At 52, Brandenberger was short, pudgy, bald, and normally wore spectacles (occasionally, pince-nez). The commanders squaring off against one another were both highly accomplished and capable but could not have been more dissimilar in style, method, and appearance. The battle in Luxembourg would be primarily an infantryman’s war with the footsloggers on both sides going toe-to-toe in some of the most brutal fighting, under some of the most horrific conditions, in all of northwestern Europe. Patton, Jr., would respond in kind when assembling the necessary units to counter his enemy’s moves. Brandenberger was responsible for the southern flank of the Bulge and protecting the underbelly of Manteuffel’s force.īrandenberger’s force consisted primarily of infantry, with limited armored support, and Third U.S. While SS General Sepp Dietrich’s Sixth Panzer Army was racing toward Antwerp and General Hasso von Manteuffel’s Fifth Panzer Army was driving toward Brussels (with General Gustav-Adolf von Zangen’s Fifteenth Army in reserve far to the north), it was General Erich Brandenberger’s Seventh Panzer Army that cut into the northern half of Luxembourg. Lesser known is that the German offensive in the Ardennes was not limited to Belgium and the northern drives toward the port of Antwerp and the capital city of Brussels, but actually had a sizable southern flank in Luxembourg, where the crossroads were of no less value and the fighting was every bit as ferocious. Even after 70 years it still remains a fundamental study for amateur and professional historians alike. The largest portion of the Battle of the Bulge story has, of course, usually been devoted to how the main German thrust of Hitler’s last and most desperate gamble was halted by the 101st Airborne “Screaming Eagles” Division at the Belgian crossroads city of Bastogne. Army report as “the quiet paradise for weary troops,” the tiny nation of Luxembourg was viewed by American commanders in late 1944 much like Belgium-liberated, safe, and an ideal location for combat-worn troops to rest and for untested replacements to get exposed to outdoor living and military routine before being exposed to combat.
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