The Largest US Surrender In Europe in WW2 - The Infantryman's Perspective 

The way my late, Great Uncle described his time: *"They came and we fought. They kept coming until we ran out of ammo, after which they stopped coming. But when came back a little while later, they had a tank. There was nothing to do at that point with no ammo and certainly with nothing that could beat a tank. So, we went with the only option we thought was left, and surrendered."* He didn't like to talk about St. Vith more than that, but he described captivity a lot better and more easily: *"Captivity wasn't hard. By that point, the only difference between a prisoner and a guard was the fact that one had a gun. And the only thing that would make a difference was if they found out you were Jewish."* He died back in 2017 and told me this back in 2013-14 so forgive me if I don't remember it right. Miss you Uncle AL, Hooah.

As a veteran of the Vietnam War, I can tell you, most battlefields are chaotic, confusing, and ever changing. Even with good communication, in large battles, it's difficult to know what's going on. I participated in the largest battle that took place in Vietnam; Lam Son 719, the ARVN invasion of Laos. I was on one of the V-100 crews escorting American and ARVN convoys toward Vandergriff and Khe Son. We were getting our convoys hit constantly, finally jamming Highway 9 to the place where troops and ammo couldn't be transported via trucks. Everything had to be transported by air. The ARVN'S WERE getting their butts kicked by a vastly superior force as they crossed into Laos. The battle covered a huge area, and all we knew is we wanted to get our assignment accomplished and get the heck back to base camp. We got hit by an RPG but we're lucky enough to get our wounded medevaced to a hospital ship and the rest of our crew to base camp. Battles are an engagement of unorganized grab ass.. You just keep improvising, adjusting, maneuvering, regrouping, fighting, and trusting that your Command and Control is making decisions in your best interest. Good Communication is vital. These World War 11 heroes did what was in the best interest of everyone concerned. Their communication was totally cut off. The decision to surrender slowed the Germans down, and saved lots of lives .

I can't blame the regiments surrendering, no food, no warm clothes and in hindsight:a very strong winter with no chance of the wester us forces breaking out to relieve them.

I knew Vonnegut was a POW in Dresden but I never knew the details about where he was captured or how. Now I know.

It seems that everything I read about this says that the surrender was not the fault of the 2 regiments, but the fault of army command or possibly higher. Whoever made the decision to sent regiments of totally unprepared troops with fresh officers to a frontline position without any experienced supervision was insane. Of course the regiments performed badly, reacted slowly, and then surrendered, they didn't know what else to do. I guess that's why today any less experienced unit usually gets a lot of attachments from more experienced groups.

Officers safe in a mansion far to the rear complaining that the men didn’t fight hard enough

As Dane I have walked long distance around Bastogne and St. Vith. I also own Kurt Vonneguts fine, named book. They still have a German Tiger 2 in a small town, La Gleize, where it ran out of fuel and became sold to a local lady, before the crew walked back to Germany. Sadly I never realized it was there, during my walking years, but I have visited most of the museums and monuments round there, besides that.

There is book about this disaster in leadership. It is " Death of a Division " by Charles Whiting. I read this in the early 80's and a few times. It was a combination command Charlie Fox and few combat commands holding their ground. The only thing I've read about in World War II that compares to it is Kasserine pass.

I remember a GI on 'The World At War' explaining that this sector was one of the quietest and so green units were sent to get a little seasoning. If they'd been given food, water and supplies to begin with holding out might have been an option but when a WW1 veteran says it's hopeless I'd tend to agree with his evaluation. Getting wiped out for a little prestige or surrendering and saving your men's lives. This situation isn't where you'd want to find out. You might be shamed, but still being alive is always better.

My grandfather was apart of the 106th division captured here. They were sent to POW CAMP in Bad ORB GERMANY STALAG B . He spent the last 5 months of the war in the POW CAMP eating pine needle soup he told us. He told us his superiors were horrible and no one new what they were doing.

My dad was in the 423 inf. reg. of the 106th and was taken prisoner during the "Bulge", spending 5 months in a POW camp in Limburg, Germany. It really affected his later life and I truly believe that experience led to an early death at only age 51. Very sad about what happened to the 106th.

"Like two wildcats in a bush..." *_He_* wasn't there, *_he_* had food, water, and ammo, and was safe, far behind the lines. *_He_* enlisted of his own choice, *_he_* wasn't drafted. What a tool.

Great work, as always!

A review of the 106th division revealed that over its history it had been repeatedly stripped of trained and experienced leaders. First the officers, then senior non commissioned officers, then sergeants and corporals. Many of the line soldiers were those not wanted by other units as they sent down the line as individual replacements. The expectation of higher command was that the 106th was a placeholder in a quiet sector. The unit did not have enough experienced members or enough shared training to maintain unit cohesion. This does not mean individual members did not fight or try to fight.

Easily one of the best channels on RU-vid rn. You guys do such a fantastic work, keep it up!

Treating us like gods with all the videos right now

Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse 5 is best remembered for the description of Dresden’s fate at the hands of the RAF, but the book is subtitled The Children’s Crusade for the youth of the 422/423. Lacking snow camouflage against experienced opposition, food & boots became more important to them than ammunition.

My father was in the 590C FA supporting the 423rd. Although the 106th had been raided twice for replacements and had its combat deployment delayed for months as it trained up its new recruits each time, the last intake for both the 422nd and 423rd had been soldiers from the disbanded 138th Infantry Regiment, returned to the US after 2 years in the Pacific and 2 years of US service before that. These troops were not inexperienced. There were inexperienced troops in the support echelons but the pointy end was not made up of fresh cherries from mommy's apron strings. By coincidence, my stepfather was a member of the 138th from 1938, although he was in parachute school at the time of the Ardennes battle. Command issues are a different story. The previous division had fired 3000-5000 H&I rounds a day before the 106th took over. When the 106th continued the H&I missions, Corps told them to stop the missions and stop wasting ammo. Perhaps the best critique of the 106th came from the Germans themselves. Manteuffel said after the war on film that the 106th completely screwed up the German timetable. The German 18th Volksgrenadier Div bore much of the fighting but it was also not some slacker unit. It was the first VG division raised and fielded, and was heavily manned by retreaded Luftwaffe, Navy, and Marines repurposed to the Army. Typically these services had the higher quality recruits which made better soldiers and demonstrated a greater flexibility and initiative. Additionally, the head of training for the entire German Army had taken command of the unit and the 18th followed the "ideal" VG TO&E-new very modern design field equipment, smaller maneuver elements but all infantrymen equipped with automatic weapons like STG44s and SMGs plus a full complement of Stugs. It was designed to maximize speed and small unit combat power while saving manpower on the support service side-"lean and mean".

Great companion video - as always, but one humble suggestion: If you have multi part episodes - designed to be viewed alongside the Operations Room video-series, please - make them more easily identifiable which episode goes to which one. Episode 5 on the OpsRoom - Episode 5 here. Sure, it's absolutely possible to do so now, but not everytime do I have access the website on a PC =) I appreciate the level of dedication, accuracy and overall production value tremendously. _Thank you for these (free) videos!_

Years ago I did some work for an older man. Who had gotten pneumonia the day before the German attack. And had been sent to a hospital in the rear. He said everyone in his unit was wiped out.

Nicely done video

I had no idea Kurt Vonnegut was there. That’s awesome you included that

Great video Thank you

Terrific video!

The stupidest thing that I cannot comprehend was that nobody thought that the Germans could repeat going through the Ardens Forest that was not defended against - Again.

Excellent work

I love your videos. Great quality (editing and storytelling). But in this video, the pronounciation of the german names is... let's say there is room for impovement. It's normal that you cant prnounce every foreign name perfectly, but putting the stress on the correct syllable is definitly doable. Historograph asks his audiance to record some of the names he doesn't know how to pronounce. You can here that he tries to pronounce it as acuratly as possible. I would love to help you with that! (but again: your videos are awsome! Keep it up!)

No blame can be attached to the 2 regiments. RIP to all dead on all sides.

A very good video.

great vid

One of My paternal Uncles graduated from Tamalpais High School in June 1944 and was a Combat Engineer in the 289th Regimental Combat Team of the newly arrived 75th infantry Division , nicknamed The Diaper Division by Nurses at their training Camp Hospital. They were rushed to the front , arriving on Christmas Eve 1944 in the area of Grandmenil Belgium and Manhay around Wolf Gap. That was where Richard Wiegand boldly stepped onto the roadway from his shallow fighting hole and alone armed and fired his bazooka at point blank range into the rear of a leading Panther tank of the Veteran 2nd SS Das Reich Panzer ( Tank ) Division, knocking it out and blocking the road. Weigand was disfigured and killed by being in such close proximity to the blast. I am convinced that His selfless action , disregarding His own safety to take advantage of a rare opportunity and realizing the importance of stopping the enemy’s advance down that road may well be one of the most significant events that turned the Tide of Battle and changed History. The Town of Grandmenil changed hands several times during sharp intense house to house fighting and in the surrounding fields and woods. But it was there that the vaunted SS were stopped cold. It was a real David vs Goliath feat of Arms . When You watch interviews on You tube like that of Richard Guetter who also went to Tam you will get a sense of the rugged self Reliance and independent nature of many of these generation who grew up Hunting and packing out Deer from steep rugged hills and working Hard. For those who grew up shooting high power rifles from a early age and taking large game they became very responsible and knew well the finality of their decisions. For the very young men of the 75th it was their baptism by fire and for those like My Uncle who killed their first Men the tears they shed were like baptismal water . They did not have time to stop and seek comfort and consoling . They knew the gravity of their situation and with earnest solemnity pressed on keeping to their motto “ In Around Over And Through” and gaining for themselves the moniker , The Bulge Buster’s. In no way do I wish to depreciate the Sacrifices of others who even though overrun , defeated and taken prisoner still fought Heroically. Its often the struggles that played out in obscurity from which no one survived that saw inconspicuous bravery by unsung heroes. The action at Parker’s Crossroads by Men of the 106th Golden Lions is also noted for being a significant factor in stopping the German Drive , changing the course of the Battle and the War. I will also point out that My paternal Grandfather had fought bravely in the Italian Army that was defeated by the Abyssinians at Adwa in 1896. He barely escaped capture with His life and was a decorated Italian Veteran who immigrated To the U.S. and in spite of bad experiences Here Raised the U.S. Flag every Day over His large Vegetable Garden and fruit trees. Also I suggest reading Paul Coelho’s Manuscripts Found In Accra for inspiration in trying times and defeat. This video really has generated a lot of insightful and moving commentary. All very good. I had also had the honor of meeting and doing work for a man who had been a lieutenant of Infantry in the 106th and He related His experiences to Me. Somehow in the course of Conversing about work He mentioned that He was In the 106th and surrendered . I said “Yes The 106th Golden Lion’s Infantry Division , General Alan W. Jones Commanding. You Should have seen the look of astonishment on His face as He said “ How in the hell do You know that? Nobody knows that stuff .”

The 106th Division (most of it) was placed in a suicide position that assumed the Germans would never again take the offensive on the western front. Other parts of the 106th, and especially the division's artillery, took part in the defense of surrounded Bastogne.

Very interesting episode. My dad, was in the 99th Division, just to the north of the 106th Division. In between the two divisions was the lightly armed 14th Calvary. The 99th was fortunate in that it had been in the line since October of 1944. The area was relatively quiet and offered a chance for the 99th Division to do some combat patrols and get use to life on the MLR. G-2 (intelligence) had told the senior officers of the 99th that there was one horse drawn artillery piece, across the line from their position. On the morning of the 16th of December, when the 99th and the 106th Divisions withstood the largest German artillery barrage on the western front, one GI in the 99th was heard to say, “ They’re sure working that horse to death over there!” When the 106th Division surrendered, it opened the entire southern flank of the 99th Division. With a “Strategic Withdrawal” to the Elsenborn Ridge and with reinforcements, the US artillery decimated the German advance. This and hundreds of actions by individual GI’s fighting a delaying action, the north shoulder of the Bulge held. Near the end of the war, the 99th Division, liberated the Moorsburg POW camp in Bavaria. Many members of the 106th and 99th Divisions that were captured during the Bulge were freed. Karma comes around!

Was reading a book on the Bulge, the telephone operator handling the phone conversation between the Corp commander and the Divisional commander, stated just as the two were discussing permission to withdraw, the phone connection was interrupted. Gen. jones never heard the ok, had he gotten that command, he would have withdrawn the two regiments. The third regiment and a variety of other units held the Germans in front of St. Vith for a week, disrupting the whole offensive, but all one hears in popular histories is the stand at Bastogne; nothing either on the stand on the northern shoulder of the front. Believe the 99th and another division prevented the Germans from rolling up the flank. Again, too complex for the popular history.\

I like the way you ended Battle of the Bulge Part 2 with Hemingway and this segment with Vonnegut.

Kurt Vonnegut drew a lot of inspiration for some of his best novels like Slaughterhouse Five and God Bless You Mr. Rosewater from his experiences as a POW in Dresden

They were send forward to block the German advance, without appropriate support. Cut off and surrounded, without food or ammunition, their surrender was inevitable.

What's pathetic for Hitler, was that even IF he succeeded with a plan that had zero chance of success and blasted through American lines and encircled the British and got to oil reserves and forced some sort of a cease-fire on the Western front, it STILL would not have stopped the Soviets from taking over Germany. The numerical advantage and experience of Soviet troops and the amount of equipment they were churning out by 1945 was just overwhelming relative to German resources.

Most of the experienced and seasoned US troops had been pulled back towards Paris for rest and refit after 6 months of hard campaigning across France. The units plugging those holes were largely green, inexperienced in combat and not versed in combined operations warfare. Some isolated groups fought as long as they could, but they didn't have artillery or air support for the most part and you can't fight panzers with rifles and hand grenades no matter how many numbers of troops you have. I think they made the correct decision to surrender, as it is they delayed the German advance westward by a day or two and that gummed up the whole Ardennes Offensive. My Uncle was in Patton's 3rd Army which was in the south and redirected north to relieve Bastogne and his outfit was seasoned and well equipped. The hit the Wehrmacht in the southern flank and drove right through them.

If anyone can answer : How much are the right for archive footage, because he uses a ton of it (which is great btw, and always relevant to the subject).

I read Slaughterhosue Five for the first time this past summer. Probably the most heartbreaking book I've read in years

Kinda crazy that despite using poorly trained and inexperienced divisions so late in the war, the Germans were still able to execute "kessels" on such a scale.

These unfortunate men also had to endure the hellish journey to the pow camps which included constant hunger and thirst . Packed into freight cars for days on end and also being strafed and bombed by their own Air Force. The men who were blasted by .50 bullets received no medical attention but died in agony. War is truly hell on earth but mankind does not seem capable of grasping this.

Great stuff! Just a heads up though - it's 6th as in siks-th, not sik-th.

An excellent day today. I spent far too much on a watch I don't need, then I got to watch several back-to-back videos of The Operations Room & The Intel Report.

Excellent, but it is prounounced Snee Aifel, like in Eifeltower, not Iefel.

Nuts!

I was estimating work for a future client in San Rafael Calif. about a year before I had purchased and read Death Of A Division. In the course of Our conversation We discussed His Life and as one of My Dad’s older Brother’s had been a combat engineer in the 289th Regimental Combat Team of the 75th Infantry Division We talked about the Battle of The Bulge. He said He was a lieutenant of Infantry in the 106th Infantry Division. You should have seen His face when I named His Commanding General and a few other details I knew. He said “How in the Hell do You know that, nobody knows that kind of stuff”. I explained that I had read the book and about My interest in the Subject . He said He and His men were cold , Hungry and out of ammo when they came to the top of a ridge overlooking a road with American tanks on it. The tanks fired on them because they found out later , the German’s had captured them. So they hid in brush atop that rise until many fierce looking Germans passed. When a older looking German came by who did not look mean He surprised Him by coming out and surrendering to Him. He said at first the German was very surprised with a look of fear on His face that quickly turned to happiness at His good fortune.

My deepest disgust and loathing to the other US officers who wanted those cut-off regiments to fight with no ammo nor food. If you didn't even get emergency rations, there's really nothing you can do.... I do not blame General Jones for being left claw-less due to bad logistics.

Richard Matheson(1926-2013), the American author of "I am Legend"(1954) served in Europe with the US 87th Infantry Division, during the nazi Ardennes offensive. He later wrote "The Beardless Warriors"(1960) as a tribute to the heroic green warriors of the 106th.

Any info about how many POW survive?

Nice video! Small tip; “Schnee Eiffel” is pronounced as “Sch-nay Eye-fel”

I always wondered why they didn’t try to breakout and rejoin allied lines. Now I know they did, and it makes a lot more sense.

Two out of the three regiments of the hapless 106th "Golden Lions" Division were encircled, savaged, and their survivors forced to surrender. The third regiment succeeded in escaping, thus preventing the total annihilation of the 106th. The U.S. Army later reconstituted the 106th in early 1945 but its duties pertained mostly to guarding the hundreds of thousands of German POWs. After the war the 106th shuttled around between different locales, ending up in Puerto Rico. The division briefly returned to the continental United States for deactivation. The luckless 106th was not the only U.S. Army infantry division to meet a similar savage fate. During the bloody battle of the Hurtgen Forest, a Pyrrhic victory that accomplished nothing except the deaths of thousands of American G.I.s and thousands more wounded including those afflicted with PTSD, then referred to as, shell shock and combat fatigue. The unlucky divisions were the 28th Infantry Division and the 4th Infantry Division. Both were severely mauled to the point of combat ineffectiveness at which point they were withdrawn to the rear for reconstitution and rest. Eventually both divisions returned to combat, although reputedly still understrength. Decades ago a book was written about the 106th "Golden Lions" Infantry Division, aptly titled, "Death Of A Division".

Four videos!

I have to say that 10:20 is not quite correct. The surrender at Harper's Ferry in 1862 resulted in 12,419 surrendered.

What baffles me is the relaxed and neutral demeanor most of the captors had for POWs on the western front during WW2. Unlike anything we witness today.

Unbelievable, and in my opinion unacceptable lack of leadership that resulted in the surrender of soldiers faced with abandonment by their top commanders. Of course, I can only arrive at my conclusion from watching this film of the "debacle" without knowing anything about this part of the great battle known as The battle of the Bulge.

As a former Cav Scout, I what to know what happened to them

Hey thats my grandfather in the front, he's not surrendering he's waving , he's saying hi everybody

Great book that everyone should read. Slaughter House Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

My Father was in the 10th Armored Division during the Bulge. The 101st Airborne got much of the credit during this battle. However, my Fathers unit, Combat Command B of the 10th Armored, held off the German advance for a full day until the 101st arrived.

The Volks Grenadier Divisions were awful and had very young and very old members who had little to no training. The mention of the VG units charging forward screaming - those guys got slaughtered doing that. Hitler didn't trust the Regular Army any more so he formed new units instead of sending the men he used to the Veteran Units as replacements. He also liked having lots of divisions - so - he wouldn't disband units that had lost all their combat units. The combat units in a division - take most of the casualties - so you'd have all these Head Quarters and Support units left but the division no longer had any combat power. Not receiving any replacements for their combat units these rear area personnel would have been better used if the division was disbanded and they were sent to help fill out other units. Over all - for a nation with severe man power problems - in addition to intentionally murdering millions of their own citizens - they squandered their men and equipment in various units that existed for internal political reasons. The Luftwaffe for example - had an Armored Division ... .

"sir, I was shot in the hand" "pack in the trench, we are surrounded" "bruh"

This video is a mere proof of the saying "Winners write the history." Without it is impossible for us to see how "mighty" u.s. army fallen once...

Sorry to correct you: Eifel is pronounced the same way as the Eiffel-tower in Paris. Schnee-Eifel means snow Eifel.

"Schneyyy Ihfell" :3

What happened with the son of Johnson or Jones?

Weird, Kevin Spacey fought at the Bulge?

0:56 is that Endless War: Defense???

"Behind the mass surrender in Bataan during the Japanese occupation of the Philippines." I'm a Filipino subscriber, and I look forward to TOR and Intel Report videos on the fall of the Philippines, life as a guerilla fighter against the Japanese occupiers, and the liberation of the country. Would be nice.

you're videos are very entertaining and informative, however; I think your videos would benefit from you speaking in a slower cadance, as the constant stream of information can be a bit overwhelming, at least for me.

It always comes back to leadership...or lack thereof..

RU-vid’s censoring of Nazi material has made the reality of the fanaticism shown in this video (H. youth bringing his trumpet to urge his comrades on) surprising when it should be taught in schools to get a better understanding of what really happened. Thank you for an historically accurate and engaging video!

Once it kicks off all previous plans go out the window, war is hell

Are you talking about "Schnee Eifel"? (schnee = snow and Eifel= region home yo the Eifel tower) cuz there is no word called "schnei iffel"

Is this when Billy Pilgrim was captured?

This just illustrates the futility of war. Young inexperienced Germans, fighting young inexperienced Americans. Neither of whom really wanted to be there, fighting a war created by a madman.

Wow

it took 68 years for me to hear this story about the dirty laundry of the " liberators " & their bungling superiors...

A sad chapter in the history of the United States Army.

I think maybe about 24.000 Americans surrender in the course of the battle. This was one of Montgomerys biggest fears in the Normandie campaign. That German armour would get to the poorly trained and inexperienced American troops !

8:10 That's such a gangster move hahaha imagine hearing that as a King Tiger rolls out of the forest

Yesterday proud soldiers are fighting. Tomorrow, sad soldiers as prisoners. This the war. No glory, just suffering and pains.

A total lack of leadership , bad or none communication is what did them in .

"My men havent eaten all day its cold and we are encircl3d we must surrender " now tell that to a german Stalingrad vet.

10:20 this would not be the second largest surrender in US Army history. The second largest surrender, and largest until the Philippines, was the surrender of some 13,000 men at Harpers Ferry on September 15, 1862 to confederate general Thomas Jackson.

*Such numbers of new prisoners to clothe and feed must have meant absolute terror on the already heavily burdened German logistics*

Good thing nothing was done by high quarters ie doing recon in force to see what was going on in the German lines 😳🙈🙊🤔🫣

Never thought I’d hear of my hometown hero writer on the operations room, or adjacent content. He used to say the reason he was such a good writer is because he was ‘a boy from Indiana’ He’s simple and brilliant.

The blame is squarely on Bradley and his boss.

4:00 & the order probably came from that heroic rear-burrocrat Sly-0mar, Ike's snitch on Patton. Sly-0mar dismissed all reports of nazi troops build-up & forgot to be at his command post when the nazis struck, while he thought himself on a springboard to an offensive to victory. So to his apoplectic rage, his boss Ike was forced to give his (Sly-0mar) command to British Monty, while in the South, the capable General he snitched on for Ike since Tunisia, Patton, turned his 3rd Army ninety degrees & cut off the nazi hernia from the South.

Does playing music from home actually work like that? I feel like I'd be encouraged by it, like "Listen to this banger!"

Thanks for this brilliant battle report. But one remark as a German speaker, please learn how to pronounce German places and names, it would make a difference. Cheers

A CO said, "they hadn't eaten all day, or had water since morning." Give me a break. In defense of the two regiments they should have been fortified with experienced troops. Nonetheless, I shake my head at the lack of fortitude from the officers.

They weren't drunk....they were high.

Not the first time we've had our asses handed to us, and certainly not the last. The trick is to wipe blood off your face (and change the underwear) and get back on your feet.

The 18th Airborne Corps 17th, 82nd and 101st wouldn't have surrendered, and infact they did not. Their training and doctrine was to fight surrounded with limited supply and ammunition. Also they had the best leadership and were highly motivated.

imagine knowing you are rushing to a certain death but instead of complaining you pull out your Hitler youth trumpet and use it instead of a fire-arm, just to encourage your brothers who were probably feeling the same way as you...he took 1 for the team, that's how you win a battle.

Allies got to write the history.