Battle+of+the+Bulge

=Battle of the Bulge=

Luxemburg City
One of the largest and most deadly battles ever fought during WWII was on December 16th, 1944. It took place in the heavily forested Ardennes in Belgium. US intelligence had decided this would be a good place for two divisions to rest and regroup. Because this area seemed like an unlikely place for an attack, it was used by the Army to train newly arrived US divisions. The area had been defended by inexperienced and war torn American divisions, the 101st Airborne Division and the 106th Division. Unfortunately, over 250,000 German soldiers attacked and cut the Allied forces in half. They called this operation “Watch the Rhine”. Soldiers for the Allied forces were called on from all over France as well as using soldiers that weren’t in the infantry from the kitchen, cooks and other support roles to increase their ranks.

Despite the terrible losses, the United States Army suffered, it was clear by December 26th that the Germans were no longer going to be able to advance. This was also the day the much needed reinforcements met with the Allied forces in the town of Bastogne. The battle raged on until January 28, 1945 when the Germans were pushed back to where they had started. Both sides were nearly wiped out during the attack. In an attempt to stop the Germans, the Allied line looked like a large bulge that later gave the battle its name. General Patton’s successful plan is what lead to the defeat of the Germans on this front.

The Battle of the Bulge was the costliest action ever fought by the U.S. Army, which suffered over approximately 81,000 casualties. The Germans had sent over 200,000 into the battle and lost around half of the forces it sent. As significant as the number of casualties were from the battle, they would have been much worse if the exhausted and worn out soldiers that were originally attacked had not kept up the courageous fight until their reinforcements arrived. They fought in small groups in the sub-zero cold and stopped the German’s from advancing. Coming up with new and ingenious ways to stop the Germans from advancing is what made the German progress slow and eventually lose the battle completely. This was the beginning of the end for Hitler and the German Army.