Ardennes Alsace. Introduction. World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the. However, the half century that now separates us from. While World. War II continues to absorb the interest of military scholars and historians. Americans has grown to maturity. Highly relevant today, World War II has much to teach us, not. During the next several years, the U. NATO ORDER OF BATTLE. Edition, 1983 good for general organizational information IISS Military Balance 198990. German Corps. S. Army will participate in the nations. World War II. The commemoration will. Americans. about that war. The works produced will provide great opportunities to. Army that fought so magnificently in. World War II was waged on land, on sea, and in the air over several. Panzer General 3D German Sites' title='Panzer General 3D German Sites' />The following. Armys significant military feats from that. Serial Communications In Win32 Sample. This brochure was prepared in the U. S. Army Center of Military History by Roger. Cirillo. I hope this absorbing account of that period will enhance your appreciation. American achievements during World War II. GORDON R. SULLIVANGeneral, United States Army. Chief of Staff. Ardennes Alsace. December 1. 94. 4 2. January 1. 94. 5. In his political testament Mein Kampf My Struggle Adolf Hitler. Panzer Main Exchange. Geb. 2903 Panzer Kaserne Boeblingen, DEU 71032 Germany. Store Hours MonSat 1000201900. Phone 070312042109110 4313641. Battle of Sedan Part of the Battle of France, Western Front of World War II German troops with French prisoners crossing the Meuse on near Sedan. Books at On Military Matters Updated as of 11302017 ABBREVIATIONS djdust jacket, bibliobibliography, bwblack and white, illustillustrations, bcbook club. TonyShop, Magasin de maquettes Paris et en ligne spcialis dans les maquettes de chars, maquettes davions, maquettes bateaux, maquettes figurines, maquettes. Ausf. D. Panzer V Panther Ausf. D1 at the end of the battle of Kursk, July 1943. Despite the shortcomings of the earliest series, once corrected, the few Panthers. Strength lies not in defense but in attack. Throughout World War. II, attempts to gain or regain the initiative had characterized Hitlers. Thus, when the military situation in. Western Front, an enemy offensive to redress. Allied. advance should have come as no surprise. Hitlers great gamble began during the nights of 1. December. when the initial assault force of German armor, artillery, and infantry. Belgian German Luxembourg. This mustered force, with more than 2. Eastern Front. Five more divisions moved forward. Game Chinese Chess 3D'>Game Chinese Chess 3D. On the Allied side the threatened American sector appeared quiet. The 1. 5 December. VIII Corps, which lay in the path of two of Hitlers. There is nothing to report. This illusion would soon be shattered. Strategic Setting In August 1. Normandy, Hitler secretly put in motion actions to build a large reserve. Germanys beleaguered defenses. To. provide the needed manpower, he trimmed existing military forces and conscripted. Panzer divisions were rebuilt with the cadre of survivors from units. Normandy or on the Eastern Front, while newly created Volksgrenadier. By increasing the. Hitler hoped to make up for hurried. Despite the massive Allied air. Germany and the constant need to replace destroyed divisions on. Eastern and Western Fronts, where heavy fighting continued, forces. Hitler was now calling Operation WACHT. AM RHINE WATCH ON THE RHINE. In September Hitler named the port of Antwerp, Belgium, as the objective. Selecting the Eifel region as a staging area, Hitler intended to mass twenty five. Ardennes Forest area of. Belgium and Luxembourg. Once the Meuse River was reached and crossed. Antwerp. The maneuver was designed to sever the already stretched Allied. Allies. ground forces. If successful, Hitler believed that the offensive could. Allied coalition, or at least greatly cripple its ground combat. Russians at his back door. Timing was crucial. Allied air power ruled the skies during the day. German military strength on the ground. Hitler, therefore, scheduled the offensive to take place. Allied planes, or at least limit their. Because the requisite forces and supplies. November until. mid December. This additional preparation time, however, did not ease the. German generals and staff officers entrusted with planning. WACHT AM RHINE. Both the nominal Commander in Chief West Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. Army Group B commander Field Marshal Walter Model, who had primary. WACHT AM RHINE, questioned the scope of the offensive. Both argued for a more limited attack, to pinch out the American held salient. Ardennes around Aachen. Borrowing a bridge players term, they. Hitlers larger objectives as the grand slam, or big. Rundstedt and Model believed that Hitlers legions were incapable of. The twin swords. that had dominated the field during the 1. France, tanks. and air power, no longer existed in the numbers necessary to strike a decisive. Supply columns. too, would be prone to interdiction or breakdown on the Eifels limited. To Hitlers generals, the grand slam was simply asking for. The determining factor was the terrain itself. The Ardennes consists. About a third of the region. Typical Ardennes terrain. National Archiveshe northlands and deep defiles and gorges where numerous rivers. Dirt secondary roads existed north south movement. Bastogne and Houffalize in the south, and. Malmedy and St. Vith in the north crucial for military operations. After. the winters first freeze, tanks could move cross country in much of the. Fall 1. 94. 4, however, brought the promise of mud because of. December, the promise of snow. Either could. limit the quick advance needed by WACHT AM RHINE. Once the Meuse. River, west of the Ardennes, was gained the wide river itself and cliffs. Since the roads and terrain leading to Antwerp thereafter. German planners focused on the initial breakthrough and the. Meuse. The terrain, which made so little sense as an attack. Previous offensives through the Ardennes in World War I and early in World. War II had followed the major roads southwestward and had been made in good. The defenses then had always been light screens, easily pushed. In 1. 94. 0 the weakly opposed German armor needed three days to traverse. Ardennes in good weather, on dry roads. For WACHT AM6. RHINE, the American line had to be broken and crushed immediately. Meuse. Precious fuel would be used to deploy tanks to. More importantly, time would be lost giving the defenders. Only surprise, sheer weight of numbers, and minimal hard fighting could. If the Americans fought long and well, the. The Ardennes held little fascination for the Allies, either as a staging. General. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander, had concentrated forces. Germany. Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomerys 2. 1 Army Group to. Rhine in early. 1. Lt. Gen. Omar N. Bradleys 1. Army Group to the south and Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers 6th Army Group in the Alsace region would also launch. Rhine crossings from their sectors. Located in the center of Bradleys sector, the Ardennes had been quiet. September. Referred to as a ghost front, one company commander. The 1. 2th Army. Groups dispositions reflected Bradleys operational plans. Lt. Gen. William. H. Simpsons Ninth Army and most of Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges First. Army occupied a 4. Ardennes, concentrating for an. Ruhr industrial region of Germany. Lt. Gen. George S. Patton. Jr. s Third Army was in a 1. Saar mining region. In between, the First Army. Behind this thin screen was one green armored division. Bradley judged his decision to keep the Ardennes front thinly occupied. Nor was he alone in not seeing danger. Probability. not capability, dominated Allied thinking about the Wehrmachts next. Western Front in mid December 1. Commanders and intelligence officers G 2 at every level from the Supreme. Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force SHAEF, to the divisions holding. Germans were too weak to attempt regaining the. Despite their awareness that enemy. Hitler had intended them to conclude. Knowing that the Germans. Ruhr and the Saar, Eisenhowers. G 2 believed that they probably would use the uncommitted Sixth Panzer. Army, suspected to be in the northern Eifel, to bolster their weakening. Allied push toward. Ruhr. Both Hodges and Pattons G 2s viewed the enemy as a reflection. German buildup as. First and Third Armies.