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Bulge Vets Invited To Polk Event

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 4, 2007

Local survivors of World War II's Battle of the Bulge are invited to a program on Saturday in Lakeland that includes a video presentation on the fierce fighting in Luxembourg and Belgium.

The Florida Citrus Chapter 32 of the Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge will depict the hardships American soldiers experienced there.

The day starts with the chapter's business meeting at 11 a.m., then a buffet and the one-hour presentation at Cleveland Heights Golf Course clubhouse at Edgewood Drive and Buckingham Avenue.
Lunch reservations may be made until noon Wednesday by calling G. Virgil Myers at (863) 686-2121 or Hope Kirkendall at (863) 619-7491 after 4 p.m.

The Battle of the Bulge, which began Dec. 16, 1944, and lasted through into 1945, was the last major Nazi offensive against the Allies in World War II. Adolf Hitler failed in his last-ditch effort to split the Allies in two in their drive toward Germany and destroy their ability to supply themselves.

According to www.historylearningsite .co.uk/battle_of_the_bulge.htm:

"The attack is strictly known as the Ardennes Offensive, but because the initial attack by the Germans created a bulge in the Allied front line, it has become more commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge. ...

"Hitler believed that his forces would be able to surround and cut off Canada's First Army, America's First and Ninth Armies and Britain's Second Army. On paper, it was a seemingly absurd plan - especially as Germany had been in retreat since D-Day, her military was depleted of supplies and was facing the awesome might of the Allies. However, Hitler, as commander-in-chief of the military, decreed that the attack should take place."

By Dec. 22, the weather started to clear, thus allowing the Allies to bring in their air power. The next day, the Americans started a counterattack against the Germans.

"The fighting was ferocious," the history site says. "The New Year's period was a time of particularly intensive fighting as the Germans attempted to start a second front in Holland. This time in the Ardennes coincided with a period of intense cold and rain and the soldiers on the ground faced very difficult conditions. Trench foot was a common problem for infantrymen, as was exposure.

"By mid-January 1945, the effect of lack of fuel was becoming evident as the Germans had to simply abandon their vehicles.

When it was over, the Battle of the Bulge went down in history as the largest the Americans fought in WWII:

•600,000 American troops were involved.

•The United States lost 81,000 men.

•Germany had 100,000 killed, wounded or captured.

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