Posted on 12/18/2015 7:13:22 PM PST by WhiskeyX
The Ardennes Offensive (16 December 1944 25 January 1945) was a major German offensive launched towards the end of World War II through the forested Ardennes Mountains region of Belgium (and more specifically of Wallonia: hence its French name, Bataille des Ardennes), France and Luxembourg on the Western Front. The offensive was called Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein (translated as Operation The Guard on the Rhine or Operation "Watch on the Rhine") by the German armed forces (Wehrmacht). This German offensive was officially named the Ardennes-Alsace campaign[5] by the U.S. Army,[6] but it is known to the general public simply as the Battle of the Bulge. The bulge was the initial incursion the Germans put into the Allies line of advance, as seen in maps presented in contemporary newspapers.
The German offensive was supported by subordinate operations known as Unternehmen Bodenplatte, Unternehmen Greif, and Unternehmen Währung. Germanys planned goal for these operations was to split the British and American Allied line in half, capturing Antwerp, Belgium, and then proceeding to encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis Powers favor.[7]
The Germans planned the offensive with utmost secrecy, minimizing radio traffic and conducting the movement of troops and equipment under cover of darkness. Although ULTRA suggested a possible attack and the Third U.S. Army's intelligence staff predicted a major German offensive, the Germans still caught them by surprise. This was achieved by a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with their own offensive plans, poor aerial reconnaissance, and the relative lack of combat contact by the First U.S. Army in an area considered a "quiet sector". Almost complete surprise against a weak section of the Allies line was achieved during heavy overcast weather, when the Allies strong air forces would be grounded.....
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German objectives ultimately were unrealized. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, as survivors retreated to the defences of the Siegfried Line. With over 800,000 men committed and over 19,000 killed, the Battle of the Bulge became the single biggest and bloodiest battle for American ground forces in World War
What if you were a German soldier during this operation? You knew the Eastern Front was a complete mess, and you also knew you faced overwhelming odds in the west. Even if you wanted to carry out orders in the Battle of the Bulge, did you really believe it could succeed? I doubt it. I think the German Army was pretty much exhausted and demoralized at this point. They fought. Certainly they fought, but they probably knew the end result was going to be defeat regardless.
My grandfather was paroled from Stadelheim, a prison outside Munich for political prisoners, in late November 1944.
Prison guards were redeployed to this effort, so they let the prisoners out, subject to re-arrest.
One day I will visit, and visit Patton’s grave as well.
Stadelheim is still in operation, but Adolph isn’t.
I do not believe the soldiers were in possession of information that was objective. You could go to prison for listening to short-wave and broadcasts from the BBC and Luxembourg.
Today that tight a hold on information is not possible.
If you were a German soldier, you wanted to surrender in the West. Same goes for the females.
Yep. Ivan wanted payback...
We lost 33,000 in the Hurtgen Forest.
You don’t believe the average German soldier knew the Eastern Front was a complete mess, that he faced overwhelming odds in the west,,, because he didn’t listen to shortwave?
Ever been a grunt?
I take exception to characterizing “poor aerial reconnaissance” as partially responsible for the “surprise of the German offensive. The air corps compiled numerous reports regarding rail and road traffic into the region that could only lead to the conclusion of a serious build up of forces and material pending a major effort. Headquarters made a decision to let the operation proceed.
I was referring to this part of the post:
“and you also knew you faced overwhelming odds in the west.”
The information about the Western Front was controlled, though everyone knew about the Eastern Front for months before.
It helps to read the entire sentence, yes, I know; happened to me lots of times that I did not read everything that was being responded to.
I understood that U Boats in the Atlantic radioed information that would predict meteorological conditions in the areas of northern France and Belgium. They knew when that area would have dense fog, and planned the attack timing accordingly.
So the “poor aerial reconnaissance” reference may be about the fact that conditions were overcast (heavily) making such reconnaissance “poor.” Though your comment points to reconnaissance over a longer duration.
Hodges and his officers are responsible for the inexcusable slaughter of their American soldiers in the Hurtgen Forest. They failed to require the officers to take proper care of their enlisted men and their needs (footcare, warming tents, food). They repeatedly advanced directly into a German ambush that was entirely unnecessary when they should have flanked the German forces with only token forces. Hodges and many of his subordinate officers ought to have been fired for their incompetence in the Hurtgen Forest well before the Ardennes fiasco.
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