26 December 1944
A.D. Patton Relieves Bastogne
Editors. “Patton Relieves Bastogne.” History.com. N.d. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/patton-relieves-bastogne. Accessed 24 Dec 2014.
On this day, General George S. Patton employs an
audacious strategy to relieve the besieged Allied defenders of Bastogne,
Belgium, during the brutal Battle of the Bulge.
The capture of Bastogne was the ultimate goal of
the Battle of the Bulge, the German offensive through the Ardennes forest.
Bastogne provided a road junction in rough terrain where few roads existed; it
would open up a valuable pathway further north for German expansion. The
Belgian town was defended by the U.S. 101st Airborne Division, which had to be
reinforced by troops who straggled in from other battlefields. Food, medical
supplies, and other resources eroded as bad weather and relentless German
assaults threatened the Americans' ability to hold out. Nevertheless, Brigadier
General Anthony C. MacAuliffe met a German surrender demand with a typewritten
response of a single word: "Nuts."
Enter "Old Blood and Guts," General
Patton. Employing a complex and quick-witted strategy wherein he literally
wheeled his 3rd Army a sharp 90 degrees in a counterthrust movement, Patton
broke through the German lines and entered Bastogne, relieving the valiant
defenders and ultimately pushing the Germans east across the Rhine.
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