On This Date In History

On December 16, 1944, the Germans launch the last major offensive of the war, Operation Autumn Mist, also known as the Ardennes Offensive and the Battle of the Bulge, an attempt to push the Allied front line west from northern France to northwestern Belgium. The Battle of the Bulge, so-called because the Germans created a “bulge” around the area of the Ardennes forest in pushing through the American defensive line, was the largest fought on the Western front.
The Germans threw 250,000 soldiers into the initial assault, 14 German infantry divisions guarded by five panzer divisions, against a mere 80,000 Americans. Their assault came in early morning at the weakest part of the Allied line, an 80-mile poorly protected stretch of hilly, woody forest (the Allies simply believed the Ardennes too difficult to traverse, and therefore an unlikely location for a German offensive). Between the vulnerability of the thin, isolated American units and the thick fog that prevented Allied air cover from discovering German movement, the Germans were able to push the Americans into retreat.
One particularly effective German trick was the use of English-speaking German commandos who infiltrated American lines and, using captured U.S. uniforms, trucks, and jeeps, impersonated U.S. military and sabotaged communications. The ploy caused widespread chaos and suspicion among the American troops as to the identity of fellow soldiers, even after the ruse was discovered. Even General Omar Bradley himself had to prove his identity three times, by answering questions about football and Betty Grable, before being allowed to pass a sentry point.
The battle raged for three weeks, resulting in a massive loss of American and civilian life. Nazi atrocities abounded, including the murder of 72 American soldiers by SS soldiers in the Ardennes town of Malmedy. Historian Stephen Ambrose estimated that by war’s end, “Of the 600,000 GIs involved, almost 20,000 were killed, another 20,000 were captured, and 40,000 were wounded.” The United States also suffered its second-largest surrender of troops of the war: More than 7,500 members of the 106th Infantry Division capitulated at one time at Schnee Eifel. The devastating ferocity of the conflict also made desertion an issue for the American troops; General Eisenhower was forced to make an example of Private Eddie Slovik, the first American executed for desertion since the Civil War.
The war would not end until better weather enabled American aircraft to bomb and strafe German positions.

The Battlefield
December 16th, 1944. Germans Launch Operation Autumn Mist aka Ardennes Offensive aka Battle Of The Bulge

1st SS Panzer Regiment Commander General Joachim Peiper

 

 

 German Field Commanders in the Ardennes

 

 

 German machine gunner in the Ardennes

 

German troops advancing past abandoned American equipment

P-47s Destroyed at Y-34 Metz-Frescaty Airfield

German SS troops advancing towards Malmedy

 

 American POW's

 

 

Field Marshall Montgomery

 

 

 

 General Bradley

 

 

Supreme Allied Commander Eisenhower

 

 

American troops fighting their way towards Bastogne

 

 

 American troop of the 101st Engineers Near Wiltz, Luxembourg

 

 

 American M-36 tank moves towards Werbomont, Belgium

 

 

US 11th Armored Division 3rd Army in a M8 Armored Car linking up with US 84th Inf. Division near Houffalize, Belgium

 

 

American soldier with captured destroyed Panther crewmember on the Elsenborn Ridge

 

 

British Sherman Tank in Namur on the Meuse River

 

 

German Infiltrators being prepared for executed after being conviction by a Military Court for wearing U.S. Military Uniforms

 

 

US 117th Inf. Regiment moving towards St. Vith

 

 

 

American soldier looks out over the destruction of the Malmedy Massacre

Bodies of American soldiers massacred at Malmedy are numbered, photographed and loaded into trucks. They are taken to temporary morgue where identification takes place.

German prisoners on trial for offenses committed at the Malmedy Massacre