The Battle of the Bulge is the title, in which the allied forces had, for the battle in the western front, and it was the last counterattack of the Germans. The operation name of the Germans was “Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein” and the counterattack was called “Rundstedt-Offensive” or “Ardennenoffensive”.
The plan of the operation was to go through the woodlands of Arden in Belgium with armoured units and recapture Antwerp, and take the allied forces in north of the western front captive, and destroy them.
During this time, there were on each side casualties, captives, and missing people. For the allied forces, it was about 90,000 soldiers and for the German forces were 85,000 soldiers.
The place of Battle of the Bulge, Now
There were several routes how the German troops were advancing toward Antwerpen. Out of several routes, I worked at one which is placed at the border of Luxembourg and Germany. It’s the route from Dasburg and Gemünd where they advanced to Bastogne. The migration length is about 180km long and it is not a rough way but it’s a uneven mountain trail.
At the outskirts of east Bastogne, there is a place called Mardasson Memorial built as a memory for the US troops which protected the city. In Bastogne I took pictures from the top of that building.
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Bastogne
On December 21st, 1944 the German forces broke through the allied forces line and surrounded Bastogne. But through the defence of the allied forces and their increase of soldiers the advantage of the number of the German forces disappeared. Eventually the early attack at Bastogne is failed, so they laid only siege the town and had to advance to the west.
On December 23rd, the weather cleared and the allied forces started air strikes and got more air supplies. On December 24th, the German forces had no more supplies and had to stop at the Meuse river. On December 26th, the US troops arrived in Bastogne and ended the siege. On January 13th, the German forces retreated from Bastogne. On January 23rd, the German headquarter decided to stop the operation. The war ended officially on January 27th, 1945.
View the scenes #768 #Field #Death #WWII #Bastogne #CE2011 #80x100cm
View the scenes #769 #Field #Death #WWII #Bastogne #CE2011 #80x100cm
View the scenes #770 #Field #Death #WWII #Bastogne #CE2011 #80x100cm
View the scenes #771 #Field #Death #WWII #Bastogne #CE2011 #80x100cm