The Battle of the Bulge [Paperback]

Charles Whiting (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 22, 2003

The Battle of the Bulge, fought in the snows of the Ardennes forests in December 1944 and January 1945, was the greatest land battle waged by the US Army in the twentieth century. Official history remembers the victory as a solely American triumph, but Charles Whiting uncovers fresh new evidence to the contrary. For political reasons, no mention was ever made of the crucial British involvement in this battle: against a total news blackout, British XXX Corps suffered 2,500 casualties fighting a decisive action which halted the German drive to the river Meuse. The British role in the Battle of the Bulge simply does not exist on paper. 'The main reason for adopting a low key in referring to the British contribution was political,' said Field Marshal Lord Alanbrooke, Chief of the Imperial General Staff. Using eyewitness accounts from British, American and German soldiers and Belgian civilians, Charles Whiting sets the record straight, telling the true story of the role the British played in this key battle, and the hard fighting and suffering they had to endure.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Charles Whiting is a well known Military writer who has writen many books on the subject including Hemingway Goes To War.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing (December 22, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750931809
• ISBN-13: 978-0750931809
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,220,802 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #57 in Books > History > Europe > Luxembourg

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, the True Story of the Battle of the Bulge, April 2, 2010

By 

Q.J.L. Heron "Kwajimu" (Sai Kung, New Territories Hong Kong) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Battle of the Bulge (Hardcover)

Charles Whiting was not only a respected historian (he died in July 2007), teaching in the UK, Belgium and the USA at highly-regarded universities, but he also had comprehensive personal experience of war. And when it comes to the war in Europe, Whiting's subsequent academic research is buttressed by combat service in WW2 as a soldier serving with the British 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment through Northern France (including Normandy), Holland, Belgium and Germany. Indeed, Whiting went on to live in both Germany and Belgium after the war.

Whiting's knowledge of his subject-matter here is thus masterly, and to challenge him on the facts both naive and presumptuous.

With his detailed recounting of what happened, Whiting - for the first time - gives the participating British forces the full measure of credit for their contribution to the winning of the Battle of the Bulge. Where this history will fascinate those with an open mind is in the untold story of how politics and personal vainglory amongst the Allied military brass has influenced both the contemporaneous as well as the subsequent re-tellings of these historic military events.

In the decades since the end of WW2, Montgomery himself has had a particularly bad press. Negative assessments always focus on Montgomery's personal reputation as 'difficult' and 'abrasive', even 'conceited'. After first reading this book a number of years ago, I had the opportunity to speak separately with a number of both British and US rank-and-file veterans who had served under Montgomery's command during WW2. Some of the British veterans had come to know Montgomery in North Africa although most had first been under Montgomery's command in Europe. Significantly, the British veterans I spoke with were all Scots. I fully expected, therefore, that Montgomery - a Protestant Ulster-man who was always happy to be seen as very much the Englishman - might arouse some adverse reaction from these tough and hardened men. Anyone who knows the Scots and the English will understand why this might be expected.

Much to my surprise, however, not one (either British or American) had a bad word to say about him. Indeed, to say they all spoke of him with glowing praise would be a considerable understatement. When I asked further if theirs was a singular view, unshared by the majority of Montgomery's former command, it was made clear to me in no uncertain terms that not only was I wrong, but that I would be likely unable to find a single ranker who had served under Montgomery who would even tolerate such an insinuation.

"No man is a hero to his valet" goes the old saying. And a General is rarely a hero to his troops. After all, the ordinary soldier has to go out and face fear, to be horribly injured and perhaps to die at his CO's command, whilst the General OC- so the ranker's perception goes - can stay safe in his HQ, many miles behind the action. Most Other Ranks, thus, have a fine contempt for their commanding officers, so whilst Whiting does not downplay Montgomery's unpopularity with his superiors and his allies, he makes it clear in this history that this was a personal rather than a military failing. Montgomery's troops revered him (and the few still alive do so to this day) - which only happens when the ORs respect and admire the man who commands them for his military competence and his character.

In Britain, we have but ourselves to blame for the fact that we know so little of our own country's contribution to WW2 as a whole, let alone to this battle. True, we honour our war dead as few other nations do - the almost universal wearing of poppies in the lapel on 11th November each year, even by those far too young to know what war is, is but one testament to our respect as a nation for those who gave their lives for their country in two world wars. But we have largely left the writing of the history of WW2 to authors from other countries. They will write of the bravery of their own nation's soldiers, not ours; and in making war movies, they will have no motivation to honour the contribution of British forces.

This is sad, because the contribution of British soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen to ultimate Allied in both WW1 and WW2 victory was simply enormous; and having spoken to German servicemen, too, who served in the WW2 Wehrmacht, the respect and esteem in which they held and still hold the British soldier is unmatched.

Albeit writing about a single battle, Charles Whiting's "The Battle of the Bulge" goes a long way toward setting the record straight.

This book is also, not least, a very good read, as well as being a very accurate history. It is highly recommended and should be read by all.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Been There, Heard it Before, Read it Years Ago, July 23, 2007

By 

Kevin R. Austra (Delaware Valley, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battle of the Bulge (Hardcover)

I have been reading Charles Whiting's books ever since DEATH OF A DIVISION. A good many of his books revolve around the 1944/45 battles along the western German frontier. I added THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE: BRITAIN'S UNTOLD STORY to my already extensive collection on the subject as more of a curiosity than anything else. The bottom line is that there is nothing new in this volume that you have not read somewhere else.

The book begins with an incorrect assumption that Britain's role in the Ardennes Campaign has been downplayed to the point of becoming some sort of conspiracy worthy of the X-FILES. Not so. Though there are numerous books that focus on specific battles primariliy involving Americans, the British contribution has never been a dark secret. For example, Peter Elstob's classic HITLER'S LAST OFFENSIVE significantly predates Whiting's UNTOLD STORY. While Elstob's narrative presents the British participation as matter of military historical fact, Whiting's book takes on a tone of history debunking.

I like Charles Whiting's books. I certainly own a lot of them. Many of his Ardennes Offensive/Battle of the Bulge books repeat already published Whiting material and some chapters could almost have been culled from one book and inserted into another. The other thing that is tiresome is his constant insertion of German, American, and British slang -- over and over again -- throughout the book. How many times does an author have to put 'Amis' in quotation marks? I understood it the first time. Is it really necessary to repeatedly address Kay Summersby as Eisenhower's mistress? And so on.

There is no disagreement over facts, but Whiting sometimes draws vaguley similar incidents into something akin to a sensationalized theory. The best example in the book is George S. Patton, Jr.'s supposed forewarning of the German attack that allowed his staff to secretly assemble contingency plans, well in advance, and then create the legend that they were formulated within a few hours after the offensive began. In UNTOLD STORY Whiting is clearly not a fan of Patton, Bradley, Hodges, or Eisenhower.

The book is chock full of unsubstantiated editorial comments about personalities in the battle and their hidden agendas. My recommendation is for an author to stick to the facts and let the reader draw his or her own conclusion.

Okay, enough book bashing. I did enjoy the detail given to the British confrontation with the Germans at the tip of the Bulge. Military histories about the Bulge do tend to concentrate on Elsenborn Ridge, Skyline Drive, Bastogne, and the Ambleve River valley. Whiting does tie the activity together. The only thing that is disappointing is that the actions of the separate German pockets and relief efforts near Celles are essentially lumped together without more than occasional reference to specific villages, roads, and terrain features. This is a considerable change from the detail offered by Whiting in DEATH OF A DIVISION and MASSACRE AT MALMEDY. In fact, the chapter and endnotes are so detailed in those two books that I used them as battlefield guides during my first visit to the Ardennes. Similar detail is absent in UNTOLD STORY.

The book also ties together the activities and whereabouts of Field Marshal Montgomery fairly well. Much of what Montgomery did and planned to do made perfect military sense. The way he went about it almost cost him his command.

UNTOLD STORY is not one of Whiting's best books. Still if you read through and mentally line through the editorials you will walk away with a greater understanding of the Battle of the Bulge.

4 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Setting the Record Straight, September 18, 2004

By 

Jo Soap (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Battle of the Bulge (Paperback)

About time that the American myth of the Battle of the Bulge was put to bed! In fact, about time the the Hollywood view that only the US appears to have fought in the Second World War was set straight!

This was a very easy to read book. It was neutral in tone and in no-way pro-British or Anti-American. It relates the facts about the British contribution and, more importantly, the decisive actions taken by FM Montgomery in shoring up the Northern sector of the Bulge.

XXX Corps involvement is described in detail. The author gives a day by day account of the events from the German and Allied perspectives, taking us down to the involvement of the tank gunner and infantry man on each side.

From my perspective as a Brit, I was thoroughly pleased by this account of the blood sacrifice made by 2,500 British soldiers in a Battle that history has painted as a solely American affair. Lets hope we start to see more of this in the future.