THE TIGERS OF BASTOGNE: Voices of the 10th Armored Division during the Battle of the Bulge

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The gallant stand of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne has long become part of historical and media legend. But how many students of the war realize there was already a US unit holding the town when they arrived? And this unit-the 10th Armored Division-continued to play a major role in its defense throughout the German onslaught.

In The Tigers of Bastogne, authors King and Collins finally detail the travails of this young armored division, which had only arrived in Europe that fall, yet found itself subject to the full brunt of Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army in the Ardennes. At first overwhelmed, and then falling back to protect the vital crossroads, the 10th Armored was reinforced (not 'saved') by the Screaming Eagles, and its men and tanks went on to contribute largely to America's victory in its largest battle of the war.

General Anthony McAuliffe, of the 101st Airborne said, 'It seems regrettable to me that Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division didn't get the credit it deserved at the battle of Bastogne. All the newspaper and radio talk was about the paratroopers. Actually the 10th Armored Division was in there a day before we were and had some very hard fighting before we ever got into it.'