Customer Reviews

Battle East of Elsenborn

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ever hear of Rocherath-Krinkelt? After reading Will Cavanagh's book on the battle east of Elsenborn in the opening stages of the Battle of the Bulge, you may never feel the same about Bastogne. Why? Because the reversal metted out by the U.S. 99th and 2nd Infantry Divisions in this pivotal battle for two small Belgian border villages doomed the German Ardennes Offensive from the start-- much more than the later seige of Bastogne. The prime Waffen SS spearheads were clearly blunted in this encounter-- and so terribly did the reversal damage German prospects that by the third day of the attack Field Marshal von Rundstedt was using this failure as reason to recommend to Hitler that the entire Ardennes operation be called off. Will Cavanagh writes from his strength as the world's leading expert on the Ardennes battle in this area. No one knows the story like he does. Read it and learn the history of the 'other Bastogne.'

William C. C. Cavanagh has created a wonderfully written account about a pivotal battle in World War Two. In the book, THE BATTLE EAST OF ELSENBORN & THE TWIN VILLAGES, Cavanagh brings to life the enormous struggle that took place there during the massive German Winter Counter Offensive of 1944. The Americans although they were vastly outnumbered by the Germans and caught by surprise, managed to hold on and stop the German advance.
We know the eventual outcome of the battle, but the talented author Cavanagh through his skills as a story teller keeps your attention as if you have temporarily forgotten the ending. The Author describes the battle and the strategies in fascinating detail. Much of the narrative is in the first person, told by many of the participants of the battle. The book has 155 photographs and many well illustrated maps.
Through the narrative, analysis, character sketches, and the military strategy, Cavanagh brings the battle to life. You can almost hear the crackle of gun fire and smell the smoke. This book has it all, and I recommend it to everyone interested in the Battle of the Bulge or anyone who has traveled in this area.
I have visited this area and listened to Will Cavanagh's Lecture. No one knows this history better.

More than 60 years ago (December 13-22, 1944), what is generally referred to as "The Battle of the Bulge" was fought and won by Allied forces. In the Foreword to this book, retired General Frank T. Mildren (former Commander, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division) points out that Cavanagh focuses primarily on a five-day critical battle for the north shoulder of the Bulge at Rocherath-Krinkelt. "Of course, the Bulge was fought in many areas, but it was won for the [U.S.] First Army on this shoulder." It is important to keep in mind that Hitler committed some of his best troops to achieving victory (i.e. four powerful Panzer divisions and five infantry divisions) by attacking through Losheim, proceeding across the Elsenborn Ridge, and then continuing on to Antwerp. The key to the U.S. Army's success was its denial of the main efforts of the Sixth Panzer Army.

Cavanagh's research was completed over several decades and included extensive interviews of German as well as U.S. participants. He seems to have located and utilized every possible source of factual information. I also appreciate the inclusion of so many archival photographs. Of greatest interest to me, however, is Cavanagh's rigorous and eloquent discussion of those who are sometimes referred to as "grunts." In this context, I am reminded of The Face of Battle in which John Keegan examines comparable warriors who fought in three other major battles: Agincourt (October 25, 1415), Waterloo (June 18, 1815), and the Somme (July 1, 1916). With due respect to celebrated military leaders such as General George S. Patton, Cavanagh celebrates the courage, stamina, determination, self-sacrifice, and heroism of the troops under their command.

Having read this book, I fully understand why General Courtney H. Hodges (Commanding General of the First U.S. Army) asserted that "What the Second Infantry Division has done in the last four days will live forever in the history of the United States Army."

Battle East of Elsenborn is nicely crafted book that tells the tale of the 2nd and 99th ID's fight against the Germans during the Ardennes offensive in December 1944. Mr. Cavanagh opens by describing the 99th ID prior to the German offensive. Focus is on their regimental position in covering for the 2nd ID's offensive to capture the Roer Dams. This short section is then followed by a day-to-day, sometimes a segment of a battle field during a day description of the fight. While Mr. Cavanagh used the veterans descriptions of the battlefield, he does a great job of not relying on one veterans description to much and describing the overall situation with his own words very nicely. The conclusion, rather than being large is rather short. Rather than continueing the battle thru January '45, Mr. Cavanagh leaves us with the Germans being stopped and the true grit of the men in the 2nd and 99th ID (the 1st ID is mentioned in the last part of the book) and the way the locals Belgium people have remembered them.

As I've said, this is a very solid book. Review wise, a solid 5 star book. Mr. Cavanagh's text is to the point but descriptive, the photo's are out of this world, I hadn't seen many of them prior to this book, there's some great photo's of the different battlefields with text to describe the situation, and a few maps. As a matter of fact, the weakest part of the book is the maps, however the photo's more than make up for them! I look forward to reading more of Mr. Cavanagh's books!

Battle East of Elsenborn is a meticulously researched account of the critical battle for the norther shoulder of the Bulge, and I was eagerly looking forward to reading it. The author is obviously very familiar with the area and the action that took place there.

The book is presented in a series of individual and small unit accounts which make it difficult to grasp the context of what is actually occurring on the battle field. The simple prose reads more like a report than a narrative, and I found it difficult to hold my interest. I ultimately found myself skimming the book more than actually reading it.

The high point of the book are the photographs, many of which I wish I had access to during a trip made to the battlefield last winter. And for the photographs alone I'm glad it is in my library.

well written,factual and eye opening. I have been doing extensive research on the subject of this book and have found this book to be very informative.The author has done a good job of keeping all his facts in an understandable order.This can be a challenge when writing of a battle that history has always overlooked because a more famous battle took place in the area. A well done to the author but a heartfelt "THANK YOU" to those G.I.s who fought and died in that battle.

This book is really a great read, and fills in an important gap in the written histories of the Battle of the Bulge. That said, I must point out that this is a reprint of a book published in 1986 that I already owned entitled "Krinkelt-Rocherath, The Battle for the Twin Villages". This does not detract from the high quality of the book, but I already had it under a different title. It would have been helpful to know that this was in fact a reprint and not a new book.

Mr. Cavanagh takes the reader down to the unit level dealing with battalions, compines, platoons and squads. This work also includes many first person accounts from veterans of the battle. This is a detailed account of a critical engagement that prevented the Germans from brakeing through on the North shoulder of the Bluge and causing their time table to be badly disrupted from which they never recovered. The book gives the reader a view of the battle all the way from the top to the foxhole. I highly recommend this book to any one intrested in the Battle of the Bulge or any one who would like to learn more about how our GIs beat the best the Germans could throw at them.