These citizens from Bivels, located right at the border with Germany, had escaped hostage custody in Germany and warned the US troops of the huge concentration of troops in the Bitburg area, but their warnings were ignored. The VIIIth Corps was charged with the defensive line, but ignored reports from Luxembourgish citizens.Įchternach during the Ardennes Counteroffensive / ©Ĭourtesy of the National Museum of Military History The defensive line along the Ardennes was, by all accounts, thinly spread, showing how much of a surprise the attack would. The US divisions that had liberated Luxembourg months earlier were led by Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges and Lieutenant General George Smith Patton Jr. The counteroffensive certainly did not start well for Allied forces. Whilst the Germans did plan to make use of the nasty weather to their advantage, they too were not impervious to winter. Basically, the cold and ensuing hypothermia and snow did not make for good battle conditions. Alongside the Russian guerrilla tactics, Napoleon’s troops suffered greatly from…well, winter. For a quick throwback, take your mind to Napoleon’s attempted invasion of Russia in 1812. On the one side, we had the Allied troops (the US, UK, Belgium, Canada, France, and Luxembourg) and on the other side, we had Germany in this battle. The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, ran from 16 December 1944 and lasted until 25 January 1945. The plan was hoped to be a 'second Dunkirk', surrounding the Allied forces in the southern Netherlands, allowing the Germans to crush remaining forces in France. A second objective with the offensive would be to force the Allies to declare a temporary cease-fire in the West, allowing the Nazis to focus on their eastern front. The plan was for three armies to cut westwards across Luxembourg and the Belgian Ardennes in order to cross the Meuse River and retake the Allied force’s vital port and supply hub: Antwerp. Adolf Hitler’s Chief of Staff, General Field Marshal Alfred Jodl, was ordered to draw up plans for the attack, which would use the elements of surprise, speed, and foul weather conditions. Over the months following the liberation, the Nazis planned a major counteroffensive in an endeavour to split the Allied forces. V Panther during the Battle of the Bulge seen here in Echternach on the road to the Ardennes Belgium. American soldiers beside a German tank Pz.
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