Index at bottom of the page.

1. Before the offensive, the
Allies were virtually blind to
German troop movement. During
the retaking of France, an
extensive network had provided
valuable intelligence about
German dispositions. However,
once they reached the German
border, this source dried up.
Who provided the valuable
intelligence?

2. Because the Ardennes was
considered a quiet sector,
economy-of-force
considerations led it to be
used as a training ground for
new units and a rest area for
units that had seen hard
fighting. The U.S. units
deployed in the Ardennes thus
were a mixture of
inexperienced troops (such as
the raw U.S. 99th and 106th
"Golden Lions" Divisions), and
battle-hardened troops sent to
that sector to recuperate (the
2nd Infantry Division). What
was one of the battle-hardened
troops?

3. The German assault began on
December 16, 1944, at 05:30,
with a massive artillery
barrage on the Allied troops
facing the Sixth SS Panzer
Army. All three German armies
attacked through the Ardennes
had begun their attack by what
time?

4. In the northern sector Sepp
Dietrich's Sixth SS Panzer
Army assaulted the Losheim Gap
and the Elsenborn Ridge. What
was their goal?

5. In the center Hasso von
Manteuffel's Fifth Panzer Army
attacked towards Bastogne and
St. Vith, both road junctions
of great strategic importance.


6. In the south, where did
Erich Brandenberger's
Seventh Army pushed towards in
their efforts to secure the
flank from Allied attacks?


7. Otto Skorzeny successfully
infiltrated a small part of
his battalion of disguised,
English-speaking Germans
behind the Allied lines.
Although they failed to take
the vital bridges over the
Meuse, the battalion's
presence produced confusion
out of all proportion to their
military activities, and
rumors spread quickly. What
was the name of the operation?


8. After a brief battle the
Americans surrendered. They
were disarmed and, with some
other Americans captured
earlier (approximately 150
men), sent to stand in a
field near the crossroads
where most were shot. It is
not known what caused the
shooting and there is no
record of an SS officer giving
an execution order. What did
the event become known as?


9. Another, much smaller
massacre was committed in
Wereth, Belgium, approximately
a thousand yards northeast of
Saint-Vith, on 17 December
1944. Eleven African-American
soldiers, after surrendering,
were tortured and then shot by
men of 1. SS Panzer Division,
belonging to Kampfgruppe
Hansen. The identity of the
murderers remain unknown, and
the perpetrators were never
punished for this crime.

10. By December 23, as the
Germans shattered their
flanks, the defenders'
position became untenable, and
U.S. troops were ordered to
retreat west of the Salm
River. As the German plan
called for the capture of St.
Vith, the prolonged action in
and around it presented a
major blow to their timetable.
What was the timetable of St.
Vith's capture?

11. On December 19, General
Dwight Eisenhower asked
General George Patton how long
it would take to turn his
Third Army (located in
northeastern France) north to
counterattack. He said he
could attack with two
divisions within 48 hours, to
the disbelief of the other
generals present. Before he
had gone to the meeting,
however, Patton had ordered
his staff to prepare three
contingency plans for a
northward turn in at least
corps strength. By the time
Eisenhower asked him how long
it would take, the movement
was already underway.

12. The furthest westward
penetration made by the German
attack was by the 2nd Panzer
Division of the Fifth Panzer
Army. On December 24, how
close did the German attack
come to the Meuse River?

13. On December 23, the
weather conditions started
improving, allowing the Allied
air forces to attack. They
launched devastating bombing
raids on the German supply
points in their rear, and P-47
Thunderbolts started attacking
the German troops on the
roads.

14. The Germans had outrun
their supply lines, and
shortages of fuel and
ammunition were becoming
critical. Up to this point the
German losses had been light,
notably in armor, which was
almost untouched with the
exception of Peiper's losses.
What was the day?

15. On January 1, in an
attempt to keep the offensive
going, the Germans launched
two new operations.  At 09:15,
the Luftwaffe launched
Operation Baseplate
(Unternehmen Bodenplatte), a
major campaign against Allied
airfields in the Low
Countries. Hundreds of planes
attacked Allied airfields.
The Luftwaffe lost 277 planes,
62 to Allied fighters and 172
mostly because of an
unexpectedly high number of
Allied flak guns, set up to
protect against German V-1
flying bomb attacks, but also
by friendly fire from the
German flak guns that were
uninformed of the pending
large-scale German air
operation. While the Allies
recovered from their losses in
just days, the operation left
the Luftwaffe weak and
ineffective. How many allied
aircraft were destroyed or
severely damaged?

16. On January 1, German Army
Group G and Army Group Upper
Rhine launched a major
offensive against the thinly
stretched, 70 mile line of the
Seventh U.S. Army. This
offensive was the last major
German offensive of the war on
the Western Front. What was
the operation known as?

17. When did Hitler agreed to
withdraw forces from the
Ardennes, including the SS
Panzer divisions, thus ending
all offensive operations?


18. The Siege of Bastogne was
a smaller battle in and
around the Belgian town of
Bastogne, during the larger
Battle of the Bulge. Success
of the German offensive,
seizure of the harbor at
Antwerp with encirclement and
destruction of Allied armies,
required the German Army
mechanized forces to use the
roadways in order to maintain
the speed of the offensive.
Who commanded the 5th Panzer
Army in its campaign
on Bastogne?

19. All main roads in the
Ardennes mountain range
converged on the small town of
Bastogne. Control of the
crossroads of Bastogne was
vital to the Germans to speed
up their advance and improve
resupply of the German
columns, as the poor weather
conditions made cross country
travel difficult. How many
main roads converged
on Bastogne?

20. At Wiltz, the division put
up its last stand - 3rd
Battalion of the 110th,
supported by armor and
artillery, arrived at the city
around noon of that day. The
44th Engineer Battalion was
set up north of the town, but
they were soon overwhelmed and
retreated into the city,
blowing up a bridge behind
them. This small force,
numbering no more than 500 in
total, held out until the
evening, when their position
became completely untenable
and they retreated to
the west.