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This chapter covers not only the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes, but the lesser known Operation NORDWIND against the Sixth Army Group in the Vosges Mountains. Spanning December 1944 and January 1945, this chapter covers corps cavalry operations as part of both battles, as well as their contributions on the forgotten flanks of these famous events. Moreover, this chapter tells the whole story of both campaigns, from beginning to end, highlighting the vicious fighting that continued well after both battles were considered over.

This chapter examines the Allied forces' efforts to flatten the “bulge” during the final stages of the Battle of the Bulge. The Allied offensive phase started in earnest on January 3, 1945, led by George S. Patton, with simultaneous attacks from the north and the west launched first. By January 25, the Allied forces have successfully eliminated the bulge. This chapter suggests that the German forces' killing of civilians continued until the very end of this battle.

This chapter discusses the estimated civilian casualties during the Battle of the Bulge. An estimated 2,500 civilians were killed in Belgium as a direct or indirect result of the Battle of the Bulge and about 500 in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Ironically, about one-third of the civilians who died in Belgium were caused by Allied air raids, especially those involving medium and heavy bombers as carried out against towns like St. Vith, Houffalize, Malmedy, and La Roche.

This chapter analyzes Patton's defense of the Sherman in the face of scathing criticism following the Battle of the Bulge. It argues that the general's advocacy on behalf of the tank salvaged its reputation both at the time and for generations to come. It shatters Patton's defense of the Sherman, and unhesitatingly demonstrates that all too often the men assigned to America's premier tank “were slaughtered because of the use of such an inferior” weapon. Patton, who understood all too well the Sherman's myriad flaws, rushed to defend the tank because he knew that it would remain the armored division's workhorse and that public criticism would only hurt the morale of his tankers and in turn the war effort. The chapter concludes that Patton's defense of the Sherman inadvertently contributed to a host of postwar studies that championed the tragically flawed weapon and played a role in fostering contemporary popular culture's depictions of the Sherman as a war-winning weapon.

This chapter focuses the success of one combat group of the Sixth Panzer Army in penetrating deep behind the American lines on December 17, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge. This group was headed by Joachim Peiper who was assigned “the decisive role in the offensive”. This chapter discusses Peiper's strategy and describes the highlights of his offensive. It also highlights the huge number of civilian casualties in the so-called Malmedy massacre in Belgium.

Chesterfield Smith served in the U.S. Army for more than five years; after excelling in training in Kansas and Mississippi, he married his childhood sweetheart and was shipped overseas. Smith, a captain, led an artillery battalion that saw action in France and eventually fought as reinforcements in the Battle of the Bulge. Smith suffered a minor wound in Germany from a Messerschmidt jet plane. He cleaned up an uninhabitable prison camp he found in a German town by forcing the townspeople to switch places with the prisoners until the townspeople had made the prison habitable.

This chapter examines the engagement between German and Allied forces in the area between the Ourthe and Meuse Rivers in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. The 116th Panzer Division reached La Roche on December 23, 1944, and the American forces arrived two days later to defend the area. This chapter also describes the battle for Bonnerue and the success of the counteroffensive of the Allied forces.

This chapter examines the Allied forces' lifting of the Siege of Bastogne in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. This engagement started on January 3, 1945, and after barely five days, the final German push against Bastogne had fizzled out. On the same day, Adolf Hitler at last agreed to a limited withdrawal from the tip of the Bulge to a line anchored on a point some five miles west of Houffalize. One January 9, George S. Patton relaunched the offensive from around Bastogne with his III and VIII Corps.

This chapter examines the German forces' attack on the northern shoulder of the “bulge” during the Battle of the Bulge. This counteroffensive was launched by the Sixth Panzer Army under the leadership of Sepp Dietrich. This chapter describes Dietrich's strategy and the challenges faced by his Panzer Army against the American firepower. It also highlights the death of the five-year-old when a German shell exploded behind her neighbor's house.

This chapter examines the German forces' capture of the town of St. Vith in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. The German forces arrived at Wallerode on December 17, 1944, and on December 20 the newly committed Führer Begleit Brigade tried to get into St. Vith. By December 22, the American troops had withdrawn from their defenses in front of St. Vith to a more or less stable line behind it. This chapter describes the highlights of this engagement and the number of civilian casualties.

This chapter examines the offensive launched by the Fifth Panzer Army led by Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel in St. Vith, Belgium, against the Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge. It describes von Manteuffel's strategy and describes the highlights of this German offensive. It also discusses the conditions of the local residents at St. Vith and the number of civilian casualties in this so-called Battle of St. Vith.

This chapter examines the German offensive launched by Hasso Eccard von Manteuffel's 47th Panzer Corps on December 17, 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge to capture the Belgian town of Bastogne. It describes the Germany strategy for penetrating Bastogne and the challenges they faced against a more experienced American forces. It also discusses the conditions of local residents and refugees and the number of civilian casualties.

This chapter examines the surprise German offensive at the southern of the Battle of Bulge on December 16, 1944. This attack was launched by General Erich Brandenberger's Seventh Army. This chapter describes Brandenberger's strategy and the challenges he faced against the defenses of the American forces. It also discusses the highlights of this engagement and the condition of local residents and the number of civilian casualties.

This chapter examines the German offensive at the so-called Houffalize corridor in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. The German 116th Panzer and 560th Volksgrenadier Divisions were able to penetrate easily the undefended villages between larger communities of Gouvy and Houffalize. This gap was left open because the American forces concentrated on the areas of St. Vith and Bastogne. This chapter discusses the highlights of this engagement and describes the conditions of the local residents and the number of civilian casualties.

This chapter examines the Siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge. This German offensive lasted from December 20 to 27, 1944. This chapter describes the German strategy for capturing the town of Bastogne in Belgium and the defenses put up by the American forces. It discusses the highlights of this battle and the condition of local residents and the number of civilian casualties.

This chapter focuses on the German forces' occupation of the area between the Salm and Ourthe rivers in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge. It discusses the German soldiers' harassment of the local residents and the highlights of the battle for Hotton. It describes the engagement between German and Allied forces from December 20 to 31, 1944, and the success of the Allied forces' counteroffensive.

This chapter examines the Allied forces' counterattack from the southern shoulder of the Battle of the Bulge. It discusses the combined offensive launched by George S. Patton's five divisions on a front extending from the Luxembourg border with Germany to just inside Belgium some thirty-five miles farther west. It describes this engagement which lasted until January 1945 and the conditions of local residents and the number of civilian casualties.

Even before the Battle of the Bulge, the senior war correspondents were becoming restive. Wes Gallagher caused trouble by writing exposés of the reasons behind the military’s manpower and ammunition shortages. When the military imposed a total news blackout in the wake of a surprise German offensive, the media responded with harsh criticism, questioning how this policy chimed with the more recent directives to push a more realistic, downbeat line. As the battle progressed a number of winners emerged, including Patton, whose Third Army lifted the siege of Bastogne, and Gallagher, whose reporting established his position as a leading front-line correspondent.

Hugo Lang, Jehudo ben Arye, was the second son of Leopold Lang, born in Ernsbach on April 24, 1923. He moved to Süssen with his family in 1925, where his father joined the cattle business of his uncle Louis. Hugo, his older brother Fred, and his baby sister Ruth grew up in Süssen, attended elementary school, participated in local sports, enjoyed hiking with the local nature society, took piano lessons, and helped with the family chores. After leaving elementary school in grade 8, Hugo apprenticed himself to the Restaurant/Club Moos in Ulm to train as a bar tender. However, the club was shut down after Kristallnacht, and Hugo was detailed to forced labor in Süssen. Although the entire family had applied for visas to the United States well before Kristallnacht, only Hugo was still able to escape before deportation of the family. His brother Fred, who had emigrated to England in 1939 and from there to the U.S., met him at the boat. Hugo found work, but soon volunteered for the military, became a U.S. citizen, and was shipped back to Europe, where he fought the Germans and was captured in the Battle of the Bulge. Hugo spent six months in Stalag IX near Frankfurt, the ante-chamber to Berga, the notorious concentration camp that few inmates survived. Upon returning to the United States, he met and married Inge Feldtmann from Berlin who had survived Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen. Hugo, who was reunited with his surviving sister and cousins in 1946, worked for Bristol-Meyers as an engineer for the better part of his life.