Battle of the Bulge

[Eric]

On this day in 1945, the Battle of the Bulge ended.

 

[Dric902]

My Dad, god bless him, was with Patton south of the Ardennes.

he said they got a hot move north, he was a 40mm AA gunner and was on a truck. They couldn’t keep up with the tanks that “took off like a shot”

they got there about a day later 

 

good solid men, we are diminished without them

 

.

[NPTim]

My great uncle Ben was at the Battle of the Bulge. He retired a colonel and as I understand it, well loved by his troops.

Edited January 27, 2021 by NPTim

[Fnfalman]

Bastogne Bulldogs. 

 

 

[Silentpoet]

I knew an elderly gent about 16-17 year ago who I believe fought in it.  I know he was very proud of serving under Patton.

 

[minervadoe]

My dad was there with the VII corps.  He put in "a little" overtime as a medic in a field hospital.

[holyjohnson]

 

God Bless them.

[EdTracker]

A valiant stand of the greatest of men.  

 

A toast to them ALL!  Cheers!

[deputy tom]

My dad and two of his brothers were in the Battle of the Bulge. His other brother was in the death march of Bataan. tom.

[M&P15T]

And an even bigger fight, with more casualties, occurred on the northern shoulder of the bulge. Elsenborn Ridge was particularly nasty, with the Germans just continuously attempting to take the ridge, to the point of driving tanks right up onto the ridge. TOT artillery, proximity fuses, and calling in artillery on their own positions saved the day for the handful of US troops up on that ridge.

ETA; and if you all would pardon my waxing poetic for a few lines here.....

The scope and magnitude of WW2 is mind-boggling. I think I recently read that 94% of the world's countries were involved in some manner in it. I've read many books, watched many documentaries, and every time I do I learn about another WW2 conflict I had never heard of. 

In closing, I'd like to share what I think was the most important battle of WWII. The one that had the largest impact on the rest of the war after it. The battle that, with everything I've read and all the documentaries I've watched, logically stands out as THE battle of WWII. The one that, had the outcome gone the other way, the course of the rest of the war would have been massively different. 

Midway. 

You read that right. Not Stalingrad, Not Kursk, not the Battle of Britain (that battle has been massively over-stated in some ways), not the Battle of the Bulge, not D-Day, not the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Malta or Italy, not Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Saipan......Midway.

Midway had more riding on it's outcome than any other. And it was a 146.87% more desperate, gambling, and sheer luck based battle than any other. And it was the largest directional change for the entirety of WW2. It had the largest impact on the outcome of WWII of any battle.

Edited January 27, 2021 by M&P15T

[M&P15T]

And further more.......?

The Battle of the Bulge was just what the Allied commanders wanted. What they needed. They wanted and needed for the Germans to come out from behind their West Wall. They needed the Germans to attack, to put their heads in the noose that was Allied fire-power on the ground and in the air. From Eisenhower on down, they were desperate for the Germans to do exactly what they did....give them the opportunity to crush them while they were on the offensive. To fight the Germans while they were attacking, rather than bashing their heads against German defenses, where there's a 3 to 1 advantage against the attackers.

Good grief but Hitler was a complete and utter moron.

[Sparks]

My dad had a friend who fought in the botb.  He used to keep his house blazing hot during the winter.  He said that he swore to himself if he made it back home that he would never be cold again.

[Fnfalman]

2 hours ago, M&P15T said:

And further more.......?

The Battle of the Bulge was just what the Allied commanders wanted. What they needed. They wanted and needed for the Germans to come out from behind their West Wall. They needed the Germans to attack, to put their heads in the noose that was Allied fire-power on the ground and in the air. From Eisenhower on down, they were desperate for the Germans to do exactly what they did....give them the opportunity to crush them while they were on the offensive. To fight the Germans while they were attacking, rather than bashing their heads against German defenses, where there's a 3 to 1 advantage against the attackers.

Good grief but Hitler was a complete and utter moron.

That’s what happened when a corporal tried to run a war. 

[RenoF250]

3 hours ago, M&P15T said:

And an even bigger fight, with more casualties, occurred on the northern shoulder of the bulge. Elsenborn Ridge was particularly nasty, with the Germans just continuously attempting to take the ridge, to the point of driving tanks right up onto the ridge. TOT artillery, proximity fuses, and calling in artillery on their own positions saved the day for the handful of US troops up on that ridge.

ETA; and if you all would pardon my waxing poetic for a few lines here.....

The scope and magnitude of WW2 is mind-boggling. I think I recently read that 94% of the world's countries were involved in some manner in it. I've read many books, watched many documentaries, and every time I do I learn about another WW2 conflict I had never heard of. 

In closing, I'd like to share what I think was the most important battle of WWII. The one that had the largest impact on the rest of the war after it. The battle that, with everything I've read and all the documentaries I've watched, logically stands out as THE battle of WWII. The one that, had the outcome gone the other way, the course of the rest of the war would have been massively different. 

Midway. 

You read that right. Not Stalingrad, Not Kursk, not the Battle of Britain (that battle has been massively over-stated in some ways), not the Battle of the Bulge, not D-Day, not the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Malta or Italy, not Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Saipan......Midway.

Midway had more riding on it's outcome than any other. And it was a 146.87% more desperate, gambling, and sheer luck based battle than any other. And it was the largest directional change for the entirety of WW2. It had the largest impact on the outcome of WWII of any battle.

 

I thought Midway as soon as I read through most important.  I don't think there is any question it is.  If it would have gone the way it "should" have the balance of power in the pacific would have been severely different.

I want pretty much every WWII movie I can.  Hard to believe those were the same humans that bred some of the weasely, weak, feckless, communist, soy boy trash we see around us today.

[Fnfalman]

never forget. 

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/african-american-333rd-field-artillery-battle-of-bulge

[railfancwb]

On 1/27/2021 at 8:26 PM, Fnfalman said:

never forget. 

https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/african-american-333rd-field-artillery-battle-of-bulge

A museum well worth a person’s time to visit and consider. No doubt even more so now than it was several years ago when I visited.