Editing Waffen-SS (section)

====Vistula River line====
In late August 1944, the 5th SS Panzer Division ''Wiking'' was ordered back to [[Modlin, Nowy Dwór County|Modlin]] on the [[Vistula|Vistula River]] line near Warsaw, where it was to join the newly formed [[Army Group Vistula]]. Fighting alongside the ''Luftwaffe''<nowiki/>'s [[1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division Hermann Göring|1st Fallschirm-Panzer Division ''Hermann Göring'']], they were faced against the Soviet [[16th Guards Tank Division|3rd Tank Corps]]. The advent of the Warsaw Uprising brought the Soviet offensive to a halt, and relative peace fell on the front line. The division remained in the Modlin area, grouped with the 3th SS Panzer Division ''Totenkopf'' in the [[IV SS Panzer Corps]]. Heavy defensive battles around Modlin followed for the rest of the year.

[[File:Kampfgruppe Knittel's troops on the road to Stavelot.jpg|thumb|Kampfgruppe [[Gustav Knittel|Knittel]]'s troops on the road to [[Stavelot]] to support Peiper ]]

The Ardennes Offensive (popularly known as the "[[Battle of the Bulge]]"), between 16 December 1944 and 25 January 1945, was a major German offensive through the forested [[Ardennes]] mountains region of Belgium. The ''Waffen-SS'' units included the [[6th Panzer Army]] under Sepp Dietrich. Created on 26 October 1944, it incorporated the I SS Panzer Corps (the 1st and 12th SS Panzer Divisions along with the 101st SS Heavy Panzer Battalion). It also had the II SS Panzer Corps (the 2nd and 9th SS Panzer Divisions). Another unit involved was [[Otto Skorzeny]]'s [[Panzer Brigade 150|SS Panzer Brigade 150]].

The purpose of the attack was to split the British and American line in half, capture [[Antwerp]], and encircle and destroy four Allied armies, forcing the Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty on terms favourable to the [[Axis powers|Axis Powers]].{{sfn|United States History}} However, advancing through the forests and wooded hills of the Ardennes proved difficult in the winter weather. Initially, the Germans made good progress in the northern end of its advance. However, they ran into unexpectedly strong resistance by the US [[2nd Infantry Division (United States)|2nd]] and [[99th Infantry Division (United States)|99th Infantry Divisions]]. By 23 December, weather conditions started improving, allowing the Allied air forces, which had been grounded, to attack. In increasingly difficult conditions, the German advance slowed.{{sfn|Weinberg|1994|p=767}} The attack was ultimately a failure. Despite the efforts of the ''Waffen-SS'' and the German Army, fuel shortages, stiff American resistance, including in and around the town of [[Siege of Bastogne|Bastogne]], and Allied air-assaults on German supply columns proved too much, costing the Germans 700 tanks and most of their remaining mobile forces in the west.{{sfn|Weinberg|1994|pp=767–769}} Hitler's failed counteroffensive had used most of Germany's remaining reserves of manpower and materiel, which could not be replaced.{{sfn|Stein|2002|p=232}}

[[File:Malmedy Massacre.jpg|thumb|Aftermath of the Malmedy Massacre]]

During the battle, ''Kampfgruppe Peiper'', part of the {{lang|de|Leibstandarte}} Division, left a path of destruction, which included ''Waffen-SS'' soldiers massacring American POWs, raping Belgian women,{{sfn|Beevor|2015|p=221}} and looting and murdering unarmed Belgian civilians.{{sfn|Murray|Millett|2001|p=468}} It is infamous for the [[Malmedy massacre]], in which approximately 90 unarmed American prisoners of war were murdered on 17 December 1944.{{sfn|Reynolds|2003}} Also during this battle, 3./SS-PzAA1 LSSAH captured and shot eleven African-American soldiers from the US [[333rd Field Artillery Battalion (United States)|333rd Field Artillery Battalion]] in the hamlet of Wereth. Their remains were found by Allied troops two months later. The soldiers had their fingers cut off and legs broken, and one was shot while trying to bandage a comrade's wounds.{{sfn|US Memorial Wereth}}