Operation Northwind: The Other Battle of the Bulge

By New Year's Eve 1944 the German Army seemed to be finished but the Wehrmact had one last surprise, Operation Nordwind. Hitler personlly planned this great offensive to help turn the tide against the allies and divert pressure from the bulge. 8 German Divisions smashed against the thinly held American lines in Alsace- Lorraine in France. Although seemingly small in scale compared to other great German offensives (42 Divisions invaded Poland, 136 France, 150 Russia, 65 Operation Blau culminating in Stalingrad, 36 OP: Zitadelle "battle of Kursk", 22 Autumn Mist "battle of the bulge") in the war. This offensive was actually one of the most important in WWII. Finally this important struggle gets its due. The Americans were forced to retreat under the onslaught. This book captures the political pressure by the French on the Americans to resist the invasion and save their country once more. The alliance nearly fragmented under the weight of the German assault as the Allies argue how best to stop the devastating offensive. The author does a masterfull job of capturing the battle from the big picture to the small details. The outcome was far from certain and the Americans were hard pressed to meet this German threat. The author also successfully argues that this battle was more important than the bulge because of the political pressures that nearly ended allied relations. But the Americans rise to the occasion and defeat Operation Nordwind and save the Franco-American alliance in the process. The US 7th Army and 1st French Army battle the Nazi's and knock them out of France once and for all. A month after the battle began the offensive had been stopped at a great cost. 16,000 Americans gave their lives and 32,000 French also perished defending their country. But the 19th German Army was defeated and the allies could focus on finishing off Germany. Hitler's true last great gamble nearly succeeded and if it had the war might have turned out differently. Fortunately it failed and the Allies won the war. This is a good book and a must have for any true WWII collection.

Volume 7 of the very impressive Casemate "West Wall" series, The Other Battle Of The Bulge: Operation Northwind by World War II military expert and author Charles Whiting is a serious, informed and informative examination of an often neglected yet crucial struggle that took place during the closing days of World War II European Theatre. It was called Operation Northwind, and planned by Hitler personally to attack the American line of the Alsace-Lorraine region with eight German divisions (three of them elite SS), and thereby forcing the Americans to retreat. For a time, it seemed the Franco-American alliance would be broken under the impact of the German assault, and the ultimate triumph of the Allies came only at a heavy cost in blood and lives. A solid, serious, sober account, The Other Battle Of The Bulge is very highly recommended reading for the military buff, and an indispensable addition to Military History reference collections.

Mr. Whiting has the 79th infantry entering the war in europe in Aug. of 1944. Actually, the 79TH was one of the units that captured Cherbourg. This occured on June 26TH. On August 19TH the 79TH was in Mantes-Gassicourt.A major battle was fought here the result of which was a victory which allowed the americans to drive all the way to the Belgium border.

In the battle of Hatten and Rittershoffen over 5000 German and American soldiers were killed wounded or missing. Over 100 destroyed tanks of both sides littered the battlefield within and surrounding the utterly pulverized villages on the Northern Alsatian Plain along the upper Rhine River during the 12 day tank-infantry battle. This battle between the U.S 14th Armored,79th Infantry and 42nd Infantry Divisions and the German 21st Panzer, 25th Panzer Grenadier, 7th Parachute, and 47th Volks Grenadier Divisions should be the subject of exhaustive research because its received little attention from historians thus far. Dan Kneeland Grafton, Ma.