Remembering the Battle of the Bulge

 

It was the year of 1944, December 16^th to be exact, when the Battle of the Bulge began and lasted for a full six weeks during the hardest winter known to the area in a while. Winston Churchill called it “the greatest American Battle of the War.” The Battle happened in the Ardennes Forest region of Belgium where Hitler was convinced it would be the last major offensive of the war. Hitler’s plan was to split the Allies in half as they went toward Germany, but that was a failed attempt as the British, French, and American forces created a way to defeat Hitler and declare victory over his forces.  

Part of Hitler’s plan was to head toward the Siegfried line on the German border while the Allied forces launched an offensive while American forces hunkered down for the winter in both Belgium and Luxembourg.   While entertainers ventured to the camps to entertain the troops, Hitler decided to launch his final offensive against the Allied troops.

The Germans named their offensive “Wacht am Rhein (the “Watch on the Rhine”)” but The Allied troops called it, the “Battle of the Bulge.” According to American and British records, the battle consisted of more than one million soldiers: 200,000 assault troops in the initial wave then overcame some 800,000 reserve forces in the initial wave. Again, according to military records, the American forces were unprepared and were caught by surprise and ruptured the defensive line which caused them to “head west through the Ardennes towards the Meuse River and Antwerp, the principal Allied supply port in Western Europe. The question hung like a mist in the cold winter air: could the US Army recover?” (Huxen, 2023). Overall, throughout the Battle of the Bulge, “the United States suffered well over 80,000 casualties, including an official Army count of 19,246 dead and more than 23,000 American troops taken prisoner.” (Huxen, 2023).

Huxen, K. (2023). History of the Battle of the Bulge. Retrieved from The National World War II Museum: https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/battle-of-the-bulge

Elizabeth Kilbride is a former political operative, author, scriptwriter, historian, and journalist. business professional, creative artist, and life coach consultant. Ms. Kilbride holds a master’s in criminology and a BS in Business Management she stepped out of the loop for a while but is now back with a powerful opinion and voice in the direction of this country and our economy. As a life coach, she is available to counsel individuals to enjoy their dreams and a better life. Ms. Kilbride loves to travel and photograph her surroundings and is also a gourmet cook who loves to garden and preserve food for the winter months.