The Battle of the Bulge began in the Ardennes

Early on December 16, 1944, the German army launched a massive surprise attack against thinly held American lines in the forested Ardennes of Belgium and Luxembourg. A 90-minute barrage from some 1,600 guns opened a thrust meant to split the Allies and seize the port of Antwerp.

The assault punched a deep salient into the front, the “bulge” that gave the battle its name. For weeks U.S. troops fought through bitter cold and snow, most famously holding the crossroads town of Bastogne while surrounded.

The scale was staggering. The United States suffered 19,276 killed, more fatalities than in any other battle it fought in the war, with total U.S. casualties around 75,000.

By late January 1945 the Allies had erased the bulge and shattered Germany’s reserves of men and armor. It was the largest and bloodiest single battle American forces fought in World War II, and the last major German offensive in the West.