Keep Buggering On S2E3 : "Nuts!" — Gen. McAuliffe, Bastogne, and the Best Answer He Forgot He Gave
Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe's reply to a German surrender ultimatum — Bastogne, Belgium, December 22, 1944
On December 16, 1944, Germany launched a massive surprise offensive through the Ardennes Forest, opening what became known as the Battle of the Bulge. The 101st Airborne Division, rushed to the Belgian crossroads town of Bastogne, was completely surrounded by December 21 — cut off from resupply, short on ammunition, food, and winter gear, with a night raid having wiped out much of the division's medical company. On the morning of December 22, German officers approached under a flag of truce and delivered a written ultimatum to Acting Division Commander Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe: surrender within two hours or face "total annihilation" by German artillery. McAuliffe's first reaction, by multiple firsthand accounts, was to laugh and say "Aw, nuts." When his staff asked what reply to send, he decided that was the answer. The official response, typed and delivered back to the German delegation, read in full: "To the German Commander: NUTS! — The American Commander." The confused German officers asked for a plain-language translation; they were reportedly told it meant something close to "go to hell." The siege held. On December 23 the weather cleared enough for Allied aircraft to drop desperately needed supplies and fly close air support, and on December 26 lead elements of Gen. Patton's Third Army broke through German lines to relieve the town. Winston Churchill later called the defense of Bastogne "an ever-famous American victory." McAuliffe went on to a full career, retiring as a lieutenant general, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The one-word reply remains one of the most quoted lines of the entire war — not because it was eloquent, but because it wasn't trying to be.
Sources
● U.S. Army, "The story of the NUTS! reply," by Kenneth J. McAuliffe Jr. (verified by the McAuliffe family)
● Wikipedia, "Bastogne" and "Battle of the Bulge" entries
● Airborne and Special Operations Museum, "The Battle of the Bulge"
● Fort Campbell Historical Foundation, "Bastogne Summary"