Operation Nordwind Archives

Two GIs run for cover during the Battle of the Bulge. The Nazis initiated their Ardennes Offensive in December 1944, hoping to cross the River Meuse and advance to the port of Antwerp, Belgium, splitting Allied forces in two. Hitler authorized Operation Nordwind two weeks after the Ardennes Offensive was launched in an attempt to exploit gains made to the north as the Allies shifted troops and military assets in response to the Ardennes threat. The stand at Hatten was critical in wresting the initiative away from the Germans.

Operation Nordwind

Heroic 52 Hours Defending Hatten

By Patrick J. Chaisson

The GIs defending Pillbox No. 9 watched in despair as a weak January sun set behind them. Read more

Operation Nordwind

New Years Battle at Ludweiler: Delaying Operation Nordwind

By Patrick J. Chaisson

“Lieutenant Rochester, take a look at this.”

The American patrol halted next to an abandoned industrial building. Read more

Operation Nordwind

Herrlisheim: What Became of the 12th Armored Division’s Lost Battalion

By Nathan N. Prefer

On January 17, 1945, as Allied forces prepared to descend on Germany itself and put an end to the war in Europe, an American tank battalion disappeared. Read more

Operation Nordwind

“Love” Company in the Vosges Mountains

By John M. Khoury

The author is a self-described “tough kid from Brooklyn” who enlisted in the U.S. Army’s Enlisted Reserve program in October 1942, hoping to complete his college education before being called up for active duty. Read more