Chapter VI: Section V: Ardennes-Alsace Campaign

In mid-December 1944 the Allies stopped along the German border, but continued to attack in the Saar and Roer regions, while they concentrated the majority of their strength for an attack in the north. The Germans, taking advantage of their continuous front along the West Wall, planned a counterattack to strike the Allies in one of the weakest portions of the line--the Ardennes sector. The ultimate goals of this German operation were to capture the port city of Antwerp, sever the major Allied supply lines emanating from that port, and destroy the Allied forces north of the Antwerp-Brussels-Bastogne line.

Early on the morning of 16 December the German armies struck the Allied troops located in Belgium and Luxembourg. The Allies holding this portion of the line were too thinly dispersed to offer any great resistance against the powerful enemy attack and were forced to fall back. While the defenders fought the Germans, Allied armies shifted their drives and troops were rushed to the Ardennes to reinforce the hard hit units along the front from Monschau to Echternach. After severe fighting during late December 1944 and early January 1945 the Germans were defeated and by 25 January the Allies were once more ready to move toward Germany through the West Wall defenses. During the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign winter set in and the cold weather and snow-covered terrain made operations and living conditions extremely difficult.

During this period the British forces in the north eliminated the Germans in the Roermond triangle and captured the enemy bridgehead west of the Roer River. The U. S. and French troops of the 6th Army Group fought a determined enemy in Lorraine and Alsace and by 25 January had driven the attacking Germans back across the Moder River.

The Ardennes-Alsace Campaign, which delayed the Rhineland Campaign for six weeks, secured no major terrain objectives for either side. The Germans, who had employed some of their best remaining units, lost nearly 250,000 men, 600 tanks and assault guns, and about 1,600 airplanes. The Allies suffered 72,000 casualties.

On 6 January 1945 the Fifteenth U. S. Army became operational on the Continent and was assigned to the 12th Army Group, taking over many of that army group’s responsibilities in the rear areas.

GERMAN SOLDIER WITH AMMUNITION BELTS moves forward during the
enemy counterattack in the Ardennes. German morale was higher
than at any time since the Allies had landed, partly because the
individual soldier had been propagandized into believing that
this was the opportunity to destroy the Allied troops in the
west. At 0530 on 16 December 1944 three German armies attacked
on a 50-mile front in eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg.
This battle was popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge.]

ENEMY TROOPS PASS BURNING U. S. EQUIPMENT. The initial German
attacks, following a heavy artillery preparation, were launched
all along the front, roughly from Monschau to Echternach. The
first objective was to secure the high ground of the Hohe Venn
but the drive by the enemy met with stiff resistance and he was
forced to commit his armor before noon on 16 December. Further
attacks in the northern sector were no more successful and by
night the Germans were still fighting at the approaches to the
Elsenborn Ridge.]

A GERMAN SOLDIER waving members of his unit forward. Spurred
on by expressions of the German commanders such as “Forward to
and over the Meuse” and “We gamble everything now--we cannot
fail,” enemy troops drove forward in a determined effort to
defeat the Allies. South of the Elsenborn Ridge in the vicinity
of the Losheim Gap U. S. troops were overwhelmed and forced to
withdraw. By evening the enemy, though blocked in the north, had
broken through the thinly held American line and drove toward
Stavelot and Huy, the first objective on the Meuse River. Still
further to the south in the Echternach area, the U. S. forces
stopped the enemy after he had made limited gains. The Allied
situation along the front was extremely grave.]

TYPICAL ARDENNES TERRAIN. The rough, wooded tableland of the
Ardennes in eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg is broken by
many small streams which become serious obstacles during periods
of heavy rain or thaw. The Ardennes contains a fair primary but
poor secondary road system. Because of the rough terrain the
main centers of the road net assumed great importance during the
Battle of the Bulge. Heavy snow made infantry maneuver difficult
and seriously limited tank movement.]

GERMAN “KING TIGER” OR “TIGER ROYAL” heavy tank passing a line
of captured U. S. soldiers being marched to the rear (top).
U. S. prisoners of the enemy taken during the early fighting
in the Battle of the Bulge (bottom). Two U. S. regiments near
Saint-Vith were surrounded and most of the men were taken
prisoner before U. S. reinforcements could arrive on the scene.
The enemy attacks on Elsenborn Ridge were stopped by these U. S.
reinforcements on 17 December, but this help came too late to
save from capture the men shown above and those of an artillery
battery who were caught by an enemy armored column south of
Malmédy.]

AN INFANTRYMAN PAUSING IN HIS ADVANCE through the forest. During
the first ten days of the battle confusion reigned as hastily
shifted troops arrived to reinforce the efforts of the isolated
units attempting to halt the enemy attack.]

A BATTERY OF 155-MM. HOWITZERS M1 being emplaced (top). Members
of an airborne division moving up through the forest (bottom).
On 18 December German patrols passed through a gap between
Malmédy and Saint-Vith and continued as far west as Werbomont.
Other enemy troops tried to push north through Stavelot but
were stopped by a blown bridge over the Ambleve River and by
an improvised task force consisting of U. S. infantrymen,
engineers, and tank destroyers. Engineer demolitions and
effective use for the first time of the new proximity fuze
by artillery strengthened the north shoulder of the growing
salient. During the first week of the Battle of the Bulge most
planes were grounded because of extremely poor flying weather.]

BATTLE-WEARY TROOPS being relieved of front-line duty as
reinforcements arrive to take over (top). Infantrymen batter
down the door of a house where German snipers are holding out
in the town of Stavelot (bottom). On 19 December the north and
south flanks continued to hold, and road centers of Saint-Vith
and Bastogne were still occupied by U. S. troops though almost
surrounded by the enemy. The enemy captured Stoumont but the U.
S. forces strengthened the line between Malmédy and Stavelot and
with additional reinforcements began to attack the enemy east
of Stoumont. To the south the enemy took up blocking positions
south of the Sauer River with some troops as far west as the
Arlon-Bastogne highway.]

CREW OF A MULTIPLE GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M16 waiting to fire on
an enemy plane as vapor trails fill the sky. On 20 December
control of the First and Ninth U. S. Armies passed to the 21
Army Group, while the Third U. S. Army and a corps of the First
Army remained under 12th Army Group control. On 23 December
the weather cleared sufficiently for planes of the Eighth
and Ninth U. S. Air Forces and the British Bomber Command to
begin a large-scale aerial assault on German positions and
installations. The German planes which were sent up in greater
strength than at any other time since the invasion were no
match for the Allies. On Christmas Day the First U. S. Army
launched an attack and made contact with the British forces in
the northern section of the front. For the first time since 16
December a continuous Allied front was established.]

PART OF AN ARMORED DIVISION of the Third Army moving into the
Ardennes. At the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge Third Army
was regrouping for an attack on the West Wall in the Saar area.
On 18 December an armored division was turned north toward the
Ardennes sector and was followed by an infantry division the
next day. The 6th Army Group was turned north to take over the
area held by Third Army, which during a period of six days broke
off its general attack in the Saar region, turned left, moved
more than a 100 miles over unknown winter roads, and mounted an
attack with six divisions.]

C-47’s CARRYING SUPPLIES to surrounded U. S. troops in Bastogne
(top). Infantrymen in Bastogne (bottom). While Third Army
was advancing to relieve the armored and airborne troops in
Bastogne, the battle for the city was being waged. The enemy
surrounding the city numbered 45,000 while within Bastogne there
were about 18,000 U. S. troops. The commander of the troops in
the city refused to surrender to the Germans and continued to
hold out against all attacks. The defenders, cut off from their
sources, were supplied by airdrops during this period. On 24
December over 100 tons of supplies were dropped.]

INFANTRYMEN FIRE AT GERMAN TROOPS in the advance to relieve the
surrounded paratroopers in Bastogne. In foreground a platoon
leader indicates the target to a rifleman by actually firing
on the target. In Bastogne the defenders were badly in need of
relief, they were attacked nightly by German aircraft, supplies
were critically low in spite of the airdrops, and the wounded
could not be given proper attention because of the shortage of
medical supplies. After an advance which had been slow, U. S.
relief troops entered Bastogne at 1645 on 26 December 1944.]

INFANTRYMEN ADVANCE ON BASTOGNE (top). Prisoners taken during
the advance on Bastogne being evacuated (bottom). With the
arrival of U. S. relief troops were forty truckloads of
supplies which were delivered during the night of 26 December.
625 wounded men were evacuated from the area and the battle
continued since the enemy had shifted a large portion of his
attacking troops in this area. On the night of 26 December when
the German advance was halted the Third Army, consisting of
eight divisions and parts of two other battered divisions, faced
elements of eleven German divisions between the Meuse and the
Moselle.]

105-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE M7 of an armored unit on the
alert near Bastogne. By 27 December more than thirty-five corps
artillery battalions were firing approximately 19,000 rounds of
ammunition daily in support of the Third Army. By the end of
the year that army was supported by over 1,000 guns of 105-mm.
caliber or larger. Christmas night the Third Army’s artillery
began using the new proximity fuze, which proved particularly
effective in interdicting road junctions and harassing enemy
positions.]

ENGINEERS UNLOADING BARBED WIRE which was used in defensive
measures against counterattacks.]

ENGINEER PLANTING AN ANTITANK MINE on the shoulder of a road as
a defensive measure during the fighting in the Ardennes.]

BASTOGNE CREEK RAILROAD

BASTOGNE AND THE SURROUNDING AREA. Although the corridor which
had been opened to Bastogne remained in U. S. hands it was far
from secure as it was less than 300 yards wide in some places.
The Germans were passing to the defensive in other sectors and
concentrating on their attacks in the Bastogne area. The mission
of the Third Army was to widen the corridor, push attacks on
Saint-Vith, and at the same time reinforce its attacking units.
During this period of the fighting in Europe adverse weather
conditions added greatly to the problems, and the snow-and
sleet-covered roads hampered the movement of troops.]

SOLDIER TAKES TIME OUT TO WASH HIS FEET and put on dry socks.
The cold weather combined with the snow and dampness caused many
cases of trench foot during this period. It was difficult when
wearing the regular leather shoes to keep one’s feet dry and
warm, but frequent washing and changing of socks helped.]

AN ENLISTED MAN PUTS ON A NEW PAIR OF SHOEPACS. The shoepac,
which was supplied to as many of the troops as possible at
this time, helped to overcome the heavy incidence of trench
foot among the U. S. troops fighting in cold and extremely wet
climates. This shoe was rubber-bottomed with a leather top and
was worn with a heavy ski sock and felt innersole.]

INFANTRYMEN WEARING SNOW CAPES over their normal clothing.
Snow caught the U. S. troops without adequate camouflage, and
strenuous efforts were made to improvise white suits out of
mattress covers and linen collected from the civilians.]

CAMOUFLAGED LIGHT ARMORED CAR M 8 and one that has not been
painted white, showing the effectiveness of snow camouflaging
(top). A crew member of a 90-mm. gun motor carriage M 36
throwing paint on the bogie wheels after painting the vehicle
(bottom). Tanks, vehicles, and guns were camouflaged with white
paint.]

KNOCKED-OUT U. S. MEDIUM TANKS. During the last few days
of December 1944 the main effort in Third Army zone was
concentrated in the vicinity of Bastogne, while the situation
in the rest of the army area remained static. Armored and
infantry attacks achieved small gains during which many German
counterattacks were made. Echternach was re-entered on 29
December and all enemy forces south of the Sauer River were
cleared. The armored divisions continued to advance. One, in
repulsing several counterattacks, suffered heavy casualties. On
3 January 1945 the last German attack was made on Bastogne. It
was unsuccessful.]

MEN OF AN INFANTRY DIVISION climbing into box cars to move
from the Brittany Peninsula to the U. S. Third Army zone. On 9
January 1945 a new attack was started after fresh troops had
been brought into the battle area. The Germans offered fierce
resistance in order to keep open their escape route to the east.
On 16 January elements of an armored division of Third Army
contacted those from First Army, closing the German salient just
one month after the enemy had launched his counteroffensive in
the Ardennes.]

INFANTRYMEN BIVOUACKING IN THE WOODS (top); field mess (bottom).
Living conditions during the best of times were not too pleasant
for the combat soldier, but during the winter the hardships were
greatly increased.]

U. S. LIGHT TANKS which were captured by the enemy during the
Battle of the Bulge. Some of the more serious U. S. losses
during this period were 1,284 machine guns, 542 mortars, 1,344
jeeps, and 237 tanks. Not all of these losses were the result
of units being overrun--there was some evidence of unnecessary
abandonment of equipment, particularly among inexperienced
troops.]

MEMBERS OF AN ARMORED UNIT STAND GUARD beside their dug-in
medium tank near Manhay, Belgium. From 27 December 1944 to 2
January 1945 the First U. S. Army was reorganizing and preparing
to attack the Hotton-Houffalize axis. Heavy fighting continued
all along the First Army front and by 30 December the important
traffic centers of Marche, Hotton, and Manhay were secured.]

AIRBORNE INFANTRY MEN on the alert man their .30-caliber machine
gun (top). A member of a cavalry reconnaissance squadron checks
his .30-caliber machine gun (bottom).]

AIRBORNE TROOPS LOADING A SHELL into a 75-mm. pack howitzer M8.
Between 16 December and 27 December First army artillery units
fired more ammunition than at any other time during the war
except during the Normandy Campaign. An average of 800 weapons
fired over 750,000 shells.]

LOADING A 105-M M. SHELL into the howitzer of a Priest (top);
snow on the camouflage net over a 155-mm. howitzer M1 helps
conceal its position (bottom).]

AN ARTILLERY PLANE with newly attached skis taking off (top);
observation planes grounded during the bad weather (bottom).]

MEN STRINGING BARBED WIRE DURING A BLIZZARD (top); tank crews
keeping warm as they eat their rations (bottom).]

MANHAY, BELGIUM. On 3 January 1945 an attack was launched west
of Manhay in the First Army zone. Visibility was reduced to
200 yards and the temperature was near zero. The few roads
were coated with ice and the snow off the roads was waist deep
making it extremely difficult to maneuver. During the first day
advances of almost 4,000 yards were made before a heavy snowfall
halted the assault. On 5 January the attack was resumed and the
La Roche-Vielsalm road was cut. La Roche was captured by the
British on 10 January. The British troops were then withdrawn
to regroup for the Rhineland Campaign. The Germans began to
withdraw from the tip of the salient after becoming convinced
that they had lost in their attempt to halt the Allies.]

ELEMENTS OF THE FIRST AND THIRD ARMIES made contact at
Houffalize on 16 January. While the U. S. units were still
understrength, replacements to the theater had increased.
Despite heavy fighting and poor living conditions, morale was
high.]

155-MM. GUN M1A1, with its barrel camouflaged by white cloth,
firing in the Ardennes. The junction of First and Third Armies
at Houffalize marked the achievement of tactical victory in the
Ardennes. On 17 January the First Army reverted to 12th Army
Group, but the Ninth U. S. Army remained under 21 Army Group.
With the enemy withdrawing from the Ardennes the Allies resumed
their advance toward the Rhine.]

TWO GERMAN PRISONERS BEING BROUGHT IN (top). Papers of a U. S.
vehicle driver being checked by a guard at a road intersection
(bottom). During the fighting in the Ardennes some German
paratroopers were dropped behind the U. S. lines. Others dressed
in U. S. uniforms and driving U. S. vehicles were operating
behind the American lines.]

“KING TIGER” OR “ROYAL TIGER” (Pz. Kpfw. VI (B) “Tiger” with
8.8-cm. Kw. K. 43) (top). This tank, weighing 75 tons and
designed for defensive warfare or for penetrating strong lines
of defense, made its appearance in combat in 1944. It had
heavy frontal armor and an 88-mm. gun which could traverse 360
degrees. Germany heavy tank, the Panther (Pz. Kpfw. with 7.5-cm.
Kw. K, 42-L/70) (bottom). This tank, introduced in 1942, weighed
47 tons and had sloping frontal armor and a 75-mm. high-velocity
gun.]

BARBED WIRE BEING STRUNG as a defensive measure in the event of
another enemy counterattack. In mid-January the enemy was still
able to maintain a cohesive line, but the critical situation on
the Russian front made necessary the shifting of troops to the
eastern front while withdrawing to the security of the West Wall
all committed troops facing the western Allies.]

A SIGNAL CORPS LINEMAN repairing damaged telephone lines.]

A TRUCK-MOUNTED CRANE swinging the barrel of an 8-inch gun
from its transport wagon (top), and placing it on its carriage
(bottom). The gun and cradle were transported on one vehicle and
the carriage on another.]

A CAMOUFLAGED 8-INCH GUN M1 located in the southern portion of
the Third Army zone. This gun was capable of firing a 240-pound
projectile a distance of 20 miles. The troops left in this area
were placed on the defensive during the fighting in the Ardennes
sector. Heavy artillery in the area fired on enemy installations
in the triangle of the Moselle and Saar Rivers and West Wall
fortifications.]

A MEMBER OF A GLIDER REGIMENT, armed with a rifle and a rocket
launcher, returning from a three-hour tour of guard duty.]

A TANKER SEWS HIS CLOTHING on an old sewing machine in front of
his M4A3 medium tank.]

SUPPLIES MOVING THROUGH BASTOGNE, 22 January 1945, on their way
to the front-line troops. By the first of the year material
losses in the Battle of the Bulge had been replaced and the
combat units were again prepared to move forward.]

MEDICAL AID MEN dragging a boatload of medical supplies down a
snow and ice covered road to the banks of a stream they are to
cross. From 17 to 24 January the Third Army continued to attack
through Houffalize and reached the northern tip of Luxembourg
on 24 January. In an advance to the east bridgeheads north of
Clervaux on the Clerf River were secured on 23 January. During
this period most of the area between the Sauer and the Our
Rivers was cleared of enemy resistance. In a hurried effort to
withdraw as many vehicles as possible the enemy lost over 1,700
vehicles to planes of the U. S. XIX Tactical Air Command.]

A MEMBER OF AN 81-MM. MORTAR CREW listening to firing orders
from a battalion command post.]

INFANTRYMEN ADVANCING UNDER ENEMY SHELL FIRE. On 15 January
1945, on the left of the First Army zone, an attack was begun
from the Butgenbach-Malmédy positions. By 19 January First Army
had secured the defiles southwest of Butgenbach. The attack
launched toward Saint-Vith continued to gain ground, and on 23
January Saint-Vith was recaptured.]

FIRST ARMY TROOPS, wearing snow camouflage capes, advance.]

MEN OF AN AIRBORNE UNIT preparing to board trucks which will
take them to a rest area after being relieved at the front. On
24 January the First and Third Armies’ boundary was shifted
north in the general line Saint-Vith-Losheim-Ahr River and
attacks were to be renewed on the Saint-Vith-Bonn axis. First
Army was to breach the West Wall and secure the high ground in
the vicinity of Blankenheim, while Third Army was to attack with
its left wing to cover the First Army.]

AN M5 LIGHT TANK guarding a road in the U. S. Ninth Army area,
22 January. With the collapse of the German salient in the
Ardennes, preparations were made for the offensive to the
Rhine by 21 Army Group. The Germans held the triangle south of
Roermond between the Meuse and Roer Rivers. This was a serious
threat to the left flank of the Ninth Army and had to be
eliminated before the army could advance across the Roer to the
Rhine plain. The task of eliminating this salient was assigned
to the British Second Army and by 26 January was completed.]

SEVENTH ARMY TROOPS entering a fortress of the Maginot Line,
near Bitche, France, which had been taken in the December
fighting. Reduction of the strongly defended forts of the
Maginot Line was halted when the Ardennes fighting began. The
new Seventh Army front included the three following areas: the
Saare Valley in Lorraine; the low Vosges mountains; and the
northern Alsace plain between the mountains and the Rhine.]

MEMBERS OF A SEVENTH ARMY ARTILLERY UNIT unloading powder
charges for their 240-mm. howitzer (top); 3-inch gun motor
carriage firing on enemy positions at night (bottom). On 20
December 1944 the 6th Army Group abandoned its offensive and
relieved the Third Army in the region westward to Saarlautern
to defend against any enemy penetration in Alsace-Lorraine. The
offensive was stopped even though many pillboxes in the West
Wall had been taken, and during the last ten days of December
the Seventh Army regrouped its forces and deployed its troops.]

CONVOY MOVING UP in the Seventh Army area during the fighting in
Alsace (top); vehicles moving over snow-covered roads through
the Vosges mountains (bottom).]

BITCHE, FRANCE. The Seventh Army prepared an alternate
main line of resistance along the old Maginot Line
(Sarreguemines-Bitche-Lembach-Hatten-Sessenheim) and a final
defensive position along the eastern slope of the Vosges. On 1
January 1945 the Germans attacked in the area between Sarre and
Rohrbach and drove ten miles into the U. S. lines, where the
appearance of powerful armored reserves of the U. S. forces and
Allied counterattacks caused the enemy to curtail its operation.
Another New Year’s Day attack by the Germans in the Bitche area
was a more serious threat. After stubborn fighting on the part
of the Allied troops the attack spent itself on 7 January. In
the Bitche salient the fighting continued until 20 January
before becoming stabilized.]

TANKS OF AN ARMORED UNIT moving along a slippery road during a
heavy snowstorm. In other 6th Army Group areas there was action
along the front. As U. S. troops withdrew to the Maginot Line so
that French troops could take over this portion of the front,
the Germans followed closely. French troops in the Strasbourg
area contained an enemy attack from the Colmar pocket. There was
heavy activity in the U. S. zone near Hatten where the enemy,
after suffering heavy losses, failed to break through the U. S.
troops.]

CAMOUFLAGED TANKS and infantrymen, wearing snow camouflage
capes, moving over a snow-covered field. Toward the end of
January a heavy snowfall slowed operations and on 25 January the
enemy struck his final blow near Haguenau, France. On 26 January
the Germans were driven back across the Moder River.]

MEMBERS OF A CANNON COMPANY near Haguenau keep warm as best they
can.]

RHINELAND CAMPAIGN

26 January 1945–21 March 1945

The Allied Advance during the Rhineland Campaign 15 September
1944 to 21 March 1945]