By Todd DePastino
Bill Bonnamy’s website dedicated to the 319th Glider Field Artillery, 82nd Airborne Division has stories from scores of the battalion’s veterans. Some of these stories detail the veterans’ experiences during the Battle of the Bulge.
When you think of the Battle of the Bulge, it’s the 101st Airborne that comes first to mind, not the 82nd.
The 101st famously the vital crossroads town of Bastogne, Belgium, against a determined German siege. Surrounded and vastly outnumbered, their resilience and successful defense, despite harsh winter conditions, helped block the German advance and secure an Allied victory.
The 82nd Airborne played a similar role in defending strategic points own the western line, though their story is less well-known.
The Bulge began with a German offensive, codenamed Wacht am Rhein, aimed to split the Allied forces, capture Antwerp, and force a negotiated peace on the Western Front. Caught off guard by the attack, Allied forces faced severe challenges in the Ardennes Forest, where the bulk of the battle occurred.
The 82nd Airborne Division, commanded by Major General James M. Gavin, was swiftly deployed to counter the German advance. The division was tasked with holding critical defensive positions, preventing German forces from exploiting their initial breakthroughs.
On December 17, the 82nd Airborne was rushed to the northern flank of the bulge near the Meuse River, specifically in the area around Stavelot and Trois-Ponts. Their objective was to secure key river crossings and hold the high ground, denying the Germans access to routes leading to their ultimate goal, Antwerp. Despite limited preparation and harsh winter conditions, the paratroopers rapidly organized a defensive perimeter.
One of the division’s significant engagements occurred at the Salm River, where they repelled repeated German attacks. Their efforts ensured that the German 6th Panzer Army, spearheading the offensive, was unable to achieve its objectives.
As the Allied counteroffensive gained momentum in January, the 82nd Airborne transitioned from defense to offense. The division launched coordinated attacks to reclaim lost territory, often facing entrenched German forces in bitter, close-quarters combat. Their advance was instrumental in pushing the Germans back toward the Siegfried Line, marking a turning point in the battle.
The conditions during the Battle of the Bulge were brutal. The winter was one of the coldest on record, with snow and freezing temperatures complicating both logistics and combat. The 82nd Airborne soldiers, equipped with minimal cold-weather gear, endured frostbite, trench foot, and exhaustion.
The division’s success was attributed to its leadership, adaptability, and the fierce determination of its soldiers. General Gavin’s command style, which emphasized mobility and aggressive action, was crucial in countering the German offensive.
By the end of January 1945, the German offensive had been decisively halted, and the Allies regained momentum in Western Europe.
Below are some brief accounts from 82nd Airborne veterans, drawn from 319Gliderman.com:
On Dec. 16th, ’44, the Bulge started. On the 17th or 18th we were alerted and moved out to Belgium. I remember going through Bastogne. We got as far as Werbomont, Belgium, on the northern fringe of the Bulge where we were positioned to support the 3rd Bn. 508th.
There was a lot of movement of all units to straighten the lines and to extend a solid front.
On Christmas’ Eve, ’44, “A” Battery was selected to support the withdrawal of the 508th. Everybody withdrew but no one told “A” Battery and we were left high and dry. I couldn’t get anybody on the radio as the radio silence had not been lifted. I don’t remember how long we waited, but I finally decided we had to get out also. It had been too quiet far too long. The Battery was ready. I made my way to the 7th Section, Sgt. Frank Marshal and said, “Lets go.” We were very fortunate that the Germans were not in pursuit. It was our first and only “tactical” withdrawal. Col. Todd later told me that it was the responsibility of either the Liaison Officer or the Forward Observer with the 508th to tell me when they were pulling out, but no one told them either. Fortunately we had reconnoitered our new position earlier that afternoon.
It had turned bitter cold and the snow had increased. We were near a small village and in one of the houses I saw a sign where the lady took in sewing. I gathered about 15 blankets from supply and the lady made us enough scarfs and hoods for the Battery.
About December 22nd the cooks were given about 4 turkeys for our Christmas meal. They were hanged in the back of the mess truck and naturally froze. Every time we thought we were going to stay put for a day or two the turkeys were taken out and defrosted and before they could be cooked we moved. The turkeys were hung up again and froze again. This went on for about a week. We finally got to eat the turkeys around New Year’s Eve.
We were all over the map and our final mission were the damns over the Roer River at Schmidt. Our recon crews went through the Hurtgen Forest. It was an unbelievable sight. Fallen trees, stumps, anywhere from 3 to 10 feet, all the result of intensive artillery fire. The mission was canceled and on Feb. 17th the Bulge ended for us and we returned to Suippes, France.
We were all set for vacation relief. Some of our men went to the Riviera. Others were sent to England. I chose to go back to see friends in England. Two days before I was to go back, the Germans broke through our extended line in the Ardennes in the “Battle of the Bulge”. This put an end to all our plans.
Overnight we were re-equipped, pushed into trucks, and sent to Belgium. We passed through Bastogne, just missing the leading tanks of the German onslaught. We took positions near St. Vith, not far away. Of all the fighting we were ever exposed to, this was perhaps the most severe. We were certainly not equipped for the snow and the type of operation that existed here. It was very discouraging to see us with our small arms and little 75 mm pack howitzers holding the front line when our own tanks, heavy artillery and troops were passing through us, the most beat up looking individuals I ever saw. They were indeed a poor example of American fighting men. They had been ill trained and were not prepared for the German attack. They soon became demoralized and were able to put up absolutely no defense. We pushed our position forward and got as many of these people out of that spot as we could, and then, for the first and only time in the history of the 82nd Division during World War II, we retreated. We were successful in our retreat and after some rather rough fighting, we decided to attack and regain our position. In a few weeks the situation stabilized. We continued to be part of the front and remained in the fighting through December 1944, January, and February 1945. Afterwards we again came back to Reims.
Army regulations required that Airborne troops being held in reserve must participate in some aerial exercise at least every few weeks. I inherited the assignment at the nearest airport of running the men through these mandatory Glider rides. A barracks was set up; the troops were rotated in, given so many hours of air time, and then returned to their posts. Right in the midst of this operation the Germans precipitated the Bulge. General Ridgeway was our Corps commander and the orders came down to close up the training operations and be on the road in two days! It is hard to believe we did it. We went through the Bastogne area before the Germans reached it and we became the northern front at Goronne.
We were pushed back some from Goronne but most of our contact was by artillery – ours going out, theirs coming in. After the hold-out at Bastogne we were able to straighten out the front and were ordered to proceed through Liechtenstein towards the German border. During this march we saw our first “buzz-bombs.” They were about half again as big as a piper cub and more compact. They trundled along overhead at a low altitude but we were told not to try to shoot them down. It seemed wrong to let these things go on to their target in England, but we understood that sometimes they were intercepted over the Channel.
We soon were closely attached to some of the Paratroopers operating as ground infantry and headed for the German border. It was cold and snowy winter weather and a continual problem to keep our Jeep moving cross country. We finally caught up with some Germans at a border point and were able to provide some active support. I got a call from the Battalion HQ to report to the Colonel. He told me that they were passing our TD’s (Temporary Duty) assignments back to the states and that the Battalion had been granted one. It was the consensus at the HQ that it be given to me! A quick end to my combat experience.
The Division had a rear echelon office at Malmedy to which I was ordered to report. The square in this town was the scene of a mass killing of American prisoners by the Germans about 6 months before. It brought to mind that war brings out the worst in all of us. Shortly before my last assignment, while I was traveling with the Paratroopers, we captured six German prisoners. The Captain of the Paratroopers interrogated them and then assigned two men to escort them to the rear. The two escorters’ were back with us within a half hour – “Sorry, Captain, they tried to escape and we had to shoot them”
The Ardennes, or “Battle of the Bulge,” as it is popularly known may well have been the most trying of the 319th’s campaigns. In reality it was two battles fought simultaneously: one against the German army, in this case often fanatical, aggressive SS formations, and the other against unrelenting winter weather. While the former posed the more obvious and immediately deadly foe, the toll of fighting in winter was, in fact, greater than battle casualties.
American troops serving in northwestern Europe were generally not supplied with specialized winter combat clothing. Ironically, most of the clothing developed for severe weather, such as alpaca pile caps designed to protect the ears and neck, were distributed to those divisions fighting on the mountainous Italian front.
With temperatures hovering between zero and freezing problems with inadequate winter gear made themselves known almost immediately. American combat boots, for example, were notorious for not allowing sufficient room for extra socks or to flex the feet. Though the men in Sartain’s battery tried stuffing their jump-boots with straw and chaff the measure was largely ineffective. Frostbite claimed an alarming number of men.
Exposure of the ears, neck, and face could, however, be addressed but only in a way which skirted Army regulations. So in late December 1944, once the battalion was settled into a secure defensive position near Froidville, Belgium, Sartain did what he could to see after the men’s comfort. “I saw a sign in one of the houses where the lady took in sewing,” he explained. “So I gathered about 15 blankets from Harold Jinders in supply and the lady made us enough scarves and hoods for the battery. She cut it and sewed it on the top and put it on the edge and it came down just below the back of your neck. It was worn under their wool knit cap and helmet, so the neck was kept warm. But as for General Gavin, he was a stickler for regulations and if he had ever seen one of these, he’d have raised hell. I kind of worried about it. We’d have to hide them if Gavin was going to come because he’d have considered us out of uniform and accuse us of desecrating army equipment.”
Perhaps one incident from the Bulge represents Sartain’s character as well as any account of his leadership in the heat of combat could. Ted Simpson was one of the replacements sent to the outfit just prior to Normandy. When asked about Sartain over sixty years after the war Simpson vividly recalled one episode during the Bulge. “We were on a hillside one night with our bedrolls. It was cold, it was miserable. We had been in contact a good bit with the enemy and it was just one of those nights when you didn’t know what was coming tomorrow. Sartain came up and sat down and talked to me a few minutes. How you getting along, where you from, that sort of thing. Very one on one. It was one of those warm and friendly conversations. I didn’t really know the guy very well so everything he said was illuminating to me about him. My thought at the time was how can he spend so much time with me? I’m just one of many guys around there. Yet by God he came up and set down and we had a couple of minutes together. It was just really wonderful. It made me feel good and then he went off. I expect he was doing the same thing with a variety of soldiers. Quite a guy.”
The Bulge campaign dragged on through January and into February of 1945.
During these last months of the war Sartain seemed deeply disturbed by what he witnessed: social demoralization, destruction of property on a massive scale, and the very worst of human nature given free reign.
