The Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes region of Belgium was Adolf Hitler’s last major offensive in World War II against the Western Front. Hitler’s aim was to finish off the Allies in their drive toward Germany. The German troops’ failed to divide Britain, France and America with the Ardennes offensive paved the way to victory for the allies.
The battle of bulge started from December 16, 1944, to January 25, 1945, the attack was also called the Battle of the Ardennes which took place during rigid weather conditions, with some 30 German divisions attacking battle-fatigued American troops across 85 miles of the densely wooded Ardennes Forest.
As the Germans drove into the Ardennes, the US army (allied forces) took on the appearance of a large bulge, giving rise to the battle’s name the battle of bulge. The battle proved to be the costliest battle ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over 100,000 casualties. The formerly serene, wooded region of Ardennes was hacked into chaos by fighting as the Americans dug in against the German at St.-Vith, Elsenborn Ridge, Houffalize and, later, Bastogne, which was protected by the 101st Airborne Division.
“Did you ever see land when a tornado’s come through? Did you ever see trees and stuff, twisted and broken off? The whole fringing’ forest was like that,” said U.S. Army Charlie Sanderson in My Father’s War: Memories from Our Honoured WWII Soldiers.
The surprise German attack attacked through the front on first day as stories quickly spread of massacred soldiers and civilians.
“For those who had lived through 1940, the picture was all too familiar. Belgian townspeople put away their Allied flags and brought out their swastikas,” the center writes. “Police in Paris enforced an all-night curfew. British veterans waited nervously to see how the Americans would handle a full-scale German offensive mission, and British generals quietly acted to safeguard the Meuse River's crossings. Even American civilians, who had thought final victory was near were afraid by the Nazi onslaught.”
Troops Faced Severe Cold
Hitler’s mid-December timing of the attack was one of the bloodiest plan which was strategic, as freezing rain, thick fog, deep snow drifts and record-breaking low temperatures would become a disadvantage for the American troops. More than 15,000 “cold injuries”—trench foot, pneumonia, frostbite—were reported that winter.
Nazis Sent in Imposters and Changed Road Signs
Another Nazi strategy was to attempt to gain secret information of the Allied troops.
Veteran Vernon Brantley, a private first class in the 289th Regiment, told the Fort Jackson Leader in 2009 that his unit had just arrived in Germany from France when they were told to load up and return to Luxembourg.
“We got word that the Germans had dropped a lot of paratroopers behind our lines, and that they were dressed like American Soldiers and spoke English,” he said. “... They were there to create confusion.” This was a very big war strategy.
The Germans also changed road signs and spread misinformation for confusion.
“The Nazis were carefully groomed for their dangerous mission,” LIFE magazine reported in 1945. “They spoke excellent English and their slang had been tuned up by close association with American prisoners of war in German camps. ... Under the rules of the Hague Convention these Germans were classifiable as spies and subject to an immediate court martial by a military tribunal. After brief deliberation American officers found them guilty, and ordered the usual penalty for spies: death by firing squad.”
To stop infiltrators, the U.S. troops would ask code words to the suspected Germans to answer American trivia questions.
"Three times I was ordered to prove my identity," Gen. Omar Bradley recalled, according to the Washington Post. "The first time by identifying Springfield as the capital of Illinois; the second by locating the guard between the centre and the tackle on a line of scrimmage; the third time by naming the then-current spouse of a blonde named Betty Grable."
Allied Air Forces Arrived on Christmas Day
"It was on that bright, clear and cold Christmas morning in 1944 that the ground froze solid," Brantley told the Leader. "The tanks and air forces could finally attack, and get assistance to all of us who were previously stopped. It was a welcome sign to see the sun come up. It meant that we were alive for one more day."
Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied commander, and Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. led the American defense to regain the front. Eisenhower gave Patton the Third Army, about 230,000 soldiers, and ordered
him to lead the troops to the Ardennes.
101st Airborne Division Arrive in Bastogne
Picture courtesy reditt.com
In the small, pivotal Belgian town of Bastogne, the Germans surrounded thousands of Allied paratroops. Eisenhower, in response, sent in more units, including the famed 101st Airborne Division.
“When the Germans sent a message demanding the surrender of the 101st on December 22, they got a one-word response from its commander, Brig. Gen. Anthony McAuliffe: ‘Nuts!’” the Bloodiest Battle states. “This was interpreted by German officers as a more colourful and a negative response to their demand. The day after Christmas, units of Patton’s rapidly approaching Third Army finally arrived, broke through the German lines, and rescued the troops.”
Claiming victory of the battle on January 25, 1945, and the Allies headed for attacking Berlin. The war ended with a time span less than five months later with Germany’s May 7 surrender.
In all, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, more than 1 million Allied troops, including some 500,000 Americans, fought in the Battle of the Bulge, with approximately 19,000 soldiers killed in action, 47,500 wounded and more than 23,000 soldiers missing. About 100,000 Germans were killed, wounded or captured.
Now let us see a combat footage of Battle of Bulge.