German Losses: The Battle Of The Bulge

     The battle of the bulge was Hitler's last chance to win the war or at least make the allies go for a treaty. He did this because his forces were being pushed back into Germany and soon they would run out of supplies and other resources for war. Hitler thought of this bold plan when he recalled how a German hero Frederick the great was facing defeat, Frederick went on a offensive attack at his foe who had superior numbers but the bold moved worked and Hitler thought he could do the same thing.

The Battle of Britain as a Turning Point in the Defeat of German in World War Two

Many historical Battles shaped, contributed, and evolved U.S. Military Operations within the Field Artillery Branch, The Battle of the Bulge held one of the most significant roles. During World War II (December 16, 1944-January 25, 1945), The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign on the 80 mile Western Front stretching along Luxembourg, Eastern Belgium and the Ardennes. Germany and Adolf Hitler’s goal was to cut the Allied forces in half and utilize a divide and conquer method because he felt like this was their most optimal chance to win the war. There were many key factors and issues for Allied Forces during the Battle that were unaccounted for which consisted of; torturous weather, terrain, intelligence, communications, resources and a desperate German forces.

Assigned to the famed 2nd Armored "Hell on Wheels" Division, he landed at Omaha Beach in Normandy on June 9, 1944.

After a month of pure hell for the Allied Forces, victory would finally prevail. The total casualty rate of The Battle of The Bulge for the Allied Forces was 90,000 troops. The Germans suffered 100,000 casualties. The main cause of such high numbers is due to the initial force of numbers. The Allied troops started with only 80,000 compared to the Germans 200,000(Battle of The Bulge, http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge).

The Battle of the Bulge was a German counter- offensive in World War II, which got its name from “the forty-mile-wide and sixty-mile-deep bulge created in American lines (Battle of the Bulge)”. The German armies were on the retreat from France in 1944, and Hitler planned to regain the initiative with a winter counter-offensive in the semi-mountainous Ardennes region of Belgium and Luxembourg (Battle of the Bulge). Hitler’s field commanders advised against this because of their lack of resources, but Hitler aimed at the Belgian port of Antwerp, which would cut off supplies to some of the British and American troops, eventually eliminating them and negotiating peace on the Western front. The Germans masses around 200,000 men and 1,200 tanks and on December 16 three German armies struck against seven American army divisions, swiftly defeating them. The allies sent reinforcements to help against the Panzer onslaught, but Hitler surrounded the American armies, severing communications between the north and south armies.

The Battle of the Bulge between Nazi Germany and the Allies, which took place on December 16, 1944, was very important in WWII.A quarter of a million German troops launched a surprise offensive through the heavily wooded and most lightly defended sector of the Allied line. This battle became the greatest land battle ever fought by American troops in the 20th century. The German objective was to break through this weakly held allied line to capture the vital supply port of Antwerp. Nazi Germans plannedtheoperation well. Allied intelligence had noinformation about theGerman offensive and due to this, German troopsbrokethrough and advanced.

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.

Throughout all of history the United States have always found themselves in the midst of a conflict between other nations. One of the more significant conflicts that the U.S. intervened in is World War II. “World War II was the largest armed conflict in human history. Ranging over six continents and all the world's oceans, the war caused an estimated 50 million military and civilian deaths, including those of 6 million Jews” (World War II 1). World War II officially began when the Germans invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. Poland was a country that was guaranteed military assistance from France and Great Britain if Germany were to attack. If Hitler were to invade Poland he would not only have to fight against the British and French, but he would also have to fight against the Soviets. Therefore, in order for Hitler to prevent fighting a two front war he needed to create an agreement between Germany and the Soviet Union. This agreement was called the Nonaggression Pact, which was agreed on August 23, 1939. This agreement stated that in the future neither country would declare war on each other. As a result of this Pact, Hitler was free to invade Poland without worrying about the Soviet Union. Subsequently, on September 3, 1939, France and Britain declared war on the Germans. This marked the beginning of World War II. However, the United States will not decide to enter into the war until December 7, 1941 when the United States is bombed at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii by the

The Battle of the Bulge also known as “Ardennes Offensive”, started on December 16, 1944. The Battle of the bulge, is significantly known as what ruined the German army and brought about the end of the war. The battle got its name from poorly protected stretch of hilly, woody forest “bulge” that Germans made between its allies. Hitler used this area of 80-mile dense forest, believing that his forces would be able to surround and cut off

The Battle of the Bulge is the largest and deadliest battle for U.S. troops to date, with more than 80,000 American deaths.The Enola Gay became well known for dropping the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, but few people know the name of the B-29 that bombed Nagasaki. It was Bock’s Car, named after the plane’s usual commander, Frederick Bock. Dr. Josef Mengele also known as the “Angel of Death” used about 3,000 twins, mostly Romany and Jewish children, for his painful genetic experiments. Only about 200 survived.It is estimated that 1.5 million children died during the Holocaust. Approximately 1.2 million of them were Jewish and tens of thousands were Gypsies. Now onto the Nazi flag. Hitler designed the Nazi flag. Red stood for the social idea of Nazism, white for nationalism, and the Black Swastika for the struggle of the Aryan man.

Brigadier General (BG) James M. Gavin, 82nd Airborne Division, U.S. Army, was one of the distinguish Generals to contribute in the Battle of the Bulge in 1944. BG Gavin commanded the 82nd and the 101st Airborne Divisions. He was responsible for many decisive operations that were key for the success of the battle. He maintained firing positions for engaging the Germans counteroffensive attacks. Simultaneously, his Mission Command practices brought him to the success of occupying two important cities in Belgium.

The American army was strong with one weak portion of their line. For this reason, the Germans were able to create a 40 mile "bulge" into the American line, hence the name Battle of the Bulge (Ambrose 1). However, once more American resistance arrived, the US was able to prove their strength as they worked to eventually close the bulge and continue to progress toward Germany. According to the US Army’s official description of the battle, the American soldiers are described in that, “...they did their part to slow the Nazi advance, whether by delaying armored spearheads with obstinate defenses of vital crossroads, moving or burning critical gasoline stocks to keep them from the fuel-hungry German tanks, or coming up with questions on arcane Americana to stump possible Nazi infiltrators” (US Army 1). Prior to the Battle of the Bulge, American soldiers had not been given the opportunity to show how powerful they were in recovering from a setback aside from D-Day in June 1944.

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 Battle of the Bulge is considered the United State Army’s greatest victory as American soldiers withstood the full force of the German War Machine. Allied Forces faced freezing temperatures, fog, threats of espionage and battle tested German units. This victory was not without shortcomings, most notably in intelligence and subpar battlefield performances.