Battle of the Bulge

the first attack from the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge was to attack and control the Elseborn ridge in Belgium, as it was the only bridge that Hitler could safely use to transfer his tanks. After this it began to spread to Luxembourg and back to Nazi Germany.

Lack of supplies, notably gas. They had to cross a number of bridges to succeed which where easily destroyed. They had to travel quickly to succeed in a time of the year when roads are covered in snow and turned into just a mud path.

the battle of the was a stupid idea.

It was the battle of Stalingrad that signaled the demise of the German empire, the battle of the bulge was the last great offensive Germany planned to stop the lightning advance on the German homeland after several military defeats on the eastern front.

Are you asking who the general was? Because I believe it was Patton

After the Battle of Trenton, the Battle of Princeton occurred.

A Field Artillery unit only consist of guns , Howitzers to be exact . M109 , M119 , and M777 are the updated howitzers . M109 and M198 are two howitzers that are being phased out . Field Artillery units also use .50 Cal Machine Guns, Mk19's (automatic grenade launcher) and M240B machine guns . Every howitzer has the capability of direct fire which doesn't require FDC and can be done in under 30 seconds depending on the unit so enemies never come close to field artillery units . Soldiers of a Field Artillery unit also carry M4 rifles and some with a M203 attachment (single grenade launcher) .

That would be Dunkirk.

Yes because they were the only other main ally left, but there were not that many British soldiers.

20 hours

The 7th Infantry of the US Army served in the Pacific Theater of the war. I thought you would be interested in reading about them even though it has been a long time. Thanks for using answers com and wiki answers.

Very important. The Pacific theater was made of small islands held by the Japanese. They were dug in, so it meant that the troops had to land on each island and fight ( just like DDay landings, but many more than one). Support from the air was important in taking the islands because they would bomb the islands first. The Japanese air force also had planes that would bomb our ships so they worked at keeping them away from the ships and to fight them in the air. Watch the series Victory at Sea and you will see real footage of the war in the Pacific.

panzerlied

There is no list of WWII Bronze Star recipients. The Medal was awarded tens of thousands of times. The Medal could be awarded for either Valor or "Meritorious Service". If the award was for valor the Medal came with a "V device" of bronze to be attached to the ribbon of the Medal.

A new award for WWII was intended to recognize the "average" infantryman. It went to exactly those persons - combat infantrymen, and is the Combat Infantryman's Badge (CIB). This is about four inches long and a half inch tall, and is an enameled metal badge with a rifle-musket superimposed on a blue field. It is worn above all other medals and ribbons on the uniform, except for the ribbon of the Medal of Honor. Postwar the Army decided that anyone who was awarded the CIB during WWII was also entitled to the Bronze Star Medal. This mass awarding of the Bronze Star was for "meritorious service", so, no "V device". Most soldiers were already discharged. Soldiers had to get in touch with the War Department to obtain this Bronze Star they were entitled to, and a great many never knew of this decision or did not bother to obtain the Bronze Star.

If you are interested in learning whether a particular individual soldier was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, you would have to check the individual's personnel record, or perhaps a published history of his unit, which might contain a list of unit personnel decorated. However, 90% of WWII personnel records were destroyed in a fire in a warehouse in St. Louis in 1971. I understand the National Archives is "reconstructing" records nowadays if someone inquires. I also understand that if the individual soldier lived to get home, there is a chance that the VA might have a copy of his personnel record.

General Pattons's armoured forces then the sky cleared giving the allied air powder to see and strike German forces and equipment trying to escape the 'bulge' area.............

Every g.i. Had to score points to "earn" a discharge home. 85 points was the benchmark; which could be accumulated by ribbons, years of service and surviving the battle of the bulge! By using one free hand and holding a picture of rita hayworth, betty grable, or Jane Russell, with the other hand...this would "solve" any issues g.i.'s had with the battle with bulges!

The 660th Field Artillery Battalion (660th FA Bn) was an 8 inch gun battalion. Its guns were pulled behind trucks until they went into battery to fire their weapons. The 8 inch gun was among the very largest artillery pieces deployed by the US Army for service in the field. The artillery was America's most effective combat arm in WWII. Every US infantry division had four artillery battalions in it - three of 105MM howitzers and one of 155MM howitzers.

In addition to this powerful divisional artillery the army created hundreds of "separate', or "independent" artillery battalions. These were to provide additional firepower. These "independent" battalions were independent because they were not an official permanent, organic part of any larger formation. They were assigned to higher HQs than a division - to a corps, or a field army. The idea was that the corps or army commander could move the "independent" artillery around to supplement the firepower of the divisions as needed. In practice the corps commander would often "attach" separate artillery battalions to divisions, sometimes semi-permanently. The separate artillery battalions under the control of the corps commander were often referred to as the "corps artillery".

The 660th FA Bn was an independent artillery battalion. Compared to a division, which had thousands of troops, an independent battalion had generally somewhere around 800. Most divisions published their own history after the war; very, very few independent battalions did. It can be though to search out the history of these independent battalions.

The 660th FA Bn was assigned to the US VII Corps. This corps was one of the two whose troops landed in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and the corps artillery would have come ashore as soon as they had room enough to deploy behind the lines. The VII Corps spent the entire European Campaign (if memory serves) in the US 1st Army, commanded by General Courtney Hodges. VII Corps was commanded by Lieutenant General J. Lawton "Lightening Joe" Collins. Collins was one of the outstanding US corps commanders of the war, and went on to be the commanding general of the US Army (Chief of Staff) in the 50s.

The VII Corps participated in all the major campaigns in Europe - Normandy, Northern France, the Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace ("The Battle of the Bulge"), and Central Europe. As part of the VII Corps artillery the 660th FA Bn would have been involved in all.

Any good history treating the US 1st Army, or VII Corps, might have more details. There were war memoirs of General Collins published under the title "Lightening Joe".

Bastoign.The American 101 first were surrounded there,hence their nickname," the battered bastards of Bastoign".

AAA AW mean "Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons". All anti-aircraft units in the WWII US Army were "separate" battalions, or "independent" battalions. There were many different types of "independent" battalions, including several different types of anti-aircraft artillery. They were "independent" because they were not an official part of any larger formation. (Sometimes they were called "bastard battalions" - no parent unit). US infantry regiments and divisions had no AAA in them. The AAA units were assigned to higher HQs, such as a corp or a field army, and so were also sometimes called "corps troops" or "army troops". The idea was that the higher HQ could move these "independent" battalions around as needed, to supplement the divisions. In practice these AAA units were usually "attached" to a division, sometimes more or less permanently.

The primary US anti-aircraft weapon was the 90mm cannon. It was for high-flying enemy aircraft. The AAA AW units were intended to guard against low flying air attacks.

Usually the AAA AW battalions had their weapons mounted on half-tracks. Some had quad-.50s. This was a four barreled weapon, four .50 caliber machine guns, on a hydraulic mount, with a Sperry Computing Gunsight (a WWII US secret weapon) to calculate the lead to give the target. Others had twin (two-barreled) 20MM automatic cannon, and others had single barrel 40mm automatic cannon. The .50 caliber were the same as the heavy machine guns of the infantry and the wing machine guns of US fighter aircraft, and also the many machine guns on US heavy bombers. The US still uses the .50 caliber today, more than eighty years after its introduction. The 20 and 40MM were the same as those with which Navy ships were covered by the end of the war. If you ever go see a WWII museum ship many still have these mounted. The .50 caliber and 20MM were also effective against enemy foot troops and ground targets. They could really chew up trucks and thin-skinned vehicles. Using the 20MM against enemy infantry was a violation of the rules of war, but the Germans, who had the identical weapon (it was a Swiss design and the Swiss licensed it to both sides) used it against American infantry routinely, so nothing was ever said.

The German air force was largely destroyed by the time of the invasion of France, and some AAA units were deactivated and the personnel retrained as infantry, which was a very bad break for them. The US was desperately short of infantry replacements, because the infantry took by far the worst losses.

It brought out German armour and soldiers to fight and not defend the "Fatherland".

In the US the draft began in 1940, while the US was still at peace. This was the first peacetime draft in American history. The draft law allowed drafting one million men for one year's service. The law came up for renewal in August 1941, three months before Pearl Harbor. The renewal of the draft passed Congress by the margin of a single vote. None of the original one million men drafted got out, either, which aggravated them more than just a little. They were in "for the duration" of the war, which most people knew the US would get into sooner or later.

The US continued drafting men for the service from 1940 right through 1973.

The battle of the bulge underscored the NAZI'S inability to create the economic base necessary to successfully wage a conflict with the world. It followed two other major failures; the first being the conquest of Britain required to deny American access to Europe; the second was their failure to understand the need for the Africa Corp to link with the Wehrmacht's "Operation Barbarossa" These major events underscored the Nazis lack of the strategic understanding necessary for world conquest in the 20th century.

The Battle of the Bulge was not "the beginning of Germany's downfall". Germany was already well losing the war by that point. Their armies were being constantly driven back by the Soviets, and in the west, they had just lost France. The beginning of the downfall of Germany is more accurately placed at the invasion of Russia in 1941.

However, the Battle of the Bulge was Germany's "last gasp". it was the last time Germany really make a significant attack against the Allies. Hitler had hoped that a major, successful counterattack would force the Allies to make peace. While the operation was initially pretty successful, it failed in the end, and Germany officially lost the war about five months later.

One major battle during the"Battle of the Bulge" was the encirclement of Bastogne by the Waffen-SS, who threw everything they had against the surrounded 101st Airborne. The 101st, which was outnumbered, low on food, ammo, and medical supplies, its men lacking a winter issue of clothing, held the town. A few days before Christmas, the German commander sent a message demanding "the honorable surrender of the encircled American troops, to avoid total annihalation." The German commander received the following message from General Anthony McAuliffe, commander of the 101st: "To the German Commander: NUTS! The American Commander." A couple of weeks later, General Patton's tanks broke the seige, opening supply lines and allowing for the wounded to be evacuated. Today, people tell the story of Bastogne as Patton rescuing the doomed 101st AB. No member of the 101st has ever agreed that they needed rescuing.