GERMAN SOLDIER WITH AMMUNITION BELTS moves forward during the enemy counterattack in the Ardennes. German morale was higher than at any time since the Allies had landed, partly because the individual soldier had been propagandized into believing that this was the opportunity to destroy the Allied troops in the west. At 0530 on 16 December 1944 three German armies attacked on a 50-mile front in eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. This battle was popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge.
BELGIUM
ENEMY TROOPS PASS BURNING U. S. EQUIPMENT. The initial German attacks, following a heavy artillery preparation, were launched all along the front, roughly from Monschau to Echternach. The first objective was to secure the high ground of the Hohe Venn but the drive by the enemy met with stiff resistance and he was forced to commit his armor before noon on 16 December. Further attacks in the northern sector were no more successful and by night the Germans were still fighting at the approaches to the Elsenborn Ridge.
BELGIUM
A GERMAN SOLDIER waving members of his unit forward. Spurred on by expressions of the German commanders such as “Forward to and over the Meuse” and “We gamble everything now—we cannot fail,” enemy troops drove forward in a determined effort to defeat the Allies. South of the Elsenborn Ridge in the vicinity of the Losheim Gap U. S. troops were overwhelmed and forced to withdraw. By evening the enemy, though blocked in the north, had broken through the thinly held American line and drove toward Stavelot and Huy, the first objective on the Meuse River. Still further to the south in the Echternach area, the U. S. forces stopped the enemy after he had made limited gains. The Allied situation along the front was extremely grave.
TYPICAL ARDENNES TERRAIN. The rough, wooded tableland of the Ardennes in eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg is broken by many small streams which become serious obstacles during periods of heavy rain or thaw. The Ardennes contains a fair primary but poor secondary road system. Because of the rough terrain the main centers of the road net assumed great importance during the Battle of the Bulge. Heavy snow made infantry maneuver difficult and seriously limited tank movement.