December 16, 1944: Battle of the Bulge Begins in Luxembourg

Same post as last year!

Wanted to share with you a remarkable video which details the first day of the Battle of the Bulge, December 16, 1944, which happened almost exclusively in Luxembourg. Adolph Hitler had gathered the last remaining offensive strength of the German forces with the plan to cut through Luxembourg and Belgium to reach Antwerp and force the US and UK to reach a separate peace with Germany.

The allies made the same mistake as in 1940, thinking that there was no way German armor could penetrate the dense Ardennes. Luxembourg was guarded by 3 US units that were here to rest and recuperate. The 28th Division, which was decimated in fighting at Huertgen earlier in the year, and 106th Division which was a ‘green’ unit, just arrived from the US and had not seen any combat. The Germans threw at them an enormous force of tanks and infantry. Poor weather (rain and heavy snow) meant that the US forces had no benefit of air cover.

The battle Clervaux was short but intense. The US forces fought bravely against overwhelming numbers and were able to slow the Germans down, which ruined their carefully planned attack. Eventually, the Germans reached, but never took Bastogne, and General Patton was able to reinforce the defenders of Bastogne and drive the Germans from Belgium and Luxembourg. While Luxembourg city never fell, the local people where rightly terrified as the entire country had been liberated in September, 1944. Today is a day that the people of Luxembourg always carefully and kindly honor their liberators, including the approximately 2,500 killed, wounded or captured over this 3 day period.

[Ardennes Alamo 1944 – Last Stand at Clervaux Castle](https://youtu.be/_DyCo3aQSs8)

And the video is by Mark Felton, not me 🙂