The German attack fell mostly on the US First Army. The US Ninth Army was north of the First, and the British were north of the Ninth Army. Because the German breakthrough appeared as though it were going to reach a small Belgian town through which the landlines strung by Signal Corps troops for telephone communications ran, Eisenhower made the decision to place the troops north of the German breakthrough temporarily under the command of the 21st Army Group, commanded by Montgomery, until the troops north and south could cut through the Bulge and reunite - about eight or nine days. This put Montgomery over US troops, and after the battle was stabilized he made some outlandish claims trying to seize credit for having to "rescue" the incompetent Americans. This was par for the course for Montgomery, yet another of his "what a good boy am I" pronouncements, and came very near to causing his relief by Eisenhower. British newspapers took their cue from Montgomery's overstatements and presently Churchill was obliged to remind the House of Commons that "The Americans have engaged thirty or forty men for every one we have engaged, and have lost sixty to eighty men to every one of ours."
The primary role of British troops was in guarding the crossings of the Meuse River, the initial German objective, which freed American troops from that duty to join the battle.
The British troops involved were from the XXX Corps, which included the 6th Airborne Division, the 51st (Highland) Division, the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division, the 29th Armoured Brigade and the 33rd Armoured Brigade. The Corps reserve was the Guards Armoured Division, the 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, and the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division !
German Order of Battle, Ardennes Offensive:
Oberbefehlshaber West
Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt
Army Group B
Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model
Fifth Panzer ArmyGeneral der Panzertruppen Hasso von Manteuffel
19th Flak Brigade 207th and 600th Engineer Battalions 653rd Heavy Antitank Battalion 669th Ost (East) Battalion 638th, 1094th, and 1095th Heavy Artillery Batteries 25th/975th Fortress Artillery Battery 1099th, 1119th, and 1121st Heavy Mortar Batteries 3rd Todt Brigade (paramilitary engineers)XLVII Panzer Corps
General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz
LXVI Corps
General der Artillerie Walter Lucht
LVIII Panzer Corps
General der Panzertruppen Walter Kruger
XXXIX Panzer Corps
Genlt Karl Decker
Oberstgruppenfuhrer der Waffen SS Josef Dietrich
506th Heavy Panzer Battalion 683rd Heavy Antitank Battalion 217th Assault Panzer Battalion 394th, 667th, and 902nd Assault Gun Battalions 741st Antitank Battalion 1098th, 1110th, and 1120th Heavy Howitzer Batteries 428th Heavy Mortar Battery 1123rd K-3 Battery 2nd Flak Division (41st and 43rd Regiments) von der Heydte Fallschirmjager Battalion 4th Todt BrigadeI SS Panzer Corps
SS-Gruppenfuhrer Hermann Priess
II SS Panzer Corps
SS Obergruppenfuhrer Willi Bittrich
LXVII Corps
Genlt Otto Hitzfeld
General der Panzertruppen Erich Brandenberger
657th and 668th Heavy Antitank Battalions 501st Fortress Antitank Battalion 47th Engineer Battalion 1092nd, 1093rd, 1124th, and 1125th Heavy Howitzer Batteries 660th Heavy Artillery Battery 1029th, 1039th, and 1122nd Heavy Mortar Batteries 999th Penal Battalion 44th Machine Gun Battalion 15th Flak Regiment 1st Todt BrigadeLIII Corps
General der Kavallerie Edwin von Rothkirch
LXXX Corps
General der Infanterie Franz Beyer
LXXXV Corps
General der Infantrerie Baptist Kniess
II Fighter Corps
Genmaj. Dietrich Peltz
III Flak Corps
Genlt. Wolfgang Pickert
Belgium To expand on the above, The Battle of the Bulge ( a silly and not very descriptive term) was the last German offensive of the Second World War and was fought in an area bordering France, Belgium and Luxumbourg - the woods of the Ardennnes. It was ill-advised and resulted in extremely heavy losses for the German forces, and was a deciding factor in Germany's defeat shortly after.
The Battle of the Bulge was fought in an area of Belgium known as the Ardenne, during the winter
Battle of the Bulge
The battle of Bulge was fought between Germany, and the United Kingdom.
856,525 Allied soldiers fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the axis had 496,363 soldiers in the battle of the Bulge
It is believed that close to 600,000 Americans fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
Belgium To expand on the above, The Battle of the Bulge ( a silly and not very descriptive term) was the last German offensive of the Second World War and was fought in an area bordering France, Belgium and Luxumbourg - the woods of the Ardennnes. It was ill-advised and resulted in extremely heavy losses for the German forces, and was a deciding factor in Germany's defeat shortly after.
The Battle of the Bulge was fought in an area of Belgium known as the Ardenne, during the winter
Battle of the Bulge
The battle of Bulge was fought between Germany, and the United Kingdom.
The battle of Bulge was fought between Germany, and the United Kingdom.
856,525 Allied soldiers fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the axis had 496,363 soldiers in the battle of the Bulge
It is believed that close to 600,000 Americans fought in the Battle of the Bulge.
battle of the bulge
The Battle of the Bulge.
Belgium
Information on Theodore J. Sklarski at battle of the bulge