Battle Of The Bulge (Long Version) (DVD)

The Battle of the Bulge ( or The Battle of the Ardennes as it was really called ) was the last major offensive ever mounted by Hitler in the second world war and was one of the biggest battles the US forces ever fought. It was also the only battle where the US army suffered a defeat ( be it a short one ) and also the first time they were really pushed back and if Hitlers plan had been a little bit more realsitic, he might well have extended the war ...
...these were veterans and very battle hardened troops, in additional, although many units did retreat, a lot of them stood their ground and this held up the Germans and even though they were completely surrounded and outnumbered, these units caused major delays and some very heavy casulties to the Germans, worse still they caused them to use a lot of fuel and ammunition which they could not afford.

However, the allies did have some ... more

The Battle of the Bulge ( or The Battle of the Ardennes as it was really called ) was the last major offensive ever mounted by Hitler in the second world war and was one of the biggest battles the US forces ever fought. It was also the only battle where the US army suffered a defeat ( be it a short one ) and also the first time they were really pushed back and if Hitlers plan had been a little bit more realsitic, he might well have extended the war for much longer.

So what's it all about?...well in the Autum of 1944, the germans had been pushed back right up to their border on the west and had lost not only nearly a million men but also a significant amount of equipment, supplies and left the door wide open for a full frontal attack on thier heartlands. As the allies pressed on, they were threatening the Rhur district which was Germanys war machine, their major material and armament manufacturing region. Yes this area had been heavily bombed but the Nazis were masters at disguise and hidden factories and as such, manufacturing was only ever disrupted for a day or two, however, with the allies infantry knocking on his door, Hitler had to do something and him being Hitler, the more outlandish the idea or plan the more likely he was to go for it.

Hitlers psychological state is well documented, however, let us not forget that he did, in the early days pull off some amazing deats of brilliance and when his Army took France and caused the withdrawl at Dunkirk, they did so against all the odds and by a set of brilliant tatics and stratages, also, they began their attack ( in 1939/40 ) through the Ardenne and got through there in less than 36 hours, so as far as Hitler was concerned, if his troops had done it once, they could do it again.

He was also very delliusional and verging on manic insanity in 1944 and had the belief that if your back is against the wall and your enemy thought you were beaten, instead of laying down to die, you should surprise him and launch an attack and that was Hitlers nature, he was an offensive man, not a defensive man and had he been so, the events in the east, against the Russians, may well have turned out differently.

The Russian hords were bearing down on him from the east and quite frankly, there was nothing he could do to stop them in military terms, however, he knew that Stalin's army was suffering horrendous losses, on average the german soldiers were killing 4 or 5 russians for each death of their own and although the numbers were ultimately against them, the germans were making a good account of themselves and as they were also the masters of counter attack when a position had been overrun, the Russians certainly had a very hard time of it and were often pushed back after losing huge numbers of men to take a position.

As a result, Stalin was hesitating slightly before making a final push, he had lost whole armies and hundreds of thousands of troops and the prospect of attacking Germany on his own was not one that filled him with any great confidence so he told the other allies, in no uncertain terms that, unless they started pushing into Germany, he was going to hold off for a bit.

To a fantatist like Hitler, this was like winning the opportunity lottery, he read this as a chance to turn Germanys situation around. Now he couldn't do anything in the east because he did not have the resources to make any difference, so he turned his eyes to the west and came up with a plan that was, quite frankly, doomed to failure from the very start but none the less offered him the only chance he had of halting germany's defeat.

Hitlers plan was very simple, he saw that the allies had the same problem he did when his armies attacked Russia, that of supply. After D-Day the allies had many stop - start advances due to supply problems, many times they had to halt their push towards germany due to fuel and ammunition shortages and the fact that they had no forward supply bases made this problem even worse. Up until the allies captured Antwerp, all their supplies were coming into mainland europe from Normandy and a few French ports and then had to be driven, by road all the way to the front. As the Germans were retreating, on some days the US and British armies made huge advances in terms of distance and this only increased their supply problems.

Eventually the allies managed to capture Antwerp in Belgium which has one of the biggest inland Ports in Europe and their supply problems suddenly ended. The distance from Antwerp to Germany was a lot shorter than coming from Normandy so as their supply problems ended, so they were able to move much faster and hence, they had got to the german border, although the germans had managed to stop them.

So seeing no other option, he had to attack and his plan was to attack and capture Antwerp and then move to the north to the Dutch coast to divide the allied armies and ultimately create another " Dunkirk " situation by encircling the main British and American armies in the north. Having cut them off and beaten the northern armies into a stalemate, he would force a truce in the west and then take his now battlehardened troops and move them to the east to halt the Russians. Having done that, he thought he could then reach a peaceful settlement with Stalin based on their pre-1939 boundaries and the war would be over and germany ( Nazi germany ) would survive.

However, there were a number of serious flaws with this plan, the two biggest being that he didnt have the resources to mount such an attack and secondly, where to launch it. Well he solved the first issue by diverting all new tank and weapons production for two months to the western front, some 2700 tanks and around 250,000 new recruits ( most being young boys of 16 - 17 and old men, 50 and 60 plus ). He also assembled the last of his airforce and bombers for one last major offensive. He had one big serious problem though, that of fuel.

Germany's oil and fuel reserves had been desimated by allied bombing and basically they had all but run out by the end of 1944 and for this offensive, he could only provide enough fuel for his Ardennes offensive army to travel around 60 kilometres, to travel any further, his army would have to use captured fuel.

The second issue was also solved. Although the allied armies were all along the border front, they were very thinly spread in the Eiffel/Ardennes region for the simple reason that this country was 90 percent forest and the roads were completely unsuitable for an offensive, especailly in winter and with tanks. The Americans believed that the land was impassable to tanks and armies and was therefore very safe. Actually Hitlers generals agreed with them and instead of launching an attack here, they wanted to bolster their front lines to hold off the expected January offensive by the Russians but Hitler was having none of that, he decided an attack in the west was what was required and deliberately chose the Eiffel area as the launch pad for his offensive because it was the most unlikely place.

They attacked in mid December right in the middle of one opf the coldest winters ever experienced in Europe and being initially numerically superior in numbers and firepower they caught the US army completely by surprise and after smashing through thier lines, severely pushed them back.

In a few days they had got through the centre of the Ardennes, smashed a number of US divisions and caused a major retreat all along the Belgium front. In terms of weaponary and man-power, the germans had a vast superiority and they used it to full effect, however, they had a number of problems. Hitler had counted on the US troops as being new recruits and that they would run, however, just before their attack some divisions from other areas of the front had been sent to the Ardennes for a rest and refit ( R & R ) and these were veterans and very battle hardened troops, in additional, although many units did retreat, a lot of them stood their ground and this held up the Germans and even though they were completely surrounded and outnumbered, these units caused major delays and some very heavy casulties to the Germans, worse still they caused them to use a lot of fuel and ammunition which they could not afford.

However, the allies did have some major fuel dumps in the Ardennes and the Germans managed to capture some and were able to refuel but once the allies saw what they were doing, they then began to destroy their own fuel dumps as they retreated and this denied the Germans the one resource they desperately needed and ultimately caused their defeat.

As they made their main thrust through the centre of the Ardennes, one unit commanded by a brilliant SS General call Peiper, headed north looking for the bridges to cross the River Meuse around the Savalot/ Trois Points area. He met stiff resitance and as bridge after bridge was destroyed before he reached the Meuse, he was enventaully halted just north of Trois Points. Basically they had run out of fuel and now that the weather had cleared, the allied airforce was able to attack his columns and that was basically the end of their offensive. There endeth the history lesson.

So to the movie, well like most Hollywood war movies involving the US army at war, the historic facts have been heavily distorted and in many cases changed completely, still thats to be expected and even though this film has been heavily " Hollywoodised " it still makes a good war and action movie.

What they have done here is create a whole series of fictional characters all based on the real life players but also added a few of the real ones as well ( very confusing ). The war was still fresh in everyones mind when this movie was made and indeed some of the Germans were still in prision so I guess they didnt want to give them too much credence for what was a brilliant offensive given the odds that were against the Germans.

As the battle was so vast and intensive, rather than try to cover all of it, the producers concentrated on the German commander ( played by my favourite actor - Robert Shaw ) and his trials and tribulations in the advance through the country. They also focus the story on the Germans quest for fuel and how, ultimately this cost them the battle.

The movie is all fiction of course because it wasnt just the fuel situation, it was ultimately the allied airforce that stopped the Germans dead in their tracks and very surprisingly this is not even mentioned in the film, oh well I guess the infantry were flavour of the month then.

There are a few flaws in the film, the first and most obvious one is the country and ground used as the battle site, the Ardennes region of Belgium is covered in thick woodland, mostly pine forests. It is also very hilly and the roads are all twists and turns, they snake all over the place and in the areas where the real battle was fought, even today, they are barely wide enough to allow heavy trucks and lorries to pass.

I own a house in the Ardennes near a town called Dinant ( which was as far as the Germans actually got ) and I can tell you there are no straight roads there at all, all bends and very narrow and in many places, very, very steep. The movie just doesnt portray the ground accurately at all and if, like me you know the history, it is a little disappointing, however, not enough to put me off.

The other flaws are the use of 1960's US army tanks for the Germans rather than authentic German ones ( Tiger Tanks and Panthers, etc ) in most of the group attacking shots, ( guess they couldnt find enough real ones ) although you do see the real thing in many of the other shots.

The other thing is that they changed the names of a lot of the towns and villages, but again that would only bother someone like me and not that much. Most of the battle scenes are very realistic and Robert Shaws potrayal of an arrogant but wise SS General is very powerful and again being based on Peiper, the real leader, is very accurate.

I love the way Shaw shows us the way he deals with the everyday operational isses whilst at the same time, pushing his troops on knowing that he has local numerical superiority, he also knows that he is at risk of losing because of the fuel situation and tries to balance this against the need to engage the enemy, some excellent dynamics here and again Shaw at his very best.

The movie is also full of many of the great and leading actors of the day and everyone of them gives a good and compelling performance and lets you get into the heads of military guys of that time period and the way they fought wars then and for once, there is none of the gung ho stuff we have learned to expect from american war movies. The long version gives you and extra 20 mins or so and adds a little more content to the story and is well worth getting.

Definitely a good movie and one to watch every now and again. The fact of the matter is that we will never see movies like this made again, today if this was made, it would feature CGI and the historical facts would be much more strictly adhered too and maybe this would spoil it, ( how about the Germans making a movie about the battle ? ).

 

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