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This book describes the combat that took place at the Losheim Gap during the Ardennes Offensive. This area was part of the sector assigned to the American 99th Infantry Division from December 15th to the establishment of the American defensive positions along Elsenborn Ridge.
The information presented is based on official U.S. Army documents (AARs - After Action Reports), combined with numerous interviews with members of the 99th Infantry Division and its supporting troops, complemented by eye-witness testimonies of several members of other units that fought in the area. Official documents from the German side also grace the story, as well as eye-witness testimony from several former members of German combat units that fought in this sector of the Ardennes Offensive.
The book describes the action at the "Northern Shoulder" of the Ardennes Offensive - Losheimergraben, Lanzerath, Krinkelt, Bucholz Station, Mürringen, Wirzfeld and Elsenborn Ridge - from December 16th, 1944 until the retreat of U.S. forces and the establishment of a new frontline at Elsenborn. The "Northern Shoulder" was where the main thrust of the German Army was halted.
After nearly six years of research in the area, and with the help of many veterans of both German and American units who fought there, an in-depth account of the combat in this sector of the Ardennes Offensive is presented. Many first-person accounts are provided to supplement the operational details found in the original U.S. and German Army documents.
The text is supplemented by numerous period black & white photographs, maps, copies of original documents, and color photographs of the area as it appears today. The many present-day photographs from the area will cause the reader to feel like they are stepping back in time, because, even with the passing of nearly sixty years, many of the "wounds" are still visible.
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