To this day, there is some debate whether or not the beleaguered 101st Airborne Division, who were tasked with defending the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne during the Ardennes counteroffensive, were in need of rescuing against vastly superior German forces then encircling the area. Ask the “Screaming Eagles” holed up in the town and they’ll say they were simply holding out against ferocious if failed Nazi assaults for several days running. Patton’s 3rd Army, on the other hand, who had ceased attacking German forces well to the south of the so-called “Bulge”, pivoted 90-degrees then marched through the thick of winter for two days, will answer differently, acting like saviors for the men of the 101st who, for all intents and purposes, were cut off from the world and hanging on by a thread.
On the morning of December 26th, 1944, as part of a concerted effort to relieve the 101st Airborne (“Screaming Eagles”) defending the all-important crossroads town of Bastogne, the 4th Armored Division’s (“Breakthrough”) Combat Command Reserve (CCR) was ordered by Division HQ to link up with Combat Command B (CCB), which was still fighting for the town of Chaumont in southeast Belgium. Colonel Wendell Blanchard, commander of CCR, called together Lt. Colonel Creighton Abrams of the 37th Tank Battalion, and Lt. Colonel George L. Jaques of the 53rd Armored Infantry Battalion.
He told them to attack and seize the village of Chaumont, which was just 3 miles from Bastogne. From there, they were to advance in earnest up the main road, break through the German cordon, and make contact with the beleaguered 101st, which was rapidly running out of ammunition.
After capturing Chaumont, the two commanders initially planned to attack the town of Sibret, but because it was so heavily defended, they instead chose to assault the nearby village of Assenois, which was located on a secondary road but still provided access to Bastogne. With artillery firing in support, the leading element of CCR, comprised of three Shermans followed by a halftrack full of infantry, then two more Shermans, stormed the village. Abrams’ tanks blasted their way through the obstacles, while dismounted infantry mopped up the remaining strongpoints. After eliminating several enemy soldiers laying Teller mines along the road, Abrams command linked up with elements of the 101st at 1700 hours. The siege had been lifted and with it came the collapse of Hitler’s “Wacht am Rhein” operation.
Look for the “First in Bastogne” Sherman from Forces of Valor to break the siege in the Ardennes Forest early this fall.