This question is bugging me!?

Question

It's the story of the German general at the Battle of the Bulge (I believe, I've asked a bunch of 50-year-olds who ought to have heard of it, but are acting dumb about it). Or they just don't want to tell me.

He was given a cake captured from the Americans along with the other stuff. He got up in dismay and told them that they were either losing or facing a strong, confident army. The proof is that they are carrying such luxuries as cakes along.

Now WHAT was the details of the story? It was from over a radio talk show so long ago....

Answer 1

Hi Georgie,

The story you're referring to actually took place; but it wasn't from a general. I vividly recall seeing it on a television programme about the battle a few years back. It wasn't a general who made the comment, it was a regular soldier who was attached to Brandenberger's 7th army group.

He said, as they were moving through Luxembourg, they overtook an American compound, and he was stunned at the mail the GI's received. He talked about how he and his friends ate a cake sent to a GI, and how he marvelled that the Americans had so much resource power that they could waste it on shipping luxuries to troops.

The reason I remember this is that, like you, I found the image of the soldiers eating this captured cake, and being stunned by it, a powerful image.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

Answer 2

Have heard variations of the above but can offer you nothing more solid than to suggest going to CBS & NBC sites and se if there are links to their radio archives. Would suspect a commentary style show with Charles Collingwood or Edward R Murrow - - - -
By the Battle of the Bulge it is unlikely that any German General doubted the strength of the Allies and the weaknesses of their own forces. A German general may have cited such luxuries to pound down a point (unintentiinal pun) but otherwise what impressed the Germans more were the packs of cigerettes & packages of real if powdered coffee pluys all that gasoline propelling the American forces forward.

My history nooks are scattered amidst the debris of my apartment but one can check biographies of German generals and hunt down anecdotes. Relying on memory Von Runsted (mispelled) & Woolf were leading Generals during the Battle .


Peace...

(Cakes would not impress a German as much as Cigs & Coffee since those items had to be imported and were scarce in Germany whereas German bakers continued to make great cakes & pastries to the bitter end - - - Hitler had a sweet tooth and lived on a diet that many cite as a precursor of the twinkie dence)

Answer 3

If my memory serves me, that was during the siege of Bastogne. Some supplies were air dropped, and a few parachutes drifted over to the german side. the parcel contained mail deliveries, including the cake.

Of course the german general was dismayed. If the Americans had so much air freight capacity that they could ship cakes - still fresh - from the US to Europe and deliver them to a besieged town in the middle of a battle, that meant germany had lost the war- no matter what they did. It also meant that the besieged town was full of food and ammo- which is why the luxuries could be delivered.

Answer 4

That's a great story! I've never heard it, and those who have who answered here would rather insult us than tell us were to read about it and provide some education. thanks.

Answer 5

Great story.

Answer 6

I agree.