Battle of the Bulge

December 16, 1944 – January 25, 1945 · Western Europe Theater

Phases

1. 1Dec 16 — Null Tag in the ArdennesDecember 16–18, 1944
2. 2Dec 19–26 — BastogneDecember 19–26, 1944
3. 3Dec 24 — High-Water MarkDecember 24–26, 1944
4. 4Jan — Erasing the BulgeDecember 27, 1944 – January 25, 1945

December 16–18, 1944

In fog that grounds Allied air power, a quarter-million Germans erupt from the “quiet” Ardennes — the same forest as 1940 — against four resting American divisions. Hitler’s aim is Antwerp, splitting the Allied armies. In the north, Peiper’s SS spearhead murders 84 American prisoners in a field at Malmedy — word spreads through the front in hours, and stiffens it. On Elsenborn Ridge and at St-Vith, shattered units refuse to break, and the timetable begins to slip on day one.

• ➤6th Panzer Army (Dietrich) — The main effort — stopped cold at Elsenborn Ridge
• ➤5th Panzer Army (Manteuffel) — The center drive on Bastogne and St-Vith
• ●Elsenborn Ridge — the shoulder that never breaks
• ●Malmedy — 84 POWs murdered in a field