Germany’s Final Major Offensive to Beat Back Advancing Allied Forces: Remembering the Battle of the Bulge
Seventy years ago today, the German Army launched the Ardennes Counteroffensive, better known as the Battle of the Bulge. As the last major German offensive in the west, it was the final attempt to beat back the advancing Allied armies, which since June 6, 1944, had moved rapidly across France and Belgium.
The Germans planned the campaign in the utmost secrecy, with the goal of recapturing the harbor city of Antwerp, Belgium which was critical to the Allied supply chain in western Europe. In addition to stopping Allied transport across the English Channel, the offensive was intended to split the Allied line in half.
In the morning of December 16, 1944, more than 200,000 German troops and 1,000 tanks attacked along a 75-mile stretch of the front in the Ardennes, covering parts of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. A thickly forested region with few roads, the Allies did not anticipate an attack in the area. The four American divisions stationed there were either exhausted from previous operations and recuperating, or inexperienced and in training.
Initially successful, the Germans took advantage of heavy cloud cover, preventing Allied air forces from attacking the ground forces. The Allies had complete air superiority over their German counterpart in December 1944.
The surprise offensive left many Allied troops behind enemy lines. As the campaign unfolded, isolated groups of American soldiers were at times subject to terrible German atrocities. Near Malmedy, Belgium, more than 80 American prisoners of war were shot to death and left in a field. Thirty miles to the east near Wereth, 11 soldiers from the 333rd Field Artillery Battalion, an African-American unit, were captured, tortured, and executed by the German SS.
As the Germans advanced, the phrase "Battle of the Bulge" was coined by the press to describe the salient on battle maps, and became the best known name for the campaign.
Heavy American losses in the initial days of the battle led to troop shortages. As a stopgap measure, the Army was temporarily desegregated, and recruited African-American soldiers in the area to serve as reinforcements. The Battle of the Bulge was the only campaign in which the Army authorized integrated combat.
From December 20-27, soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division along with troops from other units were under siege in Bastogne, before the 4th Armored Division broke though the German lines to relieve them.
Determined resistance on the northern and southern edges of the offensive blocked German access to key crossroads and slowed the advance. Roads became clogged with German troops, and as Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower rushed reinforcements to the area, the tide of the battle began to turn. Improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines and led to further Allied gains. By the end of January 1945, the Germans had withdrawn from the Ardennes. In the wake of the defeat, many German units were left severely diminished of troops and equipment.
Approximately 19,000 Americans were killed during the counteroffensive. After the battle, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill was quoted: “This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war, and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory.”
Many of the Americans who lost their lives in the Battle of the Bulge are buried in Ardennes, Henri-Chapelle, Luxembourg, and Netherlands American Cemeteries. They made the ultimate sacrifice while turning back Germany’s last, desperate campaign to stave off defeat.