Monday, December 16, 2019

Wacht Am Rhein: The German Code Phrase for the attack designed to capture the deep water port at Antwerp and drive the Allied Armies back into the sea began today 75 years ago


One of my favorite scenes from the 1965 film "Battle of the Bulge" is a portrayal loosely based on facts surrounding the famous battle. I also believe Robert Shaw's character, Martin Hessler, is a given for Joachim Pieper who in real life led the German spearhead known as Kampfgruppe Pieper into the attack. Below is a link to story a that describes the "most horrific" battle of The Battle of the  Bulge. H/T to Bob in KY for sending and remembering the sacrifices of one of the bloodiest battles of WW2.



Click HERE to read this little known story of bravery as a 26 year old Major takes the initiative and helps turn the tides of this historic battle.

13 comments:

  1. The German hero was not piper but Joachim Pheiper. After the war he and hid soldiers were falsley acused by the
    Americans os war crimes, some of his soldiers were innocent hanged, he himself was sentence to years in prison. His short life in France ended with a violent murder by some jews.

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    1. Peiper, not Pheiper. And he did order the execution of American POWs, which was a war crime.

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    2. See the Malmedy Massacre for part of this guy's resume.

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    3. Exactly. Peiper was a slug on the Russian Front before his outfit was ordered west. He wiped out villages in Italy and France and was an enthusiastic SS trooper.

      He was also Himmler's adjutant for a year.

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    4. Peiper was an interesting cat. I think a lot of the hype surrounding him was for German propaganda purposes. I don't doubt any of the stuff that was attributed to him on the Ost Fronten or elsewhere for that matter. It was brutal whether one was a partisan or soldier. The term civilian many times is argumentative in WW2 Russia. I am really surprised more atrocities were not committed by German divisions returning from Russia that were transferred to the west (Italy, France, Belgium, Germany). In the east, acts of terror and sabotage were dealt with swiftly and brutally. Then on the other hand, a German soldier might be court martialed for stealing a chicken. Piper once had five of his SS men court martialed and shot in Belgium for stealing poultry and a ham. I knew a man from Tennessee who was an OSS operative. He and his team were assigned to "observe" Peiper in Belgium. He told a story that Peiper had been up for ten days (we now know that what this man called "pep pills" was actually methamphetamine). He said he watched from hiding as Peiper screamed in rage at a Hauptsturmfuhrer (SS rank of captain) over something trivial and then threw his cap at the guy as he walked away. Peiper, whether guilty or not, was convicted of the Malmedy massacre and sentenced to hang. After several reviews (some based on tortured confessions) his sentenced was lowered each time. He was eventually released in 1954 after serving nine years as a POW. A lot of this was probably a trade-off for information that the Americans so desperately sought in the Cold War years. After the war he worked for Volkswagen and Porsche. He eventually became an automotive review writer living in France. He used his real/full name. Once he was identified by some commie resistance fighter, flyers appeared the next day exposing him as a war criminal, etc. He and his house were threatened several times and his home was eventually attacked and burned. After his house was fire bombed by Molotov cocktails and he succumbed to the fire, his body (or a body) was found along with a .38 caliber revolver, 12 ga. shotgun and a .22 caliber rifle. Reports vary that there were signs showing three attackers were wounded or killed and their bodies carried away along with numerous expended shell casings found around Peiper's body. Supposedly there was four empty 6.35mm cases found around Peiper's kennel and his dogs had been shot too. The HIAG (the SS veterans organization) listed Peiper as the last Waffen SS soldier killed in combat. Of course, there were other reports that claim this was an elaborate hoax to smuggle Peiper to safety where he could live out his days in anonymity. We may never know. A book worth reading in regards to Peiper is "The Devil's Adjutant" by Mike Reynolds.

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  2. Thanks, now I know more about how my dad who was in company A spent the week before Christmas 1944. Had to read it because he never told me anything about it. You have made my Christmas better this year. Thanks again for posting this article.

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  3. My Grandfather was there.

    -rightwingterrorist

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    1. My Granddaddy was in Bastogne too. He was in one of the AAA units attached to the 101st who ended up spending Christmas surrounded by Germans. He didn't talk much about the war, but he said he was as cold and hungry during the siege as he had ever been in his life. We know now, that the winter of 1944 was one of the coldest on record in Europe.

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  4. Didn't know about the Major. Helluva story!

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  5. Things were so bad, one US division even fielded it's band. They died valiantly, but they tried.

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  6. mean as catshit on linoleum, we might have to get this mean ourselves, or meaner when the rubber meets the road.

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  7. Larry, learn the real history, not the propaganda fed to the world for 75 years to HIDE their OWN war crimes.
    And it is going on ever since:

    During the Ardennes offensive the American "heroes" fled like rats when they saw the German tanks. The heroes have bombed all German cities for four years, not factories, but innocent women and children.The bombing was mainly carried out during the night just like real bastards do.

    http://www.thefewgoodmen.com/thefgmforum/threads/the-killing-of-jochen-peiper.2783/

    https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=johachim+peipher&view=detail&mid=DA0D85C43F9AA17FEE2ADA0D85C43F9AA17FEE2A&FORM=VIRE

    Listen to Martin Breck, one of the few Americans with a conscience. The rest were all brutal thieves,killers and rapists. Thank you for coming to "liberate" us.

    https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=eisenhower+death+camps+after+ww2&view=detail&mid=34B5A0A85DE90C545EED34B5A0A85DE90C545EED&FORM=VIRE

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    1. Whatever, wannabe Nazi. You clowns are as pathetic as wingers, but at least they're not bold-faced liars.

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