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BATTLE OF THE BULGE 229

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BATTLE OF THE BULGE

Shaken by the Allies’ advance on Germany, Hitler decided on a final gamble in winter 1944. His counter-

offensive punched a deep wedge in Allied lines, leading Western newspapers to call it the Battle of the

Bulge. It was the last major German offensive of the war, and the largest fought on the Western Front.

Desperate to regain the initiative in Europe, Hitler chose a move

that startled even his own generals: an attack through the hilly,

wooded Ardennes region bordering Germany to the port of

Antwerp in Belgium, covering 112 miles (180 km). This action was

intended to cut the Allied forces in two and disrupt their supplies.

Allied commanders had discounted the possibility of such an

attack, so the assault achieved almost total surprise. However,

the German forces soon encountered exactly those problems the

military planners had foreseen. Poor roads led to transportation

bottlenecks and the winter weather made conditions difficult.

Hitler’s plan depended on an almost impossibly tight schedule,

but his forces soon found themselves bogged down by the difficult

terrain and held back by determined US resistance.

After three weeks, when it had become apparent that the

planned breakthrough had not happened, Hitler ordered his troops

back to Germany. The operation had been a huge failure. The

killed and wounded on both sides numbered close to 100,000, and

crucially Germany had also lost over 500 tanks and 1,000 aircraft.

Allied armies

Allied advance Jan 3–Feb 7, 1945

THE PINCER CLOSES

JANUARY 3–FEBRUARY 7, 1945

The Allies counterattacked in a pincer movement,

with the US 1st Army moving in from the north and

the US 3rd Army from the south. Hitler, persuaded

that his operation could not succeed, withdrew his

forces. The failed offensive left Germany weakened

for the coming struggle to defend its borders.

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THE TURN OF THE TIDE

DECEMBER 26, 1944–JANUARY 2, 1945

Having failed to break out into the flatter land beyond

the Meuse River, the German panzers found

themselves hemmed in by reinforced Allied troops,

including from Montgomery’s 21st Army Group to the

north-west. Supply lines from Germany were stretched

to the breaking point, and the improving weather

allowed Allied aircraft to pound the tanks from the air.

Soon the Germans were forced to retreat.

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PINCER RESPONSE

The Allies responded to the

German advance with a pincer

movement from the north

and south that threatened

Axis supply lines and forced

a general retreat.

Jan 2, 1945 A panzer unit

surprises a US company outside

Bastogne, destroying 15 tanks

and killing 50 men.

Dec 26, 1944 Attacking

from the south, troops

under US General Patton

open a corridor to Bastogne,

relieving the siege there.

Jan 15, 1945 Allied forces

attacking from north and

south join up at Houffalize.

Front line Dec 26, 1944

Allied advance Dec 26, 1944–Jan 2, 1945

US_228-229_Battle_of_the_bulge.indd 229 20/03/19 3:55 PM