History Book: Surviving the Battle of the Bulge

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Wednesday, January 22nd.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Myrna Brown.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: remembering the Battle of the Bulge.

80 years ago, American and British forces retake positions they’d lost five weeks earlier along the Western Front in Belgium. The defensive victory pushes Nazi troops back into Germany, setting the stage for the end of the war

BROWN: WORLD’s Paul Butler has a special mid-week History Book to mark the anniversary.

ALEXANDER “SPARKY” KISSE: We had no idea where we were.

PAUL BUTLER: In September 1944, Alexander Kisse is 25 years old when he arrives in France. He goes by “Sparky.” Audio here from a video interview posted to YouTube by his son:

KISSE: We just went where they sent us and followed them.

“Sparky” is a private first class with the 112th regiment of the 28th division, company F. He’s what’s known as a “replacement.” The unit he’s been assigned to has been a pretty busy one, seeing action on D-Day and the liberation of Paris.

But private Kisse missed all that. He’s here to fill in the ranks left open by previous casualties. He remembers vividly his first taste of combat.

KISSE: You’re so scared you don't know whether to run, sit down and cry, or what. But once the fighting starts and you hear the bullets, the fear leaves you and it’s nothing…

His unit is heading north. The Allies aren’t just liberating France, they have an eye on Germany itself. Hitler knows he has to do something before it’s too late. He begins planning a winter offensive to knock the Allies down a peg or two and interrupt their plans.

NEWSREEL: The Americans have driven into Luxemburg today at two points…

Intense fighting breaks out as “Sparky” and his unit draw close to Germany’s border: the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, one of the longest single battles of the war. The company is soon decimated.

KISSE: We got beat up so bad that they had to take us out. I think, out of the whole company, there was only six of us left…

What the Allies don’t fully comprehend at this moment is that while this devastating battle is taking place, Hitler is carefully, and secretly, preparing for a surprise attack north of Hurtgen.

By early December 1944 the winter weather is in full force. Heavy snow. Dense fog. The Allies believe there will be a break in the fighting as neither side can see what’s going on. Air support for an offensive is impossible. The Americans send some battle weary troops back to France for some rest. It’s exactly the conditions Hitler has been waiting for.

RADIO NEWSCAST: Here are the late developments. Furious fighting is in progress on northern sector where the German counter attack has driven approximately 18 miles into Belgium

The German surprise offensive begins on December 16th, 1944. German forces break through the American line and move forward about a mile an hour. Creating a growing bump in the battle line into Belgium. The Battle of the Bulge has begun.

RADIO NEWSCAST: The attack was a complete surprise, which means that allied units in its path were overrun.

In the days before the attack, Hitler had amassed nearly 250,000 forces under the cover of darkness…shielded by the winter weather. The Germans know the 85-mile-long line through the Ardennes Forest] is sparsely manned and very difficult terrain to defend.

RADIO NEWSCAST: Such an action would naturally result in heavy losses to the defenders. The greater the speed, the greater the losses, particularly in prisoners taken.

On December 17th, German forces surprise and capture several key towns and roads, at least one division lines up captured American forces and executes them, killing 84.

News of the massacre spreads quickly. American and British soldiers do everything they can to at least slow the Germans down. Sparky’s unit heads north to help out.

KISSE: You can hear the bullets going over your head. You can hear them cracking and popping and see the shrapnel…

The bad weather keeps Allied air support from being able to offer any assistance. Each day the bulge keeps getting bigger.

RADIO NEWSCAST: The latest dispatches from Supreme Headquarters in Paris say that Nazi armor has advanced more than 20 miles into Belgium and Luxembourg…

On December 22nd, the Germans arrive at Bastogne, a strategic junction for Allied supply lines. German forces surround the town and the grounded 101st Airborne. They demand the Americans surrender, but they refuse.

The same day General George S. Patton—at this point more than 150 miles to the south—prints a Christmas card for the troops it’s a prayer. It asks Almighty God to restrain the immoderate weather, and to hear the soldiers’ prayers so that they “may crush the oppression and wickedness of the enemy.” The cards go out, as do Patton’s forces. North to Bastogne.

The weather changes on Christmas Day. Allied air support conducts much needed supply drops and begins harassing German positions.

RADIO NEWSCAST: On the Western Front today, the Germans have failed in their latest efforts to close the relief corridor to the highway town of Bastogne…

Patton’s Third Army arrives on December 27th. After 11 days of German advancements—now nearly 50 miles into Belgium—the Allies begin driving the Germans back.

The improving weather doesn’t just benefit the Allies though: it also means the Luftwaffe can see enough to support their troops—successfully bombing Allied airfields, but it’s not enough. Nazis are forced to retreat against Hitler’s orders.

On January 16th the Allies relink their forces and gain momentum as they rapidly push the Nazis back into Germany.

By January 25th, the Battle of the Bulge is over. The Germans are once again contained on their side of the border. But the victory comes at a great cost. The US Army reports roughly 19,000 U.S. soldiers died in the defense of Belgium, more than 23,000 are declared missing. And more than 47,500 wounded, including Alexander Kisse.

KISSE: And one shot, and away I went. I got shot in the leg here. Flopped me on my back. So when I got hit, he came running up to me. I asked him “how bad is it?” “Oh it’s not bad. Just a hole in your leg.” My foot was up under my arm here…

The significance of the Battle of the Bulge is sometimes overshadowed by the D-Day invasion but the Germans lost more than 100,000 troops through casualties and capture in those five weeks. It was Hitler’s last major offensive during World War II.

While the brave American and British men who repelled the German army at the Battle of the Bulge didn’t end the war, they made the ultimate victory of the Allies certain.

KISSE: I just did because I had to. I mean, I wouldn’t want to do it again…

As for Sparky, he earned a Purple Heart as well as a Bronze Star for his bravery. He died in 2015 at age 97.

That’s this week’s WORLD History Book. I’m Paul Butler.

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