Turn of the Year
This battle, fought in the Ardennes at the turn of 1944 and 1945, was the last military operation on the Western Front during World War II. The German army aimed to stretch all Allied forces beyond the main front lines, separating British troops from Americans. The Germans thus intended to attack the fighting armies to the north, successively destroying their four largest attacking positions. This fact was meant to force the Allied forces to negotiate peace with the so-called Axis countries.
“Autumn Mist”
The German name for this military operation was simply “Autumn Mist”. However, the German general staff, to mislead the Allies, naturally called it “Wacht am Rhein”, which translates as Guard on the Rhine.
Defeat of the Nazis
As we know, for the German side, this offensive ultimately ended in defeat. But of course, at the beginning, it surprised the Allies, forcing them to cease further heavy shelling. Moreover, the German army suffered enormous losses during this operation, especially in terms of equipment and troop numbers. This fact significantly facilitated the subsequent Allied offensive on the so-called Siegfried Line. The German army, despite everything, was definitively routed at this point.
“Polonia Journal” Musée de la Bataille des Ardennes.
In Belgium, celebrations of the Allied victory over German forces are successively held in Bastogne. This was a city defended by American troops during the Ardennes offensive. We must remind our Dear Readers what the soldiers of General Stanisław Maczek’s 1st Armoured Division, who liberated Belgium from the German yoke, did. Poland is therefore among those countries that also contributed to Belgium’s regaining independence.
In the aforementioned “Museum of the Battle of the Ardennes”, “Polonia Journal” was able to see valuable memorabilia collected from the fighting soldiers of both fronts.
