|
Heavily
armed German soldier with ammunition |
82nd Airborne Division
infantry on a tank |
101st
Airborne Division Shoulder Patch |
|
The
Battle of the Bulge:
The
Ardennes Offensive (known to the Germans as Operation Wacht Am Rhein, to
military historians as the Second Battle of the Ardennes, and to the
general public as the Battle of the Bulge) started on December 16, 1944
and was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during World
War II.
|
|
The Battle of the Bulge was supported by subordinate operations known as
Hermann, Greif, Nordwind, and Wahrung. The German Armed Forces had
intended to split the Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp and then
proceeding to sweep north to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, thus
as Hitler believed, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty
in the Axis' favor.
Although ultimately unsuccessful, the offensive nevertheless tied down huge amounts of Allied resources, and the Allies' slow response to the resulting gap in their lines set their timetable back by months. However, the offensive also allowed the Allies to severely deplete the cream of the German army outside the defenses of the Siegfried Line and left Germany's remaining forces in a poor state of supply, thus greatly easing the assault on Germany afterward.
In numerical terms, it is the largest land battle the United States Army has fought to date.
|
Additional
Links:
Center of Research and Information
on the Battle of the Bulge (C.R.I.B.A.): non-profit
organization that collects documents, pictures, and testimonies from soldiers and civilians to establish a detailed documentation on the Battle of the Bulge
Battle
of the Bulge: an excellent general page by pbs.org
The 101st Airborne Division's
Defense of Bastogne: detailed account of the
defense of Bastogne by Colonel Ralph M. Mitchell
99th
Infantry Division, 324th Medical Battalion, B Company: extensive account of the battle
for this unit
:
The World War II Federation's purpose is to honor the veterans of World War II, Battle of the Bulge and present it in an
educational manner as accurately and objectively as possible
Sources:
1) UMKC
University Library, The Battle of the Bulge and the War in Germany: A Video of Photographs
www.umkc.edu/lib/spec-col/ww2/Dday/bulgephotovideo.htm
2)
Eaglehorse.org, Battle of the Bulge
www.eaglehorse.org/3_home_station/bulge/bulge.htm
3)
Wikipedia.com
www.wikipedia.com
|
