“90th Pulls a Fast One: … ‘Patton’s Punch’” (Part 2).

Please enjoy Part 2 of the period article, “90th Pulls a Fast One: Story of How ‘Patton’s Punch’ Baffled the Germans,” on the 90th Infantry Division at the Battle of the Bulge.

“In the still cold of an overcast night, on 11 January, two Battalions of the 359th Infantry, led by Lt. Col. John Smith and Lt. Col. Robert Booth, swept silently into an assault on German positions controlling a vital road center in the vicinity of Doncols at the base of the threatening bulge, six miles southeast of Bastogne. It was through this nerve center of connecting highways that the Germans were receiving essential supplies for their mad dash to the west. The crunch of the doughboys feet on the crusted snow was the only sound that shocked the winter silence. The tanks and armored vehicles had been left behind. This was an infantry effort that moved with the lightening silence of a spark along a powdered fuse. Through three lines of German outpost defenses the 90th infantry units moved across the frozen terrain. Quietly, they touched off the surprise which caught the Germans literally sleeping at their posts. ‘For a while, all our boys had to do was to step up to the napping Nazis, shake them by the shoulder and invite them to the PW cages,’ said Col. Donald Gorton, regimental executive officer. One German battalion commander, completely confused, erroneously mistook the quiet Americans for his own troops, attempted to organize them in the blackness of the night, and discovered too late his costly mistake. He was promptly seized and sent to the rear.

“Alerted by the early morning, a German column of tanks and trucks sought escape from the jaws of the potential trap the 90th was setting, Patton’s ‘blackout’ punch was ringing the bell. American tanks were rushed to the mouth of the only escape route. At close range they chewed up the Nazi column, destroying five enemy tanks, several half-tracks, a number of other vehicles and killing and dispersing the attending personnel. The midnight raid resulted in the capture of 250 prisoners, four new 88mm guns and the seizure of the vital position in the German supply line.

“Quietly, General Patton was smashing the Bastogne bulge with the still unidentified power. The German high command sought verification of a well grounded suspicion. Orders were published directing all German personnel in the Bastogne salient to be alert for identification of the 90th Division units in this general area. These orders were captured by units of the 357th Infantry.”

… To Be Continued.