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Copyright © 2015 by Rick Atkinson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Atkinson, Rick.
Battle of the Bulge : adapted from The guns at last light / Rick Atkinson,
with Kate Waters. — First edition.
pages
cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-62779-113-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-62779-114-4 (e-book)
1. Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944–1945—Juvenile literature.
I. Waters, Kate. II. Atkinson, Rick. Guns at last light. III. Title.
D756.5.A7A78 2015
940.54'219348—dc23
2015000567
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First Edition—2015
Based on the book The Guns at Last Light by Rick Atkinson,
published by Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Designed by April Ward
Maps by Gene Thorp
Printed in the United States of America by
R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, Harrisonburg, Virginia
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contents
List of Maps
The Siegfried Line Campaign, Sept. 11–Dec. 15, 1944 . . . 18
Battle of the Bulge, Dec. 16–25, 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
....
Bastogne, Dec. 21–26, 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Map Legend . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Allied and axis commands and armies
engaged in the battle of the bulge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
World War II Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Key Players . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv
A Note to Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
The european theater:
september 1939–November 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
hitler's plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6
zero day: december 16, 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
war in the raw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Epilogue. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
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the end of the war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
charles de gaulle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .203
Changing the u.s. draft laws to supply reinforcements . . . 204
u.s. winter battle clothing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .206
radio communications on the battlefield . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
.
tracks, tanks, and planes at the battle of the bulge . . . . . . .209
napalm and poison gas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
winter takes its toll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .213
"kilroy was here" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
horses, mules, and dogs of war . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
signal corps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
handheld weapons used by infantry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
numbers tell part of the story. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
battle of the bulge timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .223
Places to Visit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
for more information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .230
image credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .231
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
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a note to readers
My father was a soldier, which made me an “Army brat.” He enlisted in the army when he was eighteen years old, in 1943, about
halfway through World War II. He became a lieutenant and arrived
in Europe just after the war there ended. A few years later my father
came home to America, went to college, got married, and went back
into the army, this time to make it a career. Once again he was sent
to war-torn Europe. I was born in Germany, but we lived for several
years in Austria, which was still occupied by American troops.
I guess it’s no wonder that I have always been fascinated by
World War II. It was the worst catastrophe in human history—a
time of great heroes, of bravery and sacrifice, but also a time of
great villains, of cowardice and horrible crimes. Seventy years
after it was fought, the war continues to influence our lives today.
Whether or not your great-grandfather or great-grandmother served
in the military or worked in a war factory, chances are it was the
most exciting, terrifying, and memorable period of their lives.
World War II is also the greatest story of the twentieth century,
and my hope is that you get to know this story because it tells us a
lot about who we are as a nation and what events shaped the world
you know today.
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The
european
theater
September 1939–November 1944
THIS WAR, which in the end involved sixty-one
countries, was sparked in September 1939 by
Germany’s invasion of Poland. Germany, under the
leadership of Adolf Hitler, was determined to
increase its size and resources. It had already
absorbed Austria and Czechoslovak ia, actions that
provoked criticism but not war. Poland, however,
was a country allied with most western European
countries; therefore, Great Britain and France
declared war on Germany.
THE GERMAN march west began soon after. In
April 1940, Germany invaded Norway and Denmark,
and the following month, Belgium and the Netherlands. As the armies of western Eu rope assembled
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and supplied for war, Germany began bombing
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Britain, in raids known as the Blitz, German for “lightning.”
In less than a year, London was bombed seventy-one times,
causing massive damage and resulting in the evacuation of
hundreds of thousands of children to the countryside.
IN JUNE 1941, Germany turned the other way and invaded
the Soviet Union.
It was the Japa nese attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl
Harbor, Hawaii, in December 1941 that brought the United
States into the confl ict. Thus the sides were set: the Allied
powers, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia,
China, the Soviet Union, and the United States, against the
main Axis powers of Germany, Italy, and Japan.
The U.S. destroyer Shaw burns during the Japanese surprise
bombing attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor on the
Hawaiian island of Oahu, December 7, 1941.
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Both Germany and the United States fought the war on
two fronts: for Germany this meant European countries on
the Western Front and the Soviet Union on the east. The United
States fought on the European front against Germany and on
the Pacific front against Japan.
ON JUNE 6, 1944, a massive assembly of ships and landing craft delivered 156,000 Allied troops to the beaches of
Normandy, France. That intensified the slow, bloody effort to
defeat the Germans on land and in the air. Town by town,
Allied soldiers made their way across France to the German
border. Along the way, they liberated Paris in August 1944, a
significant defeat for the Germans and victory for the Allies.
Finally, the Germans were driven back almost within their
own borders. There, on December 16, 1944, Hitler initiated
a last, desperate attack, hoping to retake much of Belgium
and throttle the Allies’ supply routes.
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American troops approach the shores of
Normandy, France, on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
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American troops in a tank pass the Arc de Triomphe
during the liberation of Paris in August 1944.
EACH ARMY was hoping to outlast the other—outlast the
constant loss of troops while causing the enemy to lose heart
and surrender. After this final, savage six-week battle, Hitler
faced defeat. This is the story of the worst of war—of savagery,
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deprivation, despair—but also of astonishing bravery, grit,
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and fortitude.
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THE EUROPEAN THEATER
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