What US pilot replied "NUTS"

31 May 2003, 12:08 PM

??? What US pilot replied "NUTS" when told to surrender by the germans in WWI?

G._Jacobs · 31 May 2003, 12:48 PM

Hi TDC,

Wrong War and wrong service...that was Gen. Anthony McAuliffe's reply to German surrender demand when American forces under his command were surrounded in Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge.

Bastogne was like the hub of a wheel with several roads converging on the town. The surrounding terrain prevented trucks and tanks from going around the town...the only chance for the Germans was to go through it. After laying seige to the town for several days, the Germans were forced to withdraw after the approach of Patton's Army, who had made a near-impossible march through the Ardennes to save Bastogne. The heroic American stand in Bastogne seriously blunted the German offensive and became one of the great moments in US military history.

Hope this helps...

Gary

31 May 2003, 01:08 PM

Thank you; sorry to bother you!

Philippe JOURDAN · 31 May 2003, 01:12 PM

General Cambrone at Waterloo.

I think that a lot of soldiers used this sentence

Barker · 1 June 2003, 04:30 AM

McAuliffe's reply was apparently much more crude than Official US Military history will permit.
Many eyewitnesses to the event have been quoted as suggesting the Good General's choice of words were far more colorful.

Something about what he wished the German would do to and for himself.

"NUTS to you." is an expression from the period and helps one understand that it is not just "NUTS", which then and now is typically a single word expression of frustration or exasperation, in useage for Philippe: "Awww, NUTS" meaning, "Damn, that didn't work."

McAuliffe had a far different message to convey.
History apparently does not tolerate that kind of crudity. 101st guys that know say the General was pretty 'blue'.

Philippe JOURDAN · 1 June 2003, 05:03 AM

Of course, i was joking, the legend said that when general Cambrone at Waterloo, in the last square of guards, hearing the british officer to say him " stop, it's finish" the legend said that he answered "MERDE" ( translation: SHIT) in fact he called his officer "MERLE" to give him some instructions, and in France, it is "a legend" since this time. MERDE is a very trivial word, polite peoples said: "le mot de Cambrone" ( the Cambrone's word.
Only a joke,

1 June 2003, 05:31 AM

TDC
If your looking for a great U.S. quote from WWI . Then I think the one attributed to a Marine Corps man that said " retreat ??...hell we just got here ! " at the Battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918 is a hard one to beat .
BlackSeptember.

The_Gunny · 4 June 2003, 04:21 PM

TDC,

Another good US quote attributed to Platoon Sergeant Dan Daly USMC during the great war was, "Come on you sonsabitches, do you want to live forever?". *I always loved that one. *I wanted to say it going through ambush alley at An-Nasiriya in March but I forgot. *Oh well, there is always Iran.......

Semper Fi
Nick Vitale
CWO2 (Gunner)
3d Bn 2d Marines

Barrett · 4 June 2003, 05:23 PM

"Send us more Japs."
Actually it was padding in one of the last coded messages from the Wake Island garrison. But you still gotta admire the sentiment.

BobE · 5 June 2003, 10:26 AM

October,1918. "The Lost Battalion" is summoned to surrender by the commander of the surrounding Germans. Major Charles Whittelsey replies "Go to Hell!"

This is a recurring theme in the history of warfare. How much is truth and how much has been cleaned up, rewritten or just plain fabricated is anyone's guess.
* * * * * * * * * * * * Bob E