Nova Scotians in the Ardennes Offensive

Wartime Heritage ASSOCIATION

Battle of the Bulge Nova Scotians in the Ardennes Offensive

The Battle of the Bulge (Battle of the Ardennes) Remembering the casualties with ties to Nova Scotia In the wake of the successful advance of the Allied forces, it would have been seen by some as if the Second World War was all but over in the fall of 1944. Yet, on the early misty morning of December 16th with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counter- offensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler's favour. The Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944–end of January 1945), also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the largest battle fought on the Western Front in Europe during WWII. It is also the largest battle ever fought by the United States Army. The offensive intended to drive a wedge between the American and British armies in France and the Low Countries and recapture the port of Antwerp in the Netherlands to deny the Allies use of the port facilities. The enemy codename for the buildup to the offensive was Watch on the Rhine (Wacht am Rhine). The offensive itself was codenamed Operation Autumn Mist (Unternehmen Herbstnebel). It fell far short of its goals but managed to create a bulge in the American lines 50 miles wide and 70 miles deep, which gave the struggle its alliterative name. More than 200,000 German troops and nearly 1,000 tanks launched Adolf Hitler's last bid to reverse the ebb in his fortunes. Seeking to drive to the coast of the English Channel and split the Allied armies as they had done in May 1940, the Germans struck in the Ardennes Forest, a 75-mile stretch of the front characterized by dense woods and few roads, held by four generally inexperienced and battle-worn American divisions stationed there for rest and seasoning. After a day of hard fighting, the Germans broke through the American front, surrounding most of an infantry division, seizing key crossroads, and advancing their spearheads toward the Meuse River, creating the projection that gave the battle its name. The Allied line bulged, but did not break. There were undoubtedly surviving Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge that were from Nova Scotia, and there were at least seven men with ties to NS that died in the Battle of the Bulge. The 317th Infantry Regiment was one of the first units to begin the movement north to relieve the beleaguered American troops in the Ardennes. Private James Russell Muise of Gloucester, Mass., the son of Eugene J Meuse born in Amirault’s Hill and Mary L White born in Abrams River, Yarmouth Co., Nova Scotia, was killed December 18, 1944, in the fighting to push back the enemy. Private Donald James Boudreau of Yarmouth, NS, was killed in action 2 days before Christmas on December 23, 1944, also serving with the 317th. A vital exception to the bulge created in the lines was Bastogne. Bastogne was a crossroad of paramount importance. Bastogne provided a road junction in rough terrain where few roads existed and it would have opened up an efficient and valuable pathway further north for German expansion. The American forces that were surrounded in and around Bastogne meant nothing but delay for the enemy. The Ardennes Offence relied heavily on speed and making it over the Meuse River on the way to the coast. On December 26th, Bastogne’s defenders received a belated Christmas present. Lieutenant Charles Boggess with a few M4 Sherman tanks fought his way into Bastogne from the south. They were the lead element of a relief force from Lieutenant General George S. Patton‘s Third Army. When Patton struck with three divisions the following day, the German ring around Bastogne was broken. Patton's Third Army relieved Bastogne, and to the north, the 2nd US Armored Division stopped enemy tanks short of the Meuse River on Christmas. Through January, American troops, often wading through deep snow drifts, attacked the sides of the shrinking bulge until they had restored the front and set the stage for the final drive to victory. The 550th Glider Airborne Battalion was in a similar position to the 317th Infantry Regiment, fighting from the south west of the Bulge to push back the advance. Private First Class Clyde Arnold Larkin , born in Lockeport, Shelburne County, NS, served with the 550th and was killed in action January 2, 1945. The 314th, an infantry regiment of the 79th Division, held a defensive line along the Lauter River, at Wissembourg from December 20, 1944, until January 2, 1945, when it withdrew to Maginot Line defenses. The German attempt to establish a bridgehead west of the Rhine at Gambsheim resulted in furious fighting. The 79th beat off German attacks at Hatten and Rittershoffen in an 11-day battle before withdrawing to new defensive positions south of Haguenau on the Moder River on January 19th. Technical Sergeant John Charles McLean was killed in action January 10th, most likely near Reipertswiller in France. Private Edward Frederick Amirault, born in Yarmouth, NS, was killed in the attack on Mande-St. Etienne, Belgium, on January 2, 1945. The attack started in mid-afternoon. Both infantry and armored task forces moved into the town but were forced to fight street to street and cellar to cellar all through the night before securing full possession of the town. On January 15, 1945, the 1st Division known as the Big Red One launched its part of the Allied counter- offensive to ‘reduce the Bulge’. Staff Sergeant Grant Harding Conroy, the son of Ethel Conroy of Bridgetown, Annapolis County, NS, was killed in action on January 18th serving with the 1st Division in the 16th Infantry Regiment. The Division raced to the Ardennes, and fighting continuously from December 17, 1944 to January 28, 1945, helped blunt and turn back the German offensive. Private Clyson Elroy Lewis, the son of Gordon Lewis of Terence Bay, Halifax, NS, was also killed in action January 18th serving with the 18th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Division. By the end of December and into January, the German offensive was running out of fuel. The Germans had waited for bad winter weather to launch their attack, to diminish the ability of Allied aircraft to support the ground troops. The weather also slowed the German advance, added to this - the narrow roads and stubborn resistance - wrecked their timetable. Improving weather conditions allowed Allied planes to take to the skies again and support the counter-attacks that began pushing back the enemy. Despite a Luftwaffe offensive in Holland and a second major ground offensive the Germans launched in Alsace on January 1st, the enemy could not regain the initiative. The Battle of the Bulge is officially considered to have ended January 16, exactly one month after it began, although fighting continued for some time beyond that date. By late January / early February, the front lines had returned to their positions of December 16th. A month of bitter fighting in winter cold and deep snow cost the Allies nearly 80,000 casualties when including captured and wounded; some 19,000 Americans were killed. The Germans lost approximately 100,000 men, who could not be replaced militarily. Fought primarily between German and American forces, there was also approximately 55,000 troops of the British Army, which included the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion of the Canadian Army, that participated in the struggle. British and Canadian casualties were approximately 1,400 killed, wounded and missing. The Ardennes Offensive was a huge gamble on the part of German dictator Adolf Hitler, one that he lost badly.