Christmas 1944 – The Battle of the Bulge
Christmas 1944 found the United States Army fighting its largest and costliest battle in U.S. history – the Battle of the Bulge. Hitler’s last major offensive in WWII was motivated by the hope that his troops could drive toward the coast and seize the port of Antwerp, Belgium, effectively cutting off British supply lines to their army in the north and from the Americans to the south. The Germans would then crush the isolated British troops. When this was accomplished, Hitler thought the Allies would sue for peace and leave the Nazis in power in Germany. This would leave the Germans to concentrate on defeating the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front.
Under cover of night and radio silence, the Germans amassed an attack force of thirty divisions (more than 200,000 troops) and over 2000 tanks. On December 16th before dawn, they launched their surprise attack through the Ardennes Forest, the least expected place and the lightest defended area (85 miles of dense woods). This move both surprised and created alarm and confusion among the Allies. For the first three days, the Allied air forces were grounded due to mist and rain.
The Germans initially bypassed the city of Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne but later besieged the city. The German commander demanded the Americans surrender, but the American commander responded “Nuts!” On December 26th, Patton’s 3rd Army relieved Bastogne.
Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.
On Christmas day, the 2nd U.S. Armored division stopped the German tanks before they reached the Meuse River. British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery had brought reserve troops south quickly and shored up the defense at the Meuse River crossings, which the Germans never reached. The “Allied lines bulged but did not break.”
On January 3rd, the U.S. 1st Army began their counteroffensive. Realizing the Allies were attempting to surround and pinch them off, the Germans retreated. The battle lasted for six weeks (12/16/44 – 1/25/45), until the Allies pushed the Germans back across the border.
The battle was costly on both sides. Germany lost 120,000 men. Out of the 600,000 U.S. troops who participated, more than 23,000 were taken prisoner and 19,246 died. There were well over 80,000 casualties. This battle accounted for approximately 10% of all combat casualties for the U.S. in World War II.
Courtesy of the Imperial War Museum.
British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill stated, “This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory.”
And it all happened at Christmas.
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