Course of the Battle
A German SS Panzer trooper geared up for winter during the Battle of the Bulge.
Image courtesy of Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.
Read more: http://life.time.com/history/battle-of-the-bulge-rare-unseen/#ixzz1uy94PJyq
Image courtesy of Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images.
Read more: http://life.time.com/history/battle-of-the-bulge-rare-unseen/#ixzz1uy94PJyq
The Battle of the Bulge began on December 16th, 1944 when Hitler launched a surprise attack on Allied forces in southern Belgium and Luxembourg. On this first day of attack, the Allies were outnumbered ten to one, and casualties were heavy. During the first week of the battle, the German armies advanced through the Allied line. This advance was resisted by the U.S. First and Third Armies who halted the progress of Hitler’s operation.
At this point in the battle, the goal of the Allied forces under Generals Eisenhower and Patton was to defend road junctions and destroy bridges and gasoline the Germans needed for their advance. However, Hitler’s army was able to open a bulge fifty miles into the Allied line by Christmas 1944. The German offensive captured 4,000 Allied troops in one day alone.
Throughout the Battle of the Bulge, soldiers fought in terrible winter conditions. Temperatures were well below freezing and it often snowed. Many soldiers suffered from frostbite or even froze to death.
However, “panzer” German forces reached their highest point within the Allied line in the last week of December. General Eisenhower recognized that Hitler’s forces were slowing down. He made the decision to counterattack with 500,000 troops. At this point, the Allied forces had called in reinforcements for superior tanks and artillery as well as new infantry troops. Leaders in the German army were beginning to call their operation a failure.
Although they were losing the battle, German forces inflicted as much damage on Allied troops and surrounding civilians as possible. There are reports of mass murders of civilians and Allied POWs during the battle.
The battle officially ended when American troops had countered the “bulge” and regained control of their original line on January 16th, 1945.
Click here to view a visual essay of the battle.