Sublime

6 – The attack, or gunship, version of the two-pilot Little Bird helicopter used exclusively by 1st Battalion of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment.

In the south, Patton’s troops made contact with the beleaguered 101st Airborne at Bastogne late in the afternoon of December 26.

The S/10 Battalion of ‘S’ Brigade was formed in 1948 and was Zahal’s first tank battalion. It was established by General Itzhak Sade, the “Old Man”, founder of the Haganah Field Companies and Palmach. Its first commander was Major Felix Beatus, who at that time spoke nothing but Polish and Russian.

101st was sent south to hold a similar road junction at Bastogne:

A party of the brigade reconnaissance company, at the head of S/14 Battalion, crossed the border first, two Patton tanks driving on the right, on the left the half-tracks with the party’s commander, Lieutenant Yossi Algamis. Ehud wanted Major Ben-Zion Carmeli’s tank company to be the first to take up its positions on the heights of Beni Souhila, a

The 101st Airborne Division, which had already been alerted, was ready for action. Eisenhower instructed Taylor to send the 101st to Little Rock immediately.