Order of Battle
The Germans were indeed losing the war. The Allies had gained a foothold on D-Day some six months earlier and then had pressed relentlessly forward ever since. The Soviet Operation Bagration on the Eastern Front had ground the German Army Group Center into dog food. Overwhelming air superiority had left the vaunted Luftwaffe a shell of its former self.
In mid-December of 1944, the Allies fielded 96 divisions in the West. There were a further 10 en route from the US. Facing this juggernaut were some 55 understrength German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS division-sized formations. However, the Allies were tired. The Germans had made them bleed for every inch of French soil. Then, on 16 December 1944, the Germans rolled west through the Ardennes with 410,000 men, 1,400 tanks and armored fighting vehicles, 2,600 artillery pieces, and over 1,000 combat aircraft. Surprise, both tactical and strategic, was utter, overwhelming and complete.
I knew two veterans who were there. They said the Battle of the Bulge was horrifying up close. The SS vanguard slammed into the battered American defensive lines like a tidal wave, overrunning advanced positions and enveloping entire combat units. One of those was the American 442d Infantry Regiment.
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