THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE - The Second World War in Colour

The battle that took place in the Ardennes massif between 16 December 1944 and the end of January 1945 is most often referred to as the Battle of the Ardennes. In the United States, this battle — the largest in which American soldiers participated on the Western Front — is known as The Battle of the Bulge. The Americans likened it to a "bulge" of some 80 kilometres by 100. As for the Germans, Hitler imposed this offensive as the moment that should allow them to weaken the Western Allies to such an extent that they might be forced to negotiate. They named the operation "Watch on the Rhine", Wacht am Rhein.

A colossal engagement in the depths of winter in the heart of the Ardennes between the German and American armies, this battle was for the Germans the last great engagement fought on the Western Front. For the Americans, it remains the hardest and bloodiest battle fought in Europe since the landings of 6 June.

But this battle, willed by Hitler, was the moment of a great face-to-face, a great frontal reckoning between Germans and Americans. The American soldiers bore the full brunt of the surprise offensive and, through trials and tribulations, held their ground. Then the entire American army — and to a lesser extent the British army — moved into action, channelling the German offensive, preventing it from pushing towards the Meuse, and then deflating as quickly as it had swelled the German "bulge".