The Battle of the Bulge

The winter of 1944/1945 was bitter, cold and long; deep snow and ice hampered activities. In December 1944 the Germans once again surprised the world and the Allied armies by launching an offensive in the Ardennes, the famous Battle of the Bulge. Their intention was to take the Belgium city of Liege/Luik and to occupy the port of Antwerp, so cutting off the 2nd British Army and the 1st Canadian Army operating in the southern part of the Netherlands.

The bad weather was on the Germans' side. Thick fog prevented planes from attacking them, but they were stopped by the American paratroopers at Bastogne/Bastenaken where the American commander, when told by the Germans to surrender, replied with the since-immortal word "Nuts". The German officer acting as an interpreter did not know this was a common expression and was speechless until his commanding officer asked him what the Yank had said. He translated strictly and replied: "Nüsse, Herr Commandant, er sagte Nüsse!" ("Nuts, Sir, he said Nuts!")

It was soon learned that the German offensive was spearheaded by American-speaking units dressed in American uniforms and equipped with American Jeeps and arms. These Germans had been living in the States and their task was to create confusion, to occupy bridges and to kill as many Allied soldiers as they possibly could. After a while this despicable trick was seen through and Allied units, on first meeting, started asking each other questions that only genuine Allied soldiers could answer. This very much worried guys like Jay, who would not able to answer these questions either, and whose accents would reveal that they too were not 'genuine'. So he stayed very close to his officer and the two sergeants, hoping that nothing would happen to them. Jay also worried a lot about the Germans opening an offensive in the region he was in. What if he was taken prisoner? How would they treat him?

But one day the thick fog lifted and the sun broke through. Hundreds of fighter planes took to the air, hunted the Germans - clearly visible on the snow-covered hills and plains - and destroyed them. Hitler's last offensive was over.

So were Jay's worries. But then the Dutch who had crossed the lines from the north to the south told him how bad life in the still-occupied part of the country was. No food, no electricity, no heating. Bulbs, sugar beet and rats were being eaten. People were starving and collapsing. And there was increasing Nazi terror.

How would his folks be coping?