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"Dead Man's Ridge Walk (17th Airborne Division) (2009 edition)" - Flamièrge (Belgium) |
Important note Photos provided on this website are not an endorsement of any political idea or of war. War is one of the most regrettable human activities. All photos on this page are copyright Robert Mary and may only be reproduced with his express permission. You may contact me here |
What is this event about ? This event commemorates
the battle fought by all American units but especially by the 17th
AIrborne Division during the Battle
of the Bulge. The history of the 17th Airborne division also know as the “sightseeing seventeenth” began with his activation on the 15th of April 1943 at Hoffman, North Carolina. It was originally composed by 506 officers, 29 warrant officers and 7970 enlisted men and it sprang from the 101st Airborne division at Fort Bragg. From the time of its activation the division was commanded by Major general William M. Miley. General Miley’s background is the background of the division and in order to appreciate what the 17th did during WW2 it’s necessary to know something about its commander. A product of a military family, William M. Miley, was born into the army on the 26th of December 1897. As a second son of Lieutenant Colonel John D. Miley US Army he followed his brother Lt Col John D. Miley Jr. into the career of professional soldier. He attended the military academy at West Point and graduated on the 12th of June 1918 to become a 2nd Lieutenant in the 48th Infantry Division. From the graduation day until September1940 Lieutenant Miley followed the conventional pattern of Army service. He served in the Philippines and later attended General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth. In September 1940 he was promoted to Major and he assumed the command of the 501st P.I.B. He was the first officer to command a designated unit of Airborne Troops in the US Army. As the first Parachute Battalion Commander he was responsible for all the early precepts of airborne planning and operation, these were the early days and test and experimental work occupied much of the time. Parachute Battalion Commander Miley established the precedent for paratroop officers by never asking a subordinate to do anything he himself would not, or hesitate to do. It was in these early days that Major Miley, rather than assign the task of determining the maximum weight that could be carried safely to the ground undertook the tests himself. These experiments resulted in a fracture and many severe bruises which kept him in the hospital for several weeks. On the 12th of June 1941, he was promoted to rank of Lieutenant Colonel and moved with his parachute Battalion to Panama. When he returned to USA on January 1942 he was promoted to the rank of Colonel and assumed command of the 503rd P.I.R. at Fort Bragg. When war came Colonel Miley was assigned as Assistant Division Commander of the 96th Infantry Division at Camp Adair (Oregon) and on the same year was promoted Brigadier General. Then General Miley left camp Adair to assume command, because of his background, of the 1st parachute Brigade and later became Assistant Division Commander of the 82nd Airborne. On the 17th of April 1943 he assumed command of the new born 17th Airborne Division and he would conduct it through the Ardennes, the Rhineland and Central Europe campaigns and until its final deactivation in Boston in September 1945. ---------- .The 17th A.D. advance party embarked in Boston and arrived in Scotland, Glasgow, on the 31st of July 1944, while the main buck of it arrived in Liverpool on the 26th of August 1944. The Division spent the rest of its time in England at camp Chisledon doing tactical training and night maneuvers. By this time a veteran regiment was attached to the division coming back from the Normandy campaign, the former 82nd 507thP.I.R. On the 15th of November the division paraded for the authorities and the 507th was decorated for its actions on June the 6th. The Division remained as a tactical reserve until the Holiday Season. Christmas dinner 1944 would be the last civilized dinner before entering the Ardennes’ Hell. The division arrived from England by plane and left Charleville in France by truck under the cover of darkness; after securing the river Meuse the division left Neufchateau and establish its operational HQ in Morhet (Belgium). The division was positioned to left flank of the 101st and to the right of the 87th Infantry Division. The attack began on the 4th of January 1945 the enemy were the best Panzer grenadiers and armor that Von Rundstedt had to offer under the command of General Remmer (former Commander of Hitler’s personal bodyguard). The 17th receive the toughest assignment they could get. The German needed to severe the vital road to Bastogne coming from the North (N4) they met the 17th Airborne paratroops and glider men on the early morning of the 4th of January. On one side the Germans used Panzer and vehicles along with troops and artillery on the other side the Americans had only artillery and their guts to prevent any breakthroughs. Without time for reconnaissance, after relieving the 11th Armored Division, and with 10 minutes of artillery preparation the division launched its attack with the 194thG.I.R. and the 513thP.I.R. supported by the 550thA.I.R. The 193rdG.I.R. and 507thP.I.R. remained in tactical reserve to meet a probable German counterattack. During the night, the Germans sent 20 tanks supported by artillery against the slowly but surely advancing line of airborne troops. Dug in on the rear lines of the slope of what became famous as the “Dead Man’s ridge”, the attacking echelons were subjected to the bursts of tank and self propelled guns. The Woosh of the “screaming meemies” filled also the air. In the sector of Flamisoulle the situation was more or less the same. The divisional artillery was doing all its best to support the troops on the front; let us not forget the sacrifice of captain Charles H. Jones forward observer of the 466 P.F.A.B., who said “ZERO ON ME” when its position was overrun by 2 German heavy panzers. The situation remained almost the same during all night, mortar fire from both sides and patrolling to prevent any infiltration and wounded being evacuated. Before the second day of this Battle the Germans began another counter-attack. Artillery fire was terrifying, enemy tanks appeared and Bazooka Teams were sent forward to disperse the panzers. Tree tanks were knocked out and the rest withdrew. At noon 11 US tanks appeared, but joy was soon turned to despair as they were blasted out of action by hidden 88s. The 17th 81mm Mortars remained in action throughout enemy’s barrage, pumping rounds after rounds upon the besieging tanks. General Miley sensed that this was the right time for to plan an attack. At 0900 hours on the 7th of January the division jumped off again in the attack, the Germans were in the villages were amazed to see all these dispersed troops charging towards shouting “GERONIMO”. The city of Flamierge was attacked by the men of the 513th, 1st and 3rd battalion attacking from front and right. On the afternoon of the same day German tanks, coming from Flamisoulle were knocked out by 1st Battalion. During the night it snowed again and unfortunately the communication from Flamierge were severed, assuming that the town was lost and the 513th encircled the HQ gave order to withdraw to the position of Monti. On the 10th of January the division received again order to attack 194th assumed the left flank 507th was in the center and 193rd to the right, 513th as a reserve. This was the final push Flamierge was finally liberated and the German lines crumbled. 194th turned right towards Renaumont and Heropont. 513th 1st and 2nd battalions took defensive position in the wood north west of Flamierge and 3rd in Flamierge itself. 507th liberated Flamisoulle and pushed forward. 193rd was attached to Armored Troops and would continued north. The battle of Dead Man’s Ridge was over, but not the pushing of the Germans out of Belgium. On the 16th of January at 1700 hours 507th and 193rd moved out to attack the Germans; they were facing elements of the 9th Panzer Division and 130th Panzer and 26 Infantry. The weather was again awfully cold ( 20°F) but the regiments started their trek towards Givry, Gives and by the 13-14-15 of January liberated Bertogne and Compogne and finally arrived (193rd) into Houffalize. The 17th Airborne Belgian Association The 17th Airborne
has an official
blog. The following text was given to all participants registering to the march: Dead Man’s
Ridge Walk On the 16th of
December 1944 German troops launched their Ardennes offensive. On
the 19th of December,
the 17th Airborne Division, stationed in England,
received the order to move into the North-East of France, to Mourmelon.
The Division arrived in Belgium on the 1st of January 1945 at Neufchâteau
and was sent to the South-West of Bastogne between Pinsamont and Monti.
On the 4th of January, the 17th Airborne launched their first attack
on the Monti-Flamierge route that was later re-named “Dead Man’s
Ridge” by the men of the Division. Many hamlets within the Bertogne
area were freed from Nazi occupation by the 17th Airborne. Flamierge
was gained, lost and finally taken on the 12th of January. Gives and
Bertogne were freed on the 13th and Compogne on the 15th. The Division
continued its’ struggle to push back the Nazis before heading in
the direction of Houffalize and Luxembourg. The Division lost more than
3000 men and was finally relieved from the front line on the 10th of
February. On the 24th of March 1945, the 17th Airborne Division jumped
on Germany during operation Varsity, the last allied airborne assault
of the war in Europe.
Hoping you enjoyed the march
Event address: From E25 highway
from Liège: Coming by car is mandatory due to the location of the event. Key contact person
to get additional information is: Personal note Departure is set
at 9.30 AM, however due to registration fees and other reasons all
groups are not starting preciselly at the same time. People of various
generations were present (veterans, witnesses of WW2, re-enactors,
American soldiers and civilians from various nationalities). We were
very lucky with weather knowing that the day
before it was
heavily
raining. |
Year
of visit: April 2009 |
