75 Years Ago Today...

[Martinjmpr]

Dec 16, 1944: Operation "Wacht am Rhein" (Watch on the Rhine) begins.

In the West it became known as the "Battle of the Bulge" and still ranks as the largest land battle in US Military history.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge



Hitler's intent was to roll back the Allied front line, split the US and British forces, capture the port city of Antwerp, with the notion that this would force the Allies to seek a separate peace with him that would allow him to concentrate his efforts against the Soviet forces that were already approaching the Eastern frontier of Germany.

Germany was able to achieve complete strategic surprise by a combination of excellent radio security, complacency on the part of the Allies (who thought the war was almost over and some were planning on being "home by Christmas") and bad weather that grounded Allied aircraft and nullified one of the biggest advantages the Allies had, complete command of the air.

Despite their initial successes, the German forces were never able to achieve anywhere near the penetrations into the Allied lines that they had expected to, due to stubborn resistance by US forces, the quick reinforcement by the Allies, depleted fuel supplies, and other logistical problems. Furthermore, by Christmas day, the skies cleared and the Allies unleashed a massive aerial assault that mauled exposed German forces. The Allies were also able to resupply surrounded units by air which strengthened their resolve and allowed them to slow down or stop advancing German forces.

In the 6 weeks of the battle, which officially ended at the end of January, 1945, more than 19,000 American soldiers were killed and over 60,000 wounded with over 24,000 missing or captured (including author Kurt Vonnegut.) In terms of casualties, the Battle of the Bulge was the costliest battle for the US during the war. The US bore the brunt of the attack and British losses were considerably lighter. The Germans are estimated to have suffered between 81,000 and 120,000 casualties of which over 12,000 were killed.

It was the last German offensive of the war and depleted the last of Germany's dwindling supplies of ammunition and fuel. After the Bulge organized resistance on the Western front diminished considerably as Germany devoted it's last energies to trying to delay the Soviets in the East.