num_pages: 168
description:     At 5:30 on the morning of December 16, 1944, a quarter-million German troops smashed through a thinly defended American line into the Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg, the start of what would become known as the Battle of the Bulge.     Overconfident from their battlefield victories since coming ashore on the beaches of Normandy, the Allied Expeditionary Forces under General Dwight Eisenhower were caught sleeping by Hitler's surprise counteroffensive. Tens of thousands of American soldiers scrambled to stanch the attack, shocked by the breadth of the assault. Among them was Major General Maurice Rose, the legendary commander of the 3rd Armored Division, who suddenly found himself in his toughest fight without the firepower of two of his three combat commands. Complicating matters, terrible weather had grounded the Allied planes that by now dominated the skies of Europe. Outgunned and blind without reconnaissance and air cover, Rose's depleted division fell back to the vital bridge village of Hotton with orders to seek out and engage the enemy, leaving behind a mix bag of rear-guard troops "not rated as combat soldiers" believing they were far from harm's way. They weren't, and in the ensuing days the struggle to save Hotton would be at the epicenter of the Second World War.    The battle for Hotton was just one of many hard-fought actions by isolated and outnumbered forces during that bitterly cold Christmas season, a universe in miniature of the fierce fighting across the Ardennes. Intensely described in gripping detail,  The Hotton Report  is a must read for anyone interested in the combat experience, and a moving tribute to the indomitable spirit of the American soldier.
language: English
title: The Hotton Report
titlecomplete: The Hotton Report
ratings_count: 10
publisher: Finbar Press