Battle Of the Bulge In Ardennes Forest, Belgium (WW II)
75 years ago, on 25 January 1945, the Battle of the Bulge ended. Designated as the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign by the U.S. Army, the German offensive began on 16 December 1944 as an attempt to drive northwest through the Ardennes forest, take the vital port of Antwerp, destroy U.S. and British forces, and regain the initiative. Hit by thirty German Infantry and Panzer Divisions, U.S. Army units were surprised, but stubbornly fought back. German forces drove almost sixty miles, creating a ‘bulge’ in Allied lines, but were unable to reach the Meuse River, their first operational objective. A later German offensive to the south also failed. By the end of January 1945, forty-six U.S. Army divisions had fought in the campaign and all lost ground was retaken.
For more information on the Battle of the Bulge, visit: https://history.army.mil/…/R…/Books_and_Documents/sec01.html
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US 18th Airborne Corps Diary
All throughout Saturday, December 16th, 1944, the Germans continued to press forward. By early morning on Sunday, it was clear on the ground that the Germans had an effective counterattack in motion. However, within the Allied command, many leaders would not understand the depth of the problem until Sunday evening.
At ~ 5AM on Sunday morning, General Omar Bradley, commander of the Twelfth Army Group, was awakened by his staff who updated him on the situation. Bradley told his subordinates: “I do not think much of the German push in Ardennes.”
GERMAN SIDE
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The Germans' initial attack involved 410,000 men; just over 1,400 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns; 2,600 artillery pieces; 1,600 anti-tank guns; and over 1,000 combat aircraft, as well as large numbers of other armored fighting vehicles(AFVs). These were reinforced a couple of weeks later, bringing the offensive's total strength to around 450,000 troops, and 1,500 tanks and assault guns. Between 63,222 and 98,000 of these men were killed, missing, wounded in action, or captured. For the Americans, out of a peak of 610,000 troops, 89,000 became casualties out of which some 19,000 were killed. The "Bulge" was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II and the third deadliest campaign in American history.
Four armies were selected for the operation. Adolf Hitler personally selected for the counter-offensive on the northern shoulder of the western front the best troops available and officers he trusted. The lead role in the attack was given to 6th Panzer Army, commanded by SS-Oberstgruppenführer Sepp Dietrich. It included the most experienced formation of the Waffen-SS: the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler. It also contained the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend. They were given priority for supply and equipment and assigned the shortest route to the primary objective of the offensive, Antwerp, starting from the northernmost point on the intended battlefront, nearest the important road network hub of Monschau.
The Fifth Panzer Army under General Hasso von Manteuffel was assigned to the middle sector with the objective of capturing Brussels. The Seventh Army, under General Erich Brandenberger, was assigned to the southernmost sector, near the Luxembourgish city of Echternach, with the task of protecting the flank. This Army was made up of only four infantry divisions, with no large-scale armored formations to use as a spearhead unit. As a result, they made little progress throughout the battle
Infantrymen fighting in snow during the Battle of the Bulge (Braun, USA/WikiCommons)
The original battle began on the morning of Dec. 16, 1944 and lasted more than a month.
The Battle of the Bulge began as a massive failure of U.S. intelligence. The Americans believed that the Germans were by this time a spent force, incapable of mounting an offense.
For more than a month, the Allies failed to recognize the massing of the Sixth SS Panzer Army near Ardennes as a sign of an impending attack. The Americans were also fooled by a smart German tactic: the Panzer forces employed deceptive radio messages discussing their defensive preparations. When American intelligence intercepted these messages, they believed that the Germans were in the defense for the long haul.
General Omar Bradley, commander of the First United States Army, completely misread the situation. Bradley failed to recognize that Hitler was so desperate that he could afford to take a chance with an offensive (in fact, the Germans really had no other choice). As a result, Bradley assumed a lot of risk with his forces: he placed his inexperienced units on the front lines and allowed commanders throughout Ardennes to replace troops in-stride. These forces absorbed the initial German blow.
This political cartoon published in the Des Moines Register on December 21, 1944, nails it. The Germans are depicted with an aggressive approach, ready to pounce, and the stunned Allies, about to take a nap, must scramble to get to their feet.
Members of 1st Battalion, 109th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division had planned to take part in a military parade through a small town in Luxembourg, according to the Heritage Foundation. Upon news of the nearby German offensive, they canceled the parade and prepared for battle.
“I was in charge, since the company commanding officer had been called to report to battalion headquarters,” 1st Lt. James Christy recalled. “We soon got the word to forget the parade and get ready for action with full combat gear.”
More than a million troops took part in the battle, including 500,000 U.S. troops and 55,000 British troops going up against some 600,000 German forces.
By the end of the battle, some 19,000 U.S. troops were killed, 47,500 were wounded and another 23,000 went missing. The British suffered about 1,400 casualties with 200 killed and more missing and wounded. The German army suffered 100,000 soldiers killed, wounded or captured.
Both sides lost hundreds of tanks and the German Luftwaffe around 1,000 aircraft.
The battle signified Germany’s last major offensive in the war, according to a U.S. Army history of the battle.
The “Bulge” refers to a large hole in the allied lines, created by the German attack the initiated the battle.
By Dec. 23, the allied forces mounted their counter-attack and pushed the Germans back to where their offensive began. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr. led the 3rd U.S. Army north to reinforce the defending American forces in the area.
The 2nd U.S. Armored Division stopped the German tanks short of the Meuse River on Christmas, and by that point seemed the German offensive had failed.
Christy recalled eating a hot turkey dinner and singing “Silent Night” while the Germans across from their positions joined in singing “Stille Nacht.”
Still the battle continued for some time through January, until the “bulge” created by the German offensive had collapsed.
“This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory,” British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill said of the battle, largely crediting his U.S. allies.
DECEMBER 17, 1944: THE ENEMY PENETRATES
On the second day of the full-scale German counter-offensive, German troopers of the 5th and 6th Panzer Army, attacking with tanks and aircraft along the weakest part of the Allied line, began to punch through the American and British forces. German troopers captured hundreds of American prisoners of war.
It was on the evening of December 17th, in Camp Suippes, France, that Major General Jim Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, learned of the fighting in the Ardennes. He was given a heads up by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in Versailles, France. He was told that SHAEF was unable to reach Ridgway. Gavin was told that his forces were not yet needed, but that he should standby as the situation develops. Gavin did not spread the word, and only a few leaders in the 82nd Airborne Division were made aware of the German counteroffensive.
It would be one more day until most of the corps learned of the fighting in the Ardennes region.
DECEMBER 16, 1944: "TODAY WE GAMBLE EVERYTHING"
He paused at his desk. He hated to be alone with his thoughts, with the feeling of uncertainty he'd been trying to avoid for weeks.
There was an atmosphere of heaviness. This was the way he always thought the end of the world would feel.
The others were confident. They believed in der Führer. They believed in their Soldiers.
Not him.
He picked up the pen.
"Today we gamble everything." He wrote. "If this does not work, we are doomed."
He put down his diary.
It was time.
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75 years ago today, Standartenführer Joachim Peiper knew that his German forces were running out of weapons, out of men, and out of ammunition. He also knew that the Soviets, the Americans, and the British could continue fighting for months.
Five years after Germany began a war in Europe by invading Poland, this surprise western counteroffensive Peiper was set to launch was the only hope for the survival of Nazi Germany.
The mission was called “Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein” ("Operation Watch on the Rhine"), and Joachim would lead it. The fate of his beloved nation rested on his ability to lead his men through the American lines.
Joachim knew he had an advantage: the ferocious American airborne divisions – the 82nd, the 17th and the 101st, now consolidated under General Matthew Ridgway as the XVIII Airborne Corps - were out of the fight, resting in Wiltshire, England and Reims, France.
He also knew that he would attack into the Ardennes region of Belgium at the weakest point of the Allied line, against American forces with little combat experience. The weather would help: daylight was shortest and the fog and snow would limit Allied air support.
The moment had it arrived. It was the morning of December 16th, the time Adolf Hitler designated for the start of the attack. There was nothing left to do but give the order.
“Forward to and over the Meuse!”
Thus began the most critical moment in this Corps’ history.
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While Joachim Peiper began his push, our heroes, the Soldiers of the XVIII Airborne, were hundreds of miles away, in a group of training camps. That morning they slept, unaware that the die of war had been cast.
While Joachim Peiper began his push, our heroes, the Soldiers of the XVIII Airborne, were hundreds of miles away, in a group of training camps. That morning they slept, unaware that the die of war had been cast.
At approximately 4:30 on the morning of December 16th, the men of the XVIII Airborne Corps unknowingly became actors in a tragedy that would be told for the next 75 years.
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