How 18 American Soldiers Tricked the Entire 1st SS Panzer Division

on December 16th of 1944 18 American soldiers from Huracan essence platoon faced off against a German advance outnumbered 27 to 1 in what would come to be known as the Battle of lanza Rock Ridge the day-long confrontation saw the 18 soldiers battle 500 german paratroopers with such ferocity that the Germans believed a massive American fighting force must be waiting for them in the nearby woods the deception would prove vital as the platoon delayed the entire 1st SS Panzer Division for nearly 20 hours and set the stage for the Allies to win a decisive victory at the Battle of the Balaji Battle of the Bulge the Battle of the Bulge was the last German offensive on the Western Front for World War two lasting from December 16 1944 to January 25th 1945 the attacks were carried out in the woods of eastern Belgium to block allied access to the port of antwerp the Germans hoped the audacious move would allow them to encircle and defeat all four enemy armies forcing the Allies into a peace treaty beneficial to the Axis powers the Battle of Lunger outrage took place over one day on December 16th 1944 and has been recognized as one of the first altercations of the greater Battle of the Bulge it took place near Lunger at a Belgian village along the trail pursued by the German northern shoulder advance before the battle the US Army had been attacking the German roaaarrr River dams after succeeding and breaking the German fortified lines they expected a counter-attack still American intelligence failed to discern the hundreds of armored vehicles going their way and the thousands of soldiers about to attack the border area between Germany and Belgium was often called a ghost front despite the quiet however the region held a vital network in the lost Heim gap a narrow five mile long valley it was here that the Germans plan to use to send their fifth and six Panzer armies for a major offensive the 394th the eighteen American troops as the 394th intelligence and reconnaissance platoon were well trained but mostly inexperienced soldiers deployed to the Ardenne some of them were college educated graduates of the by then defunct army specialized training program which trained future personnel and engineering foreign languages or medicine the platoon was commanded by one of the youngest operators in the entire army 20-year old lieutenant Lyle book the platoon was formed by two reconnaissance squads of nine men each while highly trained for surveillance efforts they were not prepared nor intended to directly engage with the Germans their main objective was to serve as a special intelligence agency for the regiment commander by collecting information and providing it to the regimental intelligence officer such as the coordinates and size of the enemy forces to do this they operated patrol vehicles observation posts and coordinated intelligence activities across the regiment they've been living in the basement of a brick building in hoonigan used to store the combat rations of the military on the morning of December 16th the two squadrons detected a significant German advance in the next town but their communications were largely cut off from the higher headquarters and they had no additional support at the time the majority of the American forces in the area were attacking the Siegfried line through father shield five miles north of where the platoon was although they expected a counter-attack they were not expecting as great of a force as the Germans were sending their way lieutenant Polk and his team decided to build fortifications at Lund Surratt on a hilltop edge of the forest overlooking pasture they used foxholes left behind by a previous unit but they dug deeper so that at least two or three more soldiers could fire from within while hidden each hole was then covered with pine logs their position gave them control over 300 yards of rit's line to the northeast and allowed them to cover the fork in the road to their left as it snowed the Americans were made invisible to those who would soon travel the road below they used a nearby log Hut as a warming Hut they brought along the for additional carbines to automatic rifles and a light machine gun that poked it at it too the unit's arsenal they also counted on a point five caliber machine gun a topic Jeep obtained by bokes through backchannels the platoon dug an emplacement for the jeep placing it in an advantageous position to the road they ran a jeep patrol each hour to maintain contact between their left and right flank units and to continue surveilling the enemy's movement the team meant to serve as the eyes and ears of the 394th infantry regiment was forced into a combatant position which they were relatively unprepared for the only direct order they received was to hold the area at all costs yet they expected to receive support and remained hopeful that their situation would change book would later stated in an interview with CNN quote we weren't trained to occupy a defensive position in the front lines who were trained to patrol and get information about the enemy the 3rd fallschirmjaeger by that point in the war most german units were formed by a combination of sprinkled seasoned veterans and a crew of untested young Germans who had rarely ever shot a gun before during the invasion of Normandy the Germans 3rd fallschirmjaeger division known for its effectiveness in combat was mostly vanquished to keep German morale it had been rebuilt with members from the Luftwaffe field regiments they carried the new stg44 selective fire rifle and rifle grenades and were generally well armed yet the new recruits were still green and under the impression that the American soldiers were highly demoralized and unwilling to put up a fight from this new 3rd fallschirmjaeger division the 9th regiment was ordered to head the attack on Lancer OTT and wiped the village clean they would then attack Hunt's field and Burlington where they believed they would face the bulk of the US troops the 6th Panzer Army headed by camp Group a piper would continue immediately towards the right flank to attack the route by low shrine McRaven directly after lunch murat was taken the german forces on their way to meet the small american platoon including 500 men in the 9th fallschirmjaeger regiment and 50 men from the fusilli regiment despite Germany's recent losses and the encroachment of the Allied forces on their territory their morale was strong they saw their line as the ultimate defense of their homeland the Battle of Lunz our at-rich the attack began with a two hour long rolling barrage thanks to the foxholes the I&R platoon was mostly unharmed unfortunately for them the German soldiers cut their land lines without the possibility of asking for backup by radio the regiment was ordered to hold the area and send a patrol the Patrol watched if the large German unit emerged intending to march through the town on the road in front of the hill with foxholes eventually taking them to the unprotected flank at the regiment upon return the Patrol wanted to withdraw but lieutenant book ordered the soldiers to remain in their foxholes as he hoped that their defensive strategy might stall the German army the battle began without initial fire the Germans rolled in with their commanders out in the open perfectly positioned for the platoon to take out yet a young civilian girl reportedly left her house to warn them of the presence of the Americans the German soldiers used roadside ditches to hide and shoot while the Americans shot back from the foxholes the Germans tried to attack the platoon from the front but they had little at which to aim the snow had rendered the platoon invisible the defensive positions of the Americans was far superior and the fallschirmjaeger regiment bore the devastating effects of it back and forth shooting between the 18 men and the group of over 500 lasted all day three concerted assaults were launched against the defensive position and 394th intelligence and reconnaissance platoon defeated each one german paratroopers charged in waves with little efficacy Lieutenant Bach was set on fighting to the very last bullet to stall the Germans yet they were not only threatened by the paratroopers present but by the 1st SS Panzer Division coming up behind them eventually the enemy fire destroyed the INR platoons Radio ending all their communication with the outside world hundreds of Germans had fallen on the snow by the time the third wave of attacks was over with only one American soldier wounded despite their early success they knew that they couldn't hold a defensive position for much longer bow cleaner stated in an interview with The New York Times quote we were frightened and we were tired and it was like a hellish nightmare it seemed it would never end we couldn't get any help it seemed like it was all hopeless the soldiers had been fighting on little or no sleep they were freezing and they were running out of munitions lieutenant Boca sought reinforcements or a form of withdrawal order by sending two soldiers to the regimental headquarters they never made it the Germans captured them prisoners of war lieutenant Polk was planning a withdrawal without consent from his superiors as his men ran out of ammo but he never got to put his plan into action as night fell on December 16th 50 of the german paratroopers flanked the platoon and entered its perimeter they cleaned out each foxhole on their way capturing the American soldiers lieutenant Polk was injured in the leg by a German soldier who fired at his foxhole only one of the American soldiers was lost in action once they were all captured the German paratroopers searched the woods for the humiliating revelation they'd been delayed by a tiny platoon German lieutenant Piper arrived at midnight infuriated and frustrated of the delays resulting from the defense mounted by the INR platoon as well as the terrible weather these delays presented a significant problem for the tight timetable plan for the Panzer units which granted the US Army highly valuable hours to prepare for the German attack reinforced the US Army was able to defeat the German units in the northern shoulder of the Bulge the German army was forced to shift its focus towards the south by means of its fifth army for the remainder of the conflict lieutenant Polk turned 21 on December 17th while captive at cafe children the 17 platoon members were transported to multiple locations before being imprisoned at Stalag 13 C in Nuremberg Lang Vassar a prisoner of war camp built on the old party rally grounds the officers were sent to off-log 13b instead in hammelburg the second camp had been built to hold 300 people but instead held over 1,500 at the time of its liberation the platoon members were liberated at the end of the war recognition the man at the INR Platoon would become not only the most decorated at the Battle of the Bulge but of World War two the son of President Eisenhower John SD Eisenhower who commanded the Allied forces in Europe credited their efforts with blocking an attack that could have resulted in the early destruction of the American position along the front lines he believed that they receive credit for the way the whole battle turned out they were not awarded immediately after the war but a petition to Congress successfully granted them four Distinguished Service crosses five Silver Star medals and Bronze Star medals for the remaining nine soldiers dark ducks is excited to announce a new channel dark skies click the new logo on screen or the link in the description below to subscribe now join us as we bring the world of aviation out of the dark with new videos exploring the biggest and fastest airplanes ever built top-secret military projects and classified missions with hidden untold true stories it's been an incredible journey with you from our first channel dark five to where we are today thank you for your 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Channel: Dark Docs

Views: 2,131,213

Keywords: lanzerath ridge, battle of the bulge, germany, usa, america, ww2, wwii, world war 2, world war ii, history, documentary, panzer, tank, panzer division, axis, allies, world war 2 documentary, ww2 documentary, dark docs, history channel, short documentary

Id: __DpninsWP4

Length: 11min 7sec (667 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 17 2020