Ardennes: The Secret War (West Wall, 5) - Hardcover

Whiting, Charles

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9781580970693: Ardennes: The Secret War (West Wall, 5)

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1580970699 ISBN 13: 9781580970693

Publisher: Da Capo Press Inc, 2001

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The magnitude of the German surprise during the Battle of the Bulge has been downplayed in the West, as revealed in this study of three key officers who led the German deception and sabotage operation. The Allied advance on Germany's West Wall received its biggest setback from the German counter-offensive of December 16, 1944. The general outline of the Battle of the Bulge, or "Ardennes Offensive" as it is more commonly known in Europe, is well-known and has become a great military legend. However, as veteran World War II author Charles Whiting reveals here, the magnitude of the German surprise has been downplayed in the West and the extent of German deception and sabotage operations minimized.Charles Whiting traces German operations through the eyes of three key officers, all of whom he interviewed after the war. Hermann Giskes was a German Army counter-intelligence officer who had broken the Allied spy network in Holland and set up his own force of spies and saboteurs, who stood ready to aid any German offensive. Freiherr (Baron) von der Heydte was an aristocratic paratroop officer assigned to make a last desperate jump behind Allied lines. His small number of inexperienced troops were blown over great distances by the wind and tied down thousands of Allied troops who thought German paratroops were landing everywhere. Otto Skorzeny was an SS commando leader assigned to deploy agents in American uniforms behind Allied lines during the upcoming offensive. A joking remark by Skorzeny led Allied intelligence to believe that he had been assigned to assassinate Eisenhower and other Western leaders, setting off a panic that further hampered Allied efforts to contain the Bulge. These three officers were key members of a German "secret war" that was more extensive and came closer to success than many previous accounts have suggested.

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About the Author:

Charles Whiting served with a reconnaisance outfit in WWII and has since become one of the premier historians of the war. Among his many best-selling works are Patton, The Last Assault, and Death on a Distant Frontier. He currently lives in York, England.

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