BULGE BLIZZARD

BULGE BLIZZARD

One could be forgiven for mistaking this, at first glance, for a picture taken somewhere near Stalingrad. But these are not Soviet or German soldiers on the Eastern Front. They are paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division at the end of January 1945 pushing the last German forces out of what remains of the Bulge in the Ardennes front. The picture is thought to have been taken in the vicinity of Herresbach, a small village northeast of the Belgian town of St. Vith. St. Vith is where, more than a month earlier, the Germans had dealt American forces a big blow by capturing the crossroads town despite GIs putting up a stubborn defense. Much of the focus in history books on the Bulge is on events in December 1944, but any veteran who was in the Ardennes in January 1945 will tell you that the fearsome weather and German desperation combined to make those days the most horrific of this epic campaign.

2017-08-29T18:52:41+02:00