![]() Both sides suffered enormous losses, in men and supplies. Eisenhower’s skills include getting difficult personalities to work together, constant attention to logistics, and organizational genius. Approximately a quarter of a million United States troops were pitted against a comparable number of German forces.īasic lessons of the Bulge include personnel and matériel, and leadership. Nonetheless, in American history the Battle of the Bulge remains our biggest single land engagement. In the European theatre, the scale of the war on the eastern front was much greater than in the west. During the Civil War, Gettysburg and other engagements resulted in a higher percentage of casualties among combatants.ĭuring the Second World War, such enormous amphibious invasions as Normandy, Iwo Jima and Leyte Gulf in the Philippines were inherently more complex in logistical terms than the Bulge. However, with the relief of Bastogne the Nazi vision of the future of Europe – and the world – failed. Patton’s Third Army broke through to the 101 st Airborne Division, surrounded by the Wehrmacht in Bastogne, Belgium, the day after Christmas.īrutal fighting continued through January. The tide of the battle did not clearly turn until General George S. Eisenhower’s associates at Supreme Allied Headquarters, fear was visible with alarm. German forces rapidly gained ground.įor Europeans among the Allies, the attack was reminiscent of the stunning 1940 German drive that overran France and secured Nazi domination of Europe. Adolf Hitler and planners in Berlin achieved total surprise. On December 16, 1944, Nazi Germany launched an enormous offensive through the quiet, thinly defended Ardennes Forest in Belgium. Christmas includes the anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, the largest land battle fought by the United States.
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