Jung book

Hermann Jung: Die Ardennen- Offensive 1944/45. Ein Beispiel für die Kriegführung Hitlers

good overview on the battle of the Ardennes.

one more book

Franz Josef Strauss: Geschichte Der 2.(Wiener) Panzerdivision

Some very interesting thing about this division near Bastogne.

US army maps and Russian general staff maps

for the map:

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ams/western_europe/

 http://loadmap.net/en

These maps will be the base for the Bastogne map. As we see the elevation are available, there WWII maps to check the changes, and these are the maps to use.
All of them should be georeferenced and loaded to manifold and the mapmaking can be started.
 

a webpage

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e2/McAuliffeBastogneChristmasLetter101Airborne.jpg

McAuliffe Christmas Letter.

Henning book

Otto Henning: Als Panzer- und Spaehtruppführer in der Panzer-Lehr-Division 1943-1945 (Flechsig)

some pages about the Lehr Division recon battalion around Bastogne.

one more book

John S.D.Eisenhower: The Bitter Woods (G.P.Putnam's Sons, 1969)

Some high level insight, but mostly known sources.

a German language book

Franz Kurowski: Die Panzer-Lehr-Division 1944-1945 (Dörfer-Verlag)

A very good sourced book (mostly memoires of the soldiers of the division.

next book by Ritgen

Helmut Ritgen: The Western Front 1944: Memoires of a Panzer Lehr Officer (J J Fedorowicz, 1995)

good information on the German side.
 

map

Two maps of Bastogne from wikipedia (out of copyright, public domain):

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Bastogne%2C_Belgium_Map.png
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Fifth_Panzer_Armee_Attacks_28th_Infantry_Division.png

and one more (out of copyright, public domain by law):
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Ardennes/maps/USA-E-Ardennes-VI.jpg

Elevation data

The elevation data for the Bastogne map comes from here:
http://www.jspacesystems.or.jp/ersdac/GDEM/E/1.html

and should be noted:
the original data of ASTER GDEM is the property of METI and NASA

book

The next book is:

Dupuy et al.: Hitler's Last Gamble

a good overview of the situation at Bastogne.

next book

The another best book (mostly) on the US side is
John C. McManus: Alamo in the Ardennes (Wiley, 2007)

While I will post sources in the blog, but I will start to put together maps on the daily situation around Bastogne.
For this I have to put together an opensource map of the given area.
I will post them (the sources, and the map) here. I use Manifold (GIS) tool for the map making. If you need battle maps, contact me and let's see how can I help you!

next book

The next book is maybe the best on the German side:

Dr. Frederick P.Steinhardt: Panzer Lehr Division 1944-45 (Helion, 2008)


The book goes thru the Lehr Division fights around Bastogne.
Good summary almost all of the German information.

nara interview

Next one is:
Karl Thoholte summary of the Ardennes battle (MS#B-311)

There is some interesting information on the German artillery units around Bastogne.

book

The best picture of the US forces during the siege is
S.L.A.Marshall: Bastogne The First Eight Days

I cannot say more it needed for everyone who wants to know Bastoge siege.

next book

Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr.: Panzers in the Winter Hitler’s Army and the Battle of the Bulge

The book seems OK, but there are many annoying mistakes (e.g. Tigers in 2nd Pz Div), so it should be heavily checked before using for anything. The bibliography seems very good.

next archive

December Operations of the Third US Army is a good overview of the battle surrounding the Bastogne siege. Very recommended.

next archive material

The next one is:
The 10th US Armored Division in the Saar-Moselle triangle (1949)

This is a short overview of the part of the 10th US Armored Division fights around and in Bastogne.

archive material

The next one is an archive material:

After Action Report 52nd Armd Inf Bn 9th Armored Division 20 Oct 44 thru 8 May 45

It is a very good report where we can see the low level view of the fight, and in the comments of the Battalion Commander we can see his lack of information about the real strength of the enemy offensive.

Zaloga book

The next one is:
Steven J. Zaloga: Battle of the Bulge 1944 (2) Bastogne (Osprey Publishing)

He ia a well-know military/history writer, and this book is well-researched as well. The German view mostly comes from the Foreign Military Studies interviews of the German generals. The book is well-balanced, so it is very recommeded.

Bruce Querrie books

The next two books are written by Bruce Quarrie.
Bruce Quarrie: Order of Battle 8: The Ardennes Offensive, V Panzer Armee, Central Sector (Osprey Publishing, 2000)

This book is the best on the German side. My only problem is that the book in the selected sources section there are only US titles. So I don't know there are these data from. Unfortunately the writer died in 2004, so I cannot ask him (R.I.P.). There are hints that he researched the Freiburg (BAMA) archive, but there is no exact references for that.

The other is:
Bruce Quarrie: Order of Battle 9: The Ardennes Offensive, VII & VIII US Corps and British XXX Corps, Central Sector (Osprey Publishing, 2000)

A good summary of the battle on the US side.

new book in the book list

First book was added to the book list (see left menu - book list) is Colonel Ralph M. Mitchell: The 101st Airborne Division's Defence of Bastogne (CSI, 1986).
This book has a good overview of the US forces and in the beginning it has a good overview of the German forces, but later the German side became very simple and maybe wrong. Mostly based on US daily reports and German high level post world war two memoires. A good reading, but the German side should be carefully handle.

beginning

Hi,

this blog will be about the Bastogne defence in World War Two in 1944.
First I will go throu all the books and other materials which are available, and later I will analyze them, and I try to put together a book about it (see my project at indiegogo, link in the left).

Bye,
Laszlo