Category: News
Battle of Monte Cassino – Allied Mistake, or Brutal Necessity?
The Battle of Monte Cassino began on January 17, 1944. The area was a stronghold for Germany, which held the Garigliano, Uri, and Rapido valleys, forming the Gustav Line. The rugged terrain created a natural fortress, giving the town the defensive high ground and creating a strategic nightmare for the Allies.
The Arsenal of Democracy’s Oversized Training Guns
Our friends at the Fort Harrison Military Museum in Helena, Montana, contacted us about an interesting discovery they made while searching through one of their storage sheds. Sorting through dust-covered artifacts, our friends at the museum stumbled across a small treasure-trove of unique pieces of American firearms history they put on display: a group of the double-sized training aids representing key U.S. small arms of World War II and the immediate post-war period.
The Little Known Battles of Attu And Kiska: Retaking The Only US Soil Lost During WWII
Jinny McCormick, Guest Author
War History Online
In the cold, desolate Arctic near Alaska in 1942, Japanese troops quietly invaded and took over two of the Aleutian Islands, considered to be North American soil, with barely any resistance. First, on June 6, they took nine Americans prisoner at a naval weather station on the island of Kiska, and the very next day, on the island of Attu, they captured 45 native Aleuts and an American couple from Ohio.
These two islands are so remote and barren that Attu, according to archeologists, had only a maximum of 5000 inhabitants in the several hundred years preceding its discovery by more recent Russian fur traders. Even when they arrived, one stranded Russian waited seven years before any other ship arrived and he could leave.
By the time WWII came around, the islands were sparsely inhabited, but the growing fear of Japanese in the Pacific sadly prompted American territorial authorities to move the native Aleut inhabitants to internment camps in Alaska. Of the 880 moved, 75 died in the camps due to infectious disease during the two years of internment. Sadly, it wasn’t only the evacuees that suffered. The U.S. didn’t evacuate all of the civilians from the islands – the 43 Native Aleuts and the American couple were still on Attu. When the Japanese took the island of Kiska, they killed two men, captured seven, and one escaped – for a while. He hid in a cave, subsisted on earthworms, and lost 80 lbs. After fifty days of starvation in a frozen wasteland, Senior Petty Officer William C. House finally surrendered himself. His surviving Navy brothers had since been moved to Japan and he soon followed. They remained there for the duration of the war.
Why Did Japan Want the Aleutians?
The Aleutian Islands are very remote (1200 miles from Alaska), barren, volcanic islands that are plagued by harsh weather can change on a dime from cold, still, and dense with fog to blasting winds that can drive a person down at 100 mph. There are few if any trees and they are almost unlivable.
Japan’s interest in the Aleutians was strategic. A few years before, U.S. General Billy Mitchell had said, “I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in the world.”
The Aleutians aren’t exactly Alaska, but Imperial Japan’s General Higuchi Kiichiro had a similar notion. He believed that if he controlled the Aleutians, Kiska and Attu specifically, he would control Northern Pacific sea routes. He wanted to prevent offensive attacks on Japan, separate and create a boundary between Russia and the U.S. (just in case Russia decided to gang up with the Americans and together attack the Japanese), and to create air bases from which to make offensive attacks.
Japanese troops raise the Imperial battle flag on Kiska after landing on 6 June 1942. Japanese troops raise the Imperial battle flag on Kiska after landing on 6 June 1942.
Taking the Islands The Japanese, under the command of Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki, arrived in Kiska on June 6, 1942.
They easily took the island, and the next day began invading Attu as well. The prisoners they took there were transported to a prison camp at Otaru, Hokkaido, where sixteen of them would die.
The soldiers, who would eventually number 2300-2500, were from Northern Japan and were accustomed to the cold and wind and had little difficulty working in Aleutian conditions.
From June to September the initial occupation numbering 500 or so Japanese soldiers was growing and preparations were being made. From September to October, the Japanese moved all operations to Kiska, leaving Attu undefended, but the Americans weren’t positioned to take the opportunity to act.
At the end of October, the Japanese returned to Attu under the command of Lt. Col. Hiroshi Yanekawa who established a base at Holtz Bay, where they remained undisturbed by Allied forces for 11 months.
Why Didn’t the U.S. Respond?
Part of the huge U.S. fleet at anchor, ready to move against Kiska. Part of the huge U.S. fleet at anchor, ready to move against Kiska. The Japanese attacks on Kiska and Attu occurred just six months after their attack on Pearl Harbor. U.S. forces were still reacting to the devastation and were trying to build up defenses in the Southern Pacific while simultaneously dealing with the European conflicts.
The U.S. did fly from other nearby Aleutian Islands to conduct minor bombing raids, but they didn’t have the ability to bring in ground troops until their victory in March of 1943 in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands in the Bering Sea.
That battle opened the sea lanes enough to finally respond to the Japanese invasion of Kiska and Attu.
Operation Landgrab
Battle of the Aleutian Islands Two months after Komandorski, the U.S. was ready to act. The Japanese had had limited supplies brought in – and only by submarine – once the sea lanes had been cut off. Still, the Japanese had knowledge of and acclimation to the island on their side. They may have been somewhat prepared, but they only numbered 2300 – certainly no advantage there.
Major General Albert Brown and 11,000 17th Infantry soldiers initiate Operation Landgrab on May 11, 1943. They landed at the north and south ends of Attu and had to make their way to Yamasaki’s position on the high ground that was further inland.
They faced little human opposition, but the island proved a formidable foe. This wasn’t a simple march to the inner parts of the island. The Americans were searching every nook and cranny for their enemy, and they were doing it in the snow, wind, and wet and they were not clothed for it. Neither did they have the equipment they needed for such a search. The powers that be thought this would be a simple in and out sort of mission and, thusly, didn’t take those precautions. They didn’t even bring enough food.
Many soldiers began to suffer from trench foot and gangrene and they were losing morale and physical strength due to extreme cold and hunger. When they did find Japanese soldiers, they were forced to fight the hardier men in intense small battles. The enemy soldiers lived by the Bushido Code, Way of the Warrior that forbid surrender and added to their fierceness in battle. They were warmer, better fed, and had more drive to fight.
Hauling_supplies_on_Attu American troops hauling supplies on Attu in May 1943 through Jarmin pass. Their vehicles could not move across the island’s rugged terrain. Still, it was the weather that was the biggest threat with driving winds, drenching rain showers, and freezing temperatures, causing more U.S. soldiers to suffer casualties from cold than from battle.
Somehow the bedraggled American troops were able to push the Japanese to Chichagof Harbor where they hid in caves or underground dugouts. The U.S. had the upper hand, and higher numbers and fortunes were looking poor for Yamasaki and his men.
The Japanese commander, to go forth in honor, decided to risk an attack on the U.S. His plan was to charge on the Americans, take their artillery, and then return to the cliff side hideaways and caves. They would then wait it out until the Imperial Army sent backup.
He launched his banzai charge in the early morning light of May 29th, to the shock of American troops – all the way through the posts to the rear of the American camp – hand to hand combat all the way. Once the Americans began using firepower, the Japanese had no chance, and those that had survived to make it nearly to the end began to commit suicide – many by grenade. A doctor from the field hospital had killed his patients, so they were gone too. He wrote in his diary, “The last assault is to be carried out.… I am only 33 years old and I am to die…. I took care of all patients with a grenade.”
A few very small groups of Japanese continued to fight until July, refusing to give up. Fewer than 30 survived to be taken prisoner. Around 1,000 of the 15,000 U.S. troops were killed.
Meanwhile, on Kiska, the Japanese holding that island heard of the mass suicide on Attu. When Americans arrived in August – better equipped with airplanes and Canadian bomber assistance – the bombs they dropped and in 95 ships they stormed Kiska with over 34,000 American and Canadian troops to take out the 5200 Japanese they expected to be there.
But the Japanese had left in July in a hurry with freshly brewed coffee still sitting in cups on the base.
Even though there was no enemy to fight, 200 Allied soldiers died in this non-battle. Some were victims of friendly fire, and others had unfortunate run-ins with booby traps and live ordnance.
What’s Left
Troops march up the beach at Adak Island, during pre-invasion loading for the Kiska Operation, 13 August 1943. The LCM behind the soldiers is from USS Zeilin (APA-3). USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) is in the far right distance. Note the troops’ packs and M1 rifles. Troops march up the beach at Adak Island, during pre-invasion loading for the Kiska Operation, 13 August 1943. The LCM behind the soldiers is from USS Zeilin (APA-3). USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) is in the far right distance. Note the troops’ packs and M1 rifles. Seventy years later, both islands are like portals in time. Indentations from Allied tents can still be seen on the ground; cups of coffee are still there, and more than coke bottles litter the ground. The military occasionally makes an effort to remove live artillery and unexploded bombs from the island, but that task isn’t finished.
Archeologists and war historians are making an effort to study the sites because they are the only untouched battlefields that have been preserved completely. Because of the arctic conditions, decay is slow or non-existent, giving researchers a window into the past.
War History Online
In the cold, desolate Arctic near Alaska in 1942, Japanese troops quietly invaded and took over two of the Aleutian Islands, considered to be North American soil, with barely any resistance. First, on June 6, they took nine Americans prisoner at a naval weather station on the island of Kiska, and the very next day, on the island of Attu, they captured 45 native Aleuts and an American couple from Ohio.
These two islands are so remote and barren that Attu, according to archeologists, had only a maximum of 5000 inhabitants in the several hundred years preceding its discovery by more recent Russian fur traders. Even when they arrived, one stranded Russian waited seven years before any other ship arrived and he could leave.
By the time WWII came around, the islands were sparsely inhabited, but the growing fear of Japanese in the Pacific sadly prompted American territorial authorities to move the native Aleut inhabitants to internment camps in Alaska. Of the 880 moved, 75 died in the camps due to infectious disease during the two years of internment. Sadly, it wasn’t only the evacuees that suffered. The U.S. didn’t evacuate all of the civilians from the islands – the 43 Native Aleuts and the American couple were still on Attu. When the Japanese took the island of Kiska, they killed two men, captured seven, and one escaped – for a while. He hid in a cave, subsisted on earthworms, and lost 80 lbs. After fifty days of starvation in a frozen wasteland, Senior Petty Officer William C. House finally surrendered himself. His surviving Navy brothers had since been moved to Japan and he soon followed. They remained there for the duration of the war.
Why Did Japan Want the Aleutians?
The Aleutian Islands are very remote (1200 miles from Alaska), barren, volcanic islands that are plagued by harsh weather can change on a dime from cold, still, and dense with fog to blasting winds that can drive a person down at 100 mph. There are few if any trees and they are almost unlivable.
Japan’s interest in the Aleutians was strategic. A few years before, U.S. General Billy Mitchell had said, “I believe that in the future, whoever holds Alaska will hold the world. I think it is the most important strategic place in the world.”
The Aleutians aren’t exactly Alaska, but Imperial Japan’s General Higuchi Kiichiro had a similar notion. He believed that if he controlled the Aleutians, Kiska and Attu specifically, he would control Northern Pacific sea routes. He wanted to prevent offensive attacks on Japan, separate and create a boundary between Russia and the U.S. (just in case Russia decided to gang up with the Americans and together attack the Japanese), and to create air bases from which to make offensive attacks.
Japanese troops raise the Imperial battle flag on Kiska after landing on 6 June 1942. Japanese troops raise the Imperial battle flag on Kiska after landing on 6 June 1942.
Taking the Islands The Japanese, under the command of Colonel Yasuyo Yamasaki, arrived in Kiska on June 6, 1942.
They easily took the island, and the next day began invading Attu as well. The prisoners they took there were transported to a prison camp at Otaru, Hokkaido, where sixteen of them would die.
The soldiers, who would eventually number 2300-2500, were from Northern Japan and were accustomed to the cold and wind and had little difficulty working in Aleutian conditions.
From June to September the initial occupation numbering 500 or so Japanese soldiers was growing and preparations were being made. From September to October, the Japanese moved all operations to Kiska, leaving Attu undefended, but the Americans weren’t positioned to take the opportunity to act.
At the end of October, the Japanese returned to Attu under the command of Lt. Col. Hiroshi Yanekawa who established a base at Holtz Bay, where they remained undisturbed by Allied forces for 11 months.
Why Didn’t the U.S. Respond?
Part of the huge U.S. fleet at anchor, ready to move against Kiska. Part of the huge U.S. fleet at anchor, ready to move against Kiska. The Japanese attacks on Kiska and Attu occurred just six months after their attack on Pearl Harbor. U.S. forces were still reacting to the devastation and were trying to build up defenses in the Southern Pacific while simultaneously dealing with the European conflicts.
The U.S. did fly from other nearby Aleutian Islands to conduct minor bombing raids, but they didn’t have the ability to bring in ground troops until their victory in March of 1943 in the Battle of the Komandorski Islands in the Bering Sea.
That battle opened the sea lanes enough to finally respond to the Japanese invasion of Kiska and Attu.
Operation Landgrab
Battle of the Aleutian Islands Two months after Komandorski, the U.S. was ready to act. The Japanese had had limited supplies brought in – and only by submarine – once the sea lanes had been cut off. Still, the Japanese had knowledge of and acclimation to the island on their side. They may have been somewhat prepared, but they only numbered 2300 – certainly no advantage there.
Major General Albert Brown and 11,000 17th Infantry soldiers initiate Operation Landgrab on May 11, 1943. They landed at the north and south ends of Attu and had to make their way to Yamasaki’s position on the high ground that was further inland.
They faced little human opposition, but the island proved a formidable foe. This wasn’t a simple march to the inner parts of the island. The Americans were searching every nook and cranny for their enemy, and they were doing it in the snow, wind, and wet and they were not clothed for it. Neither did they have the equipment they needed for such a search. The powers that be thought this would be a simple in and out sort of mission and, thusly, didn’t take those precautions. They didn’t even bring enough food.
Many soldiers began to suffer from trench foot and gangrene and they were losing morale and physical strength due to extreme cold and hunger. When they did find Japanese soldiers, they were forced to fight the hardier men in intense small battles. The enemy soldiers lived by the Bushido Code, Way of the Warrior that forbid surrender and added to their fierceness in battle. They were warmer, better fed, and had more drive to fight.
Hauling_supplies_on_Attu American troops hauling supplies on Attu in May 1943 through Jarmin pass. Their vehicles could not move across the island’s rugged terrain. Still, it was the weather that was the biggest threat with driving winds, drenching rain showers, and freezing temperatures, causing more U.S. soldiers to suffer casualties from cold than from battle.
Somehow the bedraggled American troops were able to push the Japanese to Chichagof Harbor where they hid in caves or underground dugouts. The U.S. had the upper hand, and higher numbers and fortunes were looking poor for Yamasaki and his men.
The Japanese commander, to go forth in honor, decided to risk an attack on the U.S. His plan was to charge on the Americans, take their artillery, and then return to the cliff side hideaways and caves. They would then wait it out until the Imperial Army sent backup.
He launched his banzai charge in the early morning light of May 29th, to the shock of American troops – all the way through the posts to the rear of the American camp – hand to hand combat all the way. Once the Americans began using firepower, the Japanese had no chance, and those that had survived to make it nearly to the end began to commit suicide – many by grenade. A doctor from the field hospital had killed his patients, so they were gone too. He wrote in his diary, “The last assault is to be carried out.… I am only 33 years old and I am to die…. I took care of all patients with a grenade.”
A few very small groups of Japanese continued to fight until July, refusing to give up. Fewer than 30 survived to be taken prisoner. Around 1,000 of the 15,000 U.S. troops were killed.
Meanwhile, on Kiska, the Japanese holding that island heard of the mass suicide on Attu. When Americans arrived in August – better equipped with airplanes and Canadian bomber assistance – the bombs they dropped and in 95 ships they stormed Kiska with over 34,000 American and Canadian troops to take out the 5200 Japanese they expected to be there.
But the Japanese had left in July in a hurry with freshly brewed coffee still sitting in cups on the base.
Even though there was no enemy to fight, 200 Allied soldiers died in this non-battle. Some were victims of friendly fire, and others had unfortunate run-ins with booby traps and live ordnance.
What’s Left
Troops march up the beach at Adak Island, during pre-invasion loading for the Kiska Operation, 13 August 1943. The LCM behind the soldiers is from USS Zeilin (APA-3). USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) is in the far right distance. Note the troops’ packs and M1 rifles. Troops march up the beach at Adak Island, during pre-invasion loading for the Kiska Operation, 13 August 1943. The LCM behind the soldiers is from USS Zeilin (APA-3). USS Pennsylvania (BB-38) is in the far right distance. Note the troops’ packs and M1 rifles. Seventy years later, both islands are like portals in time. Indentations from Allied tents can still be seen on the ground; cups of coffee are still there, and more than coke bottles litter the ground. The military occasionally makes an effort to remove live artillery and unexploded bombs from the island, but that task isn’t finished.
Archeologists and war historians are making an effort to study the sites because they are the only untouched battlefields that have been preserved completely. Because of the arctic conditions, decay is slow or non-existent, giving researchers a window into the past.
Former Vietnam War Army nurse from Helena receives Presidential Citizens Medal
By Sonny Tapia
Helena Independent Record
An Army nurse from Helena was among 20 recipients honored for her service to her country Jan. 2 with the Presidential Citizens Medal.
Diane Carlson Evans served in the Vietnam War as an Army nurse before she founded the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation for female service members to be recognized for service to their country.
“Her duty and devotion embody the very best of who we are as Americans,” the White House said in a news release.
“I knew I was nominated for the award, but I didn’t think I would get it,” she said Monday. “I was overwhelmed.”
The 78-year-old Evans said she would accept the award on behalf of her sister veterans because everything she did was a part of a team. She could not make it to the ceremony in Washington, D.C., due to her April cancer diagnosis, so she sent seven guests to represent her at the White House.
When asked if she felt she was deserving of the recognition she said, “I was just doing what I felt was right to do.”
Evans served for six years in the Army Nurse Corps and was a part of a burn unit in Vietnam from 1968-1969.
The burn unit was a part of the 36th Evacuation Hospital in Vung Tau and at Pleiku in the 71st Evacuation Hospital, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund website says.
Evans is from Buffalo, Minnesota, and heard during her second year of nursing school that nurses were needed for the war, so she enlisted immediately and landed overseas on July 31, 1968, according to a previous report.
The “ranch girl” said she has always had a no-quit attitude, which allowed her to hurdle many of the obstacles in her professional and personal life with her husband as her rock.
Ray Read, director of the Montana Military Museum, said Evans fully deserves the award.
“We are very proud of her … she’s always been a humble person,” he said.
He added she fought many battles using her voice and supported veterans throughout her tenure.
“We’re glad she is a member of our post and we look forward to more connections with her,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Evans paved the way for the 1993 dedication of a sculpture in the nation’s capital honoring female veterans who served their country.
“I hope all Montana veterans are remembered and honored,” Evans said. “This medal is in honor of all the sister veterans.”
“We’re glad she is a member of our post and we look forward to more connections with her,” he said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
Evans paved the way for the 1993 dedication of a sculpture in the nation’s capital honoring female veterans who served their country.
“I hope all Montana veterans are remembered and honored,” Evans said. “This medal is in honor of all the sister veterans.”
Devils’ Brigade Secret Weapon: The Johnson M1941 LMG
Despite watching from the sidelines for more than two years, America was surprisingly unprepared for the war that came on December 7, 1941. That is however, with the notable exception of U.S. small arms. Compared to any other combatant nation, American infantry weapons represented an embarrassment of riches. Even some of our firearms kept in reserve were the envy of lesser military forces. Americans quickly came to expect nothing but the best from the Arsenal of Democracy.
Battle of Peleliu – Revisiting a Meat-Grinder of the Pacific War
September 15 marked the anniversary of the start to the Battle of Peleliu. Spearheaded by the 1st Marine Division, Operation Stalemate II was to take less than a week. Instead, entrenched Japanese defenders utilized the island’s rugged terrain and an intricate system of caves and bunkers to inflict severe casualties on the Americans.
Battle of Iwo Jima – Returning to the Black Sands
On 19 February 1945 — 79 years ago today — the US Marine Corps began the bloody work of taking Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army. Casualties were extremely heavy — nearly 7,000 Americans killed and close to triple that number wounded. In today’s article, Capt. Dale A. Dye, U.S.M.C. (ret.) describes his experiences in visiting that historic volcanic island.
USS Montana arrives at new Pacific Fleet homeport in Hawaii
The Virginia-class fast-attack submarine USS Montana (SSN 794) arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam following a change of homeport from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, December 23, 2024.
INDEPENDENT RECORD
By Lt. j.g. Paul Fletcher, Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet Public Affairs
The USS Montana, a Virginia-class fast-attack submarine, arrived Dec. 23 at its new Pacific Fleet homeport, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii.
The $2.6 billion USS Montana, also known as SSN 794, changed its homeport from Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia, the U.S. Navy said in a news release. It marks the ninth Virginia-class fast-attack submarine home-ported at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. It will be assigned to Submarine Squadron 1 and is expected to serve the nation with a range of missions around the world for more than three decades, officials said.
“We’re all very excited to be here in Pearl Harbor and we appreciate the great welcome,” Cmdr. John Gilligan, commanding officer of USS Montana, said in the news release.
He credited the crew for “extraordinary work in Virginia to get to this significant milestone.”
Capt. Aaron Peterson, commander, Submarine Squadron 1, met the Montana pier-side upon arrival.
“On behalf of the Pacific Submarine Force Ohana, I enthusiastically welcome the officers and crew of the good ship Montana, with the warmth, culture, and spirit unique to the state of Hawaii,” he said.
Before finishing its homeport shift from the East Coast, Montana completed a post-shakedown availability at Newport News Shipbuilding and was redelivered to the Navy in November 2024.
“Through a great effort by the crew, working with our industry partners, we’ve completed our availability and rejoined the Fleet. We’re ready to execute any task we’re called upon to complete throughout the Indo-Pacific,” Gilligan said.
Commissioned on June 25, 2022, at Naval Station Norfolk, Montana is the second warship to be named after the state, following the armored cruiser USS Montana (ACR 13).
The submarine is more than 377 feet long and can displace nearly 7,800 tons. Montana has a crew of nearly 140 sailors — all of whom have been named by Gov. Greg Gianforte as “honorary Montanans,” — and can support various missions, including anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface ship warfare, strike warfare, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet Submarine Force provides strategic deterrence, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare, precision land strike, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and early warning and special warfare capabilities around the globe.
Ron Davis, chair of the Montana-based USS Montana Committee, praised the reaching of the milestone.
“It signals that the submarine is that much closer to being tasked to accomplish any of a number of different missions as part of the Pacific Fleet,” he said, adding the committee and all Montanans will continue to proudly support the Montana as it settles in Hawaii “and through her service life.”
The nonprofit, nonpartisan committee is a group of volunteers from across the state who support the USS Montana. It was endorsed by the governor and Legislature in 2017.
The ship is decorated with a Montana theme with state rooms named after Montana cities. Passageways are named for Montana rivers. The crew mess area, called the Big Sky Saloon, includes a Glacier Park panorama.
The submarine also has a tribal victory/war song to be played aboard the submarine when the crew is called to battle stations. And in honor of the Treasure State’s past of vigilante justice in the 19th century, the crew has adopted the nickname “The Vigilantes of the Deep.”
For more information, go to: https://ussmontanacommittee.us/.
Battle of the Bulge: A Montana Perspective on the 80th Anniversary
Press Release: Battle of the Bulge December 1944 - January 1945
Join the Montana Military Museum on historic Fort William Henry Harrison Thursday, December 19, 2024 from 9 AM-4 PM for a tribute to the Montanans who participated and sacrificed in World War II largest’s allied military battle against the German forces in the European war theater, Christmas 1944 and start of the New Year 1945.
Over three hundred Montanans in various units participated in this battle under the most trying of environmental conditions. acquitting themselves most admirably. Come and hear some of their stories. Colonel John Driscoll has been. Asked to speak about his and his co-author Randall LeCocqe ‘s recent book entitled, The Battle of the Bulge: A Montana Perspective.
Battle of the Bulge Perspective based on various reviews—–
On December 16, 1944, the serene winter landscape of the Ardennes forest erupted into chaos as German forces launched a massive surprise assault on Allied troops. This confrontation, known as the Battle of the Bulge, became one of the most critical turning points of World War II. The German plan was audacious: to divide Allied forces, encircle and annihilate several armies, and compel the Western Allies into negotiating peace. While the offensive initially succeeded, it failed, signaling the beginning of Nazi Germany’s decline.
The operation, code-named Wacht am Rhein (Watch on the Rhine), was carefully orchestrated by Adolf Hitler and his generals. Hitler believed a bold counteroffensive could reverse Germany’s losses following the Allied invasion of Normandy and their relentless push through France. The Ardennes forest, with its dense woods and rugged terrain, was chosen as the attack site because the Allies had lightly defended it, assuming it was an unlikely location for an offensive.
Germany prepared a massive force of 200,000 troops, over 1,000 tanks and assault vehicles, and extensive artillery. Three key armies spearheaded the operation: the Sixth SS Panzer Army led by
General Sepp Dietrich, the Fifth Panzer Army under General Hasso von Manteuffel, and the Seventh Army commanded by General Erich Brandenberger. Their mission was to break through Allied lines, capture Antwerp, and cripple the Allies’ supply chain.
At dawn on December 16, German forces struck with devastating artillery barrages, followed by infantry and tank assaults. Poor weather, including heavy fog, grounded Allied air support, giving the Germans a temporary advantage.
Entire divisions of unseasoned and fatigued American troops stationed in the Ardennes were caught off guard and overwhelmed. The German advance pushed Allied lines back, creating a 50-mile-wide bulge in the front—hence the battle’s name.
A pivotal moment unfolded in the Belgian town of Bastogne, a critical crossroads. German forces encircled the town, but the 101st Airborne Division, under General Anthony McAuliffe, held firm despite being heavily outnumbered. When the Germans demanded their surrender, McAuliffe famously replied, “Nuts!” The defenders of Bastogne endured relentless attacks and freezing winter conditions until General George S. Patton’s Third Army arrived to relieve them on December 26.
Although the Germans made significant early gains, their advance soon stalled due to logistical challenges. Fuel shortages left tanks stranded, and their supply lines stretched thin. Meanwhile, the Allies regrouped. By December 23, improving weather conditions allowed Allied air forces to strike back.
Bombers and fighter planes destroyed German supply routes and troop positions, turning the momentum in favor of the Allies.
By late December, the Allies launched a counteroffensive from both the north and south, closing in on the German bulge. The fighting was intense, with villages and towns changing hands multiple times. Exhausted and suffering heavy losses, German forces began retreating by early January 1945.
