Battle Of The Bulge Map
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Maps of WWII Battles & Operations: The Ardennes Area During the Battle of the Bulge (December 26, 1944 - January 16, 1945).
(195 consecutive days of combat)
Battle of the Dykes(First Canadian Army), 23 Oct - 8 Nov, 1944 Having relieved the British 49th Infantry Division on 23-25 October, 1944, in the vicinity of Wuustwezel and Loenhout, Belgium, the 104th Division began it's push into Holland on 25 October. Liberating the towns of Zundert, Achtmaal, Rijsbergen, Etten, Leur, Sprundel, Oudenbosch, Standaarbuiten, Kreek, Zevenbergen, Noordhoek, Klundert and Moerdijk, the Timberwolves soon reached the banks of the Maas River and concluded its Holland campaign. |
Holland to Germany(motor convoy), 6 - 8 Nov, 1944 After release by the First Canadian Army, on 5 November the First United States Army directed the Division to move to Aachen, Germany, commencing on 6 Nov. While the 414th Regimental Combat Team held its position at Moerdijk, the balance of the Division completed the move to Germany and started its relief of the U.S.1st Infantry Division in the vicinity of Aachen on 8 November, joining the VII Corps, First Army. |
Beyond the Siegfried Line (Aachen to the Roer River), 9 Nov - 14 Dec, 1944 On 16 November, following the biggest air assault of World War II (2,400 bombers), the Division, from its positions in the Aachen-Verlantenheide area, launched an assault on the pill boxes and other fortifications of the Siegfried Line and clawed it's way past Hill 287 and through the heavily defended fortress towns and cities of Stolberg, Rohe, Helrath, Durwiz, Eschweiler, Putzlohn, Volkenrath, Weisweiler, Frenz, Lamersdorf, Inden, and Merken to the banks of the Roer River opposite Duren. |
Push continues(across the Inde River), 27 Nov - 13 Dec, 1944 German radio broadcasts called it the 'most terrible and ferocious battle in the history of all wars' and The Stars & Stripesdescribed the German shelling of Inden as 'the heaviest artillery concentration ever experienced by American troops' when the Timberwolves battled for the Inden area. Time Magazine stated, 'The Germans fought like wild men for the Inde' as the 104th conquered Lamersdorf, Inden and Lucherberg. |
Objective Cologne (Roer River to Rhine River), 23 Feb - 7 Mar, 1945 The strong German offensive, launched the morning of 16 December, became known as the 'Ardennes Offensive' or 'Battle of the Bulge' and the 104th was directed to prepare an all-out defense of its sector. This delayed the planned crossing of the Roer until 0330 hours, 23 February when the major offensive action to reach Cologne was begun..the Rhine was reached on 7 March & 'Cologne, the Rhine's greatest city, is ours.' Time Magazine reported, 'The Germans fought for the Roer River, between Aachen and Cologne, as if it were the Meuse, the Marne, and the Somme of the last war all rolled into one.' |
Encirclement of the Ruhr (Remagen to Lippstadt), 9 Mar - 1 April, 1945 Crossing the Rhine at Remagen, the Division supported the 3rd Armored Division, (VII Corps, First Army) and started a major offensive action on 25 March that was to cover a 193-mile dash to Paderborn in 9 days. This link-up with the U.S. Ninth Army at Lippstadt completed the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket to trap 335,000 German troops. |
Paderborn to Torgau(Russians contacted), 1 April - 9 May, 1945 The final leg of the journey took the Timberwolves across the Weser River, with Dunderstadt, Bad Lauterberg, Nordhausen, and the Harz Mountains along the route to the Saale River and Halle, then on to the Mulde River for a sweep of over 350 miles in less than a month and contact with the Russians on 26 April. |
This page last updated: 6 October, 2010
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WorldAtlas.com Privacy PolicyWe respect your privacy and we are committed to safeguarding your privacy while online at our site. The Battle of the Bulge is also referred to as the Battle of the Ardennes. It was fought between December 16, 1944 and January 16, 1945, and represented the last Major Nazi offensive on the Western Front during the Second World War. The battle was an unsuccessful attempt by Hitler to push back the Allied Forces who were on the brink of overrunning Germany.Allied March Towards GermanyAfter the Allied forces captured Normandy in June 1944 they moved unchallenged across Northern France before crossing into Belgium.
The efforts of the Allied armies across western Europe in September and October of 1944 proved to be nothing more than nibbling. In the meantime, Germany was strengthening its defenses with several reserve troops being relocated from other frontlines. The Volkssturm (home guard), was also deployed to the frontline to support the troops who had abandoned France. In mid-November, the allied forces launched several offensive attacks against the Germans on the Western Front resulting in small results but massive losses. Continued attacks only led to exhaustion of the Allied troops. The German PlanThe Germans planned a counter-offensive, choosing Ardennes because of its hilly and wooded countryside. They knew the Allied forces would not anticipate an attack from such a position; the woods would protect the deployment of a large army while the dry surface would enable the maneuvering of tanks.
The Germans planned to break through to Antwerp, Belgium and cut off the British supply from American forces and supply lines. They would then crush the British army before turning on the Americans. To minimize the danger posed by the Anglo-American air power which was far superior to their own, the Germans would launch their attack based on metrological forecasts, and to their aid, it rained heavily for three days. The German OffensiveOn the dawn of December 16, 1944, Germany began an offensive gaining significant progress in the first days. The attack alarmed the Allied forces who had not anticipated the attack.
The German Fifth Panzer Army stormed past Bastogne which was under the US. 101st Airborne Division and by December 24 they were at the bank of the Meuse River.
Wintry weather and Allied air attacks led to the shortage of gasoline, the US 101st Airborne had inflicted mass, the German advance was faltering. Bernard Montgomery, the British Field Marshal, then dispatched his army reserves south to stall the German advance at Meuse river. On the 26 th and 3 rd of January 1945, the British and Americans began a counteroffensive.
The Allied tried to cut off a German division, but they were skillful and tactfully withdrawn by other troops from the potential wedge.