Missed Opportunity: Reducing the Bulge

摘要

On December 16th 1944 the Germans launched a surprise offensive that was to be known as the Battle of the Bulge. Although caught by surprise, the battle was ultimately one of the greatest triumphs of the U.S. Army. The German attack created a deep salient in American lines, some 40 miles wide and 60 miles deep. The Allies missed a tremendous opportunity by not cutting off and trapping the units in the salient. Had they done so, it could have significantly reduced the number of Allied casualties and destroyed a significant portion of the combat power of the German Army on the Western Front. It may have also ended the war in Europe earlier. Instead, they reduced the 'Bulge' by pushing the salient back in a battle of attrition. The purpose of this paper is to determine how the Allies lost such a tremendous opportunity.