BASTOGNE, Belgium (AP) — The United States, its European allies and a dwindling number of veterans are marking on Friday the 80th anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge, one of the most important and deadly battles in World War II which stopped Adolf Hitler’s last-ditch offensive and opened the way for the full Nazi defeat.
At dawn on Dec. 16, 1944, over 200,000 German soldiers threw Hitler’s last hopes in a unexpected attack through the dense woods of Belgium and Luxembourg’s hilly Ardennes. Making the most of the surprise move, the cold, freezing weather and wearied U.S. troops, the Germans pierced the front line so deeply it came to be known as the Battle of the Bulge.
It set up one month of intense and dramatic fighting that ultimately made sure the Allied advance on Berlin could continue. Initially outnumbered, U.S. troops delayed the attack enough in fierce fighting to allow reinforcements to stream in and turn the tide of the battle by Christmas.
The remembrance and celebrations started already on Friday for organizational reasons.
Germany is now an ally of the United States and its wartime partners in NATO.
Hitler had hoped the advance would change the course of World War II by forcing U.S. and British troops to sue for peace, thus freeing Germany to focus on the rapidly advancing Soviet armies in the east.
After the fighting in the Battle of the Bulge ended on Jan. 28, 1945, Allied forces invaded Germany, eventually leading to the Nazi surrender and the end of the war in Europe.
