Hold at all Cost

In the early morning hours of December 16, 1944, the 1st and 3rd Platoons of B Company and a few anti-tank guns from the 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion were dug-in for the night in Marnach, an important road junction in …

1944-12-16

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In the early morning hours of December 16, 1944, the 1st and 3rd Platoons of B Company and a few anti-tank guns from the 630th Tank Destroyer Battalion were dug-in for the night in Marnach, an important road junction in northern Luxembourg. Unbeknownst to them at the time, elements of the 304th Panzergrenadier Regiment, of the 2nd Panzer Division, were quietly maneuvering against the American position. The Grenadiers closed within a few hundred yards of the American position and then waited for the artillery bombardment, the signal to attack. Once the attack commenced, the hard-pressed men of B Company reported to regiment that they were under heavy attack. Shortly thereafter, they received the order to “Hold at all cost!”

Marnach, Luxembourg

The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II, and took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in eastern Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg, towards the end of the war in Europe. The offensive was intended to stop Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp and to split the Allied lines, allowing the Germans to encircle and destroy four Allied armies and force the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis powers' favor.

Wikipedia: Battle of the Bulge

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