battle, landmark, interwar and Second World War
Battle of the Bulge
Battle of the Bulge was a battle fought in 1944 at Ardennes, in what is now France; it ran into the following year. It was part of World War II, which ran from 1939 to 1945. The recorded result: Allied victory.
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Where it sits in World War II
Record
| Date | 1944 (year precision) to 1945 | |
|---|---|---|
| Place | Ardennes, France 50.624N, 6.137E | |
| Kind | Battle, interwar and Second World War | |
| Strength | 16 December: 228,741 men; 483 tanks; 499 tank destroyers and assault guns; 1,921 other armored fighting vehicles (AFVs); 971 anti-tank and artillery pieces; 6 infantry divisions; 2 armored divisions; 24 December: c. 541,000 men; 1,616 tanks; 1,713 tank destroyers and assault guns; 5,352 other AFVs; 2,408 anti-tank and artillery pieces; 15 infantry divisions; 6 armored divisions; 1 armored brigade; 2 January: c. 705,000 men; 2,409 tanks; 1,970 tank destroyers and assault guns; 7,769 other AFVs; 3,305 anti-tank and artillery pieces; 22 infantry divisions; 8 armored divisions; 2 armored brigades; 16 January: 700,520 men; 2,428 tanks; 1,912 tank destroyers and assault guns; 7,079 other AFVs; 3,181 anti-tank and artillery pieces; 22 infantry divisions; 8 armored divisions; 2 armored brigades | 16 December: 406,342 men; 557 tanks; 667 tank destroyers and assault guns; 1,261 other AFVs; 4,224 anti-tank and artillery pieces; 13 infantry divisions; 7 armored divisions; 1 armored brigade; 24 December: c. 449,000 men; 423 tanks; 608 tank destroyers and assault guns; 1,496 other AFVs; 4,131 anti-tank and artillery pieces; 16 infantry divisions; 8 armored divisions; 3 armored brigades; 2 January: c. 401,000 men; 287 tanks; 462 tank destroyers and assault guns; 1,090 other AFVs; 3,396 anti-tank and artillery pieces; 15 infantry divisions; 8 armored divisions; 3 armored brigades; 16 January: 383,016 men; 216 tanks; 414 tank destroyers and assault guns; 907 other AFVs; 3,256 anti-tank and artillery pieces; 16 infantry divisions; 8 armored divisions; 2 armored brigades |
| Casualties and losses | American: 81,000 casualties (8,407 killed, 46,170 wounded and 20,905 missing); 800 tanks destroyed; c. 1,000 aircraft lost, over 647 in December and 353 during Operation Bodenplatte; British: 1,408–1,462+ | German: 63,000~ to 75,000+ casualties; (U.S. Estimate: 103,900 casualties); 527–554 tanks, tank destroyers and assault guns lost; c. 800 aircraft lost, at least 500 in December and 280 during Operation Bodenplatte |
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The ground today


The recorded site stands at about 423 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 281 to 670 m, 389 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 89% tree cover, 9% grassland.
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.Nearest engagements
- Operation Stösser 1944, 13 km S
- Battle of Kesternich 1944, 14 km E
- Siege of Aachen 1614, 17 km N
- Battle of Aachen 1944, 17 km N
- Battle of Hürtgen Forest 1944, 18 km NE
In the same war
- Before: Operation Caesar 1944
- After: Operation Queen 1944
- All 1155 engagements of World War II
Elsewhere in 1944
- Battle of Leyte Gulf Philippines
- Battle of the Philippine Sea Japan
- Battle of Peleliu Palau
- Operation Ichi-Go China
- Battle of Saipan United States
Combat data (CDB90)
| Attacker: GER LVIII PNZ CORPS | Defender: US 112TH INF (+), 28TH ID | |
| Strength | 16,000 | 5,740 |
| Casualties | 770 (4.8%) | 700 (12.2%) |
| Mission accomplishment, 1 to 10 | 6 | 5 |
| Outcome | attacker won | |
| Duration | 2 days | |
| Front width | 4 km | 4 km |
| Attacker advanced | 2 km | |
From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 625), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.
Battle of the Bulge is one of 4,429 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 1,495 in present-day France.
Sources
Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q151018, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of the Bulge, revision 1385323754, read 2026-11-15, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.