The story of an unsung unit of Second Word War soldiers who stood alongside the famous ‘Band of Brothers’ as they fought to the last man to repel Hitler’s last major offensive has been documented in a new book.
Images reveal how this unknown band of brothers dug into fox holes in the middle of the snowy Ardennes forest as they waited for the German army to advance, while others show troops stood over the bodies of their fallen comrades.
In another picture a soldier can be seen aiming his rifle at a group of German prisoners, moving them on as they walk with their hands over their heads.
The images are found in a book called The 110th Holds in the Ardennes by Walter S. Zapotoczny Jr, which tells the tale of how the 110th infantry 28th division held a line through the Ardennes forest against Hitler’s army.
And Zapotoczny, who has himself served in the 110th, says it’s a story that often gets overlooked.
An American soldier in the Ardennes Forest – The Ardennes Offensive, Battle of the Bulge, as it is commonly called took place from December 16, 1944 to January 25 1945 and stands as one of the classic stories of true grit and defiance against a strong and determined enemy
The 110th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division, manning defensive positions during the conflict
28th Infantry soldiers marching towards Bastogne – without their brave stand at the onset of the German offensive, the 101st Airborne may not have reached Bastogne in time and the war would have been prolonged
Standing in Hitler’s way were the 110th Infantry, the center regiment of the 28th Infantry Division
Aimed at driving to the port of Antwerp through Luxembourg and Belgium, Hitler launched his last military reserves in one last gamble but the 110th Infantry, 28th Infantry Division, stood in his way
Believing that he could buy time to fight off the Red Army until his super weapons could turn the tide, Hitler opted for a major counter offensive to split the Allied Coalition
American soldiers come across dead German soldiers in Bastogne during the offensive
A US soldier on bedrolls after the first night in the Battle of the Bulge
28th Division Soldiers in the Hurtgen Forest during the conflict at the end of 1944
Damian Lewis played U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers (pictured)
Band of Brothers is a 2001 American war drama miniseries based on historian Stephen E. Ambrose’s 1992 non-fiction book of the same name
‘The actions of the 101st Airborne at Bastogne have been portrayed in movies and in many books and articles,’ he writes, referring to shows such as Band of Brothers that have closely studied this period in American military history.
‘There is no doubt that without the fierce determination of Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe and his men in stopping the Germans from pushing on to Antwerp and splitting the Allied armies, World War Two would have lasted longer.
‘While much has been written about the 101st Airborne, however, one unit gets little attention from historians. That unit is the 110th Infantry (Regimental Combat Team), 28th Infantry Division.
‘Without their brave stand at the onset of the German offensive, the 101st Airborne may not have reached Bastogne in time and the war would undoubtedly have been prolonged.
‘Nicknamed ‘the Bloody Bucket’ because of its red Keystone patch, this federalized Pennsylvania National Guard Division had suffered over 6,100 casualties in the Hürtgen Forest. The 110th’s share of losses exceeded 900 men in eight days of combat.
‘The Regiment held a ten-mile front on ‘Skyline Drive,’ the high ridge in the Luxembourg separated from Germany by the tiny river Our. With its own 2nd Battalion as division reserve, the Regiment’s 1st and 3rd battalions, as well as an engineer company, held the line with roughly 1,200 men.
‘This is the story of those brave men who held the line as long as possible and, in several cases, to the last man so that the German advance could be slowed, allowing the Allies to regroup and collect the forces necessary to end Hitler’s counteroffensive. Theirs is the story of determination and bravery against all odds.’
German soldiers advance past a knocked-out US halftrack during the battle
US soldiers rest on rubble after a battle during the conflict
Young German prisoners of war during the Battle of the Bulge – it was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War Two
Soldiers queue up for a hot meal as World War Two came to an end
German soldiers stop for a cigarette break during the end of the Second World War
An American soldier grins as he holds up captured weapons during the offensive over the winter 1944/1945
The American soldiers held the line as long as possible so the German advance could be slowed
The battle severely depleted Germany’s armored forces, and they were largely unable to replace them
American ambulances advance with the troops during the winter offensive in 1944
German prisoners of war – The phrase ‘Battle of the Bulge’ was coined by contemporary press to describe the bulge in German front lines on wartime news maps, and it became the most widely used name for the battle
American soldiers in a snow trench – it was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War I
The American troops besieged in Bastogne held out. When on 22 December the Germans offered their commander, Brigadier-General Anthony McAuliffe, either surrender or annihilation by massed artillery, his celebrated reply was ‘Nuts!’