Thousands volunteered, and were vital to Allied victory.Īt the tactical level, Corporal Henry F. Patton, immediately, accurately evaluated the Ardennes offensive, and acted fast.ĭuring the Bulge, African-American soldiers were offered combat service, previously denied, but only if they sacrificed earned military seniority. A month later, these same troops defeated the Rommel’s troops at El Guettar. At Kasserine Pass in Tunisia in early 1943, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel’s Afrika Korps decimated poorly led American troops. The Allies could replace them the Germans at that point could not.Ĭontroversial Patton undeniably was a brilliant combat leader. Both sides suffered enormous losses, in men and supplies. Eisenhower’s skills include getting difficult personalities to work together, constant attention to logistics, and organizational genius. Approximately a quarter of a million United States troops were pitted against a comparable number of German forces.īasic lessons of the Bulge include personnel and matériel, and leadership. Nonetheless, in American history the Battle of the Bulge remains our biggest single land engagement. In the European theatre, the scale of the war on the eastern front was much greater than in the west. During the Civil War, Gettysburg and other engagements resulted in a higher percentage of casualties among combatants.ĭuring the Second World War, such enormous amphibious invasions as Normandy, Iwo Jima and Leyte Gulf in the Philippines were inherently more complex in logistical terms than the Bulge. However, with the relief of Bastogne the Nazi vision of the future of Europe – and the world – failed.

Patton’s Third Army broke through to the 101 st Airborne Division, surrounded by the Wehrmacht in Bastogne, Belgium, the day after Christmas.īrutal fighting continued through January.

The tide of the battle did not clearly turn until General George S. Eisenhower’s associates at Supreme Allied Headquarters, fear was visible with alarm. German forces rapidly gained ground.įor Europeans among the Allies, the attack was reminiscent of the stunning 1940 German drive that overran France and secured Nazi domination of Europe. Adolf Hitler and planners in Berlin achieved total surprise. On December 16, 1944, Nazi Germany launched an enormous offensive through the quiet, thinly defended Ardennes Forest in Belgium. Christmas includes the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, the largest land battle fought by the United States.

Battle of the bulge anti tank gun