WWII Forums Quiz Part V

OK, I at least know where it happened -Vielsalm- and what it was about; the withdrawal of the 7th Armored Division from St. Vith to the west bank of the Salm river.

But now, who was Ridgeway's nemisis? Several opportunities; According to Chester Wilmot Hasbrouck (CO 7th Arm. Div.) was relieved from his command (and later in the day re-instated).

A Time For Trumpets describes a confrontation between Ridgeway and Gen. Alan W. Jones (of the 106th Inf. Div.?) which he also relieved.

Damn, it could even have been Monty himself!

OK, I go for Hasbrouck....

[ 10. October 2003, 09:57 AM: Message edited by: Stevin Oudshoorn ]

 

Just one more push needed, Stevin - you are sooooo cloooose!!

MacDonald steers clear of this incident as it is hearsay - only the two men involved know exactly what happened.

Come on - it wasn't Hasbrouck ( althought he was in the same building ! ), it was....????

 

Just for grins, and not getting smart or anything, if the two men ( Ridgeway and X )are all who know exactly what happened, and Macdonald ( the author and Army officer?) ducked it as hearsay, when Steve gets the other half of the answer, it would interest me to know how you know...

 

OK Fred, hold on, watch this...

Gen. Alan W. Jones. Met Ridgeway after the withdrawal of the 106th over the Vielsalm bridge...wait a minute...I can see it clearler now...yes, Ridgeway met him, found Jones rather destitude, relieved him of his command and Jones suffered an heart-attack that same evening and was evacuated....

I gave my secret away in the weapons quiz...

Martin? Gen. Alan W. Jones ?

 

Nope- wasn't Jones - an infantryman who had a 'heart attack' ( again, supposedly - an explanation that may well have been given to help preserve the reputation of a very well-meaning officer who is one of the Bulge's tragic figures, put in an almost impossible position way beyond his experience ).

Fair point - I don't 'know' ; the key word in my original question was reputedly - MacDonald, after all, is not the only historian to have written about the Ardennes Offensive....

One final give-it-away clue - he was known as the 'Sergeants' General'....

 

Answering your Q's is like delivering 20 Lbs babies...

Sgt's General doesn't say much to me...It was fun going through the books about this one particular event, though. Know a lot more about the 7th Armored during the Bulge now!

But, here is my final Guess; Gen. Bill Hoge...

 

Unbelievable ! Stevin, you've mentioned every officer except the one I'm after !!

Final clue : the meetings at Commanster ( just before relieving Jones at Vielsalm )were between Ridgway and Hasbrouck, Hoge, Reid of the 424th Infantry and................?????

 

Clarke!!??

Geez, I have to read the passages again, cause I didn't get that he and Ridgeway had an one to one....

Stupid that I read over that!

Sorry!

 

You deserve this one 100% Stevin ! ( It's always fun to make him work... )

Yes, Bruce Clarke ( his biography was titled 'Clarke Of St Vith - The Sergeant's General' ) was exhausted and sick with gall-bladder troubles by the time of the 'fortified goose-egg'. Montgomery rightly decided that this exposed position, with 22,000 tired defenders, should be pulled back to the Salm River. Ridgway, used to fighting a 'paratroopers war' - surrounded by the enemy - disagreed. Demanding to know from Clarke and Reid the combat efficiency of their troops ( 50% & 40% ) Ridgway was seemingly unimpressed by the views of these officers 'who he did not know'. But he knew Hoge of old - and Hoge backed them up. There is a suggestion that Clarke and Ridgway exchanged hard words at Commanster.

Then, when evacuated over the Salm, Clarke was given medication for his illness, making him feel drowsy. He did not attend a meeting with Ridgway until the following morning; and was then lectured about military discipline. His reply was forceful.

And, apparently, they never spoke again.

This is admittedly a minor incident but the whole story of St Vith, with it's mass surrenders from the 106th, retreats, heroic defence by 7th Armored and engineers, etc is very interesting indeed and makes a change from endless 'Bastogne' stories. Sources include Whiting ( sorry ! ), Cunningham/Pattison, Astor, Toland and Dupuy.

Over to you, Stevin.....

 

Very interesting, gentlemen. I confess I thought Gen'l Clarke was a Texan as we named a highway after him. But he's from New York. Here is an Oral history interview with him and after reading it, He was pretty crusty... be sure to notice he said he tied himself into a jeep and had no sleep other than in that jeep for 7 days of St Vith...I think the only reason Gen'l Ridgeway got away without needing to have two hand grenades surgically removed from his nether regions after tangling with him is that Clarke must have been just as sick as you describe.

http://www.trumanlibrary.org/oralhist/clarkeb.htm

 

Many thanks for that, Fred !
Clarke can also be seen in interview on the old 1969 video documentary 'Battle Of The Bulge' ( together with von Manteuffel ) and I have to say that I rather like Clarke - one gets the impression that he 'got the job done'.

 

From me also many thanks for that link, Fred, that is a very good read! I hadn't come across Bruce Clarke before, but Eisenhower describes him in a very sympathetic way. Glad to know that there is a biography of the man. Will hunt for that one.

Eisenhower's The Bitter Woods was my main source in answering this question. Wilmot's Struggle For Europe was secondary as was McDonald's A Time For Trumpeths/Triumphs

I was bound to get the right answer sooner or later, as I was running out of officers anyway.

One point of attention though; Martin, you wrote that not much was heard of either after the war, but Ridgeway went on to command the UN forces in Korea after McDouglas was dismissed, am I right? That made him the most prolific US Commander at the time, I guess.

I am at work now, so I can't come up with a decent Q. Give me a couple of hours...

 

No.... ....looking back at my first posting, I said that both Ridgway and Clarke went on to distinguished post-war careers.... Someone later put that Patton didn't have much of a career post-war, but that was being ironic I think !

 

So much for reading skills...oops!

No wonder I got the right answer in 4 tries and then only when my nose was pressed on the right answer....

Sorry about that one, Martin....Hang on for the Q, am working on the CV now, back in a jiffy!

 

On 26 november 1944 the Allied Air Force conducted a raid against the offices of the SD in Amsterdam. 3 groups of planes swooped down on Amsterdam, one attacking Fliegerhorst Schiphol, another the harbour and its flak defenses, while the third went straight for the SD offices (which are located half a mile from my house and which is a school today). In this daring raid the building was heavily damaged. Besides 4 SD members, 56 local residents were also killed. The offices were destroyed.

This raid was an example of similar raids conducted by an certain unit within the Allied Airforces which had gained a considerable reputation for such missions.

Q: Which unit conducted this raid, what planes did they fly and who was their (rather well known) commander?

[ 14. October 2003, 02:09 AM: Message edited by: Stevin Oudshoorn ]

 

Although I'm not familiar with that particular raid it sounds like 8th Group and their Mosquitos at work. Vice Air Marshall Bennett was the Group CO.

 

8 Group were Pathfinders and didn't carry out precision low-level attacks of this nature.

I'm struggling with this one - I don't think it was a Mosquito 'op' at all....

 

(see me smile )

No mossies. I'll give you a few hints: I am looking for a unit smaller than Group, bigger than Sqn.

The commander was a BoB veteran during which he became an ace and had to bail out at least once. In that time he served in a Sqn which was home to many well known aces.

His succeses gave him a prolific nickname.

He survived the war and signed many aviation works of art.

 

I'm going to kick myself about this....

 

No bidders?

I have three answers on commission here...

Do I hear two answers in the room? Two answers, ladies and Gentlemen?

That sir in the corner? One answer?

Come on, bargainhunters!

No takers for these three beautiful authentic questions? Complete with hints?

Final offer,

Going Once...

Going Twice...