01x09 - The battle of the Bulge

[bunniefuu]

[somber music plays]

♪ The bright horses have broken free
From the fields ♪

♪ They are horses of love
Their manes full of fire ♪

♪ They are parting the cities
Those bright burning horses ♪

♪ And everyone is hiding
And no one makes a sound ♪

♪ And I'm by your side
And I'm holding your hand ♪

[male reader 1] A letter to mom.
Author unknown.

"I'm down in a hole made by a shell.

The g*ns around me are making it hell.

With the flash of a g*n I can see a lad
who should be home with his mom and dad.

By the flash of another,
I can see his face.

It's white and drawn as if made of paste.

He's coming my way. It's he or I.

Neither one of us want to die.

I shot him, mom. He fell with a scream.

This w*r is worse than my craziest dream.

I'm praying to God to give me strength

through this terrible w*r
that has no length.

He was a goodlooking boy. About 21.

It was I who k*lled him Lord,
the harm being done.

I was trained to do so.

There's a w*r to be won."

[somber music plays]

[in French] Hello, my name is
Bouli Lanners. I am an actor and director.

The Battle of the Bulge had
a strong impact on my family.

My father and mother lived in two villages
on the front line near Bastogne.

These villages were completely destroyed.

They lost everything.
Their farm, their cattle, their friends.

My mother lived for seven years
in the barracks after the w*r.

And in my father's village there was
a w*r crime, the Chenogne m*ssacre.

My godfather was a prisoner of w*r
and he stayed six years in Germany.

And my uncle was an escaped prisoner.
He was wanted throughout the w*r.

So the stories of the battle were frequent
into the family gatherings.

The Battle of the Bulge was the last major
German offensive on the Western Front.

On September 16, Hitler declared:

"Divide the British and American armies,
and then we will create a new Dunkirk!"

After the daily military conference
in Hitler's secret headquarters,

the Führer asks a small group of his
commanders to stay a little longer,

to attend a "second conference".

Hitler announced his desire to launch
a major counter-attack in the Ardennes

with Antwerp and its major port in sight.

Hitler ordered General Oberst Jodl
to develop an operational plan.

And to Keitel, to work out the logistics.

On October 12, the plan entitled "Wacht
am Rhein" is deposited on Hitler's desk.

The name is chosen to make the Allies
believe that it's a defensive operation.

It's based on two fundamentals:

First, the surprise effect,
and second, bad weather.

At the beginning of December,
the operation was renamed: "Herbstnebel".

[somber music plays]

[in French] Allies are convinced that
Germany no longer has the strength

necessary to launch a major attack.
But they will be seriously mistaken.

The idea is that Field Marshal Gerd
von Rundstedt would lead the attack.

But the latter knows that the goal,
the reconquest of Antwerp, is impossible.

The German secret services are looking
for the weak point in the enemy lines,

and conclude that the attack must take
place between Monschau and Echternach,

the Allies' weakest line of defence.

To prevent important messages from being
intercepted and decoded by the enemy,

the Germans hand them
over to motorcyclists. In early December,

German troops regroup in secret
in areas in which the Luftwaffe flies

in order to drown out the noise of
all the assembled armored vehicles.

The use of the radio is
absolutely prohibited.

The three armies of Heeresgruppe B
gather and wait here,

under the command of Feldmarschall Model.

In fact, Model was the real leader of the
German army during the Ardennes Offensive.

And we find over more than a 100 km long
from north to south:

the 6th SS Panzer Division,
the 5th Panzer Division and the 7th Army.

That is 400,000 men, 1,400 armored
vehicles, 2,600 a*tillery pieces,

and over there, 1,000 Luftwaffe planes
that are ready to take off at any moment.

The Koenigstiger Tank is the
new jewel of the Germans.

It's a real technological feat
and they have a lot of it.

But this huge machine is not the only one.

There are also 60,000 horses intended for
traction or transport the a*tillery,

and they can navigate muddy or snowy
roads where traditional vehicles can't.

The roads were not like today,
they were small and narrow.

It was difficult for armored vehicles
to drive over, they had to move slowly.

When the Kampfgruppe Peiper passes
on this road with its armored vehicles,

the column is over a 100 km long.

[male reader 2] Letter from
General Montgomery to General Eisenhower

on December 16th.

"The enemy is at present fighting
a defensive campaign on all fronts.

His situation is thus such that he cannot
stage major offensive operations.

Furthermore, at all costs,

he has to prevent the w*r from entering
on a mobile phase.

He has not the transport or the petrol

that would be necessary
for mobile operations.

Nor could his tanks compete
with ours in the mobile battle.

The enemy is in a bad way."

[in French] Hitler realizes that
he cannot crush the Red Army.

He believes that the best opportunity
to regain the upper hand is in the West.

The Western Allies are more vulnerable,
as the British seem exhausted.

And the Americans may have
lost sight of their priority.

None of them possesses the harshness
and blind belief of the Russians.

Hitler launches the attack on December 16.

Exactly the same day
as the exchange of correspondence

between Montgomery and Eisenhower.

And it's a total surprise
for the top brass.

[explosions]

Just before the German attack, Ceci fired
V1 and V2 missiles at Allied areas

around Antwerp and Liège.

The deadliest m*ssile fell on December 16.

The day the Battle of the Bulge begins.

The V2 crashes into the REX cinema
causing the death of 537 people.

But despite all these signs, the American
high command only receives the news

on the "small breakthroughs" of the front
line on the evening of December 16.

While Eisenhower is convinced that
this is not just a local attack,

General Bradley sees it
as a diversionary attack.

[German news broadcast]

[loud music plays]

[airplane engine roaring]

[in French] Surprise and speed
are the keys to German success.

The 6th Armored Army commanded by
Sepp Dietrich spearheaded this battle.

It must pierce the American lines in the
regions of Elsenborn and Stavelot-Malmédy,

cross the Meuse as quickly as possible
and head for Antwerp to seize the port.

[expl*si*n]

Von Manteuffel's 5th army will
engage in the direction of Brussels,

and Brandenberger's 7th Army as well
as Von der Heydte's paratroopers,

which will be dropped behind enemy lines,
will cover their flanks.

The 15th army of Von Zangen
will support the general effort,

maintaining pressure on the enemy
in the Aix-la-Chapelle region.

[in German] G13 Hetzer,
Panzer III, Panzer IV,

Tiger I, Tiger II, Panther,

Jagdpanther, Flakpanzer IV
transport, Flakpanzer IV whirlwind.

Amphibious vehicle,
as*ault g*ns III,

Special Vehicle


[male reader 3] December 16.

"We've heard that the Germans
have just begun some heavy action.

We are told to get packed and get ready
to move out on a minute's notice.

Our radio, which has been silent
for over two months,

becomes heavy with messages.

The messages were trying to determine
where the main thrust

of the German attack was.

Finally, on December 20th,
we were told to move out.

We picked up our tracks in a hurry.

Intelligence informed us
that it was all or nothing.

The Germans planned to take no prisoners.

It was k*lling or be k*lled."

[in French] Here, on the crest of the
small village of Lanzerath,

a small platoon of the 394th regiment

composed of 18 men
and four a*tillery observers,

will fight against around 500 German
paratroopers who come from there.

They will check the advance of
the First SS Panzer Division.

German paratroopers
are poorly experienced.

The men come from different sections
and they can't cope with these 18 men.

At the end of the battle,
when the Americans will surrender,

First Lieutenant Lyle Bouck, who is
the commanding officer of the 18 men,

will have a feeling of defeat
and think he failed the mission.

He doesn't know that he stopped
the advance of the German army for a day.

And that this day will allow the Allies
to reorganize and bring in reinforcements.

The American high command is not aware,
because the communications are cut off.

But it's likely that this platoon changed
the outcome of the Battle of the Bulge.

The I&R Platoon of the 394th Regiment
of the 99th Infantry Division

is the most decorated American unit
by its size of the World w*r II.

[ominous music plays]

[in French] But the most
spectacular mission is Operation Greif.

Led by Otto Skorzeny, the objective is to
infiltrate enemy lines in American uniform

with US Army vehicles seized
in previous battles.

Skorzeny's men are hand-picked
based on very specific criteria.

Their English is close to perfect.

Their mission is not only
to seize the bridges over the Meuse

so that the German tanks can cross it,
it's also a diversionary attack.

But the Americans didn't fall for it,
they opened fire immediately.

The operation won't have
the expected success,

but It will have a real and considerable
impact on the morale of the Allied troops.

Every GI thought they were being
spied on by a German undercover agent,

and the craziest rumors
began to circulate.

One of them being that General Eisenhower
had been kidnapped by German commandos.

Otto Skorzeny was far from a novice.

He had already performed some
prominent guerrilla actions:

he had notably helped Mussolini to escape,

when he was held c*ptive
by the Badoglio government.

After the fall of Berlin,
Otto Skorzeny fled to Spain,

and works as an agent for the secret
services of several countries.

He is even recruited by
the Mossad to k*ll Heinz Krug,

a n*zi m*ssile expert during the w*r.

The latter is hired by
the Egyptian government

to develop missiles capable
of wiping Israel off the map.

Skorzeny kidnaps Krug
from his office in Munich,

drives him into the forest,
shoots him and douses the body with acid.

The remains are buried in a pit and
then burned and covered with lime.

Kruggs' body has never been found and
his disappearance was never explained.

[in German]
Diary of Maurice Lang, civilian.

Thursday, December 21st.

In Falize and Pont de Warche
German regiments are present.

Fifteen tanks are approaching Falize

thirteen other ones from Stavelot
and Malmedy, out of Remouspine.

They carry the American flag, the crews
are dressed in American uniforms.

Enemy tanks are being stopped
by American a*tillery.

Some escaping soldiers,
a few lost paratroopers

as well as the last charging infantry

have only two options:
American fire or imprisonment.

[explosions]

[in French] On December 21,
Major Hanlon's battalion

was ordered to defend a hill
north of Bastogne, near Hemroulle.

That night, the snow begins to fall.

But because his men don't have
white camouflage suits,

Major Hanlon meets the mayor
of Longchamps and asks him for bed sheets.

He promises to return the sheets
to the people who gave them.

In less than an hour,
the GIs receive 500 sheets,

and a register of
the "donors" is established.

At the bottom, the burgomaster writes
"God bless you, Americans."

During an interview with
the Boston Globe newspaper in 1947,

Hanlon confesses to
not keeping his promise.

As a result, the people of Winchester
set about collecting bed sheets.

Hanlon will receive about 670 and return
these sheets to the people of Longfield.

But the Battle of the Ardennes
was also one of the first battlefields

of the 761st Tank Battalion,
composed by African-American soldiers.

The 761st Battalion was
formed on March 15, 1942,

and is ready for service on April 1st,
two weeks later.

The battalion is also known
as "Black Panthers",

which is their insignia and
whose motto is "Come Out Fighting".

This is the first tank battalion
made up of African-American soldiers,

deployed during World w*r II.

[music playing on the radio]

[in French] Their most famous member
is Lt. Jackie Robinson.

Jackie Robinson will live an event that
will disrupt his career in July '44.

Robinson is going to board an army bus,

a bus that is not subject
to racial segregation,

and goes to sit next
to the wife of a fellow officer.

The bus driver stops,

and orders Robinson to sit
in the back of the bus.

Robinson refuses.
He was arrested and court-martialed.

But its commanding officer,
Major Paul Bates,

refuses to follow the indications
of the court-martial.

Later, Robinson was transferred
to the 758th Tank Battalion,

whose commander is prepared to
sign the court martial order.

Robinson will eventually be
acquitted of all charges.

Jackie Robinson really broke
taboos and changed the rules.

He broke the color barrier in baseball
with the Brooklyn Dodgers.

He is the first African-American
to play in major league baseball.

On April 15, Robinson makes his
major league debut at Ebbets Fields

in front of a crowd of 26,623 spectators,
including more than 14,000 blacks.

On October 10, 1944, the black soldiers
of the 761st Tank Battalion

land in France on Omaha beach.

The Black Panthers are assigned
to General Patton's 3rd Army,

and they must cross France
to join the 26th Infantry Division.

They arrived in Nancy on the 28th

and on November


[male reader 4] Speech from
General Patton to the Black Panthers.

"Men, you're the first n*gro tankers
to ever fight in the American Army.

I would never have asked for you
if you weren't good.

I have nothing but the best in my army.

I don't care what color you are

as long as you go up there
and k*ll those Kraut sons of b*tches.

Everyone has their eyes on you
and is expecting great things from you.

Most of all, your race
is looking forward to your success.

Don't let them down and damn you,
don't let me down.

They say it is patriotic to die
for your country.

Well, let's see how many patriots

we can make out
of those German sons of b*tches."

[in French] Later,
Patton would write in his memoirs:

"Individually,
I find them to be good soldiers.

But I have already told my opinion,
I have no reason to come back to it.

Colored soldiers don't think
fast enough to fight in armor."

I know, it's hard to imagine,
but that's what he said.

However, the 761st Battalion will fight
for more than 183 days non-stop.

Which will set a record.
They're going to liberate 30 cities,

and this is the first Battalion
to face the Soviet armies in April '45.

So, contrary to what Patton said,

these soldiers thought fast enough to keep
their tanks running for the whole time.

[music playing on the radio]

[in French] The Germans set up
loudspeakers in the woods.

At first they play music, American songs.
And then a woman's voice is heard:

Your wives, your fiancées
are at home in a very warm place.

And they dance with other men than you.
And you're out there in the cold.

There has been a great advance
towards the North. So why continue?

You can give up… The w*r is over for you.

The voice heard by the GIs
is that of Mildred Elizabeth Gillars.

She was an American radio host
for the Nazis during World w*r II.

Her artist name: "Axis Sally".

Gillars' n*zi radio broadcast was
designed to discourage Americans

feeling homesick to fight against Germany.

Article in the Saturday Evening Post

by Corporal Edward Van Dyne.

"Sally is a dandy.

She is a sweetheart
of the American Expeditionary Force.

She plays nothing but good swing.

She has a voice that oozes
like honey out of a big wooden spoon.

Homesick, soldier?

Throw down your g*n and go back
to the good old USA.

Dr. Goebbels no doubt

believed that Sally is rapidly undermining
the morale of the American doughboy.

I think the effect is directly opposite.

We get an enormous bang out of her.
We love her.

Well, Sally will be in Berlin soon,
with a great big hug for you,

if you have any kisses left."

[in French] Gillars was arrested in
Berlin on March 15, 1946.

But she was released on parole
on December 24.

And then officially stopped a month later,
on January 22, 1947.

She was flown back to the United States,
where her trial began on January 25, 1949.

Gillars is accused of treason
for her radio broadcasts,

her participation in various programs
and his oath of allegiance to Hitler.

She was eventually sentenced
to 10 to 30 years in prison.

And a fine of $10,000 on March 10th, 1949.

[explosions]

[male reader 5] POW Bulletin
December 1945, Sergeant Bilskemper.

"We woke up to the sound
of rockets going overhead.

The whole front was just ablaze
from a tremendous a*tillery barrage.

We never dreamed there was going to be
an attack through the woods.

When we ran out of ammunition
there was a lull,

and about six Germans came partway
across a clearing with a white flag.

They wanted us to surrender.

You wonder what's going to happen to you.

Of course the Lieutenant is coming through

telling you it'll be all right
because of the Geneva Convention.

But as you march through the rear areas

there'll be people along the road
ready to sh**t you.

You can hear the talking."

[in French] The prisoners trudged about


before spending the night
in an open and fenced yard.

The next day, the prisoners walked almost


And then the next morning
they were packed into boxcars

for a two-day trip to Germany.
The train was full.

Bilskemper estimated that there were
more or less than 500 prisoners on board.

[somber music plays]

[in French] The 333rd a*tillery
Battalion has been in action

since landing at Utah Beach
on June 29, 1944.

As with most segregated
World w*r II American units,

the officers are white and
the soldiers are black.

The 333rd is stationed in the
small village of Schonberg.

[somber music continues]

[rain and thunder]

[in French] On the morning of
December 17, the Germans are in Schonberg.

American soldiers who were not
k*lled are forced to surrender.

But 11 men flee to the northwest,
in the hope of joining the American lines.

Around 3 p.m., they approach a
House in the village of Wereth,

belonging to Mathias Langer.

The men are cold and hungry. And they're
exhausted after a long walk in deep snow.

The Langers welcome
them and give them food.

But this small part of Belgium does not
necessarily see Americans as liberators.

This region was part of Germany
before the First World w*r.

And many of its citizens still consider
themselves Germans and not Belgians.

The 11 soldiers will be denounced since
the SS know they're in Langer's house.

They will therefore surprise
at the Schnelle Gruppe Knittel.

They will be captured,
tortured and then shot.

[piano music plays]

[in French] The Schnelle Gruppe Knittel
will leave a trail of blood behind it.

The SS take their prisoners to a field.

They break their limbs, cut off
their fingers and then slaughter them.

The frozen bodies will not be
found until six weeks later,

when the Americans will
regain possession of the area.

This event would probably have passed into
oblivion, if the son of the House,

had not erected a Cross
at the site of the m*ssacre.

Each of these soldiers was posthumously
decorated with the Purple Heart,

for bravery and sacrifice.

In 2004, a monument was erected.

But it's not only a monument that was
erected in memory of these 11 soldiers.

No, it's a memorial
to all African-American soldiers

who fought in World w*r II.

[piano music continues]

[in French] Kampfgruppe Peiper takes
its name from its commander:

SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper.

It's composed of tanks and
armored and motorized elements.

He is the spearhead
of the 6th SS Panzer Army,

and must take Antwerp on December 23rd.

On December 18, it becomes apparent
that Peiper is progressing better.

And so Mohnke orders Knittel
to follow him.

Between December 16 and 17,


and more particularly, the Schnelle
Gruppe Knittel, will sow death.

They will m*rder dozens of civilians
and American prisoners of w*r.

These events are known as
"the Malmedy m*ssacre".

And it's in this precise
location where this horrible

panel was erected where


During pre-operation briefings,
Peiper told his men

that they must be ruthless towards
prisoners of w*r and Belgian civilians.

SS Obergruppenführer Sepp Dietrich,
will confirm during the w*r crimes trial

that Hitler had ordered the battle
to be fought

with the same brutality
as that waged on the Eastern Front.

The plan being to frighten the enemy.

And Piper's men took orders
a little too literally.

-[ominous music plays]
-[g*n shots]

[heavy machine g*n fire]

[in French] Same thing here. They
select eight prisoners and sh**t them.

But the Knittel Gruppe would
certainly have continued the massacres

if the owner of this hotel
had not intervened.

Indeed, seeing the m*ssacre,
the boss rushes into his cellar,

brings up cognac and intoxicates the SS.

While Peiper's troops
were blocked at La Gleize,

the Schnelle Gruppe Knittel will m*ssacre
civilians in Stavelot and the vicinity.

The troops massacred around 164 civilians.
Men, women and children.

Marie, 34, and her son Paul, six.

Ferdinand, 86 years old.
Anthony, 73 years old.

Emile, seven years old.
Leon, 58 years old.

Pauline, 58 years old.
Joseph, 67 years old.

Henry, 69 years old.
Leonie, 26 years old.

Joseph, 67 years old.

Adolphine, 64 years old.
Josephine, 78 years old.

Lucian, 31 years old.
Fernando, 20 years old.

And their daughter Christianne,


The initial plan devised
by Hitler did not work.

The Peiper combat group finds itself
without fuel and completely isolated.

On December 23,
he received the order to leave La Gleize.

He abandons his wounded men.




Of the 4,000 men engaged,
only 800 joined the German lines.

[somber music plays]

[in French] After leaving La Gleize,
Peiper finds himself here in Petit-Thiers

He uses the little chapel up there
as a workshop for repairing weapons.

Peiper will always be remembered a
the man who allowed his troops to k*ll.

In all, they shot 373 POWs
and 164 civilians.

[fragment] " Now, you testified
that on December 21st,

you captured an American Major?"

Yes.

[man] Now, did you keep him
with you continuously

after the time that he was captured?

[man speaking in German]

Yes."

[in French] Peiper appeared before a US
tribunal in the Malmedy m*ssacre trial.

Where the 42 defendants will be found
guilty and sentenced to death by hanging.

Peiper demands that his men be k*lled
by firing squad, which is refused.

The sentence will be commuted
to life imprisonment,

but Peiper will only spend


After his time in prison,
Peiper starts working for Porsche.

But when the trade unionists accuse him
of the Boves m*ssacre, he is fired.

Later, he will be hired at Volkswagen
as a trainer for car salesmen.

In 1972, Peiper moved to France
and lived there under another name.

In June 1976,
his true identity was revealed.

His house is then set on fire, and his
charred body is found in the ruins.

[in French] From here, you have
a very nice view of the Eifel forest.

Here's where Kurt Vonnegut finds himself,
with the 106th American infantry division.

On December 19, he will be taken
prisoner with about 6,000 of his men.

[male reader 6] Letter by Kurt Vonnegut
to his parents.

"Dear people, I've been a prisoner of w*r
since December 19th, 1944,

when our division was cut to ribbons
by Hitler's last desperate thrust

through Luxembourg and Belgium.

Seven fanatical Panzer Divisions hit us

and cut us off from the rest
of Hodges' First Army.

The other American Divisions
on our flanks managed to pull out.

We were obliged to stay and fight.

Bayonets aren't much good against tanks.

Our ammunition, food,
and medical supplies gave out

and our casualties outnumbered
those who could still fight,

so we gave up.

I was one of the few
who weren't wounded for that.

Thank God.

I am, as you know, a Private.

One hundred fifty such minor beings

were shipped to a Dresden work camp
on January 10th.

I was their leader by virtue
of the little German I spoke.

It was our misfortune to have sadistic
and fanatical guards.

We were refused medical attention
and clothing.

We were given long hours
of extremely hard labor."

[airplane engines roaring]

[in French] One of Kurt Vonnegut's books,
Slaughterhouse 5,

is inspired by his time as
a prisoner of w*r in Dresden.

It also tells the story of
the massive bombardment of the city

by the Royal Air Force,
which k*lled around 25,000 civilians.

"We are all Jews here."

Roddie Edmonds is one of the thousands
of American prisoners of w*r.

These prisoners walked for days
without water or food, to Stalag IX-b.

A month later, Roddie is moved with 1,275
other American soldiers to another camp:

Stalag IX-a.

As he's a staff sergeant, Roddie becomes
the highest ranking officer of them.

On the first day, Roddie Edmonds
receives an order from the Germans.

The Jewish American soldiers will have to
line up separately the next morning.

The next morning,
these 1,275 soldiers are in line.

The camp commandant,
Major Siegmann, is furious.

He orders Edmonds to
identify the Jewish soldiers.

Edmonds responds, "We're all Jews here."

The commander places his g*n to
Edmonds' head and repeats the order.

Edmonds replies,
"According to the Geneva Convention,

we must give you only our names,
ranks and numbers.

If you sh**t me,
you have to sh**t everyone.

And when the w*r is over,
you will be tried for w*r crimes."

Siegmann hesitates.

And then he puts his Luger
back in his holster and leaves.

[g*n shot]

[in French] So, this was one of the
American lines of defense in Bastogne.

Looking there, you have the complete view
of the whole valley.

And when we look in the woods, we see
some "foxholes", skirmisher holes.

We recognize them because they were
aligned and there are a few out there.

[piano music plays]

[in French] Strolling through the woods,
it's hard to imagine exactly

what the skirmisher holes looked like,
because nature has taken back its rights.

But this was a small command post
planned for four men,

which was completely reconstructed
as it really was at the time.

The morning of December 22 begins
with a snowstorm in the Ardennes,

and the city of Bastogne is completely
surrounded by the German army.

The German army sends a delegation
to the commander of the 101st, McAuliffe,

with a message of surrender.

[male reader 7] Letter from
the German Commander

Heinrich von Lüttwitz,
December 22nd, 1944.

"To the U.S.A. Commander
of the encircled town of Bastogne.

The fortune of the w*r is changing.

This time the U.S.A. forces
in and near Bastogne,

have been encircled by strong
German armored units.

More German armored units have crossed
the river Ourthe near Ourtheuville,

have taken Marche and reached St. Hubert
by passing through h*m*-Sibret-Tillet.

Libramont is in German hands.

There's only one possibility
to save the encircled U.S.A. Troops

from total annihilation:

That is the honorable surrender of
the encircled town.

In order to think it over
a term of two hours,

will be granted beginning
with the presentation of this note.

If this proposal should be rejected,

one German a*tillery Corps
and six heavy A.A. Battalions

are ready to annihilate
the U.S.A. Troops in and near Bastogne.

The order for firing will be given
immediately after this 2 hours term.

All the serious civilian losses
caused by this a*tillery fire

would not correspond
with the well-known American humanity."

[in French] The commander takes the paper,
throws it in the trash, mumbling, "Nuts!".

Officer Harper types the response
and hands it to the Germans.

The American commander,
Anthony McAuliffe to the German commander.

December 22, 1944.

"To the German commander: nuts!

Signed the American commander."

[upbeat music plays]

[in French] On the morning of Monday,
December 23,

the sun rises over the Ardennes
and pierces the fog and mist.

The US Air Force launches thousands of
operations against German supply lines.

[airplane engines roaring]

[in French] Seventy-five years ago,
there were no Chinese restaurant here.

It was the post of the 20th battalion's
second-in-command.

It's not just men who
have written history.

One of the most remarkable personalities
of the Battle of the Bulge is a woman,

a nurse, her name was Augusta Chiwy.

On December 21,
two nurses volunteer in Bastogne

at the first aid station
of the 10th Armored Division,

commanded by Dr. John Prior.

The first nurse is called Renée Lemaire,
and the second, Augusta Chiwy.

Prior discovers that Chiwy is able to
heal the most severe and bloody wounds.

She can deal with amputees, large chest
wounds, and horrific b*ttlefield trauma.

While Nurse Lemaire excels
in soothing soldiers' pain,

and take care of their hygiene,

many soldiers refuse
to be healed by Augusta.

To which Prior responds simply with:
"She heals you or you die."

Augusta Chiwy is black,
She was born in Congo.

Her mother is Congolese
and her father is Belgian.

But segregation and racism
are still very present

in American society and
in the American military as well.

Also soldiers of the 21st battalion
refuse to be treated by Augusta.

One of the most dangerous moves
has been made here on Mardasson Hill.

On this hill, Chiwy and Prior came under
heavy fire and a*tillery.

But they still managed to treat and
evacuate several seriously injured GIs.

Augusta manages to cross
the b*ttlefield without incidents,

without scratches, almost miraculously.

On her clothes we'll find holes
left by German b*ll*ts.

On Christmas, the medical center
is bombed, causing the death of 30 people.

Nurse Lemaire is one of these victims.

She would later become
known as "Angel of Bastogne".

But it'll be necessary to wait until 2011
for King Albert II to officially declare

Augusta Chiwy
a knight of the Order of the Crown,

and that the US Army awards her
a Civilian Award For Humanitarian Service.

She died in Brussels four years later,
at the age of 94.

[ominous music plays]

[in French] The Germans had planned
enough fuel to go to Antwerp.

But they didn't think of the consumption
in winter conditions and on bad roads.

On the evening of December 24,
the 9th Panzer Division ran out of fuel.

Their raid towards the Meuse stops
at about five kilometers from Dinant.

[in French]
Letter from a teacher from Vaux-Chavanne.

"On December 24, 1944,
at one in the morning,

we had to flee the House,
the enemy being at our gates.

We stayed three days in the woods,
lying on earth at 10 degrees below zero.

Eating dry bread, breaking the ice
of the streams to quench our thirst.

Under a rain of bombs and grapeshot,
we reached a few hospitable villages.

On January 14, we returned here where
the worst sight awaits us.

There are still a hundred
corpses left in the fields,

others were buried under
the branches of ragged trees.

Our House was unrecognizable:

facade, gables, roof,

all half pulverized by German shells.

We are ruined, dear Madame la Directrice."

[ominous music plays]

[in French] Sometimes, in the chaos,
terrible mistakes are made in w*r times.

This is called collateral damage.

On December 23 and 24,
the town of Malmedy,

despite being occupied by American troops,
is bombarded by six American bombers

and 18 heavy bombers of
the 8th Air Force.

[in German] Text from a German officer
on a board in the Champs-Schule

May the world never again
experience a Christmas Eve like this!

Nothing is worse than being struck down,
far away from mother, wife and children.

Where are the human values,
when you take a son from his mother?

A husband from his wife?
A father from a child?

Out of all the ruins, blood and death,
a better world must emerge.

[in French] This is Bill Mauldin's
comic "Willie and Joe".

So, Willie and Joe are the exact replica
of the GIs during the Battle of the Bulge:

that is to say, they're dirty, unshaven…
They're said to lack the smell.

The comic is published in Stars & Stripes,
the official magazine of the US Army.

The GIs love "Willie and Joe". Through
them, they find a bit of their daily life.

In February 1945, Patton will ask
Bill Mauldin to stop publishing the comic,

because he finds that the comic
undermines the morale of the troops.

But in the United States,
freedom of the press prevails

and comics will continue to be published.

Bill Mauldin will receive a Pulitzer Prize
in 1945 for this work as a whole.

w*r has a bad smell. It's a mix of death
and rot combined with expl*sives,

vehicles on fire, smoke.
It's a smell that no one can ever forget.

When the Americans liberate the cities,

the surviving civilians
welcome them enthusiastically,

happy to finally be rid of the Germans.

At the end of December, the bad weather
is unleashed and from January 7,

the snowfall intensifies.

The German high command realizes that
they'd never reach the port of Antwerp.

The German army stops a few
hundred meters from the Meuse.

The Meuse which was to be crossed
on the third day of the offensive,

but the Germans are
two weeks behind schedule.

Over the next month,
the German army began to retreat.

And the enthusiasm of the first days which
saw the German hope flare up is fading.

[in German] Letter from Ludwich Heuchel
to his family, January 9th.

Dear parents and sister,

Our steady advance has now
become a static w*r on both sides.

You can never settle down.

You have to endure the cold, the snow
and other unpleasant winter matters.

The best thing to look out for
is your next mail.

Unfortunately I haven't heard
from you the last 14 days

no letter, no parcel.

The reason is probably obvious.

You had to endure three bombardments
and the snow makes everything harder.

But still I look forward
to some friendly words from home

just learning how things are
with the family back home.

[in French]
A few hours after writing these words,

Ludwich Heuchel is mortally wounded
in the Bastogne. He was 24 years old.

The battles of January '45 were just
as deadly as those of December '44.

We now know what the outcome was,

but for the protagonists who lived
through the events, nothing was decided.

No one knew
what the next day would be like.

Doubt settles even at the highest levels
of the military about the horrors of w*r.

[somber music plays]

[male reader 8] Handwritten diary
of General Patton on January 4, 1945.

"The Division is very green and took
unnecessary losses to no effect.

Also m*rder*d 50 German men.

I hope we can conceal this."

[in French] The m*ssacre of
German prisoners by American soldiers

Patton mentions in his memoirs,
it's known as the "Chenogne m*ssacre".

It happened on January 1, 1945.
And today it's recognized as a w*r crime.

Obviously the Allies would have preferred
that it had not been made public,

and even Patton isn't
very clear about that.

Even in these memoirs,
he speaks of "incidents" or "actions".

In his journal, his handwritten diary,
he speaks of m*rder.

And this is where it all started,
in this house.

[somber music plays]

[in French] In this small village,
whose bombs will level all the houses,

the soldiers of the 11th armored division
will execute about 80 German soldiers.

This will be know as
"the m*ssacre of Chenogne".

They were sheltered, in the cellar of
this house with some civilians.

When the American soldiers discover them,
they order them to leave the cellar,

the Germans are worried.

Pushed by the civilians, they leave
their hiding place with a white flag.

But the inexperienced American
soldiers are nervous and panicked.

They start sh**ting
at the surrendering Germans.

The 60 surviving Germans are taken
into the woods and massacred.

General Eisenhower demands
a full investigation,

but the 11th division proves to be
uncooperative. They say it's too late.

The fact will be covered up and it takes


Letter from General Patton
to his wife Beatrice.

"These new units are not worth
a thing in their first fight.

This is the second that has gone sour
in the last week.

The whole country is covered
with snow and ice.

How men live, much less fight,
is a marvel to me.

A 280 shell just hid near here.

Those Germans are vicious fighters.

Sometimes even I get skeptical
about the end of this show.

We can still lose this w*r.

However, the Germans are colder
and hungrier than we are,

but they fight better.

I can never get over the stupidity
or our green corps."

[in French] Hundreds of w*r reporters
followed the Battle of the Bulge,

big names, from Capa to Hemingway.
But there were also women.

On the front line,
they're nicknamed the "News Chicks".

One of the most important w*r
correspondents is called Martha Gellhorn.

She's been married to Ernest Hemingway
since 1940 and an exceptional journalist.

January 1945.

News report of Martha Gelhorn.

"January…
A colleague and I drove up to Bastogne

on a secondary road through
breathtaking scenery.

The Thunderbolts had created this scenery.

You can say the words
'death and destruction'

but they don't mean anything.

But they are awful words
when you are looking at what they mean.

There were some German staff cars
along the side of the road.

They had not merely been hit by
machine-g*n b*ll*ts.

They had been mashed into the ground.

There were half-tracks and tanks
literally wrenched apart,

and a g*n position directly hit by bombs.

All around these lacerated
or flattened objects of steel

there was the usual riffraff.

Papers, tin cans, cartridge belts,
helmets, an odd shoe, clothing.

There were also ignored
and complete inhuman,

the hard-frozen corpses of Germans."

[airplane engines roaring]

[explosions and heavy g*n fire]

[in French] We can easily imagine
the trajectory taken by the planes

looking at the alignment of the holes.

The holes caused by
the bombings of the time.

Houffalize was completely destroyed
on the night of January 5 to 6, 1945,

by 90 Royal Air Force Lancaster bombers.

The bombardment was ordered to block a
crossroads which supplied the Germans.

Seeing the extent and horror the next day,
Patton wrote a poem in his diary,

based on a song by Jerry Vale,
"Oh Little Town of Bethlehem".

[vocal music plays]

[male reader 9]
"Oh little town of Houffalize.

How still we see thee lie
above thy steep and battered streets.

The aeroplanes sail by.

Yet in thy dark streets Shineth;
Not any goddamned light.

The hopes and fears of all thy years
were blown to hell last night."

[in French] After the Schnee Eifel
disaster, Americans can't afford to lose

the 18,000 men who are stuck in
Bastogne.

Patton, for his part,
is well aware that saving Bastogne,

will put him in "pole position". But the
road to Bastogne is long and arduous.

[male reader 10] Letter from Jack Womer
to his sister Jane, on January 7th.

"Jane, you ask if I do
any trading with the Germans?

Well, in a way I do.
But all of them are now dead Germans.

So you see, I always make out
on the deal."

[in French] Here we see soldiers
of the 101st Airborne embarked in

cattle trucks or trailers
that got towed by trucks.

They traveled for 18 hours non-stop,
like that, without any protection.

The sogne is transferred to rest in
Champagne after the campaign in Holland.

So some of the hardware had
been broken or was missing.

We see that the soldiers are not at all
equipped to face such temperatures.

Some don't have helmets, others
don't have coats, don't have gloves.

During the crossing of Noville,
the fighting will be particularly violent

and the soldiers of the 101st
Airborne will fight to the last man,

from house to house.

They will regroup at the castle.

And there they will be
besieged by infantry and tanks.

They will fight heroically until the
Allied air force bombs the Germans,

destroying the armored vehicles
and causing them to retreat as well.

This farm is linked to a scene
from the series "Brothers in Arms".

It's in this scene that a German soldier
sh**ting at the men of Easy Company.

Soldier Darrell C "Shifty Powers"
of the 101st shoots the sn*per.

So we don't know
if this story is true or not.

The b*llet holes that we see here,
they're very real and from that time.

The lifting of the siege of Bastogne
is one setback too many for Hitler.

In the absence of a military victory,
he wanted and needed a symbolic victory.

Hitler deploys numerous units,
armor and infantry,

as well as the Wehrmacht
and the Waffen SS.

He wants to cut the narrow corridor
linking Patton's 3rd Army to Bastogne.

But again, it's a loss.

Patton secures the corridor and
launches a counter-offensive.

The idea is to join the allied troops,
led by British Field Marshal Montgomery.

January 16, 1945, a month after
the start of the German offensive

the Allies meet at Houffalize.

The total number of casualties
in Bastogne and its surroundings

is estimated at 20,000 Americans
and 25,000 Germans.

[male reader 11] Letter from Churchill
to Stalin, sent January 6th, 1945,

received January 7th, 1945.

"The battle in the West
is very heavy and at any time

large decisions may be called
for from the Supreme Command.

You know yourself from your own experience

how very anxious the position is
when a very broad front has to be defended

after temporary loss of the initiative.

It is General Eisenhower's great desire
and need to know in outline

what you plan to do

as this obviously affects all his
and our major decisions."

[male reader 12] Poem by
Captain Philip W. Latimer.

"Black Tankers and White Paratroops;
they made a lovely sight.

Unless you were German,
and then you'd best take flight.

Black tankers and white paratroops,
they all were color blind.

They went into battle
with winning on their mind.

Black tankers and white paratroops
made Patton shout with glee,

they fight the way I want them to,
they're good enough for me.

Black tankers and white paratroops,
lie buried side by side.

They gave their life for country,
they gave it with pride.

Black tankers and white paratroops,
our memories take us back.

Since we've been in battle,
there is no white or black."

[somber music plays]

[in French] On January 21, the city
of St. Vith is recaptured.

The Battle of the Bulge is over.
But the human toll is heavy, very heavy.

There are 81,000 victims among
the Americans including 11,000 dead.


the Germans, with 13,000 dead.

More than 1,500 victims among
Canadians and the British.

We must count all the people
who have been injured,

and all those who have disappeared.

[somber music continues]