On the lookout for German snipers, a squad of Third Army Infantrymen move cautiously through the streets of Moircy, Belgium. 12/31/44. Co. C, 1st Bn., 345 Reg’t., 87th Inf. Div.
Seventy years ago, the Nazis made one last ditch effort, a surprise attack that drove a wedge between Allied forces and caused heavy losses in men and territory. German fuel shortages and the return of clear weather -- allowing Allied air-superiority -- eventually turned the tide back to the Allied cause.
The Germans called it "Operation Watch on the Rhine," while the French called it the "Battle of the Ardennes." The Allied Command called it the "Ardennes Counteroffensive."
History knows it as the "Battle of the Bulge."
My father-in-law, Bob Match, was there.