Soldiers with the 2nd Battalion, 325th Glider Regiment, US 82nd Airborne Division, move up through heavy fog near Werbormont Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge – December 20, 1944 [1440×1110]

On December 17, 1944, the paratroopers and glider troops of the 82nd Airborne Division were spending a quiet evening at Camps Suippes & Sissone located near Reims, France. They had just returned from combat in Netherlands and were resting & refitting.

While eating dinner, Major General James Gavin, the 82nd’s commander, received a phone call that the situation in the Ardennes was critical and that the airborne divisions should be prepared to go into combat 24 hours after daylight the following day.

There was a critical shortage of equipment, weapons, ammunition, and winter clothing had not been issued yet. Many companies were critically short of personnel, 200 new replacements arrived in the early morning hours of December 18 right before they left for Belgium.

US Army Signal Corps photo- SC 200487