World War II · Film · 1949
Battleground
Instead of leave in Paris, a squad of the 101st Airborne is trucked to a Belgian town in the fog and snow, and soon finds itself surrounded with little food, ammunition or hope of air support.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 1 places.
Stop 1: Bastogne
Key location
Digging foxholes in the snowy woods outside town, the squad faces German infiltrators, shelling and hunger while waiting for the skies to clear.
What really happened
When the German Ardennes offensive broke through in December 1944, the 101st Airborne Division was rushed by truck from France to Bastogne, a road junction the Germans needed. By 20 December the town was surrounded; its defenders held out in freezing fog with scarce supplies, and on 22 December General Anthony McAuliffe answered a German surrender demand with one word: "Nuts!"
Clearing skies on 23 December allowed airdrops and air strikes, and Patton's 4th Armored Division broke through to the town on 26 December. Screenwriter Robert Pirosh, a veteran of the Battle of the Bulge, won an Academy Award for the script, and the film was one of the first postwar Hollywood hits about the war told from the infantryman's point of view.
Where to watch
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Full details
- Original title
- Battleground
- Directed by
- William A. Wellman
- Countries
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Released
- 1949
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Western Europe
- Themes
- Combat
