Heinz Guderian.
He invaded Belgium and went through the Ardennes forest
He invaded Belgium and went through the Ardennes forest
1944 in the ardennes forest.
Belgium. It was thought to be a natural obstacle against German tanks, but the German Army attacked through it in the spring of 1940, and again in the winter of 1944-45. The second attack was called the Ardenne Offensive by the Germans, and the Battle of the Bulge by the Allies.
On May 10th, 1940, Germany invaded France through the Ardennes forest, thought to have been impossible for the blitzkrieg tactic, and defeated France in a little over a month. It is the same forest in which the Battle of the Bulge took place four years later.
The Ardennes Forest (the s is silent) the ONLY open space in the Maginot Line where the French did not think Hitler would cut a path to France by marching through the forest.
The Battle of Ardennes is also referred to as The Battle of the Bulge. The Ardennes Forest is in France and Belgium. It was the last major offensive of the Germans in World War 2.
At the Ardennes Forest and all around that region of territory- The battle got it's name from a huge bulge that swept across the forest.
Germany invaded France in WWII by going through the Ardennes Forest. This was a hilly, heavily wooded area, with few roads, cut by ravines, and thought by all to be impossible for a modern, mechanized army to pass through. So it was lightly defended. One of the best German generals, von Manstein, believed it would be possible to traverse the Ardennes. Hitler agreed as soon as he heard von Manstein's plan. This approach allowed the Germans to burst into France behind the bulk of the French and British Armies, who were facing north, toward Belgium. The Allies were expecting the Germans to come the same way they had in WWI, down the traditional invasion route into France over the centuries, over the flat land near the sea. The Germans would reprise the Ardennes attack in December 1944, when they again unexpectedly came through the Forest to attack the Americans and begin the "Battle of the Bulge", more formally called the "Ardennes Offensive".
The bulge was when the Germans surged ahead 60 feet in the Allied defenses in the Ardennes' Forest.
The major mistake that the Allies made in preparing for Germany's attack in 1940 was their assumption that the Ardennes Forest was impassable. They concentrated their forces to the north and south of it. When Germany attacked through the Ardennes, they encountered weak resistance, which allowed them to complete their plan of encircling the allied armies.
There were three locations for the Battle of the Bulge. These locations included forest areas of Wallonia, Belgium, France, and Luxembourg. Most of the battle action took place in Ardennes forest.