Battle Of The Bulge Analysis

The Germans defeated the Polish and almost all of Western Europe. Although the British had no help when it came to Hitler and his army, the remains of Europe had been overturned already. The Battle of the Bulge also called Battle of the Ardennes as well, which began Dec. 16, 1944 and ended Jan. 16, 1945. This was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World War II. It was an unsuccessful attempt to push the Allies back from German home territory . Winston Churchill made a promise that he would fight as long as it would take to overcome Hitler. The name Battle of the Bulge was appropriated from Winston Churchill he referred to “the bulge” as the wedge that the Germans drove into the Allied lines.

     The Battle of the bulge took place on December sixteenth 1944. More than a million men participated in this battle including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British which made it

“The battle [is also] known by different names. The Germans [called it] ‘Operation Watch on the Rhine’, while the French [called] it ‘Battle of the Ardennes’. [American and Britain] called it the Ardennes Counteroffensive.” The main goal for the Germans for this offensive was to split the British and American forces in half and capture the port city of Antwerp. This would “cause an encirclement of four allied armies and [force] a peace negotiation” (Cirillo). The Germans almost had complete surprise when the offensive was launched on “December 16th, 1944, at 05:30” and the offensive start with “an artillery barrage of over 1,600 artillery pieces.” The assault took place across an “80 mile front [that] the 6th Panzer Army had to cover” (Quarrie 1). “The attack was led by one of the best equipped German divisions on the western front, the 1st SS Panzer Division.” This was the lead unit for the 6th Panzer Army and was the lead division for the assault. The 26th Infantry was covering the part of the front where the push started. They were caught completely by surprise. “Equipped with only 32 M4 tanks, 57 anti-tank guns and thousands of battle-weary men” (MacDonald 1). The initial assault went well for the Germans and they break through the thinly defended American lines. Just “20 hours in [from the start of the assault] German forces are just 55 miles out from their objective”. By this time the casualty rate is below from what the

In the late 1944, during the wake of the Allied forces’ successful D-Day Invasion of Normandy, it seemed as if the Second World War was over. On December sixteenth, with the onset of winter, the German army launched a counteroffensive that was intended to cut through the Allied forces in a manner that would turn the tide of the war in Hitler’s favor. The battle that ensued is known historically as the Battle of the Bulge. The courage and fortitude of the American Soldier was tested against

The Meuse-Argonne offensive of World War I began in the fall of 1918. The offensive began in the dawn of 26 September 1918 and concluded on 11 November 1918 after forty-seven days. The massive and bloody offensive pitted the newly formed American Expeditionary Force (AEF) referred to its allies as the “Doughboys” led by General John "Black Jack" Pershing against a heavily fortified German force entrenched between the Meuse River and Argonne Forest located northwest of Verdun in the Alsace-Lorraine region. The battle became the bloodiest and deadliest in the Army’s history. This battle analysis will examine the Meuse-Argonne offensive.

The first day of the battle of the Somme was a dreadful scene but a victory for the Germans.According to Document B: George Coppard (British soldier) ,it states that ,” Hundreds of dead,many of the British 37th Brigade..Quite as many died on the enemy wire as on the ground,like a fish caught in the net...The Germans faith in the wire had paid off.” This evidence shows that a lot of the British army had died due to the German’s barbed wire and as a result is was an horrendous scene to look at.Also written in Document C: Ottis Lais(German soldier),it states that,”As the destructive British shell rushed towards our artillery which was firing courageously..the british keep charging forward...Despite the fact that hundreds are already lying dead

The German ran low on ammunition and gas long before reaching their first major check point in the Meuse River. Slowly but the Allies from the North, the South, and the West closed the Bulge. The First United States of American Army troops from the north met the Third Army troops from the south at Houffalize, Belgium on 16 Jan 1945. The ending date of the Bulge was Jan 25, 1945. Facts state in a series of letters the VBOB "Bulge Bugle" all have noted, there was some positions was not regained until sometime after 25 Jan, 1945.

On June 6th, 1944, the main Allied forces of World War 2 conducted Operation Overlord, now known as D-Day: the greatest invasion in military history. This was a major turning point in the war, however the win was surprising. Germanic and Nazi soldiers should have won the battles on and around the Normandy beaches that day for a multitude of reasons: firstly, they had the rest of France, meaning that Nazis could bring in materials safely, easily, and quickly, and as the Germans were there first, they had time to fortify the area with better defense such as anti-tank guns and minefields; secondly, they had better ground on many beaches, such as the cliffs on Omaha and the dunes on Juno; and finally, they had better equipment such as clothing designed to survive harsher weather conditions, and more rations to survive on. For these reasons, Nazi soldiers should have won the infamous 1944 invasion.

The post D-Day Allied assault that swept through France was halted by Hitler’s unexpected counter-attack through the Ardennes, resulting in a confrontation named the Battle of the Bulge.

The following 3 months were spent patrolling the front line with the occasional skirmish with the enemy forces. Then, in February 1945, the Allied forces launched a great offensive to drive the enemy back over the Rhine River. The 1st Canadian Army , under General Crerar, had the objective to clear the Reichswald Forest, break through the Siegfried Line, clear the Hochwald Forest Defenses, and close the area up to the Rhine River. The plan was launched on February 8, 1945 and ended successfully within a month of fighting. The plan ended successfully through amphibious attacks from the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, intense firing on the Hochwald Forest Defenses and air attacks on the enemy positions. Within this month, 15,634 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing in action (including 5,304 Canadians) and the banks of the Rhine River were in the control of the Allied Forces. This event was called the Battle of the Rhineland (February – March

Battle of the Bulge was one of the most unforgiving engagements that the United States military has been involved with. Sacrifices on both sides were nearly unfathomable for that time period. In the past 15 years that we have been at war with the Middle East we have lost around 5,000 brothers and sisters in arms. Battle of the bulge was only one month in length and the Allied forces lost over 90,000 troops. War has evolved over the years to include planning and execution, by becoming more precise. Technology and lessons learned have profited our military actions in a sense that lives are no longer wasted. Although there were so many casualties during the battle, more lives could’ve been lost if not for the successful employment of indirect fires to stop German advances.

The Battle of the Bulge was more pivotal than the D-Day invasion because of the benefits the battle brought to Allied operations in ending the war in Europe. The Germans’ defeat at the Battle of the Bulge resulted in vast amounts of their equipment and experienced soldiers being lost. During the invasion of Normandy, the Allied forces faced resistance from standard German ground forces who they swiftly defeated. But during the Battle of the Bulge, the Allies were immediately outnumbered by forces with superior equipment. When the offensive began on December 16th, the four divisions of the 8th Army Corps immediately faced 14 German divisions. To add onto the Allies’ numerical disadvantage, the German forces deployed during the offensive didn’t only consist of veterans of the western front,

Nearing the end of World War II and after the successful D-Day invasion by Allied Forces, Adolf Hitler would personally plan a counteroffensive he believed would turn the tied of the war in his favor and prevent his unconditional surrender. Historically known as the Battle of the Bulge, the Ardennes Counteroffensive, from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945, would showcase the power of a full-scale German offensive while highlighting the ingenuity and heart of the United States Army as they encountered a seemingly undefeatable foe.

The Normandy Invasion may have been the single most important battle on the Western Front of World War II. Much planning went into the siege of these beaches that ensured a tough, but inevitable victory, as well as other factors, such as the exploitation of the Germans’ ignorance of the attack.

On 17 December, 1944, five German divisions were able to push through the VIII Corps’ defensive line 100 miles east of Bastogne nullifying