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Bicycle
Rambo
By
Eric Tobey
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The
following was taken from the Der Meldeweg newsletter
& was done so with permission of the publisher.
We would like to thank him for his generosity as well
as thank all those who have contributed to this
article. It is with their efforts, we are able
to share this valuable research with the rest of you.
During the
battle for the Ardennes in December of 1944, the
soldiers of the U.S. Third Armored Division
encountered a remarkable opponent in the fight around
the Belgian town of Manhay. At first, when the
G.I.s watched a figure in fieldgray pedal furiously into
the midst of the fighting, their reactions were of
barely concealed amusement. Panthers and Tigers
were one thing, but what did they have to fear from a
kraut on a bike?
Their
amusement soon turned to chagrin as the bicyclist
proved himself to be an effective weapon. He
would often pedal to a covered position under the
protection of night-time, then wait for the approach
of the Amis during the day whereupon he would ambush
them. By the time the G.I.s would reach his
position by the flanks, all that was to be found was
some shell casings and a furrow of bicycle tracks in
the snow.
The German
trooper, who was a member of either SS Kampfgruppe
Peiper, 2nd SS Panzer or 9th SS Panzer, had four
attributes which contributed to his success: One, he
had a powerful build that permitted him to pedal
rapidly into and out of harm's way; Two, he appeared
to be an excellent marksman; Three, he had a very well
developed offensive spirit, the nurturing of which the
Germans have always been renowned; and Four, he was
very lucky.
The
agitation increased in the American ranks as they
continued to suffer under the assaults of the cyclist:
he attacked by day or night, he emerged suddenly from
snow squalls, he sprang ambushes from close range,
always with the same result. After inflicting
casualties, the sturdy trooper would be seen straining
mightily on the pedals of his mount as he zoomed out
of range. Once he pedaled to within small arms
range of a patrol, opened fire with a light
machine-gun, then pedaled off before the astonished
G.I.s could retaliate.
As with
most extremely successful individuals of this type,
his combat prowess was eventually elevated to a
super-soldier level by the rumor mill. This
notoriety proved to be his undoing, for the American
Command knew that enemy celebrities could eventually
have disastrous effects on morale. Thus, it was
decided that the bicycle phantom had to go, and the
order went out to "get 'im".
How they
managed to catch him is a mystery for the time being,
but what is known is that on December 23, 1944 this
man was taken prisoner. It seems that his luck
held out even in this, because the odds of being taken
alive in his case were pretty slim, especially when
one considers that his score by that time was 22
Americans. If he had held out for a while longer
his chances would have been poorer still, for by that
time the events that transpired at the crossroads near
Malmedy became general knowledge throughout the U.S.
Army with dire consequences for any captured SS men.
I guess
its a good thing that George Patton was unaware of
this little campaign, because Georgies was rather
easily influenced when it came to implementing
effective offensive methods. Somehow the mental
picture of 3rd Army G.I.s pedaling away from gassless
vehicles to go through the Siegfried line "like
shit through a goose" seems a little un-American
to me!
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