23rd January 1945 – American forces re-take what remains of St Vith following the fierce ground battle and subsequent Allied air attacks earlier in the Ardennes engagement. The town, lying south-east of Liège and Malmédy and close to the German border is five miles from where Von Rundstedt’s offensive began in December.
Although many sources consider the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ had ended by 25th January the German Army was not pushed back to its original position of 16th December until 28th January.
The Battle of the Ardennes involved more than 1 million soldiers, some 600,000 on each side including 55,000 British (from XXX Corps).
It is often cited as the bloodiest battle for US forces in World War 2. The Americans lost almost 90,000 men – over 19,000 were killed, 47,500 were injured and more than 23,000 captured or missing. British losses were proportionately much lower with 200 killed, about 1,000 injured and nearly 240 captured or missing.
German losses have been estimated between eighty and one hundred thousand with 15 to 19,000 killed. German offensive capability in the west was destroyed but the Allies’ march into Germany had been delayed.
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