The Battle of the Bulge is the popular name given to the German Ardennes Offensive, Hitler’s last desperate gamble to achieve victory in the West during World War II. The month-long Battle of the Bulge, fought December 16, 1944, through January 16, 1945, ended in Allied victory. However, the German assault made good initial progress toward its objectives of the Meuse River crossings and the seizure of the Belgian port of Antwerp, which would have driven a wedge between Allied armies on the Western Front. The German defeat in the Battle of the Bulge hastened the end of World War II.
Battle of the Bulge
Private Bruce Fenchel was writing a letter home when his first sergeant burst into the barracks room. “Pack your duffel bags and get ready to roll,” the NCO said ominously. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
After D-Day, the Allied armies slowly advanced across Europe and pushed the German army back. Paris was liberated on August 25, 1944, the Belgian capital of Brussels fell on September 3, and the important port of Antwerp was taken two days later. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
The surrender did not begin well. As First Lieutenant Virgil Lary stood in the road next to a snow-covered field just south of Malmédy, Belgium with his hands raised, one of the German tankers poked his head out of the hatch and fired twice at him with his pistol. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
Donald Malarkey’s comrades thought highly of him as a warrior and as a man. Staff Sergeant William “Wild Bill” Guarnere considered him his hero. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
When word reached 21-year-old Private Bradford “Brad” Freeman in Mourmelon-le-Grand, France, that the entire 101st Airborne Division was being put on 24-hour alert for movement to the front, he was neither surprised nor shocked. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
The Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighter plane dove out of the sky with machine guns firing. The pilot’s target—a pontoon bridge being stretched across Germany’s Werra River by American engineers. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
The United States had not yet entered World War II when Time magazine noted that the Army had created two new armored divisions. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
It took the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the world’s largest passenger liner, only five days to transport 15,000 men of the 106th Infantry Division from New Jersey to Glasgow, Scotland, making port on November 17, 1944. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
Ordered to “hold at all costs,” 300 American soldiers defended the small Luxembourg town of Hosingen during the first three days of the Battle of the Bulge. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
By Patrick J. Chaisson
The chief shuffled to his seat in the underground conference room. He sat down heavily, eyes unfocused and dreamy, while a litany of woes was read to him. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
High over Normandy, France, eight paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division charged out the rear door of their C-47 Skytrain aircraft. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
In 1940, existing U.S. Army tactical doctrine called for a cordon of towed antitank guns to defend against an enemy tank attack, but army planners studying the Battle of France in May of that year realized that a tactical plan of that nature was outdated and likely would not thwart a large-scale armor attack. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge lasted from December 16, 1944, until January 25, 1945, and stands as one of the classic stories of true grit and defiance against a strong and determined enemy. Read more
Battle of the Bulge
In a field hospital in Normandy, France, 1st Lt. Madeline “Del” D’Eletto was watching an Army doctor operate on a soldier’s head injury when one of her fellow nurses asked, “What do I do with this?” Read more
Battle of the Bulge
As the Belgian town of La Gleize burned to the ground around him, 29-year-old SS Lt. Col. Read more
