A Nasty Affair

Elements of Patton’s Third Army were driving North to widen the corridor to Bastogne. The 5th Infantry Division’s 2nd Infantry Regiment sector extended down the Scheidgen draw to the Müllerthal. To gain entrance to the Müllerthal was no simple …

1944-12-26

26

Elements of Patton’s Third Army were driving North to widen the corridor to Bastogne. The 5th Infantry Division’s 2nd Infantry Regiment sector extended down the Scheidgen draw to the Müllerthal. To gain entrance to the Müllerthal was no simple task. In their path lay the rugged ground of the Kalkesbach, a nasty obstacle of rugged ground defended by a skillful and determined enemy. And worse, because of the rugged terrain there is no artillery support. Col. Roffe, the 2nd Infantry commander, decided to flank the enemy with a rapid advance along the Müllerthal. As companies A and B advanced along each side of the road, it wasn’t long before they came under mortar and small arms fire.

Müllerthal, Luxembourg

The Siege of Bastogne was an engagement in December 1944 between American and German forces at the Belgian town of Bastogne, as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The goal of the German offensive was the harbor at Antwerp. In order to reach it before the Allies could regroup and bring their superior air power to bear, German mechanized forces had to seize the roadways through eastern Belgium. Because all seven main roads in the densely wooded Ardennes highlands converged on Bastogne, just a few miles away from the border with neighboring Luxembourg, control of its crossroads was vital to the German attack. The siege was from 20 to 27 December, until the besieged American forces were relieved by elements of General George Patton's Third Army.

Wikipedia: Siege of Bastogne

American

German