Today, we are going to explore the Battle of the Bulge as part of the series the Greatest Tank Battles and to continue our World War I and World War II theme for November. The run time for this documentary is 46:33. When I saw this episode I was immediately reminded of Band of Brothers and Easy Company’s participating in this battle. Unfortunately, this episode is not broken up into smaller chunks for use in lectures.
It is December 1944 and the Germans launch an attack on the Ardennes Forest. This is the first step in what would become known as the Battle of the Bulge. The Americans are taken completely by surprise by the one last desperate attempt to turn the tides of war. The American forces push back against the German troops with tanks in the largest tank counterattack in all of World War II. The Ardennes erupt on December 16, 1944, in the early morning. Over 1,000 German tanks are on the march attacking the American troops. Their job is to stop the American Troops from advancing across France and into Germany. Hitler and the Germans are getting desperate to stop them and they are banking on this attack to push back against the Americans. The supply lines to the Americans are getting longer and thinner. Perhaps if the Germans can push back they can push the troops back to Belgium. Once the Americans are pushed back the Germans could march to Antwerp and take the supply dump there. Hitler hoped with all the potential losses endured by the Allied troops they could push the Allied powers back to the negotiating table. Over a period of eight weeks, the tanks and other forces were assembled. They waited for bad weather so the allied supplies could not be dropped on the American troops and then the Germans struck. It was a ferocious battle that took the American troops completely by surprise. The battle lines change giving the battle its famous name the Battle of the Bulge. The American tanks are no match for the German tanks. The Americans fled from the scene leaving behind equipment. The Ardennes were the perfect place for the Germans to attack. The American soldiers recall trying to start up the frozen tanks. One soldier was lost and managed to get caught up with two other tanks. They were unaware that the line had broken. The German army seems unstoppable. They work to take the bridges over the river before the Americans can muster a counterattack. The Germans keep pressing the attack and bringing in reinforcements. They strengthen their positions. The Americans retreated to Bastogne and the 101st Airborne was ordered to hold the line there. The Germans were frustrated and then decided to just go around Bastogne to go to take the bridges. General Patton and his Third Army made their way to Bastogne to rescue the 101st Airborne. It was here I was expecting some mention of Easy Company and I thought about Joe Toye’s line about not needing to be rescued by Patton. One tank worked on trying to make his way back to the American lines. The man who was in the tank talked about his experience trying to get back to American lines. The tank dodged the German advance for days, but they were able to make it back to the American lines. As the documentary progressed, the Germans talk about how the tanks eventually struggled to drive through the forest. Will the Americans manage to turn things around at the Battle of the Bulge? Tune into the rest of this episode to find out more. The graphics for this program, particularly the graphics that recreated the battles, were excellent. The veterans talking about the Battle of the Bulge was good as well. It was also rather interesting to hear the narrators talk about how cold the weather was periodically throughout the documentary. It made me recall Band of Brothers’ frequent mentions of the cold weather and being grateful for not being Bastogne. I thought it intriguing to learn that the Germans could only leave the tank when it was on fire. At the start of this episode, I was not sure if this would be a good series to show in a classroom. I would suggest that you add this to your list of potential documentaries to show and I would highly recommend this series for an independent study student.
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The purpose of this blog is to share information on what can be used in a classroom, private school, or home school setting as well as serve as a portfolio of my personal and professional work. The reviews are my opinions and should be treated as such. I just want to provide a tool for teachers to select documentaries for their classrooms. |