The Battle of the Bulge : Britain's untold story

The Battle of the Bulge, fought in the snows of the Ardennes forests in December 1944 to January 1945 to stem the final German land offensive of the war, was the greatest land battle waged by the US Army in the 20th century.

Both popular belief and official history ascribe this victory to the Americans.

For political reasons no mention was ever made of the crucial British involvement in this battle, when the XXXth Corps fought a decisive action and halted the German drive to the River Meuse - but against a total news blackout and at the cost of 2500 British troops.

The British role in the Battle of the Bulge simply does not exist on paper. "The main reason for adopting a low key in referring to the British contribution was political" said Field Marshall Brooke, Chief of the Imperial Staff, years later. In explaining this omission from the history books, the author reveals how General Montgomery was given command of more American divisions in that battle than the other three US Army Commanders combined; how it was that Monty could have three divisions on their way to their positions in the new front two days before US General Patton achieved his celebrated turn-around and drive north to Bastogne; and why Patton's drive through three second-class German divisions to relieve Bastogne made it into the history books, when in fact it was Monty who stopped the German armoured divisions heading for the key target of the River Meuse, and who won the battle. Using eyewitness accounts from British, American and German soldiers, and Belgian civilians, Whiting sets the record straight, telling the true story of the British involvement in the Battle of the Bulge, and at the same time recognising the hard fighting and suffering they had to endure.