Bastogne: The Story of the First Eight Days - US Army Center Of ...

CHAPTER 8
ATTACK AND WITHDRAWAL
COLONEL LAPRADE and Major Desobry wanted the high
ground and this was their plan-that three tanks would strike
northward along the Houffalize road and four tanks would hit
east toward the high ground west of Bourey (Map 9, page 63).
With this group of tanks would go one and one-half platoons
of infantry fOl' their close-in support. In between these two
armored groups moving along the road, laPrade's paratroopers
would spread themselves over the middle ground. One company
would advance south over the Bourey road, another .off to the
left of it would extend to the Houffalize road and the third company
would go toward the high ground at Vaux. In this way,
armor and infantry would spread out fanwise as they left Noville
and started for the commanding ridges. 1
However, the preliminaries were not propitious. Noville was
already taking a pounding from the enemy artillery. The Germans
were firing by the clock and dropping twenty to thirty shells
into the defensive position every ten minutes. The houses and
several of the vehicles were afire. A proper reconnaissance became
impossible; the assembly went off badly. Still, the attack
got away at 1430, December 19, though somewhat unsteadily.2
The line had scarcely moved out from the houses when an
artillery concentration landed in the middle of Company C of
the 506th Parachute Infantry, which was on the right Bank. 8 A
number of men were hit but the company kept moving. Bullet
fire from enemy positions on the high ground bit into the infantry
ranks and slowed their advance. The little groups worked
their way along, dashing on to favorable ground, stopping there
to fire, then making a rush on to the next point of cover.&
But elsewhere along the line, except .on the far left where
Company B kept moving, the attack was already Bagging. The
tanks and armored infantry decided the attack was impossible
so moved back to their holes, not even realizing that the paratroopers
were continuing to attack in any strength. I Company
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