ardennes counteroffensive

[36]. Found inside – Page 393... counteroffensive . more men in factories and farms with All forces and matériel set aside for the women and foreign slave labor , by lower Ardennes were ... The Battle of the Bulge was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II. Charles V. P. von Luttchau, Historian with OCMH since 1951. In the days that followed the 101st would fight the bitterest battles in its distinguished history. Also on December 16, his faithful orderly, Mickey McKeogh, was married to a WAC driver named Pearlie Hargreaves, whom he had met in North Africa. Hitler once again adamantly refused, and under the cover of the bitter winter weather, more than fourteen hundred tanks, two thousand guns, and twenty divisions were quietly moved forward into the thick forests of the Schnee Eifel on the eastern fringes of the Ardennes to await the signal to attack. Found inside – Page 57It may be phrased this way : the the Ardennes counteroffensive prepara- enemy can still do something but he tions . The failure was general and can- can't ... those of Hitler. In October the Germans once more achieved stabilization of the fronts in the main theaters of operations. When can you start?” Patton replied, “As soon as you’re through with me.” “When can you attack?” Eisenhower asked. I’d even settle for the twenty-third if it takes that long to get three full divisions.”. Three men played key roles: Bedell Smith, Strong, and the deputy G-3, Maj. Gen. J. F. M “Jock” Whiteley, who was one of Eisenhower’s most trusted staff officers and generally regarded as the ablest British general in SHAEF. When General Patton's armor broke through to Bastogne on 26 December the battle was reduced to a fight for that city, and it was clear that the offensive had failed altogether. The decision was not a sudden inspiration. Each map is printed using the finest materials and methods. The Ardennes Counteroffensive started with the surprise German attack on December 16, 1944. January 13: First and Third Armies linked up at Houffalize. This is the Ardennes Counteroffensive aka Battle of the Bulge. This movement threatened to cut off the German forces in Greece, Albania, and Yugoslavia, and force Hitler to order the evacuation of the first two of these occupied countries. Reprinted with permission from Henry Holt and Company. Ardennes, Battle of the, 1944-1945 U S Army Medical Units During the German Counteroffensive in the Ardennes 16 December 1944 23 January 1945 Author : George W. Garand Only the fittest would win this struggle for survival and unless the German people could qualify they deserved, extinction. Hitler contrived the Ardennes counteroffensive, more commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge, after the collapse of his army in France during the summer of 1944. Almost immediately the operation fell short of the high hopes that had been attached to it. This was no ordinary map, but rather the one my grandfather had in his flight suit during his missions over Europe in his B-17 as a co-pilot. To make informed decisions, a commander must have knowledge of the situation he faces. He was presented the Polish Medal of Honor at a ceremony and learned that Roosevelt had nominated him for the exalted five-star rank of general of the army. Forty-eight hours! Certainly the "greatest captain of all times," as the Fuehrer liked to be referred to, was the last person to admit that Germany's situation was hopeless. By Christmas they encircled Budapest and threatened Vienna. By lowering the draft age to 16 years and extending it to include the 50-year-olds and by combing out the home front and armed forces, he put an additional three quarters of a million men under arms. The Battle of the Bulge Battle Map print is one of our all-time best sellers. These soldiers are sculpted from a scene in the Ardennes during the "Ardennes Counteroffensive" that shows us photographs from an SS-PK Berichter Büschel's Ardennes photograph sequence. In the far north the capitulation of Finland had rendered untentable the advanced German positions in the Scandinavian theater of operations. [24]. Advanced elements were to rush into the area around Brussels and that west of Antwerp to protect the Sixth Panzer Army's open western flank on the line Antwerp-Brussels-Dinant. Eisenhower ordered the two airborne divisions to the Ardennes by truck in a race against time, and summoned Matthew B. Ridgway’s XVIII Airborne Corps HQ from England. After one week had passed, even the prospect of closing to the Meuse had faded. Explaining his position after the war, General Jodl stated that the attack had to be launched "in the West because the Russians had so many troops that even if we had succeeded in destroying thirty divisions it would have made no difference. Author: Narratives in support of volumes in UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II; various articles in military journals. In the main attack with Field Marshal Model's Army Group B, the Sixth Panzer Army (with four armored and four infantry divisions) was to break through the Allied front north of the Schnee Eifel, seize undestroyed Meuse crossings astride Liege in co-operation with the 150th Panzer Brigade (SS Col. Otto Skorzeny, famed for his exploit of having freed Mussolini), and subsequently close to the Albert Canal between Maastricht and Antwerp (inclusive). A tremendous effort had gone into the planning and preparations for Germany's last offensive. The twin keys to a German success were surprise and speed: splitting the Allied front and driving across the Meuse before the Allies could react. He thus built up a new strategic reserve consisting of 25 Volksgrenadier divisions and at leas 6 panzer divisions. Noted Butcher in his diary, “The man who always cautioned his family not to expect him to be promoted has risen from lieutenant colonel to five-star general in three years, three months, and sixteen days.” Eisenhower seemed elated. Other than to approve it, he had played no role in Market-Garden. On December 16, facing a dilemma that was a direct result of the broadfront strategy, Eisenhower had no theater reserve to commit to the battle. The " bulge " in Battle of the Bulge refers to the shape, as depicted on maps, created by German troops that had wedged westward in the Ardennes through the Allies' front line. [3]. Military. In rejecting the radical proposals for an all-out offensive, Hitler thus settled for a strategic compromise. The necessary fuel (four million gallons) and ammunition (fifty trainloads from the sacrosanct Fuehrer reserve), above and beyond the current needs of the theater, were promised. Lecturer: Army War College. Posted on November 6, 2015. by MSW. After a victory over the Russians, the forces could then be shifted to the West with a view to repeating the exploit against the Western Allies. . The battle also severely depleted Germany's armored forces . From North Africa to Arnhem and the Ardennes, the German army could be counted on never to panic and always to fight back tenaciously with whatever . [9]. Introduction. The Battle of the Bulge (also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive) was an unsuccessful German attempt to push the Allies back from German home territory. As the last major German offensive in the west, it was the final attempt to beat back the advancing Allied armies, which since June 6, 1944, had moved rapidly across France and Belgium. Add to cart. This policy required intelligence to report the German army as being incapable of mounting an offensive. He personnally prescribed the ambitious objectives and attached the extravagant hopes to a victorious outcome that converted an otherwise strictly tactical operation into a fateful strategic decision. Before returning to the war room to spend a sleepless night awaiting fresh developments, they played five rubbers of bridge with Everett Hughes and another, and drank a bottle of champagne and the best part of a bottle of Scotch whiskey to celebrate Eisenhower’s promotion. [12], After the period of victorious blitz campaigns had ended in the disastrous defeats in Stalingrad and Tunisia in 1943, Hitler's exuberant optimism changed to the almost mesmeric belief that he could be the winner of a long drawn-out struggle in which one of his enemies would weary and give up. After the war, tales abounded that Hodges played no role in the crucial first two days of the battle. American forces endured most of the attack, suffering their highest casualties of any operation during the war. See more ideas about battle, bulge, ardennes. Download Image of Ardennes counteroffensive - Free for commercial use, no attribution required. the German Army launched its powerful counteroffensive in the Ardennes in Dec. 1944 with the design of knifing through the Allied armies and forcing a negotiated peace. By contrast, Bradley, whose army group had been attacked, “mostly observed” throughout the two-hour conference, “saying little, offering nothing.” Even he realized that the only principal players were Eisenhower and Patton. On the eve of his offensive Hitler could point with satisfaction to the fulfillment of the basic prerequisites he had specified when he had. The division was to report to Troy Middleton at the crossroads market town of Bastogne, which the VIII Corps commander had already identified as a vital choke point. Charles Whiting, one of the best-selling historians of the war, examines how the Allies could have anticipated the attack had they not been lulled into a false sense of security. The Real Reason Hitler Launched the Battle of the Bulge. These were to contain and delay the German counteroffensive until a plan of action could be worked out and implemented to defeat it. And those crazy Germans launched a last ditch counteroffensive, known to some as the Battle of the Bulge. Eisenhower said, “George, I want you to command this move—under Brad’s supervision of course—making a strong counterattack with at least six divisions. As the Luftwaffe was reduced to abstemious use of its fighter arm, so was the German Navy regarding its U-boats. United States Army in WWII Europe the Ardennes Battle of the Bulge. Release on 2014-08-15 | by Dr. Hugh M. Cole. Before departing for Verdun, Patton briefed his staff and two of his corps commanders at Third Army headquarters in Nancy, explaining that Third Army would be called on to come to the relief of First Army; how and where would be decided at Verdun. These plans were based upon the assumption that the withdrawal from France could be effected gradually with successive stands to be made along prepared defense positions well ahead of the West Wall. Definitions and Meaning of Ardennes counteroffensive in English Ardennes counteroffensive noun. This was the first occasion since he had assumed command of Allied ground forces that Eisenhower was able to influence the outcome of a battle. Home chevron_right. The German counteroffensive in the Ardennes would turn out to be the latest example of the principle learned and relearned the hard way by the Allies during World War II: Expect the unexpected. But this was at the end of July, at the height of the crisis in Normandy, and the thought then tentatively weighed was subsequently allowed to die. Allied main effort sectors were recognized in the Aachen area, where the Allies were expected to aim at closing to the Rhine on a broad front north of Cologne, and at Metz, where the objective was evidently the Saar Basin. CMH Pub 70-7-20 The German Counteroffensive In The Ardennes "The German counteroffensive through the Ardennes in the winter of 1944, the Battle of the Bulge, will long be recalled in American military annals as having inflicted on the U.S. 12th Army Group the first and only serious reverse it suffered in its sweep from Normandy to the Rhine. In the rugged, heavily forested Ardennes, with its poor road net, Bradley had taken what he later described as “a calculated risk” by lightly defending what had traditionally been a major German invasion route. The German Counteroffensive in the Ardennes by Charles V. P. von Luttichau The German counteroffensive through the Ardennes in the winter of 1944, the Battle of the Bulge, will long be recalled in American military annals as having inflicted on the U.S. 12th Army Group the first and only serious reverse it suffered in its sweep from Normandy to . To cover its right (northern) flank, the panzer army would seize and hold defense positions. I have never in my life known the term capitulation..." [11], If capitulation was wholly unacceptable to him, Hitler could only pursue the alternative of continuing the war with the vague hope that the unfavorable course of events could be eventually reversed by determination, perseverance, and time. Afterward Eisenhower turned over his quarters for a reception for the newlyweds. Except for the number and effective strength of units, it remained virtually unchanged until the offensive began on the morning of 16 December 1944. By early afternoon on December 16, the First Army G-2 already had a captured copy of Rundstedt’s order of the day, which “confirmed that an all-out offensive was under way,” notes the official First Army historian. Soon weather conditions improved letting the Allies use aircraft to attack and Patton 3rd Army relieving the frontlines. “This was the sublime moment of his career,” wrote Martin Blumenson. On the thinly held front lines were only two newly arrived, untested American infantry divisions and two battered veteran divisions of Troy Middleton’s VIII Corps in the process of absorbing replacements. The second course, Liege-Aachen, which was later to become known as the "small solution," appeared more likely to succeed. Here their spectacular advance, having outrun its supplies, ground to a halt. As a junior officer in the prewar panzer troops, Manteuffel had made a mark as an armored specialist. Indeed, the origins of the idea for a counteroffensive can be traced as far back as the end of July when Hitler was more immediately concerned with the aftermath of the 20 July con-, spiracy that had culminated in the well-known attempt on his life at the Fuehrer's East Prussian headquarters and with plans to counteract the Allied breakthrough at Avranches. They left the Western theater of operations with no appreciable fuel reserves. Patton, however, was not being flippant. “The morning of December 21, with three divisions,” Patton replied instantly. The Ardennes Counteroffensive As a result of the decision to deploy our maximum effort in the Aachen sector and to sustain the successful progress of the Saar-Wissembourg operations with the balance of available forces, other stretches of the front were weakly held. General Guderian, responsible for operations on the Eastern Front, continually urged that the strategic reserve be sent to his theater to thwart any Soviet attempt to invade the German homeland. In September the Germans estimated that General Eisenhower's forces in France numbered sixty divisions with five more to be shipped to the Continent in October. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe, soon attained immortality when he rejected a German demand to surrender with a single word: “Nuts!” Thereafter Bastogne would come to symbolize one of the finest hours of the U.S. Army. On this day, December 16th, 1944 the German army launched a massive counteroffensive in eastern Belgium and northeastern France, creating a bulge in the Allied front lines.The Battle of the Bulge (or the Ardennes Counteroffensive) was the last major German offensive campaign during WWII. 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