THE BATTLE -Battle of the Bulge (or Ardennes Offensive):

Throughout December and January of 1945 Hitler's code-named plan 'Watch on the Rhine' took place. Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt was to break through the US line at Ardennes in order to create a German salient or 'bulge' which would isolate Allied forces at the north end of the corridor created by the drive. The casualties were tremendous and included Hitler's elite Panzer units. The German counteroffensive, although pinning US troops for some weeks, eventually failed.

Three Panzer units were used in the operation, the 5th, 6th and 7th along with a troop of English-speaking Germans in US uniforms commanded by Otto Skorzeny. The operation began on 16th December on a 113km section of the front line under the watch of US 1st Army and General Bradley's 12th Army. This section of the front had been quiet in the previous months and so the Allies were taken by surprise, and Allied air support could not be scrambled because of poor weather conditions. These factors allowed the German troops to advance quickly.