Fountaindale Public Library

The last hill, the epic story of a ranger battalion and the battle that defined WWII, Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

The last hill

bibliography

1289252747

Bob Drury and Tom Clavin

the epic story of a ranger battalion and the battle that defined WWII

They were known as "Rudder's Rangers," the most elite and experienced attack unit in the United States Army. In December 1944, Lt. Col. James Rudder's 2nd Battalion would form the spearhead into Germany, taking the war into Hitler's homeland at last. In the process, Rudder was given two objectives: Take Hill 400 . . . and hold the hill by any means possible. To the last man, if necessary. The battle-hardened battalion had no idea that several Wehrmacht regiments, who greatly outnumbered the Rangers, had been given the exact same orders. The clash of the two determined forces was one of the bloodiest and most costly encounters of World War II. Castle Hill, the imposing 1320-foot mini-mountain the American Rangers simply called Hill 400, was the gateway to a desperate Nazi Germany. Several entire American divisions had already been repulsed by the last hill's dug-in defenders as - unknown to the Allies - the height was the key to Adolf Hitler's last-minute plans for a massive counterattack to smash through the American lines in what would become known to history as the Battle of the Bulge. Thus the stalemate surrounding Hill 400 could not continue. For Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, there was only one solution: Call in Rudder's Rangers. Of the 130 special operators who stormed, captured, and held the hill that December day, only 16 remained to stagger back down its frozen slopes

PART I: THE RANGERS -- Commandos -- Darby's Recruits -- Torch -- Heat and Dust -- "Big Jim" Rudder -- A New Beginning -- Sea Change -- Swim and Swat -- The Cliffs -- PART II: THE BEACH -- "The Most Dangerous Mission of D-Day" -- Gin Blossoms -- Charon's Craft -- Charnel Ground -- Thermite -- "No Reinforcements Available" -- 'All Rangers Down!' -- Graves Registration -- PART III: THE FORTRESS -- Hurry Up and Wait -- The "Fabulous Four" -- Brittany -- Festung Brest -- The "Fool Lieutenant" -- Credentials -- PART IV: THE FOREST -- "End The War In '44" -- The Green Hell -- The QUEEN'S Gambit -- The Return of the Fabulous Four -- "How Bad Is It?" -- PART V: THE HILL -- Bergstein -- Rudderless -- The Sugarloaf -- "Let's Go Get the Bastards!" -- The Crest -- Fallschirmjagers -- A Last Stand -- Howls and Whistles -- Trudging Away

adult

Epic story of a ranger battalion and the battle that defined WWII