Operation Stösser was a paratroop drop into the American rear in the High Fens (French: Hautes Fagnes; German: Hohes Venn; Dutch: Hoge Venen) area. Hitler hoffte auf hässliche Vorhersagen der OKW-Meteorologen. Armee eingekesselt worden, wenn deutsche Truppen die Scheldemündung erreicht hätten. Many American officers had already grown to dislike Montgomery, who was seen by them as an overly cautious commander, arrogant, and all too willing to say uncharitable things about the Americans. Doch weil der Vormarsch der US-Truppen nicht wie vorgesehen in diesen Spätherbstwochen endete, musste der Termin verschoben werden. Dezember 1944 begann. The 109th and 110th Regiments of the 28th Division fared worse, as they were spread so thinly that their positions were easily bypassed. The weakened Seventh Army had, at Eisenhower's orders, sent troops, equipment, and supplies north to reinforce the American armies in the Ardennes, and the offensive left it in dire straits. After a brief visit to Berlin, Hitler traveled on his Führersonderzug ("Special Train of the Führer" (Leader)) to Giessen on 11 December, taking up residence in the Adlerhorst (eyrie) command complex, co-located with OB West's base at Kransberg Castle. Die Wacht am Rhein: Hitlers letzte Schlacht in den Ardennen 1944/45. Denn nur wenn motorisierte Verbände aus den deutschen Einheiten in Lothringen und östlich von Aachen herausgelöst und in die Ardennen verlegt worden wären, hätte die Offensive überhaupt eine Chance gehabt. Believing in omens and the successes of his early war campaigns that had been planned at Kransberg, Hitler had chosen the site from which he had overseen the successful 1940 campaign against France and the Low Countries. By 24 December the German advance was effectively stalled short of the Meuse. This is a grand tactical simulation of the Battle of the Bulge. Ultra also picked up communiqués regarding extensive rail and road movements in the region, as well as orders that movements should be made on time. [160] It sets out the various indications of an impending offensive that were received, then offers conclusions about the wisdom conferred by hindsight; the dangers of becoming wedded to a fixed view of the enemy's likely intentions; over-reliance on "Source" (i.e. Registrieren Sie sich kostenlos und erhalten Sie auf Ihre Interessen abgestimmte Inhalte sowie unsere vielseitigen Newsletter. In the context of Patton's and Montgomery's well-known antipathy, Montgomery's failure to mention the contribution of any American general besides Eisenhower was seen as insulting. The struggle for the villages and American strong points, plus transport confusion on the German side, slowed the attack sufficiently to allow the 101st Airborne Division (reinforced by elements from the 9th and 10th Armored Divisions) to reach Bastogne by truck on the morning of 19 December. The more experienced U.S. 28th Infantry Division put up a much more dogged defense than the inexperienced soldiers of the 106th Infantry Division. They recorded the quadrupling of German fighter forces and a term used in an intercepted Luftwaffe message—Jägeraufmarsch (literally "Hunter Deployment")—implied preparation for an offensive operation. There will be only cheerful faces at this table." Units of the corps which fought in the Ardennes were the 51st (Highland) and 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Divisions, the British 6th Airborne Division, the 29th and 33rd Armoured Brigades, and the 34th Tank Brigade. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. Winston Churchill, addressing the House of Commons following the Battle of the Bulge said, "This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever-famous American victory. … They were disarmed and, with some other Americans captured earlier (approximately 150 men), sent to stand in a field near the crossroads under light guard. A Luftwaffe resupply mission went badly when SS-Brigadeführer Wilhelm Mohnke insisted the grid coordinates supplied by Peiper were wrong, parachuting supplies into American hands in Stoumont. To the north, the 277th Volksgrenadier Division attempted to break through the defending line of the U.S. 99th and the 2nd Infantry Divisions. [76] Historian John S. D. Eisenhower wrote, "... the action of the 2nd and 99th Divisions on the northern shoulder could be considered the most decisive of the Ardennes campaign."[77][78]. [12] Allied estimates on German casualties range from 81,000 to 103,000. "[106], Infantrymen fire at German troops in the advance to relieve the surrounded paratroopers in Bastogne[m], Americans of the 101st Engineers near Wiltz, Luxembourg, January 1945, U.S. 6th Armored Division tanks moving near Wardin, Belgium, January 1945, The plan and timing for the Ardennes attack sprang from the mind of Adolf Hitler. [95], By 21 December the Germans had surrounded Bastogne, which was defended by the 101st Airborne Division, the all African American 969th Artillery Battalion, and Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division. This included SS-Gruppenführer (Major General) Kurt Meyer, commander of the 12th SS Panzer (Armor) Division, captured by Belgian partisans on 6 September 1944. 25f., die briefliche Fassung, bereits mit Refrain und Titel Die Wacht am Rhein, auf S. … He believed a critical fault line existed between the British and American military commands, and that a heavy blow on the Western Front would shatter this alliance. In loyalty to their commander, 150 men from von der Heydte's own unit, the 6th Parachute Regiment, went against orders and joined him. Als die Offiziere daraufhin die Marseillaise anstimmten, „brauste wie Donnerhall“ Die Wacht am Rhein durch die Bahnhofshalle. [88] By late Christmas Eve the advance in this sector was stopped, as Allied forces threatened the narrow corridor held by the 2nd Panzer Division. [33] Success in the west would give the Germans time to design and produce more advanced weapons (such as jet aircraft, new U-boat designs and super-heavy tanks) and permit the concentration of forces in the east. [27]:1, Adolf Hitler first officially outlined his surprise counter-offensive to his astonished generals on 16 September 1944. Although advancing only in a narrow corridor, 2nd Panzer Division was still making rapid headway, leading to jubilation in Berlin. A footnote to the U.S. Army's official history volume "Riviera to the Rhine" makes the following note on U.S. American progress in the south was also restricted to about a kilometre or a little over half a mile per day. Bedell Smith sent Strong to warn Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, the commander of the 12th Army Group, of the danger. Doch Hitler lehnte ab, wie Keitel und der Chef des Wehrmachtsführungsstabes Alfred Jodl. As a result, by the end of October, the supply situation had eased somewhat. [75], The U.S. 99th Infantry Division, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of 18 to one. This, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule and allowed the Allies to reinforce the thinly placed troops. 1794 besetzten die Franzosen das gesamte linksrheinische Gebiet und gliederten es später in die französische Staatsverwaltung ein. The Luftwaffe lost 277 planes, 62 to Allied fighters and 172 mostly because of an unexpectedly high number of Allied flak guns, set up to protect against German V-1 flying bomb/missile attacks and using proximity fused shells, but also by friendly fire from the German flak guns that were uninformed of the pending large-scale German air operation. [d] The Allies faced several military logistics issues: General Dwight D. Eisenhower (the Supreme Allied Commander on the Western Front) and his staff chose to hold the Ardennes region which was occupied by the U.S. First Army. [152][153] "Ultra intelligence was plentiful and informative" though "not wholly free from ambiguity", "but it was misread and misused". Eisenhower commented in his own memoirs: "I doubt if Montgomery ever came to realize how resentful some American commanders were. The battle has been the most interesting, I think possibly one of the most interesting and tricky battles I have ever handled. [114]:224 Dietrich's decision unknowingly played into American hands, as Robertson had already decided to abandon the villages. [132], German armored losses to all causes were between 527 and 554, with 324 tanks being lost in combat. On 24 December, German forces made their furthest penetration west. While the German offensive had ground to a halt during January 1945, they still controlled a dangerous salient in the Allied line. [72] Peiper ordered Knittel to retake Stavelot. [87], For Operation Greif ("Griffin"), Otto Skorzeny successfully infiltrated a small part of his battalion of English-speaking Germans disguised in American uniforms behind the Allied lines. [68] Three tanks attempted to take the bridge, but the lead vehicle was disabled by a mine. Kampfgruppe Peiper attacked Stavelot on 18 December but was unable to capture the town before the Americans evacuated a large fuel depot. Fierce resistance on the northern shoulder of the offensive, around Elsenborn Ridge, and in the south, around Bastogne, blocked German access to key roads to the northwest and west that they counted on for success. Mit der Französischen Revolution von 1789 brach man zwar mit fast allen alten Traditionen, aber die außenpolitischen Interessen gegenüber dem Reich wiesen eine erstaunliche Kontinuität auf und so forderten 1791 die Abgeordneten der Nationalversammlung Frankreich in den Grenzen vom Rhein bis zu den Pyrenäen, von den Alpen bis zum Ozean. While the Ardennes Counteroffensive is the correct term in Allied military language, the official Ardennes-Alsace campaign reached beyond the Ardennes battle region, and the most popular description in English speaking countries remains simply the Battle of the Bulge. SS-Panzerarmee eine Neuschöpfung eigens für die Ardennenoffensive. The men of the Kampfgruppe were forced to abandon their vehicles and heavy equipment, although most of the 800 remaining troops were able to escape. Ein deutscher Soldat im Dezember 1944 während der Ardennenoffensive (Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein / Herbstnebel). Its newest and most powerful tank, the Tiger II heavy tank, consumed 7.6 liters (2 U.S. gal) of fuel to go 1,600 m (1 mi), and the Germans had less than half the fuel they needed to reach Antwerp. Der Plan war die ureigenste Idee des „Führers“. Description. According to Winston Churchill, the attack from the south under Patton was steady but slow and involved heavy losses, and Montgomery was trying to avoid this situation. [104] The majority of the German force executed a successful fighting withdrawal and escaped the battle area, although the fuel situation had become so dire that most of the German armor had to be abandoned. It came to me as an order complete to the last detail. Mit einigen Abbildungen Das Inhaltsverzeichnis entnehmen Sie bitte den beiliegenden Abbildungen. 14 x 21,5 cm guter Zustand [24], Field Marshal Montgomery's Operation Market Garden achieved only some of its objectives, while its territorial gains left the Allied supply situation stretched further than before. He entrusted them with carrying out his decisive counterattack. Die fünf Panzer- und 13 Grenadier-Divisionen verfügten über etwa 600 Kettenfahrzeuge und 1600 Geschütze. Panzerdivision was formed in October 1935, making it one of … London: Cassell. [92] Skorzeny and his men were fully aware of their likely fate, and most wore their German uniforms underneath their American ones in case of capture. Calvocoressi, Peter (1980). This is a sub-article to Battle of the Bulge The Wehrmacht forces for the Ardennes Offensive were the product of a German recruitment effort targeting German males between the ages of 16 and 60, to replace soldiers lost during five months of fighting against the Western Allies in France. [citation needed], Senior Allied commanders met in a bunker in Verdun on 19 December. While the Allies recovered from their losses within days, the operation left the Luftwaffe ineffective for the remainder of the war.[102]. The battle was militarily defined by the Allies as the Ardennes Counteroffensive, which included the German drive and the American effort to contain and later defeat it. The foggy autumn weather also prevented Allied reconnaissance aircraft from correctly assessing the ground situation. On 7 January 1945 Hitler agreed to withdraw all forces from the Ardennes, including the SS-Panzer divisions, thus ending all offensive operations. Fest steht und treu die Wacht am Rhein.“ Seinen tapferen Helden 1864.66.70/71 Der dankbare Krieger-Verein und die Gemeinde Oppelhain. On the Eastern Front, the Soviets' Operation Bagration during the summer had destroyed much of Germany's Army Group Center (Heeresgruppe Mitte). The Germans had attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, taking advantage of heavily overcast weather conditions that grounded the Allies' superior air forces. Die Wacht am Rhein ist ein politisches Lied, welches im Deutschen Kaiserreich ab 1871 neben Heil dir im Siegerkranz die Funktion einer inoffiziellen Nationalhymne hatte. [157] Lucas and Calvocoressi added that "it would be interesting to know how much reconnaissance was flown over the Eiffel sector on the U.S. First Army Front". Accounts of the killing vary, but at least 84 of the POWs were murdered. am Rhein, am Rhein, am deutschen Rhein! Panzerarmee durchbricht die feindliche Front nördlich der Schnee-Eifel und stürzt sich ohne jede Rücksicht auf ihre Nordflanke mit ihren schnellen Divisionen auf die Maas-Übergänge beiderseits Lüttich, um diese im Zusammenwirken mit dem Unternehmen Greif unzerstört zu gewinnen und im Anschluss daran auf den Albert-Kanal zwischen Maastricht und Antwerpen vorzustoßen.“. The US 2nd Armored Division put on perhaps the best performance for the Allies, achieving a Combat Efficiency Value of 1.48 when it smashed the 2nd Panzer Division (0.52) at Celles in late December. [55][56] SS-Obersturmbannführer Joachim Peiper led Kampfgruppe Peiper, consisting of 4,800 men and 600 vehicles, which was charged with leading the main effort. [151] Among the signs misread were the formation of the new 6th Panzer Army in the build-up area (west bank of the Rhine about Cologne); the new 'Star' (signals control-network) noted by the 'Fusion Room' traffic-analysts, linking "all the armoured divisions [assembling in the build-up area], including some transferred from the Russian front";[153][155] the daily aerial reconnaissance of the lightly defended target area by new Arado Ar 234 jets "as a matter of greatest urgency"; the marked increase in railway traffic in the build-up area; the movement of 1,000 trucks from the Italian front to the build-up area; disproportionate anxiety about tiny hitches in troop movements, suggesting a tight timetable;[154] the quadrupling of Luftwaffe fighter forces in the West;[154] and decrypts of Japanese diplomatic signals from Berlin to Tokyo, mentioning "the coming offensive". The positions of the Allied armies stretched from southern France all the way north to the Netherlands. Patton's Third Army in the south, centered around Bastogne, would attack north, Montgomery's forces in the north would strike south, and the two forces planned to meet at Houffalize. Dupuy, p. 501. In October, the First Canadian Army fought the Battle of the Scheldt, opening the port of Antwerp to shipping. On the evening of 24 December, General Hasso von Manteuffel recommended to Hitler's Military Adjutant a halt to all offensive operations and a withdrawal back to the Westwall (literally Western Rampart). The disputes between Montgomery and Bradley were well known, and Hitler hoped he could exploit this disunity. [23], The speed of the Allied advance coupled with an initial lack of deep-water ports presented the Allies with enormous supply problems. [4] These were reinforced a couple of weeks later, bringing the offensive's total strength to around 450,000 troops, and 1,500 tanks and assault guns. Weltkrieg: Dem ehrenden Gedächtnis ihrer im Weltkriege 1914/18 gefallenen und vermissten Heldensöhne und Brüder The defenders, led by the 7th Armored Division, included the remaining regiment of the 106th U.S. Infantry Division, with elements of the 9th Armored Division and 28th U.S. Infantry Division. [79] After more than 10 days of intense battle, they pushed the Americans out of the villages, but were unable to dislodge them from the ridge, where elements of the V Corps of the First U.S. Army prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west. German intelligence had set 20 December as the expected date for the start of the upcoming Soviet offensive, aimed at crushing what was left of German resistance on the Eastern Front and thereby opening the way to Berlin. The Allies relied too much on Ultra, not human reconnaissance. As the Ardennes crisis developed, the U.S. First Army (Hodges) and U.S. Ninth Army (Simpson) on the northern shoulder of the German penetration lost communications with adjacent armies, as well as with Bradley's headquarters in Luxembourg City to the south of the "bulge". It took many months to rebuild its cargo-handling capability. On 26 and 27 December the trapped units of 2nd Panzer Division made two break-out attempts, again only with partial success, as major quantities of equipment fell into Allied hands. The total for Seventh Army for January was 11,609. Entscheidend war außerdem das Wetter. Similar action was taken on the southern flank of the bulge by Bradley, with the Third Army.[117]. [45] The Battle of the Bulge was the bloodiest battle for U.S. forces in World War II. In the center, von Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army attacked towards Bastogne and St. Vith, both road junctions of great strategic importance. [71] He learned that Stoumont was strongly held and that the Americans were bringing up strong reinforcements from Spa. [35]:19, Several senior German military officers, including Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model and Gerd von Rundstedt, expressed concern as to whether the goals of the offensive could be realized. German offensive exhausts their resources on the, troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat, supply lines were stretched extremely thin. The U.S. units deployed in the Ardennes thus were a mixture of inexperienced troops (such as the raw U.S. 99th and 106th "Golden Lions" Divisions), and battle-hardened troops sent to that sector to recuperate (the 28th Infantry Division). The 6th Panzer Army was given priority for supply and equipment and was assigned the shortest route to the ultimate objective of the offensive, Antwerp. [25] These limitations led to differences between General Eisenhower and Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, commander of the Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group, over whether Montgomery or Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, commanding the U.S. 12th Army Group, in the south would get priority access to supplies. Doch dann wird ein junger Mann erschossen. The Allies were slowly pushing towards Germany, but no decisive breakthrough was achieved. This created a bottleneck in the German advance. On 2 January, the Tiger IIs of German Heavy Tank Battalion 506 supported an attack by the 12th SS Hitlerjugend division against U.S. positions near Wardin and knocked out 15 Sherman tanks. [59] Following the end of the war, soldiers and officers of Kampfgruppe Peiper, including Joachim Peiper and SS general Sepp Dietrich, were tried for the incident at the Malmedy massacre trial. Eisenhower wanted Montgomery to go on the counter offensive on 1 January, with the aim of meeting up with Patton's advancing Third Army and cutting off most of the attacking Germans, trapping them in a pocket. For the strength of the opposing sides at any one time, see table above. On 1 January, in an attempt to keep the offensive going, the Germans launched two new operations. After the war ended, the U.S. Army issued battle credit in the form of the Ardennes-Alsace campaign citation to units and individuals that took part in operations in northwest Europe. Die Offensive sollte wie ursprünglich geplant durch das schwierige Gelände der Ardennen Richtung Antwerpen führen, mit nur relativ schwachen Kräften zur Flankensicherung. [65][66]In 2001, a group of people began working on a tribute to the eleven black American soldiers to remember their sacrifices. It was Germany’s attempt to seize the port of Antwerp in order to severely disrupt Allied supplies and cause a political rift between United States and British leadership. Training time, equipment and supplies were inadequate during the preparations. While the Siege of Bastogne is often credited as the central point where the German offensive was stopped,[52] the battle for Elsenborn Ridge was actually the decisive component of the Battle of the Bulge, stopping the advance of the best equipped armored units of the German army and forcing them to reroute their troops to unfavorable alternative routes that considerably slowed their advance. [120] Montgomery started with giving credit to the "courage and good fighting quality" of the American troops, characterizing a typical American as a "very brave fighting man who has that tenacity in battle which makes a great soldier", and went on to talk about the necessity of Allied teamwork, and praised Eisenhower, stating, "Teamwork wins battles and battle victories win wars. [94] On 20 December, Eisenhower removed the First and Ninth U.S. SPI's monster game of the Battle of the Bulge. [139], Although the Germans managed to begin their offensive with complete surprise and enjoyed some initial successes, they were not able to seize the initiative on the Western Front. Kampfgruppe Sandig, which had been ordered to take Stavelot, launched another attack without success. Ardennenoffensive – Die „Wacht am Rhein“ Kriegsende in Europa 1945; Asien und Pazifik; Militär. Der Militärhistoriker Jens Westemeier urteilt in seiner Biografie zu Himmlers Adjutanten Joachim Peiper, zugleich dem wohl besten aktuellen Buch über die Waffen-SS, über Dietrich bündig: „Obwohl ihn schon die Führung eines Regiments überfordert hatte, befehligte er nun eine ganze Armee.“. The plan originally called for just under 45 divisions, including a dozen panzer and Panzergrenadier divisions forming the armored spearhead and various infantry units to form a defensive line as the battle unfolded. Von Rundstedt set up his operational headquarters near Limburg, close enough for the generals and Panzer Corps commanders who were to lead the attack to visit Adlerhorst on 11 December, traveling there in an SS-operated bus convoy. He gave some priority to Montgomery's northern forces. Über 200.000 deutsche Soldaten, die sich in den vorausgegangenen Wochen im Schutz der bewaldeten Eifel gesammelt hatten, gingen am 16. [44] Strong had informed Bedell Smith in December of his suspicions. Due to the use of landline communications within Germany, motorized runners carrying orders, and draconian threats from Hitler, the timing and mass of the attack was not detected by Ultra codebreakers and achieved complete surprise. For the offensive to be successful, four criteria were deemed critical: the attack had to be a complete surprise; the weather conditions had to be poor to neutralize Allied air superiority and the damage it could inflict on the German offensive and its supply lines;[41] the progress had to be rapid—the Meuse River, halfway to Antwerp, had to be reached by day 4; and Allied fuel supplies would have to be captured intact along the way because the combined Wehrmacht forces were short on fuel. Die Franzosen verstummten und begaben sich in die zum Transport nach Deutschland bestimmten Waggons. [24] Over-the-beach supply operations using the Normandy landing areas, and direct landing ships on the beaches, were unable to meet operational needs. They also had intelligence that the Wehrmacht was using the area across the German border as a rest-and-refit area for its troops. Zu den wenigen Ausnahmen zählte Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model. [57] Peiper's forces were rerouted through Lanzerath. Knittel pressed forward towards La Gleize, and shortly afterward the Americans recaptured Stavelot. [53][54], The attack on Monschau, Höfen, Krinkelt-Rocherath, and then Elsenborn Ridge was led by the units personally selected by Adolf Hitler. By this time, the town of Bastogne and its network of 11 hard-topped roads leading through the widely forested mountainous terrain with deep river valleys and boggy mud of the Ardennes region was under severe threat. The Ourthe River was passed at Ourtheville on 21 December. (, Wacht am Rhein was renamed Herbstnebel after the operation was given the go-ahead in early December, although its original name remains much better known (, harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFMitcham2006 (. [e][f] When they offered their alternative plans, Hitler would not listen. Skorzeny was tried by an American military tribunal in 1947 at the Dachau Trials for allegedly violating the laws of war stemming from his leadership of Operation Greif, but was acquitted.

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