James Baquet Some dieters amusingly refer to their trial and tribulations as “The Battle of the Bulge.” But the real battle was no laughing matter. Lasting five and a half weeks, it led to 91,000 Allied troops killed, wounded, missing, or captured, and the same for some 63,222-98,000 German troops — in addition to around 3,000 civilian deaths. It took place late in World War II, from Dec. 16, 1944, to Jan. 25, 1945, a half a year after the Allied “D-Day” landings at Normandy. The “Bulge” in the battle’s nickname (it’s more properly called “the Ardennes Counteroffensive”) was used by the press in reference to the way the Allied line bulged inward as the Germans pressed into Allied-held territory. It was Germany’s last major offensive on the Western Front, before the war ended the following May. Advancing on the borders of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, the Germans were attempting to dislodge the Allies from the Belgian port of Antwerp, to split the Allied lines, and then to destroy the four Allied armies (Canada, France, the U.K, and the U.S.) and force a negotiated treaty, with the Germans on top. In a total surprise attack on the morning of Dec. 16, the Germans were able to take advantage of Allied overconfidence and the fact that Allied aerial reconnaissance was impossible due to inclement weather. The campaign caused the highest American casualties of the war, and was the third-deadliest campaign in American history (with the Normandy Invasion as the first, and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive of World War I second). It was a huge battle, with the Germans eventually fielding 450,000 men,and the Americans 610,000 at their peak. But the Germans also sustained heavy losses in terms of troops and equipment. Fierce Allied resistance, led by the Americans, delayed German progress until reinforcements could arrive — and the weather could improve, enabling the use of Allied airpower. Most of the fighting was over by Dec. 27, but it was nearly a month before the line was restored to its original position. Many German units had depleted their men and equipment, hastening the end of the war. Vocabulary: Which word above means: 1. something that is not funny 2. a search for military information 3. suffered, experienced 4. making something happen sooner 5. fighting back 6. response to an attack 7. used up, exhausted 8. rough, stormy 9. force out of a place 10. people trying to lose weight | 