Four Hours of Fury
Page 42
The German perspective is based on multiple sources including period Allied intelligence assessments, intercepted German communications (via ULTRA), POW interrogation reports, and postwar interviews/monographs. Anyone seeking to better understand the Germans’ willingness to stand and fight against such overwhelming Allied firepower should read The Wehrmacht’s Last Stand by Robert Citino.
Given all of the above, I must express, however, that I accept full responsibility for any errors of fact or judgment that might be found within this book.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
© ANDREW GEONETTA
JAMES M. FENELON served in the military for twelve years and is a graduate of the US Army’s Airborne, Jumpmaster, and Pathfinder schools. His writing has appeared in World War II magazine and FlyPast. An alumnus of the University of Texas at Austin, he and his wife live in Texas. Four Hours of Fury is his first book.
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ABBREVIATIONS
The following abbreviations appear in the notes and selected sources:
17ABN
17th Airborne Division
17ADA
17th Airborne Division Association
21AG
21 Army Group
AEB
Airborne Engineer Battalion
AMC
Airborne Medical Company
AOMC
Airborne Ordnance Maintenance Company
AQ
Airborne Quarterly
AQQC
Airborne Ordnance Quartermaster Company
CJB
Clay and Joan Blair Collection
CMH
Army Center of Military History, Carlisle, Pennsylvania
CNA
Canadian National Archives
FAAA
First Allied Airborne Army
FLP
Floyd Lavinius Parks Papers
FMS
Foreign Military Studies Series
GFAB
Glider Field Artillery Battalion
GIR
Glider Infantry Regiment
GPM
Silent Wings Glider Pilot Museum, Lubbock, Texas
LAC
Library and Archives Canada
MBR
Matthew B. Ridgway Papers
NARA
National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, Maryland
NPRC
National Personnel Records Center, St. Louis, Missouri
OSS
Office of Strategic Services
PFAB
Parachute Field Artillery Battalion
PIR
Parachute Infantry Regiment
S&S
Stars and Stripes
SHAEF
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force
TBD
Tank Destroyer Battalion
TCC
Troop Carrier Command
TCG
Troop Carrier Group
TCW
Troop Carrier Wing
TFH
Thunder from Heaven, News Bulletin of the 17th Airborne Division Association
UKNA
United Kingdom National Archive, Kew, UK
WBB
Papers of William B. Breuer
NOTES
Prologue
55,000 dug-in Wehrmacht troops: Estimated enemy strength as noted in FAAA, “HQ Operations Reports, 1944–1945,” March 21, 1945.
“I am writing from a plane”: John Chester, letter to the author, September 1, 2007.
Looks like we are going to be real shorthanded: Ibid., November 15, 2007. Boatner survived as related by Chester: “Try as we may, no one in our outfit was able to learn anything about Boatner for about five months. . . . The war had ended. . . . I was with a group to be flown to the town of Nice on the French Riviera. Would you believe our pilot was the same one who had flown us on Boatner’s fateful trip? . . . The pilot had visited Boatner three times in the hospital. He said the doctors had indicated that if they were able to save the leg, Boatner would have little or no use of it.”
PART I DECEMBER 1944–MARCH 1945
Chapter 1 “Where in the hell is everybody at?”
digging foxholes in the Meuse-Argonne Cemetery: King Harris, Adventures of Ace Miller, 57. For their first action, the 17th Airborne Division was attached to the US VIII Corps, under the command of General Troy Middleton; elements of the 513th PIR’s 2nd Battalion dug positions in the cemetery.
This is war: Lynn Aas, “Remembering the Price of Freedom,” 6.
His units were still assembling at their line of departure: William M. Miley, unpublished manuscript, 29, and David P. Schorr, letter to Gene Herrmann, September 26, 1990.
Just as the forward elements began their advance, Oberst Otto-Ernst Remer’s: Antony Beevor, Ardennes 1944, 336.
Confronted by the heavily armed and battle-hardened: Ibid., 336.
Izzy’s actions disrupted the enemy attack: Isadore S. Jachman Medal of Honor Citation.
a German counterattack led by fifteen Mark IV and Mark V Panzers: Talon, 6, and 17ABN, Summary of Operations, 3.
Patton, learning of the attack’s ferocity: Lewis Brereton, The Brereton Diaries, 394.
“The 17th saved the day”: Ibid., 394.
“The 17th has suffered a bloody nose”: Antony Beevor, Ardennes 1944, 337, quoting Major Chester B., Omar Bradley’s aide.
“God, how green we are”: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 38, quoting James R. Pierce, commander of the division’s 194th Glider Infantry Regiment (GIR).
519 men killed in action and almost 3,500 wounded: William C. Mitchell, 17th Airborne Casualties, 1.
“long nightmare”: William M. Miley, unpublished manuscript, 29.
Quartermaster troops piled the dead: John Chester, letter to the author, November 15, 2007.
to those of wildflowers: Oscar B. Franklin, WWII Veteran Survey, CMH.
long-abandoned trenches from World War I could still be seen: Richard H. Haney, When Is Daddy Coming Home?, 75.
on what they christened the Diarrhea Express: Ben Scherer, Soldiers and Brothers Under the Canopy, 41.
a company commander joked: Ibid., 42, quoting Captain John Spears.
camps set up three or four miles out in the surrounding countryside: The Talon Crosses the Rhine, 1.
varied civilian occupations: John Chester, “They Called It Varsity,” 54.
Private George Holdren and his squad: George Holdren, WWII Memoir, 37. Holdren was a member of the 155th Airborne Anti-Tank Battalion.
Its units could bathe, examine, and clothe 2,500 men in ten hours: FM 10-10, Quartermaster Service, 47, and 17ABN, “Operational Diary,” 19.
entered the shower six at a time: Bud Dudenhoeffer, JUMP!, 87.
each man underwent a quick medical examination: FM 10-10, 47.
Chester jolted awake: John Chester, letter to the author, November 15, 2007.
They pitched additional tents and improved paths and roads: 17ABN, Historical Report of Operation Varsity, i.
“We got more rest at the front”: History 139th Airborne Engineers, 19.
Laid out according to Army regulations: FM 10-10, 322.
“I see you are from Iowa”: George Holdren, WWII Memoir, 37.
local Frenchmen hired to assist the cooks: 17ABN, “Operational Diary,” 19.
Censors blotted out sensitive details with India ink: Richard H. Hane
y, When Is Daddy Coming Home?, 41.
Private Joseph Clyde Haney, known as Clyde . . . “Charles Holmen and Larry Owens”: Ibid., 6–9, 18, 41. Haney was originally assigned to Baker Company of the 193rd GIR.
First Allied Airborne Army . . . designated the 17th a priority recipient of men and materiel: 17ABN, Historical Report of Operation Varsity, 12. And XVIII Corps (ABN), War Diary, February 17, 1945. For simplicity’s sake in the narrative, I have shortened the reference of First Allied Airborne Army down to Airborne Army.
Five hundred planeloads of supplies: 17ABN, Historical Report of Operation Varsity, i.
needed 4,000 to return to full strength: Ibid., i.
One of the division’s parachute infantry regiments had been reduced: Kirk B. Ross, The Sky Men, 236. The 513th PIR had been reduced to 46 percent of its total manpower with 70 percent of the losses suffered by its front-line rifle companies.
calling for 5,000 replacements in February and another 3,200 in March: FAAA, “History of Headquarters,” 39.
“Where in the hell is everybody at?”: Kirk B. Ross, The Sky Men, 261.
“to be in shock after the violent combat”: Bart Hagerman, War Stories, 188. Tom Funk was assigned as a rifleman to the 513th PIR.
by officially changing their designation to “reinforcements”: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 334.
Rumors suggesting jailed inmates: Bud Dudenhoeffer, JUMP!, 88.
“two weeks of torturous physical training”: Bart Hagerman, War Stories, 222.
“The first person that we met as we disembarked was”: Bob Fox, Memories—The Way I Saw It, 14. Robert Fox was a new arrival in Easy Company of the 513th PIR.
a running joke among veterans was: Antony Beevor, Ardennes 1944, 53.
With a maximum range of a mere five miles: John Weeks, Airborne Equipment, 86.
Chester worked them through drills: John Chester, letter to the author, May 17, 2007.
Chester’s crew destroyed the German target: John Chester, letter to the author, September 1, 2007.
HQ posted requirements for issuing passes: 17ABN, “Operational Diary,” 19.
Chester requested only $10.00 per pay period: John Chester, letter to the author, November 15, 2007. Accounting for inflation of $13.85, total equaled approx. $2,127.36 a month (or approx. $25,528.32 a year).
glass of watery French beer: The Talon Crosses the Rhine, 1.
children soon learned they could trade bottles of wine for a few cigarettes: John Yanok, History 155th Airborne Anti-Tank, Anti-Aircraft Battalion, 43.
prohibiting the purchase of local foodstuffs: 17ABN, “Operational Diary,” 21.
formalizing the explicit number of passengers allowed per vehicle type: Ibid., 20.
apprehend offenders with a cordon of surprise checkpoints: Ibid., 22.
To soldiers returning from the front: Jack Belden, Still Time to Die, 26.
“take advantage of the things that interest you”: “Paris, Guide for Leave Troops.”
George Holdren, with his recently cleaned teeth, won a pass to Paris: George Holdren, WWII Memoir, 37.
Chester dumped the plate: John Chester, letter to the author, November 15, 2007.
Sally got Baines’ full attention: Bart Hagerman, War Stories, 217.
Chapter 2 The Spartan
Roman senator: “World Battlefronts,” TIME, 31.
uncanny ability to recall names: Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, 6.
“Old Iron Tits”: Ibid., 225. The Iron Tits nickname was a bit of a misnomer; Ridgway actually wore a grenade taped to his right chest harness and a first-aid kit on his left, which was often mistaken for a second grenade.
“like jumping off the top of a freight car”: Matthew B. Ridgway, Soldier, 35.
“indispensable prerequisite for the final drive into Germany”: Forrest C. Pogue, The Supreme Command, 294.
500 paratroopers rushed: Martin Middlebrook, Arnhem 1944, 143.
1,485 men killed in action and an additional 6,525 missing: Ibid., 439.
the 101st Airborne Division suffered 2,110 casualties and the 82nd lost 1,432 men: John C. Warren, “U.S. Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,” 146.
“ninety percent success”: Ibid., 146.
“vigorous command supervision”: Matthew B. Ridgway, Soldier, 111.
Simpson’s army, consisting of ten divisions of over 300,000 soldiers and 1,394 tanks: Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive, 137.
which necessitated a naval admiral to oversee the flotillas of landing craft: Ibid., 301.
VARSITY, like all other Allied operations: Bill Hines, Operation CODENAME, 42.
personal aircraft decorated with the moniker Debonair Duke: Lewis Brereton, The Brereton Diaries, 300.
“marginally competent”: Bradley, quoted in Carlo D’Este Eisenhower: A Soldier’s Life, 610.
“resisted any effort to work together”: Bradley interview quote, no date, CBJ, CMH, Box 57.
Brereton himself took a dim view of his airborne assignment: Lewis Brereton, The Brereton Diaries, 308.
Supporting Gale were the twelve men of the Airborne Army’s Plans Section: FAAA, “History of Headquarters,” 11.
Airborne Army’s Parisian headquarters in the Hôtel Royal: Ibid., 360, 395.
He’d endured gas attacks: “Major-General Richard Nelson Gale MC.”
Their poor performance had contributed: Forrest C. Pogue, The Supreme Command, 286.
He planned to use Ridgway’s corps for the other pending operations: Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, 433.
other planned airdrops to cross the Rhine: FAAA, “Airborne Army Operational Reports, 44–45,” report dated February 1, 1945. The other planned drops across the Rhine were Operations CHOKER II and NAPLES II.
Eisenhower reiterated that Montgomery’s plan would stand: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 8, 1945.
Both he and Bradley were certain: Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, 429.
Bradley wanted to keep Ridgway in the fight: Ibid., 433.
“one that no professional soldier could turn down”: Matthew B. Ridgway, Soldier, 18.
the four principles behind Montgomery’s airborne plan: FAAA, “Airborne Army Operational Reports, 1944–1945 Varsity to Wildgirl,” report dated February 9, 1945.
In addition to the two pilots: AAF Manual No. 50-17, Pilot Training Manual for the CG-4A Glider, 50.
At a later phase the 13th Airborne would drop ninety miles: FAAA, “Airborne Army Operational Reports, 1944–1945, Varsity to Wildgirl,” report dated February 9, 1945.
Ridgway sat ramrod straight in his chair: Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, 4.
“Absolutely out of the question”: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 9, 1945.
the earliest possible date for the operation would have to be April 1: FAAA, “Airborne Army Operational Reports, 1944–1945, Varsity to Wildgirl,” report dated February 9, 1945.
should expect higher casualties: Ibid., report dated February 9, 1945.
Ridgway dispatched Gale and a small team of British airborne officers to coordinate: Ibid., report dated February 9, 1945.
the men agreed, Gale’s corps would transition to managing the preparation of 6th Airborne: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 9, 1945.
Ridgway discussed the matter with Belchem: XVIII Corps (ABN), “War Diary,” February 9, 1945, CMH, MBR, Box 59.
Ridgway left to complete his transfer and relocate his headquarters to Épernay: Clay Blair, Ridgway’s Paratroopers, 436.
would withdraw the 6th Airborne to their bases in England no later than February 15: Floyd Lavinius Parks Diary, February 9, 1945.
The conditions of the twelve French airfields: Ibid.
The abandoned Luftwaffe airstrips had been bombed: John C. Warren, “U.S. Airborne Operations in World War II, European Theater,” 158.
They had to erect crew barracks and storage facilities: FAAA, Operation Varsity, 19. Additionally, the task consumed “13,719 tons o
f pierced steel planking, 7,050 tons of tarmac surfacing materiel, 2,500 tons of rock, 100 tons of stone chip screenings, 18,000 gallons of bitumen seal coat, 5,310 rolls of square mesh track, 51,070 rolls of Hessian mat, 53,300 cubic yards of hardcore, 55,686 bales of straw, [and] 300 barrels of tar.”
Chapter 3 Thunder from Heaven
To address the shortfalls: FAAA, “History of Headquarters,” 39.
After graduating in 1918: Jack Miley, “Remarks at Memorial Service,” 7. And biographical information provided by 17ADA.
“Hell, there’s nothing to it”: Harris T. Mitchell, The Story of the First Airborne Battalion, 9.
Miley organized a prototyping regimen for each platoon: Ibid., 29.
Rubber soles prevented slipping: Christophe Deschodt, D-Day Paratroopers, 48.
His principles landed him in the hospital: “Parachute Infantry Fighting Men Are Proud of Their Commander.”
“He was always in superb physical condition”: William P. Yarborough, “Gen. Yarborough’s Speech at Pinehurst Memorial Banquet,” 53.
“The percentage of failures, which were colorfully described as”: Maurice Newnham, Prelude to Glory, 254.
Miley, after rejecting several disappointing designs: Harris T. Mitchell, The Story of the First Airborne Battalion, 34.
The Army Uniform Board approved the modification: Gerard M. Devlin, “When was it that U.S. Army paratroopers started the time honored tradition of wearing jump boots with Class A dress uniforms . . . ,” 45.
“The dolls don’t exactly put on a chill”: “Parachutist,” War Department training film.
Calling the troops together for a “fight talk”: William M. Miley, unpublished manuscript, 23.