JF Ptak Science Books   Post 2013  History of Holes

This detail is from a pivotal moment in time in a crucial battle in the endgame of the European Theatre of WWII.  It is Christmas, 1944, and the action takes place in the Ardennes.  The German forces made a very unexpected assault through thick and very problematic wood, pushing Allied forces back along a long front, forcing a very perceptible bulge in the line–a bulge pointed the wrong way.  The bulge was pretty much in the middle of the line and in the middle of the bulge was a famous circle, and inside this circle was the 101st Airborne division in the town of Bastogne, and it was surrounded for the time being by overpowering elements of the Wehrmacht, including three infantry divisions and a panzer division  The boxes with the cross-hatches are all enemy forces, and for a time, the “AB101” stood quite by themselves.

 The full map from which this detail is made is found at the Library of Congress site, here; the full suite of eleven maps showing the development of the battle from 16 December 1944 to 18 January 18, 1945 is also found here.