PART OF AN ARMORED DIVISION of the Third Army moving into the Ardennes. At the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge Third Army was regrouping for an attack on the West Wall in the Saar area. On 18 December an armored division was turned north toward the Ardennes sector and was followed by an infantry division the next day. The 6th Army Group was turned north to take over the area held by Third Army, which during a period of six days broke off its general attack in the Saar region, turned left, moved more than a 100 miles over unknown winter roads, and mounted an attack with six divisions.
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C-47’s CARRYING SUPPLIES to surrounded U. S. troops in Bastogne (top). Infantrymen in Bastogne (bottom). While Third Army was advancing to relieve the armored and airborne troops in Bastogne, the battle for the city was being waged. The enemy surrounding the city numbered 45,000 while within Bastogne there were about 18,000 U. S. troops. The commander of the troops in the city refused to surrender to the Germans and continued to hold out against all attacks. The defenders, cut off from their sources, were supplied by airdrops during this period. On 24 December over 100 tons of supplies were dropped.
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INFANTRYMEN FIRE AT GERMAN TROOPS in the advance to relieve the surrounded paratroopers in Bastogne. In foreground a platoon leader indicates the target to a rifleman by actually firing on the target. In Bastogne the defenders were badly in need of relief, they were attacked nightly by German aircraft, supplies were critically low in spite of the airdrops, and the wounded could not be given proper attention because of the shortage of medical supplies. After an advance which had been slow, U. S. relief troops entered Bastogne at 1645 on 26 December 1944.
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