It was on this date, December 16, that the last major German offensive of World War II is considered to have started. It was a master stroke of the German forces to line up so many troops unknown to the Allied command. Some German soldiers would dress as allied soldiers, turn around street signs and do other minor things to cause confusion as the German forces moved west. The Battle of the Bulge is one of the most written about battles of WWII. My goal is not to shed light on the battle, the incompetence of Allied command, much less to provide fault. Rather, this brief post will about the brief recollection of my father, Roy Hovel, and his brush with history in the Battle of the Bulge.
My father was with the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps, and was assigned to the headquarters of the 83rd Infantry division. The CIC also had an agent assigned to each of the three regimental divisions. My Dad, would recount his main duties as being a trouble shooter for the CIC. The 83rd infantry had been in Loire, and some members assisted in the surrender of 20,000 Germans, although as my father wrote to Thomas Johnson on 28 April 1965, who was working on a history of the War, and the CIC, "the surrender of the German army was not primarily the work of the CIC, nor a CIC responsibility. It was entirely a military operation and the main credit for such surrender goes to the ordinary GI and his commanders in the field." The main concern for the CIC, he goes on was "with the civilian population and enemy spies."
After Loire, the division went first to Paris for about three weeks and then "into the country of Luxenburg (sic), where we were for several months." (R Hovel letter to Johnson 3 May 1965) He notes they moved out of Luxembourg about November of 1944 after the breakthrough at the historic city of Aachen, where the unit went into Germany somewhere east of Aachen. While near Aachen they were notified that the Luxembourg government was putting on trial some "spy prisoners who Turner and I had apprehended. Thus Turner and I returned to Luxenburg (sic) and testified at the trials. We were in Luxenburg (sic) about two or three days as I can recall, having come down more or less in the center of the country because the eastern frontier was still under artillery fire." (3 May 1965 letter) He goes on to say that things were quiet in Luxembourg. He probably visited Bertie, his lady friend in Luxembourg. Bertie was the daughter of Jean Mayer, the head of the prison in Luxembourg. In the May 3, 1965 letter he goes to state that "in the early morning of our departure I had been questioned by a very good friend of mine, Jean Meyer, now deceased, about what I had heard concerning the German activity in the east of Luxenburg (sic)." As he noted in the Johnson letter, he had not been in touch with any military command and since they were leaving in the early morning without he necessity of driving with lights, they took the road north of Luxembourg city, which was closest to the eastern boundary. They were heading into an ambush.
To quote, again, from the May 3 letter: "After we were out of Luxenburg (sic) city about 14 miles, I first notice a tracer bullet come between my eyes and the windshield of the jeep, another one hit the engine of the jeep and another hit the rear tire of our jeep. I had been driving." They learned of the attack later when they where able to reach Allied lines. His first American contact after his near death was with an American Captain doing reconnaissance. He could see a great number of injured Americans being evacuated and that the lines were moving the wrong way. He and Turner then made their way to Bastogne, which of course became famous for its siege as part of the larger Battle of the Bulge. The army unit they made contact with were able to contact their 83rd CIC division to arrange a pickup at Bastogne. Roy Hovel's letter of 3 May 1965 to Johnson would not that: "About 2:00 p.m. the following day at the cafe on the square, which is generally in all the pictures shown of the Bastogne area, we met Jackson from out detachment and we left Bastogne one-half hour before it was surrounded by the Germans." What is amazing is that, with all the German activity, both he and Turner and then Jackson were able to get to Bastogne. The surrounded American forces in Bastogne would be relieved by elements of Patton's Third Army, who, to get to Bastogne, made one of the most fast and famous military movements in WWII.
Roy Hovel would write his parents and briefly mention his experience. In a letter dated Dec 19, 1944 headlined simply "Somewhere in Germany" he first apologized for not having written home, he would go to say " a lot has happened since my last letter a week ago." It would be the third paragraph where he would hint at what occurred: "I have had experiences in the past week, including to both extremes the best and the worst of my experiences overseas, if not my life." Outgoing mail was censored and hence little information was ever provided on military matters.
The 1944 Advent season was adventurous for my father. That day in mid December may have been the last time he saw Bertie, and then his life was spared when a bullet passed inches in front of his eyes. The Allied war machine had hit a big bump, and while even the warden of a Luxembourg prison knew about some German activity, the Allied reconnaissance teams never seemed to make any connection with build up of German forces. The war, as was predicted by some, would not end before Christmas. More hard fighting would remain, but before summer 1945 the war in the western theater of operations would conclude.
Last three images in post from Hovel archives
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| Cafe in Bastogne Source: Google Images |
My father was with the US Army Counter Intelligence Corps, and was assigned to the headquarters of the 83rd Infantry division. The CIC also had an agent assigned to each of the three regimental divisions. My Dad, would recount his main duties as being a trouble shooter for the CIC. The 83rd infantry had been in Loire, and some members assisted in the surrender of 20,000 Germans, although as my father wrote to Thomas Johnson on 28 April 1965, who was working on a history of the War, and the CIC, "the surrender of the German army was not primarily the work of the CIC, nor a CIC responsibility. It was entirely a military operation and the main credit for such surrender goes to the ordinary GI and his commanders in the field." The main concern for the CIC, he goes on was "with the civilian population and enemy spies."
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| Convent Church in Luxembourg City. Would be taken over for use by the prison |
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| Entrance to Luxembourg Grund Prison Meyers Home first building on left |
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| Meyers family was forced to live in this building during German occupation of Luxembourg |
The 1944 Advent season was adventurous for my father. That day in mid December may have been the last time he saw Bertie, and then his life was spared when a bullet passed inches in front of his eyes. The Allied war machine had hit a big bump, and while even the warden of a Luxembourg prison knew about some German activity, the Allied reconnaissance teams never seemed to make any connection with build up of German forces. The war, as was predicted by some, would not end before Christmas. More hard fighting would remain, but before summer 1945 the war in the western theater of operations would conclude.
Last three images in post from Hovel archives
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