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the Battle pictures on this page were taken from the brochure of the Bastogne Historical Center, courtesy Mr. Guy Arend, founder of the Bastogne War Museum)

PREFACE

The allied landing in Normandy on June the 6th 1944 was a psychological defeat for both the German army and the German people. The allied troops had succeeded in bringing 16 army divisions into occupied Europe in the matter of only 5 days. After the landing and the battles in Normandy the allied armies begin their liberation tour of the old continent. First France was liberated, then Belgium : on the left side of the reconquering army was the second British Army, on the right side the third US Army of General Patton and on the left side the first US Army under the command of General Hodges. In September 1944 the allied liberate Belgium, including the cities of Liège and Bastogne as well as the entire Ardennes.

Units of the 1st US Army cross the German border and march to Aachen. They meet with German counter attacks and are forced to retreat behind the border. In this way, the Germans manage to stabilize the front alongside their defense line, the Siegfried line. Therefore, the allied offensive stops in the Ardennes before the border. In the meantime General Patton wants to enter the Saarland, occupy the city of Trier and march on towards the Rhine. Marshall Montgomery wants to head as quickly as possible to Berlin to avoid a Russian taking of that city. The US president Roosevelt is busy preparing his next election campaign as well as the Yalta conference that will take place in February 1945. There, Roosevelt and Stalin will divide Europe into two zones. All of this results in General Eisenhower, who is in charge of the operations at the Western Front, having to wait until new tactics have been decided upon. Fighting quietens down and the Ardennes become the place where the allied divisions come to take a rest. During this quiet period, the Germans take their chance to prepare an enormous counter offensive.

THE GERMAN OFFENSIVE

The ultimate goal is to rush through the Belgian Ardennes, cross the river Meuse and head for Antwerp, the North and finally the North Sea. Since the liberation the allied troops had been using the Antwerp harbor to bring military equipment into Europe and, therefore, the harbor had to be destroyed to block the allied progress. Also, in this way the allied divisions could be cut off from the sea and would remain stuck in Belgium and Holland. The success of this operation hinged on three factors: a rapid push through the Ardennes, the taking of the allied fuel depots and the communication routes between St. Vith (Belgium) and Bastogne, and finally, the enlargement of the corridor that would allow the German troops to attack Belgium. All the pressure of the German offensive lies on the 6th Panzer Division of Sepp Dietrich (the division which would have to cross the Meuse river between Huy and Liège), and on the 5th Panzer Division of Hasso von Manteuffel (which would have to cross the Meuse between Namur and Dinant). The northern wing of the attack would be defended by the 15th Army of Von Zangen and the southern wing by the 7th Army of Brandenberger. Specially trained groups that speak English and are dressed in American military uniforms had to infiltrate into the allied divisions to create confusion.

The allied front was backed in the North by the 9th US Army of General Simpson and the 1st US Army of General Hodges. The southern wing was backed by the 3rd US Army of General Patton. In the middle (the Ardennes front) is the 8th US Army of General Middleton together with the 106th and 28th Infantry divisions and the 9th and 4th Armored divisions.

THE BATTLE

After having been postponed several times, the German Offensive (code name 'Wacht am Rhein' - Watch at the Rhine) finally starts on December the 16th 1944 at 5.30 am (temperature -10° C) from Monschau until Echternach, being a front-line of 135 Km alongside the Siegfried line.  (for the battle for Bastogne see 'The battle for Bastogne'

The battle ends on January the 28th 1945. The Americans have lost 75.522 men (8.447 killed, 46.170 wounded, 20.905 missing or imprisoned). Losses of the 30th British Corps: 200 killed, 239 wounded and 969 missing or imprisoned). The German Army lost 67.675 men : 10.749 killed, 34.439 wounded and 32.487 missing or imprisoned.

During the bombings 2.500 civilians were killed.

(picture: view of the most important American War cemetery in the Ardennes, situated in Henri-Chapelle close to Liège )

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