Just after its seventieth anniversary, the Battle of the Bulge has
lost none of its impact. The largest battle fought by US troops on
the continent of Europe started in a surprise attack on December
16, 1944, by four German armies, spearheaded by the cream of the
German Panzer forces. Under the cover of bad weather and heavy
snow, Hitler's last roll of the dice was intended to retake
Antwerp, split the Allies, divide their political leadership, and
force peace in the West, thus allowing the German forces to
concentrate on defeating the Red Army. Strategic pipedream or not,
the attack was furious and drained the Eastern Front of
reinforcements: 12 armored and 29 infantry divisions, some 2,000
tanks and assault guns-mainly PzKpfw IVs (800), Panthers (750) and
Tigers (250 including some of the new King Tigers)- spearheaded the
assault, which smashed into the American First and Ninth Armies.
Near-complete surprise was achieved thanks to a combination of
Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with offensive plans, and poor
reconnaissance. The Germans attacked where least expected-the
forested Ardennes-a weakly defended section of the Allied line,
taking advantage of the weather conditions, which grounded the
Allies' overwhelmingly superior air forces. The Allied response was
magnificent. Initial reverses brought out the best of Eisenhower's
armies, which fought with determination and grit against the enemy
and the elements. The harsh battles are best summed up by the
defense of the northern shoulder around the Elsenborn Ridge, the
battle for St. Vith, and in the south the siege of Bastogne, where
the town's commander, Gen. McAuliffe, rejected German calls for
surrender with the pithy reply: "Nuts." Within ten days the German
attack had been nullified. Patton, at the time planning an attack
further south, wheeled his Third Army round in a brilliant maneuver
that relieved Bastogne and set up a counterattack which would drive
the Germans back behind the Rhine. The Ardennes Battlefields
includes details of what can be seen on the ground today-hardware,
memorials, museums, and cemeteries-using a mixture of media to
provide an overview of the campaign: maps old and new highlight
what has survived and what hasn't; then and now photography allows
fascinating comparisons with the images taken at the time; aerial
photos give another angle to the story. The fifth book by Leo
Marriott and Simon Forty provides a different perspective to this
crucial battlefield.
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