Battle of the Bulge - Germany’s Last Hope on the Western Front 

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It needs to be said that no member of the 101st airborne division has ever agreed that they needed to be saved.

My grandfather was at Normandy and the bulge that man was such a hero. Our ancestors were so tough it is insane.

Most of my school years, I had the honor of having a Veteran of the Bulge as a substitute teacher. He was a fantastic man and teacher, always enjoyed every story and lesson he had for us. Sadly, he passed away 2018 my senior year.

I think a better description of The Battle of the Budge would be: "Nazi Germany's Last Gasp". The Intel Report has a really good video on why this attack had no chance in succeeding in the first place.

Even if Antwerp would have fallen, it would have been a matter of days or a few weeks before the German corridor was broken. Germany had lost the war in late summer 44. The Soviets had crushed army group center and the German Army in France had been crushed in the Falaise pocket. On top of that, the Allies had begun marching up through Italy, liberating all but the far north of Italy. Germany was in retreat on every front.

I do love these vids, and although the script is historically sound, it does make me smile when they use pictures that are so obviously from WW1 as well as, in this case where the battle was fought in the winter snow, pictures of tanks in the desert war, LOL :D

My grandpa served in the U.S. army and became a POW during the Battle, he was a Sherman Tank Operator. After being liberated from the camp, my grandpa came back home weighing 91 lbs. The most common meal he had was watered down rice with potato and some type of meat. He spoke alittle German so I assume that aided him in not being executed.

My great-grandfather fought in and was wounded during the Battle of the Bulge. He was my hero and I miss him terribly.

Germany was already losing the war after the 850,000-strong Army Group Centre was defeated by the Soviets in June 1944.

I had a great uncle who was a member of the 101st airborne D company. He told me stories of "Foxhole Norman" and his 3 times in hospital. He told me a bit about the battle of the Bulge but there really is nothing that I can add that all of you don't already know. My uncle was wounded on D+5 in the classic 101st. fashion, shot in the bum. After a very short time at the hospital to get sown up and he was back out there. He was wounded at the battle of the Bulge just enough to take him off the front lines but not shake his commitment to the war effort. He worked at forward command for the remainder of the war and was wounded for the third time in 1945 after an unexploded grenade finally went off as him and his friends were walking by, fortunately all survived. The same can't be said for my grandfather. He was killed on August 4 1945 as a Japanese fighter crashed into the hanger he was in, this was 2 days before they dropped the first bomb. My grandfather had never seen action, nore fired his rifle at an enemy. Of the 4 brothers who went to war, my grandfather was the only one to be killed.

Few things for those approaching this video for study material (not to ridicule the creator at all): 1: No German general was in favour of this plan, and it was not regarded as realistic. Instead they favoured a ‘small solution’ to encircle American forces around Aachen but this was dismissed by Hitler. Dietrich in charge of the 6th panzer army was also not a strategic mind. 2: American intelligence was aware of a coming attack, and ultra had deciphered many reports of German movements (including panzer gruppe) to the front. Omar Bradley however regarded it as a spoiling attack to future American attacks in the Hurtgen and so welcomed it and intelligence largely dismissed. 3: German supply was never substantial owing to close proximity to supply centres. And they did not possess substantial artillery for more than two weeks combat , nor fuel for the task. 4: Initial German assaults were not hugely successful (common myth). German Volksgrenadier troops were ordered to attack without tank support, and attacks quickly bogged down. Largely outnumbered American forces (particularly cavalry rifles) fought most to a standstill. The exception is along the 109th who was spread so thin they were overwhelmed. Americans constantly formed rearguards and fought skilfully against a numerically superior attacker. 5: Joachim Piper and 6th SS. Joachim piper is not a complete summary of the ‘northern attack’. His consisted of 4800 men, but the 6th panzer army was twice-three times the size. The main bulk of the attack was stopped at the twin villages of Rocherath/Krinkelt before the elsenborn ridge. Stopping the German attack. Hugely significant and a key reason the battle was lost. 6: Germans launch operation Bodenplatte with over a thousand aircraft to attack Allied aircraft on the ground. Initial success but Germans are swept from the sky and lose hundreds of aircraft . In general, it’s really important to acknowledge that whilst an uncomfortable battle and moments of concern- this battle shortened the war. It was poorly planned, poorly supplied and poor strategic sense. Patton even voiced his support to let the German spearhead into France so the encirclement by American forces could net more Germans.

14:56 Wrong War Simon's Editor. That's Kaiser Wilhelm, Ludendorf and Hindenburg from WW1.

The dialog of your video was good, but I was confused by the abundance of WWI Imperial German photographs including one with the Kaiser! What did those have to do with the Battle of the Bulge? There were even some modern military pictures thrown in. I feel that this carelessness cheapened an otherwise good video. I do enjoy watching most of your content though, especially Mega and Side Projects.

Minor error, when talking about German High Command you used a picture of Kaiser Wilhelm II conferring with generals Paul von Hindenburg and Erich von Ludendorff, which dates back to WWI not WWII.

The battle around Bastogne received a great deal of media attention because in early December 1944 it was a rest and recreation area for many war correspondents. The rapid advance by the German forces who surrounded the town, the spectacular resupply operations via parachute amd glider, along with the fast action of General Patton's Third U.S. Army, all were featured in newspaper articles and on radio and captured the public's imagination; there werw no correspondents in the area of Saint-Vith, Elsenborn, or Monschau-Hofen.

I really enjoy your content, and the commentary is on point. Some of those choices for visuals are interesting and not in a good way. Such as the modern shotgun-wielding civilian hunter at 8:55, the AK/Draganov sniper at 9:26, the modern soldier at 10:41, and why are you trying to pass off a Curtiss P-36 Hawk as a Republic P-47 at 14:02, lol? I only bring these up because they are very distracting, anachronistic errors. Especially when period-correct footage and stills are very plentiful, I was unsure why they were included. Keep up the good work, though, and again a solid and insightful video!

Yeah my grandfather's unit the 452nd Anti-Aircraft Battalion, was with Patton's Third Army and they took part in the Battle of the Bulge.

A semi-auto shotgun in a military video? Not all firearms are the same, guys.

Hey Simon I just wanted to let you know you had a few major video fails this time. Your video contained some footage from World War I the most obvious example was a shot of Ludendorff and Von Hindenburg planning the battle with Kaiser Wilhelm. Needless to say it happens to the best of us I just thought you'd want to know. I want to thank you and your team for your great work, I enjoy your work.

Quick question, who was out squirrel hunting during the Battle of the Bulge? 8:53

@14:00 That's an F4F Wildcat, not a P-47 Thunderbolt @15:00 Thats the Kaiser and Ludendorff in WWI.

Simon, great video, BUT I think you may need words with whoever does the editing, particularly on the photos shown… There appears to be at least 3 photos during the commentary, which are clearly from WW1…not the final years of WW2… I hate to be pedantic, but showing photos of a war from 20-25 years earlier, when you are covering a battle from from the final stages of WW2…totally ruins the commentary…

I just wish that they would take some time to get photos and video that represents more of what happened. A duck hunter with a shotgun? A wildcat from years prior instead of a p-47. I know it may be small, but it was like scatergories trying to understand the pictures and video just not making sense.

Did the normal editor go on vacation or quit? Cause the editing and in particular the choice of background photos are just all over the place today. Everything from the First World War, to the War in Ukraine, to duck hunting being used instead of more appropriate and plentiful images of US and German forces from the Second World War.

Far from delay the end of the Third Reich, I argue the Ardennes Offensive greatly expedited it. There's a reason the western front just kind of melted after the 1945 offensives began, they depleted strength they didn't have for a war that was already over, but it's not like the Allies were crossing the Rhine in 1944 anyway so they didn't really delay it either. Just made it so that when offensives resumed there was even less to resist them with.

00:01 Germany's desperate surprise offensive in the Battle of the Bulge 01:53 German offensive aims to recapture port of Antwerp and encircle Allied forces in Ardennes Forest. 03:41 Allies faced supply issues and air dominance in European campaign. 05:33 Germany's well-kept plan for the attack despite British intelligence 07:26 The German advance was significantly delayed and they committed war crimes. 09:20 Germans capture town after stiff resistance and delay 11:09 German's failed to make significant progress in Bin 12:59 Allied response and progress during the Battle of the Bulge 14:45 German offensive stalled, tide turning 16:32 Controversy surrounding British General Bernard Montgomery 18:10 The Battle of the Bulge was one of the largest and deadliest battles faced by the Americans in the entire War. 19:45 Hitler's plan to turn the tide against the Soviets ultimately failed.

Great video Simon. I fail to understand the WW1 Imperial army photos, The U.S army aircraft with the obsolete insignia was puzzing as well..Why was there a clip withh a modern shotgun?

It’s a good video however, I’m noticed a severe lack of actual historical photos or videos in this. A lot of the photos and videos brought up have been modern day, photos, videos, and clips taken from modern militaries. There’s plenty of footage and photos out there why couldn’t you use any of those? I’ve also noticed an abundance of World War I photos which are not again in date. Just something to think about.

also remember that US units initially in the area were either combat ineffective or new to the theater. It was thought a place for them to rest and recoup or to learn the in's and out's combat. Just a perfect storm.

Cool video especially the historical side rather than just geopolitical videos. I thought you just did geopolitical current situational videos! Keep it up!

I was at a Christmas party last year and a few of us were around the tv watching the Army/Navy football game. The host mentioned that his cousin was a member of the 101st airborne so he was rooting for Army. A guest commented that the 101st were in the battle of the bulge to which the host replied "well she wasn't in the army back then" My father then said "they didn't allow women in the army back then" And I said "that's why they called it the battle of the bulge" the whole room laughed very hard. I think about that every three days.

At 9:41 ... and at a few more spots ... while describing the Battle of the Bulge, a decidedly WW2 battle ... you showed an obvious WW1 image, and at other timnes, obviously modern black and white stock when there are many dozens of hours of WW2 footage that free to use and clearly past copyright. Look, I have tried pointing out a number of mistakes, errors and poor choices made in post editing in recent videos, but to no avail. Doesnt accuracy and quality mean anything anymore? Simon, thats why many of us are here; good writing, good editing, good hosting. Thats kinda all ya got, best pay attn to the details.

My Grandpa was in the battle of the bulge. He horrible PTSD from it.

I love this channel! Especially the WW2 stuff!!!

Underrated channel. Biographics Geographics Warographics GOATED

Hi Simon, just a note that you might want to get a hiss filter or low pass filter on your videos, the "S" noises are sharp enough to cut diamonds! Love the videos!

Please do a video on the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest in WW2 The battle lasted 3 months and was described by Ernest Hemingway as "Passchendaele with tree bursts". It was a brutal and mostly useless battle.

14:58 Again... that's a photo of Kaiser Wilhelm II and Hindenburg and Ludendorff from WW1! These photos are from completely different times.

Great video. I would love to see one on the battle for Malta.

Breh...avoiding WWI images for a WWII battle would be a good idea....

I'm from Belgium. My grandfather fought in WW2, well he retreated untill Belgium surrendered. He was a communications LT. From what he knew back then (I've been given lots of stories when I was young) by early '43 people knew Germany was over. It would only take some time....

this video has more stock footage than a Knorr Stock Pot.

Please consider to cover the battle of Monte Cassino. Not just because my grandpa took part in it but because I know it would make a great episode. Anyway keep up the great work and thank you Warographics-team!

Aww jeah look at all these arm-chair hindsight-generals! I feel like I walked into a Lockheed sales pitch meeting! Lol! Good video, Simon. I love how you will swing back to WW1/WW2 stuff after depressing the hell out of us with more current (covering past 50 years) content just to remind us that life used to be a LOT harder 80 years ago. Top-notch, you limey bastard!

Uh… at 14:58, that’s Kaiser Willhelm, Erich Ludendorff… as in WWI. Is somebody not checking your photos?

saying "Nuts!" while surrounded by the enemy is a 5 head move

I am pretty sure one of the German generals predicted that the only success they will see is initial and that the resources can be put into defending their overstretched lines. It was not only dumb but destroyed their chances against holding them off on the other side of the Rhine.

Monty was a huge glory hound and that just delayed the allied victory in the war and cost lives to flex his ego.

Montgomery’s actions taking control of the US first and ninth Armies was critical to stopping the German Ardennes offensive. However… taking so much credit in a press conference for ‘saving the American army’ was insult too injury. Montgomery was nearly sacked for it

14:38 Patton didn't earn that fourth star until April of 1945, four months after the Battle of the Bulge.

Are the pictures right? There seems to be random pictures of any era so long as it’s the winter.

Request you to do an episode on Battle of Kohima & Imphal. 2 bloody & key battles about whom the Western world has hardly heard of.

My retinas thank you for cutting back on that one overused wipe transition effect

What's up with the modern duck hunter? I guess it is better than the images from WWI as you could argue that the duck hunter image with satirical commentary on the performance of the German troops.

Crack of the lightning, striking the ground

15:15 ah Bodenpatte. The vase for the legend of the battle of Y-29.

Im not 100% sure but Im fairly confident the plane shown at 14:02 is not a P-47 , that one had a distinct oval fuselage and this one is too round my guess would be a F-4 or F-6

Could you do a video on Nicholas Winton, I would love a piece from you on him. Love your videos! Happy holidays!

14:00 that's a P-43 Lancer

You wonder what happens if they let Patton push on into Germany instead of using Market Garden. Market Garden cost the Allies a lot in the terms of men and equipment and it gave the Germans that break they needed to push into Belgium. If Patton makes it across the Rhine, then the Germans would have redeployed most of their Army to stop him leaving Holland open for invasion.

As ever, a great video by Simon and the team, but some very peculiar photograph choices to illustrate it - quite a number of images clearly from WWI!

The next episode of TimeGhost's WW2 chronological series will cover the beginning of the operation. Odd, not the first time some Warographics operations of WW2 coincide with their coverage 😄

Warographics needs to cover Virginia Hall

My great grandfather fought in this battle and was captured but got rescued

I like your content, but what’s with all bullshit generic clips thrown in? A clip of a modern hunter with shot gun? A clip of a sniper with an SVD Draganov? You really couldn’t find random period footage to throw in?

At 14:50, you are showing the WWI Kaiser Wilhelm and General Ludendorf, lol...

Another fact that made the whole battle so hard for Germany was the elite panzer division's that led the charge were not the same units they had been a year earlier. Most of the professional soldiers were dead. They had only a core of soldiers and the rest of the ranks were filled with Kriegsmarine sailors who didn't have any ships to serve on and Luftwaffe mechanics who didn't have planes to work on. So yeah many of the American units were green troops but they had at least been trained for their jobs. Most of the German troops had barely any training and no combat experience. This is why so many early battles ground to a halt with heavy German losses.

A MAP! MY KINGDOM FOR A MAP!

This was all Hitlers idea , the German high command knew this didn't have a chance

HEY, FACT BOY! You really need to get a high resolution print of the painting called "Whistler's Mother" and hang it in the background of all the videos you do!

I think this was the first time Proximity shells were used by the US Over land. The Proximity shell was a closely guarded secret and was only used on targets over the water so if it failed to detonate it would sink into the ocean and not discovered by the Enemy. Patton was allowed to use Proximity shells as a early cluster Bomb in the Battle of the Bulge and it had a devastating impact on the Germans. Normally shells would explode on contact with the ground, and the ground would absorb some of the force. By Air bursting Proximity shells one burst could kill more Germans.

What about a video or series elucidating the many wars between the USSR and Poland during the 20th century?

“ *NUTS* !”iconic

At 8:54 theres a hunter in camo with a shotgun what editor thought that was appropriate when talking about ww2.....

So Churchill's statement was basically him telling Monty to shut up and get back to work

U should do a video on operation bagration when u get the chance

A decent story but I was totally baffled by the thrown in visuals. They are all over the place, ranging from WW1 to modern footage. Is this the result of letting AI letting loose?

14:55 That's the wrong German high command. That's the one from WW1, as you can immediately tell because there is literally the Kaiser in the middle.

I remember my great-gruncle telling me about his experience in the battle of the bulge. he told me that it was almost mesmorizing watching the germans run alongside their panzers. then he realized that they were coming at him, so he dropped his rifle and ran for 3 days.

8:55 modern hunter shown for some reason.

Why does the thumbnail show a desert? This was in Belgium in the middle of winter. There was snow on the ground.

For every channel Simon hosts. He gets a greater beard.

My grandfather fought in that battle in the US 106th infantry

Like your videos. More relevant pictures would improve content significantly. A suggestion...

Hey Simon you used the Picture of Walther von Lüttwitz (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walther_von_L%C3%BCttwitz), when the actual one who commanded troops in the Battle was Heinrich von Lüttwitz (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heinrich_Freiherr_von_L%C3%BCttwitz). Just a Heads up!

13:59 That isn't a photo of a P47 Thundetbolt either.

Germany was done with in 1944 along the Minsk front, There was no hope of them reaching Antwerp. Yet they were some tough professional opponents!

Several visuals here from WW1. Otherwise, great video.

Swear to God I thought the battle of the buldge was what people faced after Thanksgiving! Thanks grandma 😂

14:50 what are Ludendorff, Whilhelm II and Hindemburg doing in the Ardennes?

Why the picture of the Kaiser with Generals Hindenburg and Ludendorff at 00:14:53? That's World War I, not World War II!

In the American Mid-West, the battle of the Bulge is a big deal, since most Americans who fought in the battle came from that region. A lot of streets, roads, boullivards, avenues, and townships are named after the American veterans of the battle, like "Patton Street". Mid-West newspapers have a tradition, of posting honorary columns about the battle on the anniversary of that conflict. Back when the veterans of that battle were alive, those veterans were treated like royalty with free meals and gifts from stores.

My grandfather fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He was a tank driver; M18 TD. One of my heroes.

why are like one thrid of the photos used ww1???

The Kaiser looked well

One factor that is barely and only tangentially mentioned in the video is importance of fuel. One of the most important reasons that the German offensive stalled was that their tanks ran out of fuel. They desperately need to reach an allied fuel depot in Antwerp to refuel their armored divisions. They failed to do this and their armored divisions ground to a halt, spelling the end of the offensive.

My grandmas older brother died in the battle of the bulge.

hey maybe some episode of avdivka

How do you expect to take a port when warships are parked right next to it