Battle of the Bulge
Image taken from wikipedia.org
By the winter of 1944, Hitler’s hold on Europe was failing. Allied forces had advanced to within miles of the German border. Germany was running low on supplies and was being pounded by bombing raids constantly. Hitler decided to use a plan that would drive the Western Allies across France and back into the sea. Hitler this plan was the only way to turn the war in his favor. Thousands of tanks and troops were brought together for this movement. The plan was to launch an all-out offensive against the battle-weary Allies and drive so far into their lines that they would have no choice but to retreat from the onslaught of German tanks and artillery.
In December of 1944, the offensive was launched. The Allies were caught completely off-guard. Units were separated and there was hysteria and chaos gripping Allied intelligence. Units on leave were called in to somehow stop the German advance. The Germans took many towns and took many prisoners. SS soldiers killed their prisoners in the infamous Malmedy Massacre. The 101st Airborne division of the American military was tasked with holding the town of Bastogne which contained a vital road network. The young soldiers made the city their “Alamo.” They held it throughout the freezing Belgian winter until General Patton’s forces eventually broke through the German offensive.
With lines becoming thin, the Germans soon realized that they could not possibly drive the Allies back as far as they wanted to. With clear skies finally happening, Allied planes strafed and bombed the columns of tanks that were among the German ranks. It became clear that this plan to turn the war in Germany’s favor would not be successful. The advance was halted and almost all of Hitler’s military might was now nothing more than ruins.
