The battle of the Bulge, Hitlers Last Gamble

By Madan, 19th Jan 2012 | Follow this author | RSS Feed | Short URL http://nut.bz/3z0i5aos/
Posted in Wikinut>Guides>History

Hitler launched an offensive to regain the initiative in Dec 1944 in central Europe, but it failed.

Hitler's Last shot

Hitler Planning the operation

Hitler was a man at the end of the rope in the fall of 1944. There was relentless pressure on the eastern front with the Russians under Marshal Zhukov moving closer to Germany and the allies under General Eisenhower inching forward after the landing at Normandy in June 1944. Hitler was desperately looking for a way out with a counter attack. It must be appreciated that Hitler was not a novice in military matters and had some ability. He had studied Clausewitz, Von Moltke and Fredrick and was well aware of the principles of war.

The two front wars against both Russia in the East and the allies in the West were playing on his nerves and at that time he must have remembered Field Marshal Von Schiffilon. He wished to break the stranglehold of the allies and try for a separate peace in the west, so as to leave his armies free to face the Russians in the East.

Hitler’s Plan

His plan therefore called for a daring strike in the west that would force the allies to have an armistice. In hindsight we can say that the plan was farfetched and perhaps Hitler gravely miscalculated the resolve of the Allies. But the dice was cast in favor of a thrust in the west.

In early November he called for a meeting at his headquarters in Eastern Prussia and the two Generals in command in the west Field Marshal Von Rundstedt and Field Marsh Model were summoned. Both the Field Marshal’s were of the view that defensive tactic would cost them the war and had advocated a limited plan of attack in the west through the Ardennes as in 1940. Though both the Field Marshals had different plans, yet they dovetailed their plans and presented a single plan to Hitler. Hitler studied their plan and rejected it in favor of his own plan to strike deep through the Ardennes and try to reach to Antwerp and capture it.

Hitler’s plan was to mass his formations in the mountains of the Ardennes and strike towards the west. The plan envisaged cutting a wedge in-between the British and American armies and continue to Antwerp the main supply port of the Allies. The plan if successful would have entailed the British and American armies being cut off from each other and 4 Army groups being encircled by the Germans and then annihilated. This was a daring plan and if successful would have not only prolonged the war, but with the annihilation of their armies, the Allies were accepted to accept Hitler’s offer of an armistice in the west. Field Marshal Von Rundstedt was put in overall command of the operation. He had his doubts about the plan and thought it too ambitious. But now students of history feel the plan was brilliant, but dependent on a number of factors like weather and the Allies resolve.

The Build Up

The Ardennes was chosen as it was a mountainous area and with winter snow all around it provided a natural camouflage. In addition the area was held by the Americans who Hitler felt were the softer target and not good fighters. This perception in hindsight appears wrong. Hitler also miscalculated the effect of Allied air Power which was the dominant force at that time having achieved air superiority over entire Europe.

Hitler amassed nearly 1000 panzers and heavy guns and 450,000 troops in the Ardennes forests. He was helped by bad weather conditions and heavy snowfall resulting in the allies’ air forces being unable to carry out any air reconnaissance. They were thus unaware of the German build up. In addition General Eisenhower the supreme allied commander, General Patton and General Omar Bradley discounted any German thrust through the Ardennes. Hitler kept a personal tab on the battlefield and gave the signal for the assault on 12 Dec 1944. The plans success also hinged on secrecy and this Germans achieved with the allies intelligence failing completely.

The Battle

The Germans opened the operation with a heavy artillery bombardment and the troops aided by the Panzers pressed forward. The attack was a success as the Germans achieved complete surprise and the American troops facing the Germans suffered heavy casualties. In fact in this campaign the Americans suffered the maximum casualties than in any single campaign of the Second World War. The Germans plan also hinged on bad weather continuing, to prevent the allies’ air forces from operating.

The Germans advanced forward in what has come to be known as the ‘battle of the Bulge’. And had tremendous initial success and Hitler felt that Antwerp could be reached. But fate took a hand and the bad weather disappeared and the skies cleared. In addition the retreating Americans destroyed many bridges and fuel dumps, thus effectively starving the Germans of precious fuel for their panzers. The allies’ air forces also went into action and without air cover and stiffening American resistance the attack began to stall and finally ground to a halt.

The Failure

Von Rundstedt signaled to Hitler the failure of the Offensive and ordered a withdrawal. The result of this gamble was costly for Germany as they suffered over 100,000 casualties and more important experienced troops were lost. The Americans suffered 21,000 dead out of an approximate 69,000 casualties. The American counter attack under General Patton put the seal on the offensive as it stopped the German advance. In addition in the east, the Russians launched their massive winter offensive on 12 Jan1945 and the fate of Germany was sealed. In addition the failure to capture Bastogne as per the plan was a setback.

Lessons

There are many lessons from this battle. It must be remembered that though the plan was brilliant, yet its execution depended on many other factors including bad weather and air power. Both these did not favor the Germans and the offensive failed. The importance of tactical air support was highlighted as a crucial factor in war. It was the last offensive launched by the Germans as after this the German army was only fighting to delay the inevitable

Meet the author

Madan
A man who spent his early years in Air Force. An avid writer with over2500 articles and 50 short stories published.Two novels on the anvil for publication.