January the 29th is the Battle of the Bulge ending anniversary. In December 1944 the German command made the last desperate attempt to turn the tide of battle on the Western Front. Picked Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe units were concentrated in the forested highland region of Belgium and France - the Ardennes. However the offence that the Germans launched was not a surprise for the Allies command. The combination of American defences and rough terrain halted the 10 days long advancement of Wehrmacht motorised units near the town of Celles, and quick American and British strikes from the North and the South cut them off later. The attempt of Luftwaffe to gain air supremacy was not successful as well; Operation Bodenplatte launched on January the 1st, was a massive attack on Allies’ airfields and resulted in destruction of approximately 260 aircraft, however the Germans’ casualties were even higher. By the middle of January, the German troops lost the initiative and started to retreat under the strikes of American aviation and artillery. The Allies were on step away from the ultimate victory on the Western Front.

War Thunder team