Joris Posted December 16, 2008 Share Posted December 16, 2008 Today 64 years ago operation Wacht am Rhein commences, this was the german codename for the battle of the Bulge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Another intel failure and just amazing how much equipment the Germans had. 500 casualties flown into Tarrant Rushton by C-47's and then down to Blandford Camp to the US field hospital. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted December 17, 2008 Share Posted December 17, 2008 Nice map..................where from you get that ?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 (edited) On the 18th the cross roads at Bastogne is surrounded by the Germans. On 19th Dec 32 Lancasters of No 3 Group carried out a G-H raid on the railway yards in Trier behind the front on which the Germans were attacking in the Ardennes. No Lancasters lost. Edited December 18, 2008 by antarmike Extra info added Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Posted December 18, 2008 Share Posted December 18, 2008 Joris when Kev and I go over to Ciney again in April we are going to go a day earlier and go on down to Bastogne to have a look around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joris Posted December 18, 2008 Author Share Posted December 18, 2008 Cool, want me to meet you there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 19, 2008 Share Posted December 19, 2008 (edited) 20th Dec General McAuliff's famous message of "Nuts" is sent to German officers at Bastogne demanding surrender. 21st Dec 113 Lancasters of No 3 Group again attempted to bomb the railway yards at Trier in 2 waves. No Lancasters lost. The bomber crews were unable to observe results because of the cloud, although a large column of smoke eventually appeared. Edited December 19, 2008 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 21st/22nd Dec 136 aircraft - 67 Lancasters, 54 Halifaxes, 15 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the important Cologne/Nippes marshalling yards which were being used to serve the German offensive in the Ardennes. No aircraft lost. The target was cloud-covered and only a few bombs hit the railway yards but these caused the destruction of 40 wagons, a repair workshop and several railway lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 (edited) 22nd /23rd Dec Bingen; 106 aircraft - 90 Halifaxes of No 4 Group and 14 Lancasters and 2 Mosquitos of No 8 Group. 2 Halifaxes and 1 Lancaster lost. The railway yards were again the objective of the raid. The attack was extremely accurate and all the bombs fell into the yards or into the nearby Rhine, where 2 barges were sunk. All movement of supplies by rail through Bingen to the Ardennes battle front ceased. Edited December 27, 2008 by antarmike got the date wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 23rd Dec 153 Lancasters of No 3 Group attempted to attack the Trier railway yards through cloud. The bombing appeared to be accurate and concentrated but Trier could only report that it was the town's worst raid of the war. 1 Lancaster lost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 24th Dec 338 aircraft - 248 Halifaxes, 79 Lancasters, 11 Mosquitos - of Nos 4, 6 and 8 Groups attacked the airfields at Lohausen and Mülheim (now Düsseldorf and Essen civil airports). The purpose of the raids was not recorded; it is possible that they were to hinder the movement of supplies by transport aircraft from the Ruhr to the Ardennes battle area. Both attacks took place in conditions of good visibility and the bombing was accurate. 6 aircraft lost - 2 Lancasters and 1 Halifax from the Lohausen raid and 3 Halifaxes from the Mülheim raid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 (edited) 26th Dec The weather at last improved and allowed Bomber Command to intervene in the Ardennes battle. 294 aircraft - 146 Lancasters, 136 Halifaxes, 12 Mosquitos - of all the bomber groups (not No 100 Group) attacked German troop positions near St Vith. This was the first time since mid-October that aircraft from all the bomber groups had joined together in one raid. The bombing appeared to be concentrated and accurate. 2 Halifaxes lost. The siege at Bastogne is broken, the Geramans have lost the battle, but heavy fighting continues.... Edited December 27, 2008 by antarmike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 27, 2008 Share Posted December 27, 2008 29th Dec Two separate forces bombed railway yards in Koblenz, one of the main centres serving the Ardennes battlefront. 192 aircraft - 162 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters, 8 Mosquitos - of Nos 4 and 8 Groups attacked the Mosel yards, near the main city, and 85 Lancasters of No 3 Group attacked the Lützel yards north of the city. No aircraft were lost from either operation. At least part of the bombing of each raid hit the railway areas. The Koblenz-Lützel railway bridge was out of action for the rest of the war and the cranes of the Mosel Harbour were also put out of action. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted December 31, 2008 Share Posted December 31, 2008 Ist Jan 1945 On this day, German Army Group G (Heeresgruppe G) and Army Group Upper Rhine (Heeresgruppe Oberrhein) launched a major offensive against the thinly stretched, 70-mile (110 km) line of the Seventh U.S. Army. This offensive, known as Operation North Wind (Unternehmen Nordwind), was the last major German offensive of the war on the Western Front. It soon had the weakened Seventh Army, which had at Eisenhower’s orders, sent troops, equipment, and supplies north to reinforce the American armies in the Ardennes, in dire straits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted January 3, 2009 Share Posted January 3, 2009 3rd Jan. The Allies take the offensive east of the Bulge but they fail to close the pincers (which might have surrounded large numbers of Germans) with Patton's tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antarmike Posted January 17, 2009 Share Posted January 17, 2009 Jan 17th is the officially stated date for the end of the Battle of the Bulge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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