Now, I'm sure this has been discussed before, but I can't find it, and I'm not THAT knowledge on the area of where the combat took place. But:

Would the 101st Airborne survived in Bastogne if Patton had not come with his armored support?

Would the 101st have held out? What was Hitler attacking with? Or would they have been obviously annahilated?

Anyone who can help me determine this would be appreciated.



(P.S. To be true to the Paratroops, I "feel" that they didn't need to be "rescued").

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I think if the paras were kept supplied, they could have held out. The Germans could not attack Bastogne and move ahead at the same time. Patton's counterattack achieved two things, it put pressure on the German's left flank, threatening to cut them off and secondly, after the withdrawal of the German forces, relieved the paras.

Now, the soldiers in the pocket could not have held out much longer had the weather not broken and allowed supply drops. I don't know what kind of heavy weapons they had but it would not have been enough to hold out for much longer. My opinion at this point.

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American by birth, TEXAN by the grace of GOD!

The answer is yes. The 101 was not alone in Bastogne. There were substancial reminants of the 28th Division and the 9th Armored Division there along with numerous corps and army level units of various sorts that had collected in the vicinity as the US fell back during the initial German advance. Of these, there were several battalions of artillery including 155mm howitzers and guns that were among the corps level units that got pocketted.
These guns were able to fire on virtually any point on the defense perimeter and, as US artillery usually was able to do when well coordinated it smashed attack after attack. Once the US was able to supply the surrounded units by air the Germans were finished.
A big difference in the air supply situation between Bastogne and Arnheim was that the 101 had few difficulties with their communications equipment and in particular their all-important Rebecca transmitters. These allowed C-47 aircraft to pinpoint drop sites with incredible accuracy ensuring that almost everything dropped ended up in Allied hands. At Arnheim the British lost 5 of 6 drop sites when they were either overrun or the Rebecca transmitters failed to operate.
Even if the weather was poor with this equipment air drops were still possible if the airfields the aircraft were flying out of had reasonable weather at them.

Thanks Terry, and I agree that the Germans were finished once the weather broke. If there was no surrounded troops, I believe that Patton would still have marched north and attacked the German's flank. As we all know, Patton was persistent and usually found a way to implement his plans. Thanks for the info.

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American by birth, TEXAN by the grace of GOD!

Maybe.

The Americans had a strong point in Bastogne that would have taken a concerted effort to destroy, several minor attacks were launched but none to the scale required to crush the resistance. This was because the effort was made elsewhere, hoping that the lack of supplies and attrition would soften the resistance. Don't get me wrong it was not easy being in Bastogne, and attacks were made daily, some with armor, others with out.

Dont think that any single parachute division withstood this by themselves, part of the 101st was the 463rd para artillery that gave a good accounting of themselves, in direct fire positions. TheHistoryNet | World War II | World War II: 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion in the Battle of Bastogne
Remnants of the 687th field artillery battalion where also there as well as parts of armored divisions. Supplies were important and needed to be dropped for those able to fight to fight. But had the Germans wanted to crush the pocket without regard for other objectives they could have. As to the saving ... that is opinion.

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The father of a friend of mine and also one of my teachers was with the 101st at Bastogne. I remember him saying something to the effect that once he knew Patton was on the way he was pretty sure they'd make it. or words to that effect. Now if they'd waited for Monty ....