The Battle Of The Bulge

First, the state of conflict in Europe had significant effects on D-day. For example, the British and the Americans had the desire to win over France, but it was being controlled by the Nazis. The

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 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 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.

This was to be a joint operation between British, French and American forces. Though it was not the actual boundaries, the Meuse River and the Argonne Forrest restricted much of the U.S. 1st Army’s maneuverability between them. This area was comprised of a very dense and thick vegetation with few roads for heavy equipment and supplies to flow forth once the offensive began; therefore this was to be used to the Allied Powers advantage. The Germans would be attacked all along the front from British, French, and American forces simultaneously.

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.

In “The Face of Battle,” John Keegan analyzed the experiences of the individuals involved in the battles of the Somme and Waterloo; he thoroughly examined the advancements of industrialization in warfare and battle strategy between 1815 and 1916. The industrialization of modern warfare during the battle of the Somme, while progressive, was very much still in its experimental stages. While the inventions during this time period were later evolved into much more useful products, it seems as though the organized warfare in Waterloo was much more effective; the soldier’s mediocre training for the Somme was obvious in the chaotic events that occurred. While each battle was disastrous in their own ways, industrialization certainly improved means of warfare and the experience that the soldiers had.

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.

During the Battle of the Bulge, Adolf Hitler was caught off guard by the American forces. He was basically “sleeping” on the job. For the American forces, the general was Dwight D. Eisenhower. He is the same Dwight D. Eisenhower that led the D-Day Invasion, and a future president. George S. Patton moved his army to the “Third Army of Bastogne”, to move up. After this move, this “led to the neutralization of the German counteroffensive despite heavy casualties.” They had to change the game plan. During the Battle of the Bulge, three German armies led one of the deadliest and bloodiest attacks of the war in the west.it should be a day to be remembered. After this, the Germans drove deeper into the Ardennes allied forces.” While this fighting

The Battle of the Bulge gave the Allies numerical as well as a logistical superiority over Nazi Germany that paved the way for the Allies to break the heavily-fortified Siegfried line and thus paved the way for the invasion of Germany.

Arguably the most infamous battle during World War II, the Battle of the Bulge took place in the heavily wooded area of the Ardennes Forest region. The overall goal of this massive German counteroffensive was to break through the Western Front which consisted of both US and British forces. The primary objective behind Hitler’s plan was too simply take back the initiative the Germans lost on beach of Normandy France. A few months prior to the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler had barely survived an assassination attempt. On 20 July 1944, one of Hitler’s most trusted officers placed a bomb in a brief case and which he left underneath the table during a meeting (Gavin, J. (2003). The bomb unfortunately did not kill Hitler but it did represent the fact that, within Hitler’s inner circle, there were disenfranchised high ranking German officers who wanted Hitler dead. 45 days before the Battle of the Bulge, Hitler was almost assassinated by one of his most trusted German Officers, an event which Allied Forces remained unaware of for a long time.

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

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.

Brigadier General Gavin demonstrated effectiveness in winning the Battle of the Bulge by applying Mission Command Philosophies of Command, according to ADRP 6-0, Mission Command. BG Gavin always committed his

The first troops deployed into battle were paratroopers. Over thirteen thousand U.S. paratroopers were dropped by an armada of C-47s behind German lines before dawn. Their mission was to seize bridges, disrupt communications, and prevent German soldiers from reinforcing the Normandy beaches as the Allied assault hit the coastline (Alberecht). Heavy cloud coverage made for difficult navigation and forced many of the paratroopers to jump “blind”. This resulted in them being scattered over a 100-square mile radius. Thirty-five percent of these soldiers landed at their designated drop point, while many others died when they landed in fields flooded by the Germans. Despite all of this, the remaining troops were able to secure their intended positions (Dry).