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Other US
Three essential resources from CRIBA:
Air Forces"Air Power in the Battle of the Bulge" by Col William R. Carter, Aerospace Power Journal (Winter 1989). This article goes beyond the clichés to show just how air power became a decisive favort in Allied success. Radar was a major factor. "Had it not been for radar, the coordination of effective air-to-ground operations would have been 'incredibly difficult and impossible under the weather conditions' that prevailed."
Martin K. Presswood (390th Bomb Group) "'Battle of the Bulge' Fly-Over… December 24, 1944." Detailed recollection. Presswood and the 570th Bomb Squadron are ordered to fly over the battle as a morale boost; close air support was provided by 9th Air Force. Medical
"The casualties came in so fast, nurses had to start blood transfusions, which only doctors had done before. Whatever needed to be done was done by everyone. There was no limit. I'll never forget those young patients, hurt so badly."
"The army way of getting somewhere just to wait created an almost unbearable boredom among our camp."
"When I tried to rest, I couldn't sleep, thinking of all those wounded patients and all that needed to be done for them. There were some I cannot forget to this day, like one whose leg was amputated, and when he was told, he was so furious he wanted to die."
"Medics in the Bulge" by Ralph Storm. This is a lengthy, well-written and informative article, starting with induction-center medics in the States, and moving on to operating procedures, shell-shock, self-inflicted wounds, the use of German medics, segregation, and other topics.
"On the 16th December 1944, everything just happened. We left everything all our clothes, all our supplies we left everything but our patients. The wounded were loaded onto trucks and we began a race against the German Army." Alain S. Batens, "The 42nd Field Hospital in the Battle of the Bulge"
"Every available man, cooks, clerks, K.P.'s alike, grabbed rifles, grenades, bazookas and joined in the heroic stand. Everybody fought but the medics, and we had our hands more than full. … The human mind can never completely insure itself to seeing body after body, soaked in scarlet blood, and writhing in unbearable agony." Other
"The thing that concerned me the most was that we were being led by a man who was in charge of the motor pool."
"On one occasion the Germans finished their normal barrage, waited a minute or so for us to emerge from the cellar and launched another salvo. After the first salvo, we were emerging from the cellar and I heard, I guess inner voice say 'Do Not go upstairs yet'. I also experienced that I was being physically held. It was very real to me. It is difficult to put into words. The second salvo hit. The man ahead of me on the stairs stumbled back down and said 'John, I'm hit.'"
"Tragic Christmas for the 563rd Ordnance Maintenance Company" on 12 US soldiers who died in an accident at Esneux, Belgium.
"The 635th Tank Destroyer Battalion during the Battle of the Bulge" by Carl Condon, Historian of the 635th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Exemplary summary of their action during the Battle of the Bulge, using contemporary documents together with personal recollections.
"I became envolved with the fighting in the Bulge quite by accident. My division, was still in England except for those of us who had been sent ahead with our vehicles."
"Cavalry in the Gap: The 14th Cavalry Group (Mechanized)" by D. J. Judge (CRIBA).
"I think if the Germans had captured the fuel dump, it certainly would changed the course of history."
"176th Field Artillery Battalion History" by Joseph Cerf Loeser (on CRIBA) "Christmas in the Bulge, the Ardennes" Poem by Jim Hilton.
"The Garrison of Gouvy: 89th Quartermaster Railhead Company in the Battle of the Bulge 1944" author unknown, The Quartermaster Review (MarchApril, 1945) "On December 24th the 89th Quartermaster railhead company reached First Army Headquarters-a proud bunch of guys! They had earned their right to the name of fighting Quartermasters."
"In His Father's Footsteps: The son of a soldier follows his father's path to Belgium and the Battle of the Bulge" by Frank Warner, Of The Morning Call. Was this fellow Airborne?
In memory of Ervin Daniel Schmidt (513th Parachute Infantry) by Debbie (Schmidt) Martin.
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If you enjoy this site you may like these other sites by me: D-Day on the Web. Everything about the allied invasion of Normandy, June 6, 1944. The Battle of Kursk on the Web. Everything on the greatest tank battle of history. Andrew Jackson on the Web. The ultimate resource on "Old Hickory," President Andrew Jackson. |