What Tanks and halftracks were used during the battle of the bulge
http://www.army.mil/cmh/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_25.htm
This is a broad question and really there is no list of exact vehicles used. Take into account the several variants of self propelled guns, support vehicles, captured vehicles pressed into service, the various components of the panzer divisions, jagers, mechanized infantry, luftwaffe, engineering units etc. involved and you have a pretty big order. The above link will give you a good idea of the main vehicles used on either side. (allied and axis). After that you’ll have to do the digging to see if a paticular vehicle was used in that campaign.
If its something inparticular you’re looking for I’d suggest you research the ardenne offensive and look for the documentation sources and references to see what divisions were comprised of what vehicles, their theatre of operation, and the orders of battle for those units. That will give you an idea of who was using what where and give you a subject to model if thats your interest.
Hopefully I can grab ahold of this topic and steer it somewhere with a specific question…
What was the prevalence of U.S. Shermans in the whitewashed winter camo scheme?
My online searches for images usually turn up nothing but die-cast toy Shermans, but I know I have seen battle photos of them somewhere in the winter of 1944 (presumably the Bulge). I have an old Tamiya M4A3 (75mm) with applique armor panels sitting around, and instead of stripping it, I thought it might be a better idea to apply the winter whitewash to it. Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?
Thanx do u guyz now if the 101st paratroopers got armor support while they were surronded in bastogne.
What was the German unit that dressed up as U.S Mp’s.
German special operations during the BotB were carried out by Panzerbrigade 150, and were code named operation “Greif”. This commando unit was lead by the famous SS Sturmbannfuhrer Otto Skorzeny. Initially dressed as US soldiers and with a few captured and “Americanized” vehicles like the ersatz M-10/Panthers, they were intended to infiltrate Allied units, cut communications, seize important road junctions and bridges and generally inflict as much confusion amongst the allied troops as possible. For an detailed account of their actions, the After the Battle Series book; The Battle of the Bulge, Then and Now, gives a complete description of their activities.
Elements of both the US 9th and 10th Armored Divisions encircled at Bastogne supported the 101st Airborne.
I believe the kit hull is incorrect when used with the applique armor. The large hatch hull is normally indicative of a late, wet stowage hull and they normally did not have applique armor. That tank would be in use around the Battle of the Bulge though.
There are several photos of M4A1(76)W tanks as part of Patton’s breakthrough force. Dragon has this kit as well as the old standard Italeri Sherman.
Robin is right about the applique armor on the Tamiya M4A3 kits. This was a mistake Tamiya made when they saw some examples of later hulled M4A2s. For some reason these still had the carryover “dry” ammo stowage racks – necessitating the applique armor. Late M4A2s were used by the Soviets and USMC – from a distance, one might suspect that they are M4A3s. The late M4A3s as depicted by the Tamiya kit would never have had the applique armor as they were all wet stowage.
One thing about Battle of Bulge Shermans – know that there wasn’t any snowfall at the onset of the battle so it’s doubtful that any vehicles would have been whitewashed. As the battle progressed, snow came and Allied armies did apply whitewash. The German thrusting forces weren’t whitewashed either. I can imagine that as the battle progressed, some were whitewashed.
Finally, “BoB” is used to denote the Battle of the Bulge but to our English friends, “BoB” is the Battle of Britain (1940-41).
Tankluver: Go to your local library. The Battle of the Bulge is frequently covered in American books. See what is there. Also try to get “Panzers of the Ardennes Offensive” (by Cockle) and “Battle of the Bulge” (by Zaloga) by Concord publications at your local hobby shop.
Take care folks, RC
Tankluver;
Here’s a photo that may give you some ideas.
Cheers;
Gregory
Where Halftracks used during the thrusts or were they emplieng the Blitzkrieg tactic were the infantry do the mop up.
If they were used what kind waz Germany using.
The German thrusts were multi pronged and used many sorts of vehicles. Tanks (of all sorts), artillery on prime movers, self propelled artillery, troop trucks, staff vehicles, utility vehicles, recon armored cars & halftracks, half tracks for armored troops.
If you’re looking for half tracks for armored infantry, then the common one would have been the SdKfz 251 ausf D. Tamiya, DML and AFV Club all make this version.
What did the Airborne troops in bastogne have to defend against a German attack of tanks.Did the paratroopers have artillery that they brought with them into the woods.
The soldiers in the Bastogne pocket did have artillery assets (as well as a few armor pieces) but I don’t think the 101AB had their own integral artillery units. However, I’m not sure of what types of incursions to reduce the Bastogne defenders included German tanks. If you want to be historically accurate, I recommend you ask your local librarian to obtain for you the recommended book: “Battle of the Bulge: Then and Now” by Pallud. Libraries can get any book through the “inter-library loan” system. The brief histories in the two Concord books should serve you well too. Why don’t you try there?
In the Movie Battle of the Bulge the U.S infantry were in little pillboxes were those what was left of the French Magganoe line or did enginners build them.
I would recommend against using that movie as a guideline as it didn’t even come close to the real thing, not the plot, not the battle, not the equipment. Only a few scenes actually captured the “gist” of small portions of the events. And especially don’t look at any of the tanks, or other equipment as those were M-47 and M-48 and M-24 Chaffee tanks.
I kinda figured that the tanks werent the real thing but i thought the Germans were using the Pershing tank in that movie.
Oya was the Pershing tank in the battle of the bulge or near the end of it.
Nope, the “German” tanks you see in that movie are M-47 Patton tanks. The hull was based on the M-46, which was based on the M-26 Pershing, so you can think of the M-47 as a decendant from the M-26 Pershing, hence some similarities in layout and details.
The M-26 Pershing entered active service in 1945, after the Battle of the Bulge.
Concerning the 101st AB artillery support;
“Three battalions of light, 75mm pack howitzers…and one standard 105mm battalion provided the organic artillery support.”
“Also present were four corps artillery battalions whose 155mm howitzers provided McAuliffe…long-range firepower”
“About 130 artillery tubes were inside Bastogne”.
The above was taken from page 68, Osprey’s Ardennes 1944.
By the 15th of Dec, 1944, US forces had broken through the Siegfried Line (or West Wall, if you please) in several places, most notably in and around the German city of Aachen. The opening scene of the movie Battle of the Bulge depicts US troops occupying a bunker of the Siegfried Line, hence the sign “under new management”. Probably one of the more accurate scenes of the whole movie…[xx(]
why did the Germans use Paratroopers not the Mp ones but just the regulare Faalshirmjager.
The 3rd Fallschirmjager Division was but a pale shadow of their former fearsome reputation by the time they were deployed with Kampfgruppe Peiper. Decimated in the summer 1944 battles, the division was reconstructed using surplus Luftwaffe ground personnel and other recruits who would have been rejected years earlier. Many in the division’s leadership were inexperienced staff officers with few combat-hardened veterans. Their diminished effectiveness was made clear on Dec.16th, when one of their regiments was held up all day at Lanzerath by a US infantry platoon, delaying the advance of Kampfgruppe Peiper by 24 hours. Infuriated by such incompetence, Peiper commandeered a battalion of Fallschirmjager to his own force. Since they lacked sufficient armored transport and could not keep up on foot, Peiper had them ride on the backs of the Tiger IIs.
Have you done a search on the battle of the bulge, ardennes, or Bastonge
try Google and tell us what you find
and go get the books allready mentioned about 6 times now