Map contrasting German objectives for the Battle of the Bulge with the actual furthest extent of penetration.

The Ardennes Counteroffensive, commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge, was a massive military operation undertaken by Nazi Germany in southern Belgium and northern Luxembourg which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945. The intent of the offensive was to split the ground forces of the Western Allies from each other and encourage them to make peace with Germany, leaving all of Germany's military might to fight off the resurgent USSR.

The operation was conceived entirely by German head of state and armed forces chief Adolf Hitler. The plan was vigorously opposed by the two ranking generals who would oversee the assault, who saw only a waste of men and material with little chance of success. The Führer dismissed all objections, convinced that the elite German forces would roll over the war-weary and/or inexperienced American formations in the Ardennes Forest and drive all the way to the English Channel port of Antwerp.

In order to mislead any Allied intelligence personnel who might discover the plan, it was given the defensive sounding name Wacht am Rhein, meaning "watch on the Rhine".

The order of battle presented here reflects a point near the end of the campaign. As with any large army organization in extended combat, forces and their assignments shifted over the course of the battle. For example, when the German attack began on 16 December, the US 7th Armored Division was assigned to XIII Corps, US Ninth Army, 12th Army Group. Later that day, its alignment became VIII Corps, US First Army, 12th Army Group. On 20 December, the alignment switched to XVIII Corps, US First Army, 12th Army Group — and later that day to XVIII Corps, US First Army, 21st Army Group. On 18 January 1945, the alignment changed one last time, to XVIII Corps, US First Army, 12th Army Group — as it is given in the following hierarchy. This OOB — specifically, at a point near the end of the battle, which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945.

See for Allied and German Orders of Battle: December 1944 & January 1945: (Tucker-Jones pp 263-287)

High-level orders of battle

Axis

Theatre and army group commanders
Gerd von Runstedt
Walter Model

Oberbefehlshaber West
Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt[lower-alpha 1]

Heeresgruppe B
Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model[lower-alpha 2]

Armies deployed North to South:

Nazi Germany Sixth Panzer Army (Northern Sector)
Oberstgruppenführer der Waffen SS Josef "Sepp" Dietrich[lower-alpha 3]
I SS Panzer Corps (SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Priess)
II SS Panzer Corps (SS-Obergruppenführer Willi Bittrich)
LXVII Corps (Generalleutnant Otto Hitzfeld)
Nazi Germany Fifth Panzer Army (Central Sector)
General der Panzertruppen Hasso von Manteuffel[lower-alpha 4]
XXXIX Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppe Karl Decker)
XLVII Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz)
LVIII Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppen Walter Krüger)
LXVI Corps (General der Artillerie Walter Lucht)
Nazi Germany Seventh Army (Southern Sector)
General der Panzertruppen Erich Brandenberger
LIII Corps (General der Kavallerie Edwin von Rothkirch)
LXXX Corps (General der Infanterie Franz Beyer)
LXXXV Corps (General der Infanterie Baptist Kniess)

Allies

Allied theatre commander
United States Dwight D. Eisenhower
Allied army group commanders
Bernard L. Montgomery
United States Omar N. Bradley

Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces
General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower

Armies deployed North to South:

21st Army Group
Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery
UK XXX Corps (Lt-Gen. Brian G. Horrocks)
12th Army Group
Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley
US First Army (Lieut. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges)
V Corps (Maj. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow)
VII Corps (Maj. Gen. J. Lawton Collins)
XVIII Airborne Corps (Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway)
US Third Army (Lieut. Gen. George S. Patton Jr.)
III Corps (Maj. Gen. John Millikin)
VIII Corps (Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton)
XII Corps (Maj. Gen. Manton S. Eddy)
Allied air forces
US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (General Carl Spaatz)
US Eighth Air Force (Strategic) (Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle)
US Ninth Air Force (Tactical) (Lt. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg)
Royal Air Force
Bomber Command (Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris)
Fighter Command (Air Marshal Sir Roderic Hill)
Second Tactical Air Force (Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham)

Axis forces

Sixth Panzer Army (Northern Sector)

Josef "Sepp" Dietrich

Oberstgruppenführer der Waffen SS Josef "Sepp" Dietrich[lower-alpha 5]

Army-level units
683rd Heavy Antitank Battalion
217th Assault Panzer Battalion
394th, 667th, and 902nd Assault Gun Battalions
741st Antitank Battalion
1098th, 1110th, and 1120th Heavy Howitzer Batteries
428th Heavy Mortar Battery
1123rd K-3 Battery
2nd Flak Division (41st and 43rd Regiments)
von der Heydte Fallschirmjager Battalion
4th Todt Brigade

LXVII Corps

Generalleutnant Otto Hitzfeld
Units involved in the initial assault 16 Dec

I SS Panzer Corps

SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Prieß
Units involved in the initial assault 16 Dec

II SS Panzer Corps

SS Obergruppenführer Willi Bittrich

Fifth Panzer Army (Central Sector)

General der Panzertruppen Hasso von Manteuffel[lower-alpha 6]

Hasso von Manteuffel
Army-level units
19th Flak Brigade
207th and 600th Engineer Battalions
653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion
669th Ost (East) Battalion
638th, 1094th, and 1095th Heavy Artillery Batteries
25th/975th Fortress Artillery Battery
1099th, 1119th, and 1121st Heavy Mortar Batteries
3rd Todt Brigade (paramilitary engineers)

LXVI Corps

General der Artillerie Walter Lucht

LVIII Panzer Corps

General der Panzertruppen Walter Krüger

XLVII Panzer Corps

General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz

XXXIX Panzer Corps

Generalleutnant Karl Decker

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