George Patton's 3rd US Army, is assigned to attack across the Sure River on 27 December. In the event, the division was to transfer instead to III Corps and help in the push eastward from the Bastogne pocket, which Patton's 4th Arm Div relieved on 26 December. The 35th Inf Div, which had been in the line for 160 consecutive days, was to be relieved posthaste and sent to Metz for quick rehabilitation. On 20 December, when the scope of the German attacks into the Ardennes was finally being realized by the American high command, Patton ordered that XII Corps (of which the 35th was a part) should disengage immediately, move north to Luxembourg City, and prepare to enter the Battle of the Bulge, driving north as part of Patton's offensive to relieve the surrounded 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne. Several days of bitter fighting ensued, and the Americans had to pay dearly for each yard. Before the Germans launched their attack into the Ardennes on 16 December, the 35th had been assigned, with the green 87th Inf Div, the task of clearing German outposts from between the Saar River and Westwall defenses in preparation for Patton's new offensive, scheduled to begin on 19 December. Having fought in the slugging match in the Normandy hedgerows in the summer of 1944 and in the Lorraine battles in the fall, it was by December 1944 a veteran unit. The 35th Infantry Division was formed in December 1940 from elements of the Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska National Guards. 35th Infantry Division in the Battle of the Bulge - Ardennesģ5th Infantry Division in the Battle of the Bulge
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