Against All Odds – Airborne and Armor In The Siege of Bastogne



Against All Odds – Airborne and Armor In The Siege of Bastogne

The siege of Bastogne will forever be remembered because of the staunch resistance by the men of the 101st Airborne, specifically the 2nd Battalion of the 506th – the Band of Brothers.

But before the 101st Airborne Division arrived at Bastogne, Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division was already engaged in a desperate battle for the vital crossroads town.

Team Desobry was tasked with holding the vital town of Noville to the north of Bastogne against the full might of the 2nd Panzer Division.

For the 80th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, in this episode of WW2 Wayfinder I look at the actions of the 10th Armored, the 101st and the action that bought time for General McAuliffe to establish the defense of Bastogne during the desperate days of December 1944!

#ww2wayfinder #battleofthebulge #bastogne #bandofbrothers #101stairborne

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43 thoughts on “Against All Odds – Airborne and Armor In The Siege of Bastogne”

  1. Nicely presented 👍🏻👏🏻 well put together and factual

    Unlike the tripe woodage churns out, i always find it strange how those weak and timid souls, who have never served, and are never humble, don’t just stick to the facts and tell them as they are recorded, choosing only what they see as significant parts of battles or persons to embellish and then over exaggerate whilst recounting them, as though they were there? Or a personal friend of the combatant, Maybe im being harsh? But that is how some other Chanel’s come across

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  2. @ 11.09 your comment reflects the major reason for all Ardennes fighting why in fact the germans lost the battle.☝
    A string of small groups of GI 's resisting these german assaults for the first days.
    Defending key crossroads like Sankt Vith ( hold for a week by americans) and Bastogne, threw the attack plan into disarray.
    Love the closing words of gen. McAuliffe about 10 armoured .

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  3. Great video! To me, this is one of the most incredible, heroic battles that took place during the battle of the bulge. The defense of Noville and the retreat to Foy is just incredible history! The story of Laprade and Desobry is just heartbreaking.

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  4. Excellent work detailing the actions in and around Noville. The defence of Bastogne by the 101st is famous and well covered.
    I would like to see coverage of the actions of the British and US armies on the Northernmost flank of the attack as the swift reaction by Montgomery and those forces essentially made Antwerp an imposible goal very early on and the sacrifices of several British Units made that possible under conditions equally as dire as those faced by the US forces further South.
    I always appreciate it when the emphasis is placed on the combined and co-operative actions of the Alllies as a counter to the post-war deprecation of the others efforts by some US commanders which has soured what was a magnificent Joint effort by Five Nations forces.

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  5. THANK YOU 🙏 we are always lead to believe everybody fled and the 101st saved the day, there contribution was heroic but the delaying effort led by so many others helped in the defeat of the German offensive

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  6. Thanks Jon for telling about the heroics of the 10th Armored and their fight at the opening of the Battle of the Bulge. Also appreciated the graphics as well as the archival footage from both combatants. Well done. Cheers!

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  7. I've visited Bastogne and the surrounding towns on a number of occasions as well as the giant "star" memorial shown at the beginning of the video and the museum in town dedicated to the US soldiers who defended it. Re Noville and Foy, it's amazing to me these tiny towns could have been defended at all – much of the terrain is flat and open. Just an amazing story

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  8. "YOU ARE DELIBERATELY ATTEMPTING TO PROVOKE ME!". Crazy fact learned in video that German General Meinrad Lauchert was a Technical Advisor on that 1965 classic film. Always knew Robert Shaw ACTED TOO GOOD in that flick!

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  9. Another outstanding video. The defense of Noville is described in several excellent books about the Battle of the Bulge including Snow and Steel and several others. I look forward to more of your videos about Bastogne and the Ardennes. Thanks, Jon.

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  10. Another outstanding video Jon. I had the honor back in 2022 of checking out the Team Desobry sight in Noville. People forget that although the 101st played a key role in reinforcing the lines the 10AR was there before them. Without the 10AR the battle definitely would have had a different outcome. Thank you again. 🫡

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  11. Excellent video. The bravery demonstrated by the US forces all along the front against the German advance is amazing.
    Seeing the movie mentioned “The Battle of the Bulge”, I would say that movie was not very historically accurate. I can remember seeing this movie at the theater when it came out. My dad, a veteran of the 99th Infantry Division, was able to get in free because he was a veteran.
    The 99th Division was located in the extreme north of the German attack. When I asked him if he knew about Bastogne, he said “No. Not at the time.” About 75 miles from his location, he said most of the GIs had little idea about what was going on other than a couple of hundred yards either side of their position.
    Robert Shaw has a great line in the movie. As the German commander, he was asked why his advance was slowed down. He says, “The Americans are learning to retreat.”
    All across the area of advance, out numbered US forces slowed the German advance. Two things the Germans didn’t have was time and fuel. By pulling back and consolidating their line, US troops then could hold until reinforcements arrived.
    Thank you for an amazing episode on the 80th anniversary of the Bulge.

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  12. Great video! Learned something new again.

    Heading to Bastogne tomorrow. Great to have this in my mind when visiting the areas.

    Just finished reading: Hitler’s Winter. Which i would recommend if you’d like to read about the german side.

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