75: Bulge Timelime

Battle of the Bulge Timeline:

(American soldiers of the 117th Infantry Regiment, Tennessee National Guard, part of the 30th Infantry Division, move past a destroyed American M5A1 "Stuart" tank on their march to recapture the town of St. Vith during the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945.)

December 11th, 1944 – Adolf Hitler held a planning meeting with his top military commanders at the Adlerhorst HQ located in Wetterau, Germany. During the meeting, he stressed the importance to the Third Reich of the upcoming Ardennes Offensive.

December 16th, 1944 – German forces crossed the Rhein River starting Operation Wacht. This would signify the opening of the Battle of the Bulge.

December 17th, 1944 – The German Waffen-SS forces killed 150 United States POW’s of the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion at Malmédy, Belgium. Only 43 of the POW’s gathered in the field at the site of the massacre survived.

December 18th, 1944 – The German offensive began to stall in the Ardennes Forest in Belgium.

December 19th, 1944 – German forces surrounded more than 9,000 United States soldiers in the Schnee Eifel region on the Belgian-German border region. On the same day, portions of the reserves of the 101st Airborne Division (U.S.) and the 10th Armored Division of the United States Third Army were sent to Bastogne to hold a critical road junction located in Belgium.

December 20th, 1944 – German armor elements were able to take Stavelot, Belgium. In the process, the were able to seize the fuel supply of the

December 21st, 1944 – United States forces were able to re-take Stavelot, Belgium. On the same day, the Germans were able to take St. Vith and Bastogne.

December 22nd, 1944 – Despite being surrounded, American General McAuliffe responded to the demand of surrender by the German forces with the now famous response of “Nuts!” The U.S. Third Army continued to shift the axis of advance in order to relieve the Allied forces located at Bastogne.

December 26th, 1944 – General George Patton led the United States Third Army to the relief of the besieged forces in Bastogne, Belgium.

December 27th, 1944 – American forces started to push the German forces back in the Ardennes region officially ending the German offensive.

December 28th, 1944 – Despite the fact that American forces were starting to gain ground in their counter-offensive, Hitler ordered new Axis offensives in both the Ardennes and Alsace regions (against the advice of his advisors and Generals).

December 30th, 1944 – German forces attacked the Bastogne corridor area (again) in Belgium

December 31st, 1944 – American forces were able to re-capture Rochefort, Belgium. On the same day, the United States Third Army initiated an offensive from Bastogne.

January 1st, 1945 – German forces started to withdraw from the Ardennes Forest. Unternehmen Bodenplatte was launched by the German Luftwaffe which consisted of strikes by 800 aircraft against the Allied airfields located in both Belgium and the Netherlands. Although 220 Allied aircraft were destroyed, the Germans lost 188 aircraft in addition to a number of experienced pilots and failed to achieve their objective of taking out Allied air power in the area.

January 3rd, 1945 – The United States First Army commenced an attack on the northern-most flank of the Ardennes bulge. On the same date, more than 1,100 Allied bombers took out communication and rail centers in Germany.

January 5th, 1945 – German forces called off their attack on Bastogne.

January 9th, 1945 – The United States Third Army started to attack the southern flank of the Ardennes Bulge near Houffalize, Belgium.

January 12th, 1945 – The German offensive into France was stopped 13 miles short of Strasbourg. British and American forces were able to link up near La Roche-en-Ardenne north of Bastogne.

January 16th, 1945 – The United States Third and First Armies were able to link up near Houffalize, Belgium. German forces were forced back to the battle lines that existed prior to the start of the Battle of the Bulge.

January 28th, 1945 – The “Ardennes Bulge” was pushed to the original battle line that existed prior to the German offensive. This would signify the ending of the Battle of the Bulge.

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