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 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 object of the German offensive was to push through the Belgian Ardennes, cross the Mousse, retake Antwerp and its harbor facilities, thrust to the north and reach the sea which they almost succeed in doing. This would cut off the Allied troops in Holland and Belgium, making it impossible for them to withdraw. The success of the operation depended on three important

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 invasion of Normandy, also known as Operation Overlord or D-Day, was perhaps one of the most important battles in the human history. The invasion took place on June 4, 1944, at the Coast of Normandy in France. Troops from over twelve countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America participated in the fight against Germany. Although the battles were enduring and hard-fought, the Allies achieved the final victory; the Allies were finally able to set their feet on the European soil again. The Allied invasion of Normandy was a major turning point of the war that led to the ultimate liberation of Europe from the Nazi forces.

General Pershing, in command of the U.S. 1st Army, set the rail line near Sedan, France as the main objective. This was a vital supply route for German forces (Stewart, 2005), and the direction of attack to the north of the front line through the Argonne Forest would expose the flank of German forces being attacked by the French from the west. Support for the American forces consisted of over 800 aircraft, nearly 190 tanks, and approximately 2,700 pieces of artillery, and over 600,000 men (Stewart, 2005).

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 Dutch. The ground force commanders were too optimistic about their ability to push north on the timeline the planners established. With only one road to move north on and no room to maneuver, XXX Corps faced the possibility of grinding to a complete halt if their leading elements were unable to fight their way through the German defenses. This happened every day of the operation and put the armor column behind schedule just hours after the start of Garden. With terrain limiting the ability of the Guards Armored to maneuver their tanks to defeat German tanks and armored vehicles they conceded two principles of war; maneuver and mass. Without maneuvering, the tank column was never able to keep the enemy off balance or confront them with new dangers (Department of the Army, 2008). The Germans knew by the end of the first day what the Allied intentions were and with only one

December 16, 1944 marks the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge. This Battle took place on what is know as the Western Front. This battle will forever be known as one of the biggest battles to be fought during WWII. This battle would prove to be a costly battle for both sides. Both sides will see a tremendous loss of life and equipment.

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 Battle of the Bulge, the largest battle of the Western front ended when the Germans failed to capture the Allied stronghold of the Bastogne, Belgium. The goal of the mission was to sap the German's will to fight and to and to ensure that German troops could not move East to fight the Soviet Union. April 30, Hitler committed suicide and all the German forces surrendered on May 8, Known as Victory in Europe Day or V-E Day. In the Pacific, Japan did not capitulate when the Germans did. By late 1944, there was an Allied victory but with an invasion of Japan. In order to get them to surrender loomed. Japan was given orders to fight until death. It took a month for American forces to eliminate Japanese resistance. There were bombings of Japanese

How was the Battle of the Somme significant to the British in World War 1? The Battle of the Somme was significant to the British in World War 1 because the British started and ended the battle, there were horrific casualties as a result of this Battle and it led to many lessons being learnt. The Battle was started by the British on the 1st July 1916 and ended on the 18th November 1916. Throughout the Battle, many smaller battles took place the most significant being day Z. The death toll was very high and many lessons were learnt from the Battle. The battle of the Somme was started by the British on the 1st of July 1916 at 7:30 am (Johnson, 2016). The plan developed by the British involved the British army (BEF) attacking the Germans along a 15 mile front north of the Somme and the French army to attacking the Germans along an 8 mile front. They planned a weeklong bombardment on the German trenches which would use a total of 1.7 million shells (Johnson, 2016). The plan was developed in hope to relieve the French army fighting at Verdun with the Germans. Two other goals were to destroy German’s reserve power and inflict heavy losses on the German army. Throughout the Battle, many important events occurred. The most gruesome day was the first day also known as day Z which led to disaster on the British side. From here there were a series of smaller attacks in preparation for a large scale assault on the 4th of July (BBC, 2016). This attack

The Belgians and British tried to get the Germans to turn another direction but that didn’t work because the Germans knew better the rerouted but they turned on them then took over the city with full force. British tried to use what they called British Expeditionary Force which is also known as (BEF) which did not work because the Germans had some heavy artillery. They surrounded the forts of the City of Antwerp they knew there were going to take the city

The Battle of the Bulge took place in the Ardennes Forest a region in South Eastern Belgium near Luxembourg and France. This area is heavily wooded and is scattered with deep ravines and dangerous rivers. The mountains are also exceptionally daunting rising in heights around 700m. The Ardennes was an area that the United States felt was the last place the Germans would attack; no one expected the Germans would attack here especially not in the middle of winter. At dawn on December 16, 1945 the silence was broken by an overwhelming artillery attack on the United States. The attack was initiated with a German fighting force of over 250,000 InfantrySoldiers,1,300 Tanks and several hundred Artillery Guns that was secretly planned in