Battle of the Bulge

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Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge
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The Ardennes Offensive

• Taking place in December of 1944, this was the
  last major offensive the Germans could muster on
  the Western Front of World War II. Ultimately
  unsuccessful, it was their last ditch effort to
  slow or stop the Allies progress across Europe.

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Before the Ardennes
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Background

• After their success in Normandy, the Allies
  rushed across France at a breakneck pace.
• Due to this, and the Germans destroying their own
  ports after abandoning them, the Allies supply
  lines were strained.
• The British and Canadian armies then successfully
  occupied and claimed Antwerp as a port city for
  the Allies.

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Antwerp, Belgium

• After being taken by the Allies, it became their
  major port city/supply center for their
  operations in Europe.
• The city was hit by more V-2 rockets than any
  other target in WWII, but the port remained
  intact.
• Antwerp was Germanys main target during the
  Battle of the Bulge.

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Germanys Plan
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A Big Risk

• Hitler believed that if the Allies could only be
  slowed, then perhaps Germany would have time to
  finish work on some new weapons they were
  developing.
• He decided that if the Germans could retake or
  destroy Antwerp, then the Allies would be denied
  resources and be incapable of progress for the
  time being.

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Deciding On A Plan

• Two plans were drafted One relied on encircling
  the American forces, which would have done little
  with the British forces nearby. The other was a
  blitzkrieg attack straight between the British
  and American forces.
• Hitler chose the second plan, hoping that if the
  Allies failed it would cause a rift between the
  two Allied Generals Patton and Montgomery.

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Wacht am Rhein

• The Germans codenamed their plan Wacht am Rhein
  (Watch on the Rhine.)
• This was done to fool Allied intelligence into
  believing that it was actually a strategy for
  defending the land near the Rhine river in West
  Germany.
• The plan relied on three things Total surprise,
  poor enough weather conditions to keep the vastly
  superior Allied air forces grounded, and the
  speed of the German troops.

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The Four Armies

• Sepp Dietrich led the 6th SS Panzer Army, in the
  North, as the main attack force. It was his duty
  to capture Antwerp.
• Hasso von Manteuffel led the 5th Panzer Army, in
  the center, to attack Brussels.
• Erich Brandenberger led the 7th Army in the South
  to protect the flank.
• Gustav-Adolf von Zangen, leading the 15th Army,
  was posted in the far North and tasked with
  keeping the Allied forces in the area occupied.

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Special Operations

• Operation Strösser
• A nighttime paratroop drop behind Allied lines
  to capture a road near Malmedy.

Operation Grief English-speaking German troops
were to sneak into American-controlled territory
and cause chaos.
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Assault!
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The First Wave

• The Germans assault began at 530 AM on December
  16, 1944.
• Hitler chose this day because it was the start of
  a storm that he knew the Allies could not fly
  through.
• The first wave consisted mainly of infantry,
  which softened up the enemy. The armored troops
  followed to clean up what was left.
• Allied forces were caught off guard, and many of
  their forward forces were defeated very quickly.

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The 6th SS Panzer Army in the North fared the
worst. The U.S. 2nd Infantry put up a fierce
battle, forcing Dietrich to deploy his Panzers
earlier than planned. Snowstorms made combat
difficult for any forces in this area.
The center and South armies fared better than
those in the North as they clashed with more U.S.
infantry. Still, progress was difficult due to a
lack of experience on the part of the German
soldiers, as well as new Allied technology.
1st Days Progress
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Reinforcements En Route

• Hitler had hoped that Eisenhower would not
  realize the scale of the offensive for a few
  days, and thus not send reinforcements
  immediately.
• Eisenhower, however, went against the advice of
  his aides and immediately ordered a vast amount
  of troops be sent there. Within a week, a quarter
  of a million troops were sent, including the 82nd
  and 101st Airborne Divisions.

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Operation Strösser

• After being delayed a day due to fuel shortages
  and weather, Operation Strösser was launched at
  300 AM on December 17th.

Colonel Friedrich August von der Heydte

• In the middle of a snowstorm, 1,300 German
  paratroopers attempted to jump into Malmédy.

• Failing to capture their intended target after
  being scattered, the troops turn to guerilla
  warfare to distract Allies headed to the
  frontlines.

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Operation Grief

• After successfully infiltrating enemy
  territory, Skorzeny and his troops caused mass
  confusion, resulting in checkpoint systems behind
  Allied lines which slowed down their troop
  movements.

Otto Skorzeny
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Malmédy Massacre
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Malmédy Massacre

• On December 17th, a portion of the 6th SS Panzer
  Army led by Jochen Peiper seized a U.S. fuel
  depot at Büllingen, in Belgium.
• Later in the day they encountered, and briefly
  battled, some soldiers from the American 285th
  Field Artillery Observation Battalion. After the
  Americans surrendered, they were disarmed and
  lead to a field with other Americans captured
  earlier.

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Malmédy Massacre

• About 140 unarmed American soldiers were being
  held in the field at 200 PM.
• At 230 an SS Officer drew his pistol and shot a
  medical officer in the first row. The rest of the
  German troops, including a tank and an armored
  truck, opened up on their defenseless enemies
  with machinegun fire.
• Miraculously, nearly 60 Americans survived the
  onslaught. When they attempted to escape,
  however, the few Germans still nearby again
  opened fire and killed at least 15 of them.
• After this, the order went out that all SS troops
  were to be shot on sight. There would be no
  prisoners.

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The Fall of Peiper

• Peipers forces entered the town of Stavelot
  on December 18. The Allies did not allow him to
  claim the town, so he left a small unit there and
  moved most of his forces to the bridge at
  Trois-Ponts.

• By the time Peiper reached the bridge, the
  Allies had already destroyed it. He decided to
  move to Stoumont.
• As he approached, Allied engineers again
  destroyed the bridge he needed.
• Cut off from the main German army, Peiper
  decided to wait for a relief force that never
  came.
• Having realized that no help was coming,
  Peiper ordered his troops to abandon their
  vehicles and heavy equipment in order to escape.

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St. Vith

• Geographically, the town of St. Vith was right in
  the center of the battle. It was an important
  crossroads for the Germans. It was also very
  challenging to take.
• The Allies lost their battle at St. Vith, but
  managed to seriously delay German advance there.
• On December 23, the Germans took control of St.
  Vith. Their plan called for its capture by
  December 17. This was a major blow to their
  timetable and their morale.

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Battle at Bologna
Nuts!
Bastogne

• On December 19, General Patton informed the rest
  of the Allies that in 48 hours he would have his
  forces turned around and prepared for a
  counterattack.
• By December 21, the Germans had surrounded
  Bastogne, trapping the 101st Airborne inside.
• Despite the lack of medical supplies and
  personnel, the Allies managed to hold off the
  Germans long enough for Patton to arrive on
  December 26 to save them.

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Allied Counterattack
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The Weather Improves

• On December 23, the weather is good enough to
  allow the Allied pilots to take to the skies.
• Their bombing raids devestate German supply lines
  and destroy troops moving on roads.
• Planes are used to drop supplies in Bastogne, as
  well as transport some surgeons in there to
  support the injured troops.

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The Assault Grinds To A Halt

• Having exhausted nearly all of their fuel and
  ammunition, the Germans effectively halt at the
  Meuse River.
• One of the German generals suggests to Hitler
  that they cease all offensive operations and
  withdraw.
• Hitler refuses.

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Two new German operations are executed. Operation
Bodenplatte Hundreds of Luftwaffe attack Allied
airfields, destroying or damaging 465 aircraft.
Unfortunately for them, they lost 277 planes,
rendering them incapable of ever mounting another
serious attack. Operation Nordwind Intense
fighting in the Alsace region causes 11,609
casualties for the Allies, but they manage to
inflict 23,000.
The Germans Strike Back
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One Last Push

• The final Allied counter-attack, the one to end
  the battle, was scheduled to take place on
  January 1.
• Eisenhower placed troops in the North under
  Montgomerys command, wanting them to leave on
  the 1st so they could meet up with Pattons
  forces and trap the Germans.
• Instead, Montgomery delayed until the 3rd,
  refusing to bring men unprepared into a snowstorm.

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Allies Prevail

• The armies started out 40 kilometers apart, and
  the Allies made slow progress towards the South.
• The Germans made a fighting retreat, trying to
  slow the Allies as best they could. Fuel
  shortages forced them to leave their tanks
  behind.
• On January 7th, 1945, Hitler agreed to withdraw
  his troops from the Ardennes Forest.

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The Aftermath
The Aftermath
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Ardennes Offensive
Commander

• Dwight D. Eisenhower
• 500,000 men 400 tanks 400 guns
• 80,987 casualties
• 10,276 dead
• 23,218 missing
• 47,493 wounded
• 733 tanks

• Gerd von Rundstedt
• 600,000 men 600 tanks 1,900 guns
• 81,834 casualties
• 12,652 dead
• 30,582 missing
• 38,600 wounded
• 700 tanks

Strength
Casualties
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Sources

• Wikipedia
• http//bulge.free.fr/
• http//www.mm.com/user/jpk/wardiary.htm

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By Cornelius Axel Wolfgang The End
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Most important, I want to walk through the woods
on Linscheid Hill. Maybe I can find that place in
the woods, where I looked over the valley,
listening to the cries of the wounded, the sounds
of incoming artillery, and lived through Hell...
-Taken from the war diary of an American captured
during the Battle of the Bulge