This year marks the 80th anniversary of the start of the Battle of The Bulge. On 16 December 1944, Adolf Hitler launched a surprise counter-offensive against Allied forces in the Ardennes Forest region of Belgium.
The bloodiest battle for US forces during WWII, the ‘Bulge’ was marked by bitter fighting in freezing temperatures. However, following this Allied victory, German forces could only retreat for the remainder of the war.
The situation in September 1944 was dire for Nazi Germany. The Western Allies had landed in Normandy in June, advancing across Northern France and Belgium and towards Germany. Things were going almost as badly internally for Hitler, who had become more and more paranoid following a failed assassination attempt on 20 July.
On 16 September 1944, Hitler set out a plan of attack in a last ditch attempt to win what was fast becoming an unwinnable war. Launched exactly three months later, the offensive was intended to split the Allied lines, allowing the Germans to encircle and destroy each of the four Allied armies.
The Germans achieved a total surprise attack on the morning of 16 December 1944, taking advantage of poor weather conditions that grounded the Allies’ superior air forces for an extended period. American forces were using this region primarily as a rest area for the US First Army, and the lines were thinly held by fatigued troops and inexperienced replacement units.
Improved weather conditions from around 24 December permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, and on 26 December the lead element of Patton’s US Third Army reached Bastogne from the south ending the siege.
Bitter fighting continued until 28 January 1945, when the front line was effectively restored to its position prior to the attack.
The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle for US forces during, WWII and set back the Allied invasion of Germany by several weeks. However, it marked the last major offensive attempted by Hitler on the Western front. After this defeat, Nazi forces could only retreat for the remainder of the war.
