The Battle Of The Bulge

It is very intriguing when someone who is related has personal experiences with major events such as World War II. My Great-Great Uncle Angelo was one of those ‘special’ people. I thought it would be very interesting to learn more about his involvement during such a tragic time in our world. He was in deployed to five places . Some major battles he was in were the Battle of the Bulge and Omaha Beach and I researched those because I did not know much about what happened.

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 (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during World War II. It was launched, in the dense forest of Ardennes Wallonia in eastern part of Belgium, northeast France, and Luxembourg. This battle was one of the largest fought by the United States Army, on the Western Front in Europe, during World War II. This fierce battle, was between the German Nazi’s, the American Army, Canadian Army, and the British Army, was one of Hitler’s last attempt to split the Allies driving them towards Germany and destroy their ability to supply themselves. Were the Germans able to stop the Americans and the British from getting their supplies? Was the weather a factor and if so, who did it assist in the battle? Was the American Army able to counter attack in a timely manner and stop the German Nazi’s invasion?

     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

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

In the early stages of the battle of the bulge, they would be facing off with only some 80,000 troops, with less than two hundred and fifty pieces of combat armor and just over four hundred artillery pieces. Over half of the American troops were very inexperienced at war; the German forces consisted of very experienced battle-hardened veterans from the tough fighting on the Eastern Front. The Germans also had many inexperienced units full of boys mixed in with men who in reality in those years would normally have been consider excessively old for any military

The Battle of the Somme epitomizes the harsh realities of trench warfare for the Allies and represents the negligent battle planning and technological advancements that are associated with the stalemate of World War One. Trench warfare was common across the Western Front, with similar strategies being employed by both opposing sides. Sir Douglas Haig, one of the British coordinators for the Somme offensive is blamed with an offensive strategy destined for failure. The British offensive, an utter failure, resulted in a stalemate, which was common throughout World War One. The British development of the tank, while it eventually ended the horrendous stalemate, was ineffectively used during the Somme.

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 wasn't taken place in a few locations. A few sites were Ardennes, Belgium, Nazi Germany, and Luxembourg. These locations were the front lines were. As the days went on the front line keep expanding farther and farther out. Which created the “Bulge”. The Battle of the Bulge was one of the biggest battles that America has ever fought in. The total death count from the battle was 1 million total men.

The Battle of the Bulge, known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the largest battle fought on the Western Front in Europe during World War II and the largest battle ever fought by the U.S. Army. The battle was Hitler’s last major battle in World War II; an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. Hitler attempted to split the Allies in two in their drives toward Germany and destroy the ability to supply themselves (Weintraub, 2007). The Germans lost so many troops and equipment that they could not launch another attack on the Allied forces. The Battle of the Bulge is most significant in that it ruined the German army. Essentially, the Battle of the Bulge brought about the end of World War II (Weintraub, 2007). During the Battle of the Bulge, the American Artillery units had been equipped with new American weapons. All the divisions’ Artillery was motorized after the discovery of a defect found on the French Artillery Gun that the Americans used during World War I. The U.S. Army managed to replace all its World War I artillery pieces with the new, modernized howitzers and convert from horse-drawn to motorized artillery. The American artillery units were equipped with M105mm, M155mm and M155mm self-propelled Howitzers and with proximity fuzes, the most notable advances

Hitler’s Watch on the Rheine offensive depended on his three armies, the Fifth Panzer Army in the north, the Sixth Panzer Army in the center and the 7th Army in the south. The German War Machine included 400,000 troops, 1,400 tanks, 2,600 artillery pieces and 1,000 aircraft in comparison to the thin American line consisting of four American Infantry Divisions and one Armored Division totally 83,000 men and 400 tanks (Farrell 37). Despite an overwhelming Wehrmacht (German Army) and their extensive knowledge of terrain and an elaborate plan to infiltrate Allied lines through the use of espionage,

The role of the artillery on the battle was so important to both sides that both sides chose to put the artillery inside the Bulge for maximum effect. In this battle, the allies’ artillery divisions used the following weapons: the 105 mm howitzer gun, the 155 mm howitzer, the 155 mm gun, the 90 mm gun, and the 240 mm self-propelled howitzer. The Germans, on the other hand, had similar guns as they opted for the 105 mm howitzer as the main weapon and the 150 mm howitzer (History Net, 2018). However, it is worth mentioning at this juncture than during much of the course of this battle, the Germans had more artillery guns than the

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.

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