On that same day, December 26, 1944, US armored troops reached the beleaguered defenders of a vital road junction in the town of Bastogne. In some sectors, such as the vital Elsenborn Ridge, German troops failed to make significant progress at all. The atrocity is known as the “ Malmedy Massacre.”īy December 26, it was clear that the German advance had been halted short of its objective, the Meuse River.

Despite taking dreadful losses, US forces managed to delay the enemy sufficiently to permit reinforcements to be moved into position to halt the German drive.ĭuring the fighting, captured American soldiers and Belgian prisoners were murdered by Waffen SS units. Although the Germans advanced as much as 50 miles in some areas, the Ardennes offensive was short-lived.

Operation “Watch on the Rhine” was intended to split British and US forces in northern France.īattle of the Bulge: Photographs What Happened During the Battle of the Bulge?Īttacking through the Ardennes Forest in eastern Belgium on December 16, hundreds of German tanks and several hundred thousand German troops broke through the thinly held American lines.

As the Allies attempted to penetrate across the western border of Germany in late 1944, the Germans tried one last gambit to reverse their fortunes.

The tanks ofd battle of the bulge movie