At 5:30 AM, Saturday morning, December 16, 1944, more than 286,000 German soldiers, supported by 970 tanks and assault guns, and augmented by 1,900 artillery pieces, ferociously assaulted a small number of resting and recuperating American divisions along an 85 mile front of the Ardennes Forest in Southern Belgium. The resulting campaign would be one of the most dynamic, spectacular and brutal ever fought in the history of warfare.
The Americans would forever refer to it as: The Battle Of The Bulge. The Germans called it: The Great Ardennes Counter Offensive.
In order to launch such an audacious attach in the first place, Nazi Germany had to draw upon every available means and resource they had left. And, they did. Beginning in the second week of September 1944, manpower, weapons, and supplies from all over the Reich were gathered up and secretly massed together in the Eifel, just opposite the Ardennes.
Considering the tremendous shellacking the Germans had taken throughout the summer of 1944, this was nothing less than a feat of astronomical proportions. In the Book, Wacht Am Rhein, author Timothy J. Thompson, describes in detail exactly how this entire process unfolded. He takes the reader through Hitler’s stunning announcement in the Wolfs Lair on September 16, all the way up through the final preparations for the great attack. It is spell-binding and spine tingling.
There are 50 excellent photographs for the reader’s enjoyment, along with a full and comprehensive index that makes it quite easy to locate little bits of information at the drop of a hat. It is a book that you won’t be able to put down.
