![]() But in the month-long slog known as the Battle of the Bulge, the Americans proved their mettle under frigid winter conditions to seal the fate of the Nazis for good. Hitler’s last-ditch gamble would result in the largest land battle in American military history and cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides. Hitler ordered his commanders to prepare for an all-out offensive against a strategic soft spot in the Allied line located in the densely forested region known as the Ardennes. The Nazi leader, paranoid and agitated after a failed assassination attempt by the Operation Valkyrie conspirators, believed Germany had one last chance to strike at the heart of the Allies in the West. READ MORE: D-Day: Facts on the Epic 1944 Invasion That Changed the Course of WWIIīut that’s not how Adolf Hitler saw it. The surrender of the German menace was in sight. The Americans and British had chased the Nazis out of France and the Russian army was quickly closing in from the East. It was six months after the D-Day invasion at Normandy and the Allies had reason to celebrate. Hollywood star Marlene Dietrich was in town on a USO tour performing songs for a crowd of fresh-faced new arrivals and war-worn infantry on much needed R&R. At the very least, these men are owed that.On December 14, 1944, American GIs stationed in the Belgian-German border town of Bastogne were in a jolly holiday mood. It shows what Clarence Smoyer and others endured and enjoins us to remember. As a compelling story of men at war, "Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II" provides some remedy. World War II is retreating from our memory as its veterans pass on. In time, he revisits Germany, reuniting with comrades and finding a few surprises along the way. Smoyer survives but he can’t forget the fighting. Even though some are encountered only briefly, they all matter, and readers feel a sense of loss with each one. Those killed in battle aren’t just faceless soldiers - they’re people with names and history and family waiting back home. Most importantly, "Spearhead" takes pains to humanize the comrades of Smoyer and Schaefer. ![]() While American and German tanks are given due comparison in terms of size, armament, speed, reliability and quirks, it’s soldiers, civilians and their encounters who rightfully take center stage here. It’s hard not to be fascinated with these multi-ton war vehicles, but Makos wisely avoids focusing solely on the machines. He and Smoyer will meet in Cologne.īy then Smoyer and his crew will have a T26E3 Pershing, a new American “super tank.” The Pershing, with heavier armor and greater firepower, will prove a lethal force against the Germans. His inclusion in the story gives a unique view of what the Germans endured. He and his weary crew are part of Panzer Brigade 106, stationed in Luxembourg City not far from the German border. Smoyer’s Wehrmacht counterpart is Gustav Schaefer, a young tank radioman/bow gunner from Arrenkamp in northern Germany. He and his comrades are moving across France and Belgium into Germany, battling resistance from German forces determined to slow the Allied advance at any cost, even though they realize they’ve already lost the war.Īs one German soldier writes in his diary: “The town is in ruins, but we will defend the ruins.” Smoyer is part of an M4A1 Sherman tank crew attached to Easy Company, 32nd Armor Regiment. The division is heading to an epic confrontation in Cologne, the “symbolic guardian” of Germany, in the ending months of the war. Makos, author of "Devotion" and best-selling "A Higher Call," turns from air combat to the ground advance of Spearhead, the U.S. The book, by military writer Adam Makos, is the remarkable story of two tank crewmen, from opposite sides of the conflict, who endure the grisly nature of tank warfare. "Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives in World War II" (★★★★ out of four, Ballantine Books, 416 pp.) is a detailed, gripping account that leaves B-grade images behind. In particular, World War II tank crews risked incineration from enemy shells that could turn their vehicles from protective fortresses into burning prisons. In actual combat, tanks are far more vulnerable than viewers of most black-and-white films may realize. If 60 years of B-grade war movies have taught us anything, it’s that tanks are unstoppable lumbering behemoths with frightening firepower that terrorize a battlefield.īut what’s it really like to climb into a tank and take it into war?
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