“Without the willpower and determination of these men to stop a numerically superior invader, a different chapter would have been written in history.”
Major-General Troy H. Middleton
Commander, US VIII Corps
“The ‘Battle of the Ardennes’ was certainly one of the most difficult in which I was ordered to participate and where the stakes were significant.”
Field-Marshal Bernard MONTGOMERY
Commander 21st Army Group
The Allied landing in Normandy on 06 June 44 was a defeat for the German Army,
which could not resist the breakthrough of the Allied armies into France and Belgium. After four years of occupation,
our towns and villages acclaim their liberators amid general rejoicing.
But just a few months later, the celebrations are to be brutally interrupted by a major offensive planned by the German High Command. Its aim is to reverse the course of events by charging through the Ardennes, crossing the River Meuse, re-taking the port infrastructure of Antwerp and thereby preventing supplies from reaching the Allied armies, and isolating the British Army from the American Army in order to obtain the signature of a separate peace on the Western Front.
After several successive postponements, ‘The Battle of the Ardennes’, also called ‘The Battle of the Bulge’
or ‘The von RUNDSTEDT Offensive’, is launched in the cold and fog, from Monschau to Echternach,
at 5.30 in the morning of 16 December.
On the Allied side the surprise is total.
But on the northern front the momentum of Sepp DIETRICH’s 6.Panzer Army is very quickly broken by the fierce
resistance of the American units.
On the southern front, despite certain difficulties, Hasso von MANTEUFFEL’s 5. Panzer Army encircles Bastogne, and resolutely advances in the direction of the River Meuse and its bridges.
On Christmas Eve, the tanks of the German breakthrough are stopped and destroyed in sight of Dinant.
The German army is never to cross the Meuse, and the tactical objective is no longer Antwerp and its port but the surrender
of the town of Bastogne.
However, coming from the Moselle front, General PATTON’s tanks succeed in breaking the German siege of the town on the day after Christmas.
As planned by the Allied High Command, on 3 January ‘45 the counter-offensive of the Allied armies begins in the freezing cold and snow.
On 16 January, under pressure from the British divisions engaging the spearhead of the German breakthrough, and following the thrust of the American armies advancing from the northern and southern flanks, the German salient is captured.
On 28 January, the date reckoned to be the last day of the Battle of the Ardennes, the German Army is pushed back to its positions at the start of the offensive, behind the Siegfried Line.
The Battle of the Ardennes is over,
but the inhabitants of our towns and villages will never forget their liberators.
And neither the Americans, English, Scots, Welsh and Canadians, nor the French and Belgians,
will ever forget the cold and snow of that terrible winter ‘44-45,
or their comrades-in-arms resting in the military cemeteries of the Ardennes.
Text source : Guy Blockmans, O.P.T. Wallonie-Bruxelles
1940-1945 & Battle of the Ardennes
Houffalize during the Battle of the Bulge Nestling in the narrow valley of the River Ourthe, Houffalize is a strategic stopping-point on the major highway from Bastogne to Liège.
In May ’40, befor... Houffalize
The battle of the Bulge museum Over 1500 sq./m on three levels, the museum displays 120 dummies representing American, British, German and Belgian soldiers with their respective equipmen... La Roche-en-Ardenne
Scottish Memorial ‘Roll of Honour’ Memorial erected to the memory of the 54 Scots killed during the Battle of the Ardennes. (Situated at the entrance of the town on the Hott... La Roche-en-Ardenne
The town of La Roche during the Battle of the Bulge On 10 September ’44, the town celebrated its liberation by the American troops. But during their retreat, the Germans blew-up both the town bridges
across... La Roche-en-Ardenne
The Commonwealth war cemetery The Cemetery is located at the southern end of the town on a wooded plateau, where the remains of 666 Commonwealth soldiers and airmen have been laid to re... Hotton
The village of Hotton during the Battle of the Ardennes Coming from Houffalize, but considering the bridge over the Ourthe at La Roche unreliable for the crossing of an armoured column, on 20 December 116. Panze... Hotton
Bastogne Historical Center Situated beside the American Memorial on the Mardasson Hill, the Bastogne Historical Centre gives visitors a new museum concept. The exterior, in the shape... Bastogne
The American Memorial on Mardasson Hill In a form of a five-pointed American star, this monument was designed by the architect Georges DEDOYARD, to honor the memory of the 76 890 American Soldier... Bastogne
General Mc Auliffe Monument Division Artillery Commander and Acting Division Commander of the 101st US Airborne Division, ‘The Screaming Eagles’, Brigadier-General Anthony McAuliffe c... Bastogne
Ardennes Country Original Museum A room dedicated to military and civilian life during the Battle of the Ardennes. A room reserved for nature. A room displaying the old agricultural and cr... Bastogne
"I was 20 in '45 in Bastogne" The Bastogne museum is totally new and original. This is why, within the context of the sixtieth anniversary of the famous Battle of the Ardennes, the orga... Bastogne
Monuments of the Battle of the Bulge In the surroundings of the city, we can see different monuments like McAuliffe, Patton, Glessener and Cady. A stele marking the place where the first tan... Bastogne
The stones of the "Liberty way" Every kilometre from Omaha beach to the Bastogne Historical Center a marker has been set alongside the route followed by Patton’s 3rd Army. The last three ... Bastogne
Mémorial George S. Patton Jr George S. Patton, Jr., born in California in 1885 and educated at West Point Military Academy, had already won renown as the commander of an armoured unit ... Bastogne
Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge In their rest-area near Reims in the evening of 18 December ’44, the paratroopers of the US 101st Airborne Division were put on a state of alert. Weather c... Bastogne
“Combats of Bastogne” from the sky The company Air Loisirs proposes a new documentary of 45 minutes.
This documentary presents the history of the combat of Bastogne before flying over ten ... Bastogne
The wood of Peace American veterans of the Battle of the Ardennes were very touched by the idea that their name could be inscribed on a plaque at the base of a tree, their “... Bizory
(Bastogne)
German military cemetery This German cemetery is distinguished by a chapel built from pink Eifel sandstone, its internal walls being of slate. It contains the remains of 6,807 Germ... Recogne
(Bastogne)
Saint-Hubert during the Battle of the Bulge From 26 December ’44, a squadron of French SAS paratroopers attached to the British 6th Airborne Division was in action east of the town, thereby
protecti... Saint-Hubert
The town of Vielsalm during the Battle of the Bulge It was in Vielsalm on 17 December that Major-General Robert Hasbrouck, commanding the 7th Armored Division, established his headquarters from which he dire... Vielsalm
Stone commemorating the 61 paratroopers Stone in the form of a headstone commemorating the 61 paratroopers
who died in the liberation of Bure. (Church square)
(Text source by Guy Blockmans / OP... Bure
(Tellin)
