Bulge, Battle of the

In World War II, Hitler's plan (code-named ‘Watch on the Rhine’) for a breakthrough by his field marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, aimed at the US line in the Ardennes from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945. Hitler aimed to isolate the Allied forces north of the corridor which would be created by a drive through the Ardennes, creating a German salient (prominent part of a line of attack, also known as a ‘bulge’). There were 77,000 Allied casualties and 130,000 German, including Hitler's last powerful reserve of elite Panzer units. Although US troops were encircled for some weeks at Bastogne, the German counteroffensive failed.

The Germans deployed three panzer armies in the operation and initially made good progress along a 113 km/70 mi sector of the front. However, once the Allies had recovered from the initial surprise of an attack along a previously quiet section of the front, they launched a serious counterattack to the north and south of the ‘bulge’. Improvements in the weather also allowed Allied air support to take effect and by January most of the German attack had been contained and repulsed.

Sepp Dietrich's 6th Panzer Army, the 5th Panzer Army, and the 7th Panzer Army, together with a ‘Trojan Horse’ force of English-speaking Germans in US uniforms under Otto Skorzeny, opened the offensive with a broad push aimed at the US 1st Army and General Omar Bradley's 12th Army Group. The Allies were unprepared for action along a section of the front hitherto so quiet it had been nicknamed ‘the Ghost Front’ and bad weather had grounded Allied air support, so the German panzer units intially made good progres in pushing the Allies back.

However, after this intial success, the German failure to capture vital fuel dumps and the dogged Allied defence of St Vith and Bastogne seriously set the operation back. Once the Allies recovered from the initial shock, Montgomery blocked the German advance at the Meuse, while to the south of the Bulge Bradley's forces also struck back, with General George Patton breaking through to relieve Bastogne on 26 December. By the end of December the weather improved, allowing the Allied air forces to play a part in the battle and by 3 January 1945 the Allies took the offensive; by 16 January the Bulge had been eliminated.