The Battle of the Bulge
by Krysta CardinaleWorld War 2
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the final German offensive fought on the Western Front during World War II. It was also the largest land battle in U.S. Army history. At times the World War 2 Battle of the Bulge is referred to as the Second Battle of the Ardennes, because it was fought in the Ardennes region of Belgium. It was one of the war's final major conflicts, beginning on December 16, 1944 and lasting a little over a month.
In launching the offensive, the German army planned to split the Allied line in two and take the city of Antwerp at the Battle of the Bulge. This was to have been followed by a move north to attack four more Allied battalions. German leader Adolf Hitler believed this would cause a peace treaty in favor of his Axis powers. Though they ultimately failed at the Battle of the Bulge, the Germans did succeed in setting the Allies back some by limiting access to their much-needed resources.
Background
In August 1944, the Allied victory at Normandy allowed for a rapid advancement through France. While on the surface this proved to be beneficial, it ultimately presented logistical problems as it limited the Allies' seaport options. Their only port was now at Cherbourg, near the original invasion beaches. They did manage to make some headway and capture other ports since Normandy was left with no strategic value. The German army rendered it useless by destroying it before handing it over.
Another roadblock came in the form of the ruined French railway system. It was destroyed by the Allies before D-Day in order to thwart any advancement by the German army. Little did they realize their actions would impair them as well, and the elaborate trucking system set up in place of the railroads proved to use up more resources than it transported. Even though the Allies were making headway by pushing the Germans back, they were doing it at the expense of their own resources which were quickly dwindling. This made any offensive that much more difficult.
This lack of supplies enabled Germany to amass a small but powerful defense force while the Allies were forced to temporarily pause to regroup. This situation was eased somewhat by the Canadian victory at the Battle of the Scheldt, which resulted in opening the port at Antwerp to shipping.
The Allies' troubles on the western front opened up a prime opportunity for the Germans to attack. Though their supply woes were easing somewhat thanks to the opening of the Antwerp port, their military positioning contained portions that were poorly defended whose dissemination could effectively set them back a considerable amount of time. This area stretched from southern France to the Netherlands. In addition, the Germans were fighting Russia on the Eastern front and their shorter battle lines located closer to the homeland in the west. This allowed for easier transportation of supplies and ammunitions, and also made an assault on the Western front much more plausible.
For these reasons, Germany began plotting two attacks aimed squarely at American forces stationed along the line. Hitler decided that his army would strike in the Ardennes and head west until it reached the Meuse River. He then planned to turn northwest to go after Antwerp and Brussels. He dubbed the plan “Wacht am Rhein” in an effort to trick the U.S. into thinking that he was focused solely on defending the Rhineland.
The Assault
The assault by the German army began on December 16, 1944. It was a massive bombardment against Allied troops by three separate German battalions at 5:30 in the morning. By eight, all three had made their way through the Ardennes. The initial attack of the World War 2 Battle of the Bulge caught American troops on the front lines completely by surprise and many surrendered quickly. Battalions on the back lines however, had adequate time to regroup and provide enough resistance to slow down the Germans.
Fierce opposition by some American infantry units caught the Germans off guard. In addition, the Battle of the Bulge had treacherous weather conditions that included severe snowstorms in the Ardennes that did not help. While the storms grounded Allied aircrafts, it also made advancement difficult for the Germans as bad road conditions bogged them down.
German Leader Hitler gaffed by wrongly thinking that it would take the U.S. a few days to differentiate this full-scale German assault from a local ambush. The scope of the attack was actually recognized almost immediately by General Eisenhower and within days, an additional 25,000 U.S. troops descended on the area.
The snowstorms continued to spoil plans, including an operation to drop 1,300 German paratroopers on the area. Though the attempt was made, high winds led many of the planes to veer off course and drop soldiers off as much as 12 kilometers away from the planned drop off point.
A group of about 300 troops did manage to assemble, but they were no match for the Allies. This resulted in a rapid shift in battle tactics during the Battle of the Bulge that had the Germans engaging in guerilla-type fighting.
Operation Grief
In an effort to capture the Meuse River for Germany, German soldiers were sent to infiltrate U.S. lines by dressing in American and British army uniforms and wearing dog tags from deceased Allied soldiers. Once behind enemy lines, the soldiers did their best to cause chaos by rearranging signs and generally confusing legitimate Allied soldiers. Though Germany did not accomplish its goal of capturing the Meuse, it did succeed in causing mass confusion among U.S. troops. Even legendary General Patton was fooled - for a while.
Checkpoints were quickly set up to weed out the real Americans from the impostors. Military policemen conducted random spot checks, quizzing soldiers on all things American. These questions ranged from the name of Mickey Mouse's girlfriend to baseball scores. The operation led to the capture of a number of German infiltrators who were subsequently imprisoned or killed by firing squad. In an ironic sidebar, General Omar Bradley was briefly imprisoned under suspicion of being an impostor. Bradley had given what the checkpoint officer believed to be the incorrect answer to the question of the state capital of Illinois. It's Springfield - the officer mistakenly thought it was Chicago.
The World War 2 Battle of the Bulge turned fiercer on December 21. German forces surrounded the city of Bastogne, confiscating Allied medical supplies and personnel. Despite concentrated attacks, the Allies refused to surrender.
By the 23rd, weather conditions had improved to the point that Allied support troops were able to launch an attack. This set off a devastating counteroffensive against German troops and helped out their fellow Allies still holding out at Bastogne. By Christmas Eve, they had all but stalled the German advance just short of the Meuse River. The Germans outran their supply lines and suffered critical shortages of fuel and ammunition. Recommendations poured in to Hitler from his generals urging him to green light the halting of the offensive and the retreat west. In a move that would prove devastating for the German moxie he declined. Two days later, on December 26, U.S. forces reached Bastogne and ended the siege.
Not to be outdone, the Germans launched another counterattack on January 1st. At 9:15 in the morning, the Luftwaffe launched Operation Bodenplatte. This operation targeted Allied airfields in the Low Countries. Hundreds of German planes descended on the Allies, and destroyed over 450 aircrafts. The Luftwaffe itself lost more than 250 planes to Allied counterattacks and to friendly fire from its own fleet.
While the Allies were able to recover, the operation left the Germans significantly weakened. They managed to muster enough military might to launch Operation Nordwind on U.S. installations in the Alsace region of France. The Americans retreated after three days and after suffering more than 11,000 casualties. However, they also inflicted 23,000 casualties on Germany.
The Allies, despite the harsh winter cold and declining troop morale launched a devastating counteroffensive on January 3rd. This led to the disengagement of German troops. Four days later, Hitler agreed to remove some of his forces from the Ardennes, ending all offensive missions. The Battle of the Bulge officially ended on January 15.
The Aftermath
Though they lost more troops than the Germans, the battle gave the Allies an advantage that they would ride out until the end of the war. The Germans on the other hand, suffered a much different fate. The last of their reserves were lost. Their Luftwaffe was destroyed, and their troops in the west were continuously being pushed back toward the home front. In addition, on the Eastern front they were unable to stop the Soviet advance.
