Editing Battle of the Bulge (section)

==Attack on the northern shoulder==
{{Main|Battle of Elsenborn Ridge}}
{{Wikisource|The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge/Chapter V|The Sixth Panzer Army Attack}}

While the [[Siege of Bastogne]] is often credited as the central point where the German offensive was stopped,<ref>{{citation |last= Wager |first= Eliot |date= 2011 |title= Explaining the silence surrounding Elsenborn Ridge battle |newspaper= Checkerboard |issue= 4 |url= http://99div.com/direct/explaining_the_silence_surrounding_elsenborn_ridge_battle+1103elsenborn+4578706c61696e696e67207468652073696c656e636520737572726f756e64696e6720456c73656e626f726e20526964676520626174746c65 |publisher= 99th Infantry Division Association |access-date= 30 August 2021}}</ref> the battle for [[Battle of Elsenborn Ridge|Elsenborn Ridge]] was actually the decisive component of the Battle of the Bulge. Untested troops of the 99th Infantry Division prevented the best equipped armored units of the German army from advancing and forced them to reroute their troops to unfavorable alternative routes that considerably slowed their advance.{{sfn|MacDonald|1984|p=410}}{{sfn|Cole|1964|pp=1–64}}

===Best German divisions assigned===
The attack on Monschau, Höfen, [[Büllingen|Krinkelt-Rocherath]], and then Elsenborn Ridge was led by the units personally selected by Adolf Hitler. The 6th Panzer Army was given priority for supply and equipment and was assigned the shortest route to the ultimate objective of the offensive, Antwerp.{{sfn|Cole|1964|pp=1–64}} The 6th Panzer Army included the elite of the Waffen-SS, including four Panzer divisions and five infantry divisions in three corps.{{sfn|Cavanagh|2004|page=8}}{{sfn|Parker|2004|page=69}} SS-''[[Obersturmbannführer]]'' [[Joachim Peiper]] led {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe}} Peiper, consisting of 4,800 men and 600 vehicles, which was charged with leading the main effort. Its newest and most powerful tank, the [[Tiger II]] heavy tank, consumed 2 US gallons of fuel per mile (470 litres per 100&nbsp;km), and the Germans only had enough fuel for an estimated {{convert|90|to|100|mi|km}} of travel, not nearly enough to reach Antwerp.{{sfn|Cole|1964|p=73}}

===German forces held up===
[[File:Battle of the Bulge 6th.jpg|thumb|upright=1.6|Sepp Dietrich led the Sixth Panzer Army in the northernmost attack route.]]

The attacks by the Sixth Panzer Army's infantry units in the north fared badly because of unexpectedly fierce resistance by the U.S. 2nd and 99th Infantry Divisions. {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe}} Peiper, at the head of Sepp Dietrich's Sixth Panzer Army, had been designated to take the Losheim-Losheimergraben road, a key route through the [[Losheim Gap]], but it was closed by two collapsed overpasses that German engineers failed to repair during the first day.{{sfn|Cole|1964|p=83}} Peiper's forces were rerouted through [[Battle of Lanzerath Ridge|Lanzerath]].

To preserve the quantity of armor available, the infantry of the 9th {{lang|de|Fallschirmjaeger}} Regiment, [[3rd Parachute Division (Germany)|3rd ''Fallschirmjaeger'' Division]], had been ordered to clear the village first. A single 18-man [[ISTAR|Intelligence and Reconnaissance Platoon]] from the [[99th Infantry Division (United States)#Most decorated platoon of World War II|99th Infantry Division]] along with four Forward Air Controllers held up the battalion of about 500 German paratroopers until sunset, about 16:00, causing 92 casualties among the Germans.

This created a bottleneck in the German advance. {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe}} Peiper did not begin its advance until nearly 16:00, more than 16 hours behind schedule and didn't reach [[Hosingen|Bockholtz Station]] until the early morning of 17 December. Their intention was to control the twin villages of [[Büllingen|Rocherath-Krinkelt]] which would clear a path to the high ground of [[Battle of Elsenborn Ridge|Elsenborn Ridge]]. Occupation of this dominating terrain would allow control of the roads to the south and west and ensure supply to {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe}} Peiper's armored task force.

===Malmedy massacres===
{{Main|Malmedy massacre}}
[[File:Malmedy Massacre.jpg|thumb|Scene of the [[Malmedy massacre]]]]

At 4:30&nbsp;a.m. on 17 December 1944, the 1st SS Panzer Division was approximately 16 hours behind schedule when the convoys departed the village of Lanzerath enroute west to the town of Honsfeld.{{sfn|Reynolds|2003|p=34-40}} After capturing Honsfeld, Peiper detoured from his assigned route to seize a small fuel depot in Büllingen, where the {{lang|de|Waffen-SS}} infantry summarily executed dozens of U.S. POWs.{{sfnm|Cole|1964|1p=78|MacDonald|1984|2p=203–209}}{{sfn|Review and Recommendation,  War Crimes (1947)|p=4-22}} Afterwards, Peiper advanced to the west, towards the River Meuse and captured Ligneuville, bypassing the towns of Mödersheid, Schoppen, Ondenval, and Thirimont.{{sfn|Cole|1964|p=78 |loc={{sp}}|ps=<br />Statement of General Lauer "the enemy had the key to success within his hands, but did not know it."}} The terrain and poor quality of the roads made the advance of {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe Peiper}} difficult; at the exit to the village of Thirimont, the armored spearhead was unable to travel the road directly to Ligneuville, and Peiper deviated from the planned route, and rather than turn to the left, the armored spearhead turned to the right, and advanced towards the crossroads of [[Baugnez]], which is equidistant from the city of Malmedy and Ligneuville and [[Waimes]].{{sfnm|Cole|1964|1p=78|MacDonald|1984|2p=203–209}}

At 12:30&nbsp;p.m. on 17 December, {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe}} Peiper was near the hamlet of Baugnez, on the height halfway between the town of Malmedy and Ligneuville, when they encountered elements of the [[285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion]], [[7th Armored Division (United States)|U.S. 7th Armored Division]].{{sfn|Cole|1964|pp=75–106}}{{sfn|MacDonald|1984}} After a brief battle the lightly armed Americans surrendered. They were disarmed and, with some other Americans captured earlier (approximately 150 men), sent to stand in a field near the crossroads under light guard. About fifteen minutes after Peiper's advance guard passed through, the main body under the command of SS-{{lang|de|[[Sturmbannführer]]}} [[Werner Pötschke]] arrived. The SS troopers suddenly opened fire on the prisoners. As soon as the firing began, the prisoners panicked. Most were shot where they stood, though some managed to flee. Accounts of the killing vary, but at least 84 of the [[Prisoner of War|POWs]] were murdered. A few survived, and news of the killings of prisoners of war spread through Allied lines.{{sfn|MacDonald|1984}} Following the end of the war, soldiers and officers of {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe}} Peiper, including Peiper and SS general Dietrich, were tried for the incident at the [[Malmedy massacre trial]].{{sfn|Toland|1999|p=382}}

===Kampfgruppe Peiper deflected southeast===
Driving to the south-east of Elsenborn, {{lang|de|Kampfgruppe}} Peiper entered Honsfeld, where they encountered one of the 99th Division's rest centers, clogged with confused American troops. They quickly captured portions of the 3rd Battalion of the [[394th Infantry Regiment (United States)|394th Infantry Regiment]]. They destroyed a number of American armored units and vehicles, and took several dozen prisoners who were subsequently murdered.{{sfn|MacDonald|1984|p=210}}{{sfn|Cole|1964|pp=75–106}}<ref name="Judge1">{{citation |title=Review and Recommendation of the Deputy Judge Advocate for War Crimes |date=20 October 1947 |pages=4–22 |url=http://137.248.11.66/attachments?lang=de&barcode=06-024 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070929133325/http://137.248.11.66/attachments?lang=de&barcode=06-024 |url-status=dead |archive-date=29 September 2007 }}</ref> Peiper also captured {{convert|50000|gal}} of fuel for his vehicles.{{sfn|Hersko|1998}}

Peiper advanced north-west towards Büllingen, keeping to the plan to move west, unaware that if he had turned north he had an opportunity to flank and trap the entire 2nd and 99th Divisions.{{sfn|Quarrie|1999|p=31}} Instead, intent on driving west, Peiper turned south to detour around Hünningen, choosing a route designated Rollbahn D as he had been given latitude to choose the best route west.{{sfn|Quarrie|1999}}

To the north, the [[277th Volksgrenadier Division (Wehrmacht)|277th Volksgrenadier Division]] attempted to break through the defending line of the U.S. 99th and the [[2nd Infantry Division (United States)|2nd Infantry Divisions]]. The 12th SS Panzer Division, reinforced by additional infantry ({{lang|de|Panzergrenadier}} and {{lang|de|Volksgrenadier}}) divisions, took the key road junction at Losheimergraben just north of Lanzerath and attacked the twin villages of Rocherath and Krinkelt.

===Wereth 11===
{{Main|333rd Artillery Battalion (United States)}}
Another, smaller, massacre was committed in [[Wereth]], Belgium, approximately {{convert|6.5|mi}} northeast of [[Saint-Vith]] on 17 December 1944. Eleven black American soldiers were tortured after surrendering and then shot by men of the [[1st SS Panzer Division]] belonging to {{lang|de|Schnellgruppe}} [[Gustav Knittel|Knittel]]. Some of the injuries sustained before death included bayonet wounds to the head, broken legs, and their fingers cut off. The perpetrators were never punished for this crime.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wereth.org/_en/en_history.php |title=Remembering the invisible soldiers of the Battle of the Bulge |publisher=U.S. Wereth Memorial website |date=29 June 1944 |access-date=12 July 2011 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728173150/http://www.wereth.org/_en/en_history.php |archive-date=28 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Steven |last=Hoover |title=Wereth 11 Remembered in Ceremony |publisher=Defense.gov |access-date=12 July 2011 |url=http://archive.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=33014 |archive-date=5 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150905141932/http://archive.defense.gov/news/NewsArticle.aspx?ID=33014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2001, a group of people began working on a tribute to the eleven black American soldiers to remember their sacrifices.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Belgian villagers remember 'Wereth 11' with memorial|url=https://www.stripes.com/news/belgian-villagers-remember-wereth-11-with-memorial-1.60791|access-date=2021-03-25|website=Stars and Stripes|archive-date=21 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210321202818/https://www.stripes.com/news/belgian-villagers-remember-wereth-11-with-memorial-1.60791|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Germans advance west===
[[File:GERMAN TROOPS ADVANCING PAST ABANDONED AMERICAN EQUIPMENT.jpg|thumb|German troops advancing past abandoned American equipment]]

By the evening the spearhead had pushed north to engage the U.S. 99th Infantry Division and ''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper arrived in front of [[Stavelot]]. Peiper's forces were already behind his timetable because of the stiff American resistance and because when the Americans fell back, their engineers blew up bridges and emptied fuel dumps. Peiper's unit was delayed and his vehicles denied critically needed fuel. They took 36 hours to advance from the [[Eifel]] region to Stavelot, while the same advance required nine hours in 1940.{{citation needed|date=February 2010}}

''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper attacked Stavelot on 18 December but was unable to capture the town before the Americans evacuated a large fuel depot.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=106}} Three tanks attempted to take the bridge, but the lead vehicle was disabled by a mine. Following this, 60 grenadiers advanced forward but were stopped by concentrated American defensive fire. After a fierce tank battle the next day, the Germans finally entered the town when U.S. engineers failed to blow the bridge.

Capitalizing on his success and not wanting to lose more time, Peiper rushed an advance group toward the vital bridge at [[Trois-Ponts]], leaving the bulk of his strength in Stavelot. When they reached it at 11:30 on 18 December, retreating U.S. engineers blew it up.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=107}}{{sfn|Toland|1999|pp=103, 104}} Peiper detoured north towards the villages of [[La Gleize]] and Cheneux. At Cheneux, the advance guard was attacked by American fighter-bombers, destroying two tanks and five halftracks, blocking the narrow road. The group began moving again at dusk at 16:00 and was able to return to its original route at around 18:00. Of the two bridges remaining between ''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper and the Meuse, the bridge over the Lienne was blown by the Americans as the Germans approached. Peiper turned north and halted his forces in the woods between La Gleize and [[Stoumont]].{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=108}} He learned that Stoumont was strongly held and that the Americans were bringing up strong reinforcements from [[Spa, Belgium|Spa]].

To Peiper's south, the advance of ''Kampfgruppe'' Hansen had stalled. SS-''Oberführer'' [[Wilhelm Mohnke|Mohnke]] ordered ''Schnellgruppe'' Knittel, which had been designated to follow Hansen, to instead move forward to support Peiper. SS-''Sturmbannführer'' Knittel crossed the bridge at Stavelot around 19:00 against American forces trying to retake the town. Knittel pressed forward towards La Gleize, and shortly afterward the Americans recaptured Stavelot. Peiper and Knittel both faced the prospect of being cut off.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=108}}

===German advance halted===
[[File:American tank destroyers.jpg|thumb|left|[[90 mm Gun M1/M2/M3|M3 90mm gun]]-armed American M36 tank destroyers move forward to stem German spearhead near Werbomont, Belgium, 20 December 1944.]]

At dawn on 19 December, Peiper surprised the American defenders of Stoumont by sending infantry from the 2nd SS {{Lang|de|Panzergrenadier|italic=no}} Regiment in an attack and a company of Fallschirmjäger to infiltrate their lines. He followed this with a Panzer attack, gaining the eastern edge of the town. An American tank battalion arrived but, after a two-hour tank battle, Peiper finally captured Stoumont at 10:30. Knittel joined up with Peiper and reported the Americans had recaptured Stavelot to their east.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=109}} Peiper ordered Knittel to retake Stavelot. Assessing his own situation, he determined that his ''Kampfgruppe'' did not have sufficient fuel to cross the bridge west of Stoumont and continue his advance. He maintained his lines west of Stoumont for a while, until the evening of 19 December when he withdrew them to the village edge. On the same evening the U.S. [[82nd Airborne Division]] under Maj. Gen. [[James M. Gavin|James Gavin]] arrived and deployed at La Gleize and along Peiper's planned route of advance.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=109}}

German efforts to reinforce Peiper were unsuccessful. ''Kampfgruppe'' Hansen was still struggling against bad road conditions and stiff American resistance on the southern route. ''Schnellgruppe'' Knittel was forced to disengage from the heights around Stavelot. ''Kampfgruppe'' Sandig, which had been ordered to take Stavelot, launched another attack without success. Sixth Panzer Army commander Sepp Dietrich ordered [[Hermann Priess]], commanding officer of the I SS Panzer Corps, to increase its efforts to back Peiper's battle group, but Priess was unable to break through.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=111}}

Small units of the U.S. 2nd Battalion, [[119th Infantry Regiment (United States)|119th Infantry Regiment]], 30th Infantry Division, attacked the dispersed units of ''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper on the morning of 21 December. They failed and were forced to withdraw, and a number were captured, including battalion commander Maj. [[Hal D. McCown]]. Peiper learned that his reinforcements had been directed to gather in La Gleize to his east, and he withdrew, leaving wounded Americans and Germans in the {{Interlanguage link|Froidcourt Castle|fr|3=Château de Froidcourt}}. As he withdrew from Cheneux, American paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division engaged the Germans in fierce house-to-house fighting. The Americans shelled ''Kampfgruppe'' Peiper on 22 December, and although the Germans had run out of food and had virtually no fuel, they continued to fight. A Luftwaffe resupply mission went badly when SS-''Brigadeführer'' Wilhelm Mohnke insisted the grid coordinates supplied by Peiper were wrong, parachuting supplies into American hands in Stoumont.{{sfn|Bouwmeester|2004|p=112}}

In La Gleize, Peiper set up defenses waiting for German relief. When the relief force was unable to penetrate the Allied lines, he decided to break through the Allied lines and return to the German lines on 23 December. The men of the ''Kampfgruppe'' were forced to abandon their vehicles and heavy equipment, although most of the 800 remaining troops were able to escape.{{sfn|MacDonald|1984|p=461, 463}}

===Outcome===
[[File:Captured German Panther tank crewman 1944.jpg|thumb|An American soldier escorts a German crewman from his wrecked Panther tank during the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge.]]

The U.S. 99th Infantry Division, outnumbered five to one, inflicted casualties in the ratio of 18 to one. The division lost about 20% of its effective strength, including 465 killed and 2,524 evacuated due to wounds, injuries, fatigue, or trench foot. German losses were much higher. In the northern sector opposite the 99th, this included more than 4,000 deaths and the destruction of 60 tanks and big guns.<ref name="dean">{{cite web |url=http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/hofendefense.aspx |title=Why the Bulge Didn't Break: Green Troops Grew Up Fast to Become Heroes of Hofen |last=Dean |first=Rob |work=American Forces in World War II |publisher=Military History Online |access-date=17 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090225230026/http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/articles/hofendefense.aspx |archive-date=25 February 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Historian [[John S. D. Eisenhower]] wrote, "...&nbsp;the action of the 2nd and 99th Divisions on the northern shoulder could be considered the most decisive of the Ardennes campaign."{{sfn|Eisenhower|1969|p=224}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.belgiumtouristguide.be/pdf/en/BAT60.pdf |title=The Battle of the Ardennes |year=2009 |publisher=Office de Promotion du Tourisme de Wallonie et de Bruxelles |access-date=26 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207121855/http://www.belgiumtouristguide.be/pdf/en/BAT60.pdf |archive-date=7 February 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The stiff American defense prevented the Germans from reaching the vast array of supplies near the Belgian cities of Liège and Spa and the road network west of the Elsenborn Ridge leading to the Meuse River.{{sfn | Cole|1964|pp=259–260}} After more than 10 days of intense battle, they pushed the Americans out of the villages, but were unable to dislodge them from the ridge, where elements of the [[V Corps (United States)|V Corps]] of the [[First U.S. Army]] prevented the German forces from reaching the road network to their west.

===Operation Stösser===
{{Main|Operation Stösser}}
Operation Stösser was a paratroop drop into the American rear in the [[High Fens]] ({{langx|fr|link=no|Hautes Fagnes}}; {{langx|de|link=no|Hohes Venn}}; {{langx|nl|Hoge Venen}}) area. The objective was the "[[Baraque Michel]]" crossroads. It was led by [[Oberst]] Friedrich August Freiherr von der Heydte, considered by Germans to be a hero of the [[Battle of Crete]].{{sfn|Goldstein|Dillon|Wenger|1994|p=88}}

It was the German paratroopers' only nighttime drop during World War II. Heydte was given only eight days to prepare prior to the assault. He was not allowed to use his own regiment because their movement might alert the Allies to the impending counterattack. Instead, he was provided with a ''Kampfgruppe'' of 800 men. The [[2nd Parachute Corps (Germany)|II Parachute Corps]] was tasked with contributing 100 men from each of its regiments. In loyalty to their commander, 150 men from Heydte's own unit, the [[6th Parachute Division (Germany)|6th Parachute Regiment]], went against orders and joined him.{{sfn|Parker|2004|p=130}} They had little time to establish any [[unit cohesion]] or train together.

The parachute drop was a complete failure. Heydte ended up with a total of around 300 troops. Too small and too weak to counter the Allies, they abandoned plans to take the crossroads and instead converted the mission to reconnaissance. With only enough ammunition for a single fight, they withdrew towards Germany and attacked the rear of the American lines. Only about 100 of his weary men finally reached the German rear.{{sfn|Parker|2004|p=137}}

===Chenogne massacre===
{{Main|Chenogne massacre}}
Following the Malmedy massacre, on New Year's Day 1945, having previously received orders to take no prisoners,{{sfn|Schrijvers|2005|p=303f}} American soldiers executed approximately sixty German prisoners of war near the Belgian village of [[Chenogne]] (8&nbsp;km from Bastogne).{{sfn|Sorge|1986|p=147}}