While we need Hollywood and popular narratives to help us understand what happened at important points in our history, we need it accurately (or, one is tempted to say, not at all).
Six hundred twenty-eight pages into the definitive history of the Battle of the Bulge, the British historian (and military veteran) Peter Caddick-Adams notes, buried deeply into what has to be called a masterpiece:
"Popular history has the German attacks peaking at Christmas and the campaign slowly subsiding during the ensuing month. In fact, the battles around Bastogne between Christmas and the New Year were some of the most damaging to both sides. Even the unleashing of the Allied counter-thrust from 3 January was not easy, for the Americans (and a few of their British compatriots) were also fighting plunging temperaterus, which were the lowest of the of the entire campaign. German and U.S. vehicular movement was slow, their infantry and were soon exhausted wading through the two- or three-foot snowdrifts, and the wounded rarely survived if left unattended for more than fifteen minutes..."
This is only one of the dozen reasons for reading (and for those who study World War II, studying) Caddick-Adams's definitive study of the Battle of the Bulge, "Snow and Steel, the Battle of the Bulge, 1944 - 45." The "Battle of the Bulge" lasted around a month. One of the many many contributions of this book is to discuss how to measure the ending of that "battle" (the beginning, on December 16, 1944, is really no problem).
But the contributions of this new book (publication date, 2015) are so many more than that. And as the history of this important event evolves and matures, we have a major contribution to that evolution and those maturities.
Those of us who began learning about the Second World War from our fathers (and in my case, mothers; my Mom was on Okinawa with the Army Nurse Corps from April through September 1945, while my Dad ended his war in the ETO in Austria with the 44th Infantry Division) in the years after those had survived it, the "popular history" of much of how the United States won World War II has been overplayed from certain angles by Hollywood and some historicans. At times, the "war" has been ridiculously distorted by Hollywood's writers and propagandists, for reasons good and other. But to learn from history, we deserve the most accurate histories we can get, even if they have to do into great detail and demand study. And "Snow and Steel" is one of those books demanding study.
Getting an accurate history of the American war in the "ETO" has been an additional challenge for those of us born into the "Baby Boom." Why? Because so much of the early versions of what happened during World War II in Europe were dominated by Cold War propagandists and in some cases Hollywood silliness. Often these distorted narratives were aided and abetted by former (and rarely reformed) Nazis. Once they were no longer worried about being put on trial for their war crimes, many of them were more than ready to being telling their stories -- and adding to the distortions about what really happened. Many of those unreformed Nazis remained in Germany and were slick enough to take their Cold War opportunities and leave us with a historical legacy we could have done better than suffer. But that was the "50s." A contribution of "Snow and Steel" is to point out that before his worst excesses, Senator Joe McCarthy was opposing the accuracy of the war crimes investigations -- trying, as the book points out, to please his Wisconsin German American constituents (or some of them; most German Americans served in the war, as my father and his brothers did, and were fierce opponents of Nazism).
I began to learn about the war's realities early and first hand. My father earned a Bronze Star during the Rhineland campaign as an infantryman (T-4 sergeant) in early 1945. When I asked him why he had turned down a battlefield commission to become a second lieutenant, he simply told me that there wouldn't be a me if he had. He knew the statistical probabilities for platoon leaders in those days, and he chose the lower pay grade and survived his war, coming home with his medals (which he would describe, but not in detail) and his memories (which he kept silent about).
Neil Schmidt, my father, warned me not to believe much of what Hollywood was providing to us starry-eyed kids during the early 1950s. One of the facts he reminded me of was that his division was not in the "Battle of the Bulge." Instead, the 44th Division was on the Southern Shoulder." I later learned that his division, the 44th, had been in "Northwind." That attack was a mini-Ardennes, but has barely received historical attention, thanks to Hollywood (no Bastogne) and the problems with American historiography.
There was also the way the GIs themselves handled their complex and very cold realities. My Dad told me that some of his buddies were writing home in December 1944 about their experiences in the Bulge (and even at Bastogne) while they were at the edge of the Vosges Mountains. He said that despite the fact that they were miles away, some of his buddies were playing to the home front crowds, so to speak. My Dad warned me not to go along with such things, even though the men who did those lies were "good men and good soldiers."
Why?
Telling the stories of the war, Hollywood style, has to focus on a handful of stars (or starring units). So the problems in rendering something as massive and complex as World War II are inevitable. You get Audie Murphy or the "Big Red One," but not a complete story.
Even though the work of units like the First Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division were heroic and an important part of the story, there were more than five dozen other American divisions, most of them infantry divisions, that contributed to the destruction of Nazi Germany. And so the stories of the 44th Division, which my father served in, simply didn't make Hollywood. They were part of a narrative that was shared for many years at the reunions the men of the division held year after year. We have a collection of beer steins, buttons, and glasses from those days.
My father rarely talked about combat and the work of killing and dying that were the lot of infantry. Once when I suggested during the Vietnam War that there was a problem for Vietnam soldiers in that they could be moved by helicopter straight into a hot zone, my father, who generally controlled his temper, gave me a copy of the letter given to members of his division by their officers at the end of their war (when they were in Austria).
The letter, which our family still treasures, noted that the division had been "in the line" for more than 240 days.
He patiently explained that the "line" was the place where almost all of the death was happening.
That was supposed to say it all -- and it did. But it took many of us a long time to understand all that.
The stories we share with our children are part of how we will build the future. And the more accurate those stories are (or become), the better.
And in this respect, Caddick-Adams joins a small but growing number of historians who are utilizing all of the archives available to do the job better than ever before. And in telling the stories more accurately, thanks to the availability of the archives of the former Communist countries, this new generation of World War II historians is helping straighten the record. We needed it, especially those of us who were raised on a combination of the histories available and the Hollywood.
Rather than share all the new details, which number in the dozens, why this book is so important to the important literature of the Bulge, I'll stay with two: Malmedy and Black soldiers.
During the early 1950s, every child who came of age (I was born a year after my mother -- who served on Okinawa -- and my father were reunited after we won the war) during those years and paid attention knew about Malmedy. Another example of the perfidy of Nazi soldiers, especially the SS. Like many of his contemporaries, my father refused to the day he died 20 years ago to talk about combat. But he did reveal pieces of the histories he lived. And one of those was about how Malmedy was not isolated -- or isolated to German soldiers. Caddick-Adams helps us remember that: both sides murdered prisoners, not just the Nazis. And while the fanatical Nazi youth soldiers did some of the nastiest work against civilians during the "Bulge", the Amis were far from innocents. My father finally explained to me that one soldier in his regiment had one cold night gone "over" and killed some prisoners their unit had not "sent back yet."
I was shocked, and asked what my father and his comrades had done about it. The answer was that after the war, they had never invited that guy to their reunions. "He was a good soldier and we needed everyone," my Dad told me.
Malmedy wasn't the property of Nazi perfidy. War is hell, and eventually the men (and women) who make war face the depths of those hells that arise regularly, as "Snow and Steel" shows.
The other piece (and remember, there are dozens) is about African American soldiers. "Snow and Steel" reports the importance of the "Red Ball Express," which was more important to the lengthening Allied supply lines across France. "Snow and Steel" reports how over time more and more Black soldiers were put into combat units, despite the segregation that was part of the reality of the men and women of the "Greatest Generation." And, Caddick-Adams notes, a small scale "Malmedy" was done against Black American soldiers.
Deep in the middle of the story, we learn how Patton greeted the first black units to join his Third Army: " Basically, Patton, who was nothing if not blunt, welcomed the new soldiers by telling him that he didn't care that they were black, but had heard that they were "good." And he expected everyone in his Army to be very good at their jobs.
And right in the middle of other stuff, Caddick-Adams drops the following fact, which I suggest will get someone a PhD about the "Black Malmedy."
"Two batteries had been overrun by the Germans on 17 December," we read on page 486, "and most personnel killed or captured, including the CO, Lieutenant Colonel Harmon Kelsey -- a white officer -- and 227 other officers and men. The remantns, about 300, withdrew into the Bastogne perimeter, but eleven black GI artillerymen evaded camptured and were given sheltered by a Belgian farmer in the hamlet of Wereth, north-east of St. Vith. Four SS men from Kampfgruppe Knittle (of the 1st SS Liebstandarte Division) on a reconnaissance mission arrived shortly afterwards, discovered their presence, and took them away. They were never seen again until the February thaw uncovered eleven frozen corpses nearby. By the time Captian William Everett examined the bodies, they had lain under the snow form nearly two months..."
They had been murdered by the SS, as much as the greater number of white soldiers had been murdered by the SS at Malmedy. This story, among many others, deserves its own book.
Not all of the narrative in "Snow and Steel" is as serious and welcome to those of us who want a more complete history of those years so important to this day. Caddick-Adams does a critique of some of Hollywood's versions of the Bulge that can make you almost laugh. One of the treasures of anyone who has tried to follow the twists and turns of Hollywood historiography is "Battleground", the early story of the Bulge. "Battleground" was produced with the help of men who had been there. A large number of the early movies about the war -- after the war -- had those qualities.
Than came the revisionisms.
Caddick-Adams's appreciation of the early movie is contrasted with his scathing critique of the 1965 movie, which was, simply point, bad history -- propaganda. I'll leave the title out for others to check out, since this review is with the hope that people will buy, read, and pass along this important book.
Those who appreciate "Band of Brothers" for its gritty authenticity in this era of "The Sopranos" and "The Wire" will also appreciate Caddick-Adams's reporting about the nurses who served in Bastogne. As those who watched "Band of Brothers" know, one of the nurses who served in Bastogne died in the church. What most of us didn't know was that there was a second nurse serving those same weeks alongside the one who died.
And that second nurse was a black woman, who didn't make the cut in "Band of Brothers" but was finally honored by the government of Belgium, better late than never. And the names of those two women, both of whom are now honored in memory in their country? Well, that's just one of the reasons for reading "Snow and Steel." One of dozens, if not hundreds, of surprises worth having.
And so, "Better late than never" can be said about dozens of historical corrections we get reading "Snow and Steel." Doubtless there will be others, but for now the 870 pages in this book will have to be enough. And this is not to denigrate many of the other serious contributions to the history of the American military's war in Europe during World War II. It's just a reminder of how complex learning from history can be. And how much we owe to the historians who take the time to help us learn those histories a little more clearly.
Enjoy fast, free delivery, exclusive deals, and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime
and start saving today with fast, free delivery
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Discover the latest buzz-worthy books, from mysteries and romance to humor and nonfiction. Explore more
Frequently bought together
This item: Snow and Steel: The Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45
$28.99
Get it as soon as Friday, May 30
Only 16 left in stock (more on the way).
+
$27.05
Get it as soon as Friday, May 30
In Stock
+
$15.58
Get it as soon as Friday, May 30
In Stock
Total price: $00
To see our price, add these items to your cart.
Choose items to buy together.
Customers who viewed this item also viewed
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Great book, in great shape, but....
In great shape when I got it, but why was there no dust cover?
Top reviews from the United States
There was a problem filtering reviews. Please reload the page.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2015
- Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2014
- Reviewed in the United States on May 21, 2025
- Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2025
Top reviews from other countries
-
-
-
PolarlichtReviewed in Germany on December 25, 2021
Snow & Steel: The battle of the bulge 1944 - 45 Liest sich sehr flüssig
