Editor’s note: The following is an account of the historic World War II Battle of the Bulge, as told by local veteran Chuck Katlic, who was among the Allied soldiers in the battle, which began 65 years ago today. The dates, times and town names were taken from the daily record of Company F’s European Campaign compiled by Clerk Robert Root.
On Dec. 16, 1944, four-and-a-half divisions, 70,000 men, covered a 70 mile front from Luxembourg through Belgium and the Siegfried Line in the Ardennes.
It all began at 0500 hours.
I remember being on watch in his log and snow covered foxhole when German artillery and mortars opened up on the 99th Division area. The weather was cloudy and cold. Artillery landed in our area all day and night. Company F was awake and on the alert. Thank God we had covered our foxholes with logs. This alone saved our men from being wounded or killed from shrapnel from the bursts. Some men caught out of their foxholes were wounded and killed
On Dec. 17, enemy artillery continued to land on our positions. German and American planes were in the sky. Jerry planes were bombing and strafing our positions. The American planes were doing the same to the Germans.
Dogfights were being fought overhead. Three Jerry planes were shot down. We lost one P-38 fighter.
German artillery ceased. Enemy patrols were numerous and active all day.
The 2nd Battalion waqs surrounded by the Germans and separated from the Regiment. We received orders to withdraw, leaving a covering force, to an assembly point near Hunmgen, Belgium. We dug in for the night and set up a perimeter defense. The next morning no artillery was falling. The ground was covered with snow and the temperature hovered near 5 degrees. We were low on ammo and had no food rations. The Germans were closing in for the kill. We moved along a draw then into the woods where we temporarily held up for a couple of hours before we were ordered to “fix bayonets.”
Company F and the rest of the battalion moved toward Merrigen, Belgium. At approximately 1500 hours a German burp gun opened up on our column and pinned us down. Heavy weapons were called for. An attack was waged against the German positions. Stiff resistance was met. After engaging the enemy for approximately two hours, Our company commander, Lt. Goodner, was given command of the battalion. He led the battalion through the draw to the town of Elsenborn, believed to be in Allied control.
The battalion went under intense artillery and small arms fire. We were wet, cold and hungry. The 2nd Battalion was given up as being lost in action. The battalion reached the outskirts of Elsenborn and the men of Company F slept in a nearby barn until 1000 hours. Hot chow, a feast of pancakes and syrup, was served around noon. It was the first hot meal we’d had in days.
The company moved to Elsenborn Ridge where we dug foxholes and set up our defenses. Our meals would be cold C-rations until our kitchen was set up. We spent our days improving our positions and sending out patrols. On Christmas day we were served a cold turkey dinner.
I celebrated by 21st birthday, Jan. 8, 1945, in a foxhole on Elsenborn Ridge. It was the coldest day of my life. The 99th Division held the northern shoulder, preventing the Germans from expanding the bulge. The 99th spent the rest of December and January defending the north shoulder of the bulge. After many attempts, the Germans could not break through and withdrew to defensive positions.
On Jan. 31, the weather was wet and freezing at 0100 hours. The long-awaited attack order was received and the company left at 0300 hours. Snow was waist deep and extremely wet. The rain had made a slushy surface on top of the snow causing considerable delay in our departure. At 0600 hours, we had advanced about 700 yards, but no enemy resistance had been met. With Goodner leading the company we moved forward toward enemy installations under overhead covering fire from the light machine gun section and the 60 mm mortar section.
Moving due north through German outposts we reached our objective, facing only light resistance.
Swinging the company due east, we drove the Germans into a dense woods where we were held up by intense automatic and sniper fire, which inflicted heavy casualties on our infantry and medics. We were pinned down in four feet of snow for the remainder of the night.
Our artillery was called upon to eliminate the enemy fire. Shells landed within 50 yards of our own troops and we spend another miserable night laying in the snow, wet, cold, hungry and tires. Eight of our men were killed and many more were wounded that night. We were relieved by the 3rd Battalion and after we regrouped, we advanced back to our original lines.
The next day we began to push the Germans back to the Rhine River and into Germany. This was the end of the Battle of the Bulge.
During the six weeks spanning Dec. 16, 1944 to Jan. 31, 1945, American troops suffered 90,000 casualties, including 19,000 killed in action. The Battle of the Bulge was the largest land battle ever fought by the U.S. Army.
There are not many of us left that fought in this historic battle. That’s why this story must be told.
