A Belated Christmas

The 101st Airborne was isolated, surviving by desperation and courage alone. But even the best troops cannot fight without ammunition, and by Christmas day supplies of all types were dwindling. A desperate plan to attempt resupply of the pocket was …

1944-12-27

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The 101st Airborne was isolated, surviving by desperation and courage alone. But even the best troops cannot fight without ammunition, and by Christmas day supplies of all types were dwindling. A desperate plan to attempt resupply of the pocket was formulated . From airfields in England, 50 Waco and Horsa gliders, towed by C-47s and each piloted by a single volunteer, set out for Bastogne. Unaware of whether their proposed landing site was still under American control, but fully aware of the volatile nature of their cargo, the glider pilots cast off their tow lines and started their descent into the frozen hell below.

Bastogne, Belgium

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

German

American