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    Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge
    Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge
    Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge
    Ebook168 pages1 hour

    Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge

    By Yves Buffetaut

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    German army deficiencies are often cited as the reason for the failure of the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes region of France, Belgium and Luxembourg in December of 1944 to January 1945 which the Germans called Operation Wacht am Rhein, the Allies named the Ardennes Counteroffensive, and was also commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge. It is certainly true that the three German armies regrouped for the offensive were in differing states; only the 5th Panzer Army was in something resembling good condition, with the 6th and the 7th mediocre at best. The divisions were also often not mobile enough because of the lack of automotive equipment and were short on tanks and artillery. But these cannot be considered the only reasons for the German failure: it was also the speed of the Allied reaction, and especially the conduct of the Americans, who experienced some of the fiercest combat of the war, and suffered over 100,000 casualties.

    This volume in the Casemate Illustrated series, with over 100 photographs and 24 color profiles describes in detail the different events that caused the German defeat, from the beginning of the offensive on December 16, 1944 to the retreat behind the Siegfried Line. It looks at several topics in particular: the American resistance at St. Vith; the resistance of the 101st Airborne in Bastogne; German obstinacy in persisting with the siege at Bastogne; the airlift and the intervention of the 9th US Air Force; the rapid regrouping of the 3rd US Army; Patton's counterattack; the British counterattack; and finally how the Allies failed to transform the German withdrawal into rout, missing an opportunity to cross the Siegfried line and the Rhine on the heels of the Germans, leading to an incomplete victory.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCasemate
    Release dateOct 19, 2018
    ISBN9781612006703
    Ardennes 1944: The Battle of the Bulge
    Author

    Yves Buffetaut

    Yves Buffetaut is an internationally respected French military historian and editor of Histoire & Collections major magazine, Militaria. He lives in France.

    Read more from Yves Buffetaut

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      Book preview

      Ardennes 1944 - Yves Buffetaut

      ARDENNES 1944

      THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

      ARDENNES 1944

      THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE

      YVES BUFFETAUT

      CIS0007

      Print Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-6697

      Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-6703

      Kindle Edition: ISBN 978-1-61200-6703

      This book is published in cooperation with and under license from Sophia Histoire & Collections. Originally published in French as Militaria Hors-Serie No 93, © Histoire & Collections 2013

      CASEMATE PUBLISHERS (US)

      Telephone (610) 853-9131 Fax (610) 853-9146

      Email: casemate@casematepublishers.com

      www.casematepublishers.com

      CASEMATE PUBLISHERS (UK)

      Telephone (01865) 241249 Fax (01865) 794449

      Email: casemate-uk@casematepublishers.co.uk

      www.casematepublishers.co.uk

      Title page: Near Marche-en-Famenne, January 5, 1945, a very youthful PIAT operator in position in a snowy field. He belongs to the 53rd Welsh Division. (IWM B 13394)

      Contents page: A typical view of the Battle of the Bulge, with a paratrooper from the 101st Airborne on sentry duty on the edge of Bastogne. (U.S. National Archives)

      Map: The German offensive, showing that the 5th Panzer Army made the most significant advances. (Ysec)

      Note: vehicle illustrations and profiles are not to scale.

      Contents

      Timeline of Events

      Ardennes: The First Day

      Peiper Advances, Saint-Vith Resists

      McAuliffe, Patton, and Eisenhower

      The Role of Air Tactics

      The British Counterattack

      Afterword

      Further Reading

      Timeline of Events

      The Ardennes offensive, or the Battle of the Bulge, was fought between December 16, 1944 and January 16, 1945. The German codename for the buildup to the offensive was Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine), conducted in utmost secrecy, while the offensive proper was codenamed Unternehmen Herbstnebel (Operation Autumn Mist). Repeating the successful blitzkrieg of May 1940, Hitler planned to smash through the Ardennes Forest in a surprise attack, the objective to drive a wedge between the American and British armies in France and the Low Countries and recapture Antwerp in Belgium to deny the Allies use of its port facilities. It was Hitler’s last throw of the dice.

      Senior U.S. generals of the Western Front. Front row from left: Simpson, Patton,Spaatz, Eisenhower, Bradley, Hodges, Gerow. Back row from left: Stearley,Vandenberg, Bedell-Smith, Weyland, Nugent. (All rights reserved)

      Ardennes: The First Day

      Historians have tended to blame the failure of Operation Wacht am Rhein on the German army’s deficiencies toward the end of 1944. It is indeed true that the three armies gathered for the offensive varied wildly in terms of troop strengths and matériel: the 5th Panzer Army was the strongest, but the 6th Panzer Army, while mostly composed of SS divisions, was mediocre, as was the 7th Army. And if gasoline supply was better than what is usually believed, with reserves sufficient to reach at least the Meuse (Maas), the panzer divisions were often not mobile enough, due to a lack of motorized equipment, especially trucks. Similarly, while they had sufficient munitions, many units lacked tanks, self-propelled guns and even artillery.

      SS panzergrenadiers in an Ardennes village. A barn is burning, possibly intentionally set on fire by retreating U.S. troops to deny fodder to the Germans. (BA, Bild 183-J28577, Popesch)

      Sepp Dietrich, commanding officer of the 6th Panzer Army, did not believe it was possible to reach Antwerp. To seize Liège would be a victory in itself. (BA, Bild 183-J28625, Roeder)

      These weaknesses, inevitable in an army that had been in action for five years, and that had suffered numerous setbacks over the preceding months, cannot be considered the only reasons for the German failure however. It was the speed of the Allied reaction, and especially the U.S.’s, that would neutralize the German offensive, even before it could reach the Meuse.

      Rather than being yet another blow-by-blow account of Operation Wacht am Rhein and the Allied counteroffensive, this book will describe the various events that brought about the German defeat, from the beginning of the offensive, on December 16, 1944, right through to the German withdrawal behind the Siegfried Line. It will consider the American opposition at Saint-Vith; the 101st Airborne stand at Bastogne; German stubbornness in trying to take Bastogne; the airlift and Ninth U.S. Air Force intervention; the Third U.S. Army’s lightning regroup; Patton’s counterattack; the British counterattack; and the incomplete Allied victory. The latter reminds us that while the Battle of the Bulge was an undeniable setback for the Germans, the Allies did not press home their advantage and convert it into a telling victory. Unable to maintain the encirclement, they failed to seize the opportunity to cross the Siegfried Line and the Rhine and fix the German armies while they were on the run. However, before considering all of this, we must move back in time to the first day of the offensive, as this was when the most important Allied decisions were made.

      Some Unenthusiastic Generals

      What was the aim of this offensive, which was wanted by Hitler and had been planned by the Oberkommando der Wehrmacht (OKW, or High Command of the Armed Forces) and Field Marshal Walter Model, commander of Army Group B? The Führer had managed—thanks to severe cuts on other fronts—to rebuild a strategic army to strike in the West. He planned an attack in the Ardennes, aimed at Antwerp, which would slice through the Allied armies, and encircle most of the British Second and U.S. First Armies before taking this major port city. The port itself was of significant importance to the Allies, as supplies for the front all passed through Antwerp. The offensive—kept a secret—was to have two phases: firstly to reach the Meuse, and secondly, capture Antwerp. Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, head of Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH, or Army High Command), had stockpiled important fuel reserves west of the Rhine, to assist with the first phase. However, these still had to be delivered to the frontline troops during the operation.

      On December 15, 1944,

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