The Battle of the Bulge was a German offensive during WWII through the Ardennes Forest towards Antwerp. The German plan was named “Wacht am Rhein” but later renamed “Autumn Fog”. The Allies eventually won, with the Germans losing 67,000 and the Allies losing 76,000 men.
The “Battle of the Bulge” is the popular name for the Bulge Offensive during World War II. German forces began the attack through the Ardennes Forest into Belgium en route to a planned siege of Antwerp. The German plan was codenamed “Wacht am Rhein” or “Watch over the Rhine” as a means of deceiving the Allies into believing it would be defensive in nature. Subsequently, the offensive was renamed “Autumn Fog”.
The forest is mountainous and dense, and due to bad weather, the German advance in the early stages of the battle was rapid. The advance began on 16 December 1944 and after about a week they had made good progress towards Bastogne. General Anthony McAuliffe received an offer of surrender from the Germans to which he gave a simple reply: “NUTS!”.
By Christmas, the German advance began to lose steam due to fuel and ammunition shortages. The weather began to improve, which gave the Allies better opportunities to attack with aircraft. The tide began to turn, and on 13 January, German forces withdrew from Bastogne.
The “Battle of the Bulge” officially ended on January 27, 1945: more than a million men from both sides participated in the fighting. The Allies lost 76,000 men (mostly Americans) and Germany lost 67,000. By the end of 1944, the Axis powers were clearly losing the war and the failure of this final offensive ended their hopes.
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