The Bulge Eliminated

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII-Germany > The ETO > Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated, updated by RAC 17 Oct 2022.

Coordinated Allied efforts to eliminate the Bulge began on 3 January 1945 and continued through January.

Bulge Order of Battle, January 1945

By the end of 1944, seven Allied corps faced the Wehrmacht forces, counterclockwise from the upper right on the accompanying map:
US First Army:

V Corps (hit during the Wehrmacht attack, retreated to Elsenborn Ridge).
XVIII Airborne Corps (brought in from theater reserve c. 19 December).
VII Corps (moved from First Army's left flank c. 20 December).

British Second Army:

XXX Corps (arrived from north to protect the Meuse River crossings c. 22 December, began entering the battle line 24 December).

US Third Army:

VIII Corps (formerly with First Army, hit during the Wehrmacht attack).
III Corps (moved north from Third Army reserve).
XII Corps (moved north from the Saar River).

The Bulge, 3 January 1945

Scalable Map - Western Front, 3 January 1945

Eliminating the Bulge

As The Bulge was eliminated, few German units were trapped. Rather, they were slowly squeezed out, withdrawing behind the Siegfried Line (also known as the West Wall, as shown on the accompanying maps).

The Battle of the Bulge, which began on 16 December officially ended on 25 January, but some mid-December Wehrmacht gains weren't retaken until early February.

The operation to eliminate the Bulge began on 3 January. The main pincers consisted of the Third Army's VIII Corps advancing north from Bastogne and the First Army's VII Corps moving south.

US forces met near Houffalize on 16 January, but by then most Germans in the western part of the Bulge had escaped eastward.

Subsequent US operations continuing eastward until the First Army was halted in early February to prepare for operations further north.

VIII Corps of the Third Army continued into February with an advance on Prüm.
Meanwhile Third Army's XII Corps was advancing northward, and would turn east in mid-February to cross the Our and Sauer Rivers from Luxembourg into Germany.

Recovering from the German Ardennes counteroffensive

Battle of the Ardennes, 26 December1944 - 28 January 1945, Eliminating the Bulge

The Ardennes Counteroffensive, 3-28 January 1945

Scalable Version

Bulge Timeline, 3 January 1945 onwards

3 January - Allied offensive to reclaim the Bulge begins.
15 January - US First Army captures Houffalize.
16 January - British XXX Corps ordered back to The Netherlands.
16 January - Wehrmacht's Sixth Panzer Army begins moving to Hungary. Fifteenth Army takes over its front.
16 January US First and Third Armies make contact near Houffalize.
17 January - First Army captures Vielsalm.
19 January - Third Army captures Diekirch, Luxembourg.
22 January - Third Army captures Wiltz, Luxembourg.
23 January - First Army captures St. Vith.

The Bulge Reduced, 29 December - 9 January

Sources for Big Pigeon's Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated webpage:
General sources for the Ardennes/The Bulge webpages: (C/O = courtesy of)

http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Ardennes/index.html - The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge (from the United States Army in World War II, European Theater of Operations series, by Hugh M. Cole).
https://history.army.mil/catalog/pubs/72/72-26.html - Ardennes-Alsace (brochure from Campaigns of World War II: A World War II Commemorative Series, by Roger Cirillo).
Ardennes-Alsace Brochure - This is Big Pigeon's copy of the above, provided for faster loading.
Printable Timeline with Situation Maps, https://www.loc.gov/collections/world-war-ii-maps-military-situation-maps-from-1944-to-1945/articles-and-essays/the-battle-of-the-bulge/printable-timeline/ - C/O Library of Congress, loc.gov. This timeline depicts the key events of "The Battle of the Bulge" which took place in northern France over the course of December 16, 1944 to January 18, 1945 as told through the daily situation maps made for the US Military VIII Corps.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge - long article with a few good maps.
http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_bulge.html - good overview but a number of minor errors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge_order_of_battle - detailed order of battle for an unspecified date late in the battle.
Battle of St. Vith, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_St._Vith. The majority of this long article relates to The Fall of the 106th Infantry Division.

The Last Offensive, by Charles B. MacDonald, 1972, ~532 pp. [CMH #7-9] - the 1945 ETO Rhineland Campaign.

Sources for the images used on this webpage: (C/O = courtesy of)

The Bulge, 3 January 1945, map excerpted from http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Last/maps/USA-E-Last-I.jpg - map I in The Last Offensive cited above.
Battle of the Ardennes, 26 December 1944 - 28 January 1945, Eliminating the Bulge, map,
The Ardennes Counteroffensive, 3-28 January 1945, map, https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Last/maps/USA-E-Last-II.jpg - taken from The Last Offensive cited above.
The Bulge Reduced, 29 December - 9 January, map - https://www.military-history.org/feature/world-war-2/the-ardennes-1944.htm - C/O https://www.military-history.org.

Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated:

Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.

03-06 - Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated (14 dead, updated 8 Oct 2022)
† Brown, Cecil LeRoy, SN 37-697-684, US Army, Cass Co.

23rd Inf. Regt., 2nd Inf. Div., V Corps, First Army (regiment attached to 1st Inf. Div. at time of death); KIA 24 Jan 1945 near St. Vith, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Carter, Meredith M., SN O-1176509, US Army, Pott. & Shelby Cos.

Battery B, 14th Armored Field Artillery Bn.; 2nd Armored Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 9 Jan 1945 Dochamps, NW of Houffalize, Belgium;
Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Hansen, Lawrence George, SN 37-120-519, US Army, Shelby Co.

32nd Armored Regt., 3rd Armored Div., VII Corps, First Army; WIA; DOW 10 Jan 1945 in hospital, Vielsalm, W of St. Vith, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Hansen, Robert Victor, SN 37-472-746, US Army, Pott. Co.

Co. E, 346th Inf. Regt., 87th Inf. Div., VIII Corps, Third Army; KIA 9 Jan 1945, Jenneville, W of Bastogne, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Lee, Delbert Donald, SN 17-040-250, US Army, Cass Co.

Co. A, 610th Tank Destroyer Bn., attached to 80th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 8 Jan 1945 Dahl, SE of Wiltz, Luxembourg; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Muller, Harland Max, SN 37-478-022, US Army, Cass Co.

194th Glider Infantry Regt., 17th Airborne Div., VIII Corps, Third Army; KIA 4 Jan 1945 W of Bastogne, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Osler, Floyd Wayne, SN 37-476-459, US Army, Pott. Co.

Co. A, 357th Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div., III Corps, Third Army; KIA 9 Jan 1945 near Berle, Luxembourg SE of Bastogne & SW of Wiltz; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Rauterkus, Robert Richard, SN 37-483-565, US Army, Pott. Co.

48th Armored Inf. Bn., 7th Armored Div., XVIII Airborne Corps, First Army; KIA 21 Jan 1945 near Born, N of St. Vith, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Simpson, Harold Elwood, SN 37-698-983, US Army, Montgomery Co.

Co. G, 329th Inf. Regt., 83rd Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 12 Jan 1945 near Petite-Langlire, SW of Vielsalm, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Taylor, Leon Francis Hough, SN 37-120-190, US Army, Polk & Harrison Cos.

36th Armored Inf. Regt., 3rd Armored Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 3 Jan 1945 NW of Houffalize, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Vanderpool, Clifford S., SN 37-739-404, US Army, Pott. Co. & Douglas Co., NE

15th Tank Bn., 6th Armored Div., III Corps, Third Army; KIA 7 Jan 1945 E of Bastogne, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Vaughan, Orel E., SN 37-451-222, US Army, Pennington Co., SD

Medical Detachment, 357th Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div., III Corps, Third Army; KIA 11 Jan 1945, near Doncols & Sonlez, NW Luxembourg, SE of Bastogne, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Viether, Earl Edward, SN 36-782-812, US Army, Cass Co. & Rock Island Co., IL

330th Inf. Regt., 83rd Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army; attached to 3rd Armored Div. at time of death; KIA 6 Jan 1945 near Malempre, SE of Manhay & W of Vielsalm, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.

† Walling, Garrett Alma, SN 2-074-538, US Army, Pott. Co.

506th Parachute Inf. Regt., 101st Airborne Div.; KIA 14 Jan 1945 NE of Bastogne, Belgium; Ardennes/The Bulge > The Bulge Eliminated.