most crucial land battle, at one stage involving half a million men. Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's Final Gambletells the story of Hitler's brilliant plan to recapture Antwerpand force a negotiated peace on the Western front; and how close he came to success. Featuring individual stories from the German army and American GIs, as well as a more comprehensive account of the British intervention than seen in previous books on the battle, Patrick Delaforce provides a gripping account of one of the most important battles of the Second World War.
Review
'Delaforce is a fine researcher and presents the facts with a clarity most historians would do well to copy' Scottish Legion News 'The author disentangles the various strands in this awesome confrontation with skill and he also balances the wider view with an attention to the detail that brings it all back to life.' Contemporary Review
Table of contents
- CONTENTS Introduction: Bleak midwinter 1. Winston Churchill: 'The forward leap was over' 2. Euphoria followed by complacency 3. On the other side of the hill: Third Reich 4. The Allied generals at war 5. Hitler's great counter-offensive plans 6. Hitler's brilliant deception plans 7. Hilter's deceptions: Stosser and Greif 8. The air war 9. Hitler's battle plans 10. The secret war of ULTRA and Enigma 11. The Ardennes battlegrounds: the Ghost Front 12. 'All hell's broken loose' 13. The Losheim Gap Battle 14. The doom and destruction of the young 'Golden Lions' 15. The 'Checkerboard' division: 'A hurricane of iron and fire' 16. The 'Ivy' division defend 'Little Switzerland' 17. Battles for the Twin Towns and the Elsenborn Ridge 18. Colonel Fuller and the Keystones: 'Buckets of Blood' 19. Peiper, Hitler's bodyguard and the massacres 20. The defence of St Vith 21. Montgomery takes command of US 1st and 9th Armies 22. The rise and fall of Dietrich's Sixth SS Panzer Army 23. The battle for Wiltz 24. The dying days of Kampfengruppe Peiper 25. The Seventh Army has problems in the south 26. The air war 16-25 December: the metallic starlings 27. All roads lead to Bastogne 28. Patton relieves Bastogne? 29. German Seveth Army: 'battle of attrition' 30. High Noon for von Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army 31. War in the air: Christmas Day to New Year's Day 32. Hitler's surprises (1) Operation Bodenplatte 33. British XXX Corps: longstop and counter-attack 34. Hitler's surprises (2) Operation Nordwind 35. Autumn Mist: January - retribution 36. Gotterdammerung: the final audit 37. The heroes Bibliography Index