Two Engineers vs Hitler’s Panzers at the Battle of the Bulge

December 1944. German King Tiger tanks with 185mm of frontal armor rolled toward the Meuse River. American 57mm anti-tank guns couldn't penetrate them. Bazookas bounced off like raindrops. Standard anti-tank weapons were useless.

Then American soldiers stopped following the manual.

Engineers blew bridges with 2,500 pounds of TNT while Panther tanks fired at them. A sergeant threw anti-tank grenades BY HAND at panzers and made SS crews flee in terror. Anti-aircraft gunners aimed their 90mm guns at the ground and discovered they could destroy Panthers in seconds. Tank mechanics built fighting vehicles from SCRAP METAL and knocked out three Panthers in 30 minutes.

This is the untold story of how Kampfgruppe Peiper, the most powerful armored spearhead in Hitler's last offensive, was destroyed not by superior American firepower, but by improvisation, courage, and explosives used in ways they were never designed for.

When conventional weapons fail, American ingenuity finds another way.

IN THIS VIDEO:

• How Lieutenant Milgram wired a bridge for demolition while a Panther tank shot at him
• Why American bazookas and anti-tank guns couldn't stop King Tigers
• The bridge demolitions that cut off Kampfgruppe Peiper's fuel supply
• Sergeant Francis Currey's Medal of Honor action: destroying 4 tanks with improvised weapons
• How thermite grenades designed to weld metal became tank killers
• The 90mm anti-aircraft guns that finally matched German armor
• Building Sherman tanks from salvage parts overnight
• The final count: 135 abandoned German vehicles at La Gleize

THE NUMBERS:
Kampfgruppe Peiper: 4,800 men, 117 tanks at start
American conventional anti-tank weapons: Ineffective against frontal armor
Bridge demolitions: 8+ critical crossings destroyed
German losses: ~4,000 casualties, 135 armored vehicles abandoned
Survivors who escaped La Gleize: Only 770-800 men on foot

This battle proved that when you can't fight the enemy with standard weapons, you change the weapons. Or you change how you use them. The destruction of Kampfgruppe Peiper at Stavelot, Trois-Ponts, Stoumont, and La Gleize stopped Hitler's last offensive and demonstrated that American adaptability could defeat German technological superiority.