Battle of the Bulge

Battle of the Bulge
Part of the Western Front of World War II
American soldiers of the 117th Infantry Regiment, Tennessee National Guard, part of the 30th Infantry Division, move past a destroyed American M5A1 "Stuart" tank on their march to recapture the town of St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge, January 1945.
Date 16 December 1944 – 28 January 1945[1] (1 month, 1 week and 5 days) Location The Ardennes: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany 50°0′15″N 5°43′12″E / 50.00417°N 5.72000°E / 50.00417; 5.72000 Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United States  United Kingdom  Canada	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Dwight D. Eisenhower (Supreme Allied Commander) Omar Bradley (12th Army Group) Bernard Montgomery (21st Army Group) Courtney Hodges (First Army) George S. Patton (Third Army) Lewis H. Brereton (1st Allied Airborne Army)	Adolf Hitler (Führer und Reichskanzler) Gerd von Rundstedt (OB West) Walter Model (Army Group B) Hasso von Manteuffel (5th Panzer Army) Sepp Dietrich (6th Panzer Army) Erich Brandenberger (7th Army)
Units involved
12th Army Group: First Army (under 21st Army Group 20 December – 16 January) Third Army 21st Army Group 1st Allied Airborne Army	Army Group B: 5th Panzer Army 6th Panzer Army 7th Army
Strength
16 December:[a] 228,741 men 483 tanks 499 tank destroyers and assault guns[b] 1,921 other armored fighting vehicles (AFVs) 971 anti-tank and artillery pieces 6 infantry divisions 2 armored divisions 24 December: c. 541,000 men 1,616 tanks 1,713 tank destroyers and assault guns 5,352 other AFVs 2,408 anti-tank and artillery pieces 15 infantry divisions 6 armored divisions 1 armored brigade 2 January: c. 705,000 men 2,409 tanks 1,970 tank destroyers and assault guns 7,769 other AFVs 3,305 anti-tank and artillery pieces 22 infantry divisions 8 armored divisions 2 armored brigades 16 January: 700,520 men 2,428 tanks 1,912 tank destroyers and assault guns 7,079 other AFVs 3,181 anti-tank and artillery pieces 22 infantry divisions 8 armored divisions 2 armored brigades[2]	16 December: 406,342 men 557 tanks 667 tank destroyers and assault guns 1,261 other AFVs 4,224 anti-tank and artillery pieces 13 infantry divisions[c] 7 armored divisions 1 armored brigade[3] 24 December: c. 449,000 men 423 tanks 608 tank destroyers and assault guns 1,496 other AFVs 4,131 anti-tank and artillery pieces 16 infantry divisions 8 armored divisions 3 armored brigades 2 January: c. 401,000 men 287 tanks 462 tank destroyers and assault guns 1,090 other AFVs 3,396 anti-tank and artillery pieces 15 infantry divisions 8 armored divisions 3 armored brigades 16 January: 383,016 men 216 tanks 414 tank destroyers and assault guns 907 other AFVs 3,256 anti-tank and artillery pieces 16 infantry divisions 8 armored divisions 2 armored brigades[2]
Casualties and losses
American: 81,000[4] casualties 800 tanks destroyed[5] c. 1,000 aircraft lost, over 647 in December[6] and 353 during Operation Bodenplatte[7] British: 1,408[8]–1,462+[9][d]	German: 63,000~[10][11][e] to 75,000+[12] casualties (U.S. Estimate: 103,900[13][f] casualties) 527–554[14] tanks, tank destroyers and assault guns lost c. 800 aircraft lost, at least 500 in December and 280 during Operation Bodenplatte[7]
Approximately 3,000 civilians killed.[15]

The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive campaign on the Western Front during the Second World War which took place from 16 December 1944 to 25 January 1945.^[16] It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region between Belgium and Luxembourg. The offensive was intended to stop Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp and to split the Allied lines, allowing the Germans to encircle and destroy each of the four Allied armies and force the western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis powers' favour.

The Germans achieved a total surprise attack on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans elsewhere and poor aerial reconnaissance due to bad weather. American forces were using this region primarily as a rest area for the U.S. First Army, and the lines were thinly held by fatigued troops and inexperienced replacement units. The Germans also took advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions that grounded the Allies' superior air forces for an extended period. American resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive, around Elsenborn Ridge, and in the south, around Bastogne, blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west which they had counted on for success. This congestion and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. The farthest west the offensive reached was the village of Foy-Nôtre-Dame, south east of Dinant, being stopped by the U.S. 2nd Armored Division on 24 December 1944.^[17] Improved weather conditions from around 24 December permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines. On 26 December the lead element of Patton's U.S. Third Army reached Bastogne from the south ending the siege. Although the offensive was effectively broken by 27 December, when the trapped units of 2nd Panzer Division made two break-out attempts with only partial success, the battle continued for another month before the front line was effectively restored to its position prior to the attack.

The Germans committed over 410,000 men, just over 1,400 tanks and armored fighting vehicles, 2,600 artillery pieces, and over 1,000 combat aircraft.^[18] Between 63,000 and 104,000 of these men were killed, missing, wounded in action, or captured. The battle severely depleted Germany's armored forces, which remained largely unreplaced throughout the remainder of the war. German Luftwaffe personnel, and later also Luftwaffe aircraft (in the concluding stages of the engagement) also sustained heavy losses. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were effectively out of men and equipment, and the survivors retreated to the Siegfried Line.

Allied forces eventually came to more than 700,000 men; from these there were from 77,000 to more than 83,000 casualties, including at least 8,600 killed.^[19] The "Bulge" was the largest and bloodiest single battle fought by the United States in World War II^[20][21][22] and the third-deadliest campaign in American history. It was one of the most important battles of the war, as it marked the last major offensive attempted by the Axis powers on the Western front. After this defeat, Nazi forces could only retreat for the remainder of the war.

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