About Kevin Ahearn Expertise I have studied WW II for years and have a full library at my disposal. While some aspects of WW II can be controversial, I`ll give as many sides to each argument as I can find.I am currently working as a literary agent and welcome nonfiction and fiction manuscripts on the subject.
I am a student from Belgium. For a task, I would like to know which German armies participated in the Battle of the Bulge, which was in December 1944.
Many thanks in advance for your help !
Answer The Battle of the Bulge which lasted from December 16, 1944 to January 28, 1945 was the largest land battle of World War II in which the United States participated. More than a million men fought in this battle including some 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British. The German military force consisted of two Armies with ten corps(equal to 29 divisions). While the American military force consisted of a total of three armies with six corps(equal to 31 divisions). At the conclusion of the battle the casualties were as follows: 81,000 U.S. with 19,000 killed, 1400 British with 200 killed, and 100,000 Germans killed, wounded or captured.
In late 1944 Germany was clearly losing the war. The Russian Red Army was steadily closing in on the Eastern front while German cities were being devastated by intense American bombing. The Italian peninsula had been captured and liberated, and the Allied armies were advancing rapidly through France and the Low Countries. Hitler knew the end was near if something couldn't be done to slow the Allied advance. He soon came up with a plan to do this.
In September of 1944 Wilhelm Kertel and Alfred Jodle attended a meeting at Hitler's headquarters in East Prussia. At which time Hitler gave a status of Germany's current military position. During this meeting Hitler presented Jodle with the task of coming up with a strategic plan for a major offensive on the Western front. Hitler assigned the attack to be somewhere between the Aachan area and the southern Luxembourg-France boundary. This location was favorable because there was only one armored and four U. S. infantry divisions at this location. Dietrich's Sixth Panzer-Armee would set out from a small town twenty miles southeast of Aachan. Mauteuffel's Fifthe PanzerPrum would launch from Schee Eifel plateau. Bramdemburger's Seventh Armee would launch itself from the south close to the Siegfried Line. The Sixth and Fifth armies would drive to Antwerp, with the Seventh and other units protecting the flank. At this meeting Hitler planned to launch the offensive between November 20 and November 30. He was confident the Allies would not be able to react in time to stop the offensive. His plan was dependent upon speed and accuracy. The speed would be provided via the terrain and the woods would provide the cover. Also key to the plan was the weather. Hitler was hoping the attack would occur during weather which would prevent the Allied Air forces from being effective.
