Ardennes

Before the Battle of the Bulge: Forming the 551st “GOYAs”

By summer’s end 1944 Adolf Hitler, along with much of his staff, began to realize that Germany was in serious danger of losing the war. Read more

Ardennes

The Forgotten American Airborne of Operation Market-Garden

“In the years to come everyone will remember Arnhem, but no one will remember that two American divisions fought their hearts out in the Dutch canal country,” wrote U.S. Read more

Ardennes

The End of the Battle of the Bulge

Wednesday, December 27, 1944, found the military situation in the Ardennes Forest of Belgium stalemated. After 12 days of unrelenting struggle, the American and German forces on this part of the Western Front found themselves locked in brutal combat, unable to drive each other back. Read more

Ardennes

Hell in a Small Place: the Canadian Paratroopers of Operation Varsity

In the hut no one spoke, no one joked. The assembled British and Canadian paratroop commanders awaited the briefing from their brigade commander on their next major operation. Read more

Ardennes

General James Gavin’s Airborne Tour of Duty With the 82nd

Shortly after midnight on Monday, June 5, 1944, the dark skies over the coast of northern France were filled with thunder. Read more

Ardennes

The SS Elite In The Battle for Bastogne

The story of Hitler’s Bodyguard, the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte (LAH), in the battle for Bastogne does not begin until after the siege of that city had been raised by the U.S. Read more

Ardennes

The Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada in the Rhineland, 1945

By February 1945, the green Allied formations that landed on D-Day had become hard professional armies. Army, corps, and division commands had been shaken down and were operating efficiently. Read more

Ardennes

Was Hitler’s Ardennes Offensive Brilliant or Delusional?

By Patrick J. Chaisson

The chief shuffled to his seat in the underground conference room. He sat down heavily, eyes unfocused and dreamy, while a litany of woes was read to him. Read more

Ardennes

World War II’s Famous Battle of the Bulge

On December 16, 1944, Hitler launched Operation Wacht am Rhein, or Watch on the Rhine. Popularly known as the Battle of the Bulge, the ensuing offensive was a desperate effort to win a major victory in the West. Read more

Ardennes

Battle of the Bulge POWs: One Man’s Story of Capture

Nobody knew it in the 6th Armored Divisions 9th Armored Infantry Battalion, but the tide of the Battle of the Bulge had turned by the time the outfit moved into snow-covered fields and forests near Bastogne. Read more

Ardennes

Battle of the Bulge Tank Duel On Christmas Eve

The Battle of the Bulge is famously known as the largest battle fought by the U.S. Army in World War II. Read more

Ardennes

Adolf Hitler Sends Joachim Peiper to the Bulge

During the Battle of the Bulge, the largest battle America has ever fought, Hitler chose the Sixth Panzer Army for the German juggernaut’s most important role. Read more

Ardennes

A Screaming Eagle’s Journey: The Story of Lud Labutka

In an effort to calm his nerves just before he jumped into Normandy on D-Day, Lud Labutka thought it might be a good idea to accept the drink being offered from the paratrooper sitting across from him on their C-47 transport as it crossed the English Channel. Read more

Ardennes

Book Reviews: Heroism of the Nisei Soldiers

(Scott McGaugh, Da Capo Press, Boston, 2016, 257 pp., Read more

Ardennes

The Supply Front: The Allies’ Key to Victory

After the war in Europe was won, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had many opportunities to review various campaigns with the leaders of the Soviet Army–– including even Joseph Stalin himself. Read more

Ardennes

Voices of the Bulge, Part II

In the first installment, a large German force made a surprise counteroffensive against American positons along the Belgian-German border—an operation that became known in the West as “the Battle of the Bulge.” Read more

Ardennes

Concentration Camp Liberators Reveal Their Silent Trauma

Down in the basement of my father’s medical office a Nazi helmet stood guard. It sat on top of the pea-green Army trunk, CAPT R LEVINSON stenciled in white letters under a beaten-up leather handle. Read more

Ardennes

The Saar Offensive: Patton Breaks Through the Western Wall

The portion of the Siegfried Line guarding the Saar industrial region of Germany proved a sinister gateway into western Germany for Lt. Read more

Ardennes

Military Book Reviews: George S. Patton and Erwin Rommel

American General George S. Patton, Jr., and German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel both demonstrated the masterful employment of armored forces in many World War II military campaigns. Read more

Ardennes

The Battle of the Bulge and Roads to Bastogne

An eternal grayness created a sense of constant gloom. The short, wintry days ended quickly, giving way to endless hours of dark, monotonous cold, and ever-present clouds of ghostlike fog crept slowly over the landscape, blocking all sight. Read more