Guelton, Frédéric/Bourlet, Michael La Bataille des Ardennes

La Seconde Guerre mondiale en couleur

The battle, which took place between 16 December 1944 and the end of January 1945 in the Ardennes massif, is usually referred to as the Battle of the Ardennes. In the United States, this battle, the largest in which American soldiers took part on the Western Front, is known as the Battle of the Bulge. The Americans actually compare this battle to a bulge, a protrusion measuring approximately 80 by 100 kilometres. The Germans, on the other hand, see this offensive ordered by Hitler as the moment when they can weaken the Western Allies to such an extent that they may be forced to negotiate. They called this operation Wacht am Rhein (Guard on the Rhine). This gigantic confrontation between the German and American armies in the middle of winter in the heart of the Ardennes was the last major battle on the Western Front for the Germans. For the Americans, it remains the hardest and deadliest battle fought in Europe since the landing on 6 June. But this battle, desired by Hitler, was the moment of a great confrontation, a great reckoning between Germans and Americans. The American soldiers were hit with full force by the surprise offensive and luckily held their ground. Then the entire American army, but also to a lesser extent the British army, set in motion, channelled the German offensive, prevented it from spreading towards the Meuse and caused the German arc to collapse as quickly as it had formed.