Ardennes-Alsace

Battle of the Bulge

Part of World War II

117th Infantry North Carolina NG at St. Vith 1945.jpg

American soldiers of the 117th Infantry Regiment, Tennessee National Guard, part of the 30th Infantry Division, move past a destroyed American M5A1 "Stuart" tank on their march to recapture the town of St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge, January 1945.

Date

16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945

Location

The Ardennes: Belgium, Luxembourg

Result

Allied victory

Western Allied offensive plans delayed by five or six weeks
Disastrous offensive in the Ardennes exhausted the resources of Germany on the Western Front. The German collapse opened the way for the Allies ultimately to break the Siegfried Line
Soviet offensive in Poland launched on 12 January 1945, eight days earlier than originally intended.

Belligerents

Commanders and leaders

Dwight D. Eisenhower
(Supreme Allied Commander)
Bernard Montgomery
(21st Army Group, First U.S. Army, Ninth U.S. Army)
Omar Bradley
(12th U.S. Army Group)
Courtney Hodges
(First U.S. Army)
George S. Patton
(Third U.S. Army)

Anthony McAuliffe
(101st Airborne Division)

Adolf Hitler
Führer und Reichskanzler
Walter Model
Army Group B
Gerd von Rundstedt
OB West
Hasso von Manteuffel
5th Panzer Army
Sepp Dietrich
6th Panzer Army

Erich Brandenberger
7th Army

Strength

16 December: 6 infantry divisions; 2 armored divisions
16 January: 22 infantry divisions; 8 armored divisions; 2 armored brigades

16 December: 13 infantry divisions; 7 armored divisions; 1 brigade
16 January: 16 infantry divisions; 8 armored divisions; 2 infantry brigades

Casualties and losses

American: 89,500 casualties; 19,000 killed,; 47,500 wounded,; 23,000 captured or missing; 700–800+ tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns destroyed; 647 aircraft lost
British: 1,408 (200 killed, 969 wounded, and 239 missing)

67,459 – 125,000 casualties
(includes killed, wounded, missing, captured)

600–800+ tanks and assault guns destroyed

~800 aircraft lost, over 500 in December and 280 during Unternehmen Bodenplatte

Approximately 3,000 civilians killed

Allied victory

Dwight D. Eisenhower
(Supreme Allied Commander)
Bernard Montgomery
(21st Army Group, First U.S. Army, Ninth U.S. Army)
Omar Bradley
(12th U.S. Army Group)
Courtney Hodges
(First U.S. Army)
George S. Patton
(Third U.S. Army)

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