[12] In addition to missions of opportunity flown by XIX TAC fighter-bombers, CCA was able to call in tactical air strikes against German panzer concentrations. Upon entering the city, Ezell was told to report for instructions–not to McAuliffe, but to Colonel William Roberts, commander of Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division. [5], As the weather began to deteriorate on 18 September and heavy fog settled in, U.S. tactical air forces were unable to locate and destroy advancing German armored units. Chief of Staff: Colonel Walter A. Bigby, replaced on August 2nd, 1944, by Lieutenant-Colonel David A Watt. The dramatic linkup of the two forces broke the siege of Bastogne and was one of the great turning points in the Battle of the Bulge. Meat Loaf, singer, songwriter (Bat Out of Hell album trilogy), actor (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Fight Club). The task force moved northeast on the Neufchâteau-Bastogne road and reached Bastogne without seeing any enemy troops. During the next hour, Patton and his staff planned, in outline, three distinct operations. CCB’s orders were to move to an area in the vicinity of Longwy, France, many miles to the north. General Dager called me on his radio and, without any preliminaries, ordered me to send a task force into Bastogne. The final tally for the battle was as follows: While Patton′s 3rd Army had succeeded in the early weeks of September in completing a limited advance toward Germany - despite orders to the contrary - the Battle of Arracourt signaled a temporary halt to the U.S. in southeastern France. It took the 4th Armored Division five days of bitter, costly fighting to break the ring of German units encircling the 101st, but only six days before the linkup, elements of that same division had actually been in Bastogne on the day it was being encircled. He was a master at this kind of rapprochement. All agreed that there should be a counterattack at the earliest possible moment. an interlocked ornament, found in Nordic monuments, composed of three torques: Most important, there had been no enemy contact. A short time later, just after noon, a delighted and vastly relieved task force was on the road again. Early that morning I was told to attend a meeting at division headquarters, but before I left for the meeting it was called off. Many of the men were exhausted, but as soon as we reached our position we sent forward some strong patrols of light tanks and armored infantry to detect any enemy movement from the north. Involved in the spectacular maneuver were thousands of men and vehicles operating in damnable weather, often over icy roads. Order of Battle - WWII - ETO; 4th INFANTRY DIVISION "Ivy Division" Inherited from the original 4th Division of World War I, the insignia is composed of four green ivy leaves attached at the stems and opening at the four corners of a square on a brown background. That directive was quickly followed up with instructions to cross the initial point, or IP (as yet to be designated), at 12:50 a.m. and then move in a totally different direction–north! The combat command acted as the powerful left flank, not only of the division, but also of the III Corps all the way to the encircled city. Given the situation, it is absolutely inconceivable that CCB should have been sent on its merry way all the way to the outskirts of Bastogne and told to report to the VIII Corps. Then, suddenly, at 11 p.m. the 8th was ordered by CCB to be prepared to move at once. [3], CCA's dispositions around Arracourt consisted of a thinly-held salient, using an extended outpost line of armored infantry and engineers supported by tanks, tank destroyers, and artillery. If he had not been recalled by divisional headquarters, Ezell and his men might have been trapped in Bastogne along with Colonel Roberts’ combat command of the 10th Armored. Just before dark on the day after Christmas 1944, elementsof Lieutenant General George S. Patton, Jr.’s 4th Armored Division, attacking from the south, succeeded in making contact with the beleaguered Americans at Bastogne. During the division’s rest period my command post was in Domnon-les-Dieuze, a tiny, wet, muddy and depressing French village about 40 miles northeast of Nancy. ... 20th Armored Division (480th AIR*) 8th AIB 65th AIB Because of his rapidly organized and well-executed counterattack, he was able to snatch the momentum from the Germans and seize the initiative.