More than a million men fought in the battle - 600,000 Germans, 500,000 Americans, and 55,000 British. It was the largest land battle of World War II in which the United States directly participated. The Battle of the Bulge, so named because of the westward bulging shape of the battleground on a map, lasted from mid-December 1944 to the end of January 1945. But before they could cross the Rhine River, they would have to face a last-stand German onslaught. Therefore, Adolph Hitler knew that the end was near if something could not be done to slow the Allies' advance.Īfter the triumphant breach of Normandy in August 1944, the Allies rushed across France with amazing speed. The Italian peninsula had been captured and liberated, and the Allied armies were advancing rapidly through France from west to east.
The Soviet Red Army was closing in on the Eastern front, while strategic Allied bombing was wreaking havoc on German cities. armies split the final remnants of the German army in two, hastening an end to World War II in Europe.The Ardennes Offensive - a last-ditch effortīy late 1944, Germany was unmistakably losing the war. On April 26 th, 1945, the 761 st rendezvoused with the Red Army in Steyr, Austria. battalions to meet up with Soviet forces. The 761 st helped break out and rescue the encircled American army in the town of Bastogne.īy the end of April 1945, the 761 st would be one of the first U.S. The battalion would play a major role in the infamous Battle of the Bulge as they successfully countered the German's last-ditch offensive. From the time they entered combat until the end of the war in Europe, the men of the 761 st received seven Silver Stars, 246 Purple Hearts and 1 Congressional Medal of Honor. As they fought their way into Germany, the 761 st would participate in four major campaigns through six countries, all the while earning several battlefield commendations and honors. Patton, himself a skeptic of African American tankers in combat, would wind up welcoming the 761 st into his Third Army and motivated them with a rousing speech right before they set out to engage German forces. Upon arriving in Normandy, France in late 1944, the 761 st was assigned to Patton's Third Army. A tank crew from the 761st sit in their M24 Chaffee tank in a snowy field around Bastogne, waiting to engage German forces during the Battle of the Bulge.
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