The Ardennes Offensive which is often known as the Battle of The Bulge was the last major German Offensive in the west during the Second World War. The Battle lasted five weeks from 16 December 1944 to 28 January 1945 in the Ardennes Forest between Belgium and Luxembourg. The battle counted about 81,000 American causalities, 104,000 German and 1500 British causalities.
The German objective was to capture the Belgian city of Antwerp, effectively cutting of the Allied supply depos and the supply lines. Some part of the situation of soldiers was depicted in the series “Band Of Brothers” which shows the 101st Airborne Division’s gallant actions even though surrounded and with less or no food, winter clothing and ammunition.
One of the uncommon things occurred during this battle, but not in combat but between two enemy Generals. The German General had asked for the honorable surrender of the American force from total annihilation. But the German General received a very uncommon reply from the American Commander: “To the German General ‘Nuts'”.
The Battle of The Bulge was not just on the land but also in the air. The Germans initiated Operation Bodenplatte on the 1st of January 1945. The operation was a success at a limited scale. During the operation the Germans exhausted the most crucial resources that were man power, fuel and the aircraft and also to mention the moral of their troops. Because of the operation many great aces were killed or captured which was a disaster for the Germans as the allied forces were pounding German cities into ruins with their airforce.
The German offensive was only successful for buying the Germans some time, eventually the Germans lost the battle which led to the faster losses for the Germans for the rest of the war.