The Battle of the Bulge began on Dec. 16, 1944, when a large German force pummeled the four American divisions holding the 75-mile stretch of front in the Ardennes Forest and broke through. The U.S. Army estimates the German force at more than 200,000 troops and nearly 2,000 tanks. The German intention was to push straight through to the English Channel, dividing the Allied forces, but powerful counterattacks by the Americans, chiefly the 3rd Army under Gen. George S. Patton, hampered the German advance, and by Christmas Day, the 2nd U.S. Armored Division had stopped the Germans before they could reach the Meuse River. Over the next month, dogged attacks on the German flanks had forced them back and restored the front to pre-Bulge positions.
Among the many types of bombers in use during World War II, the most famous is probably the B17 "Flying Forttress," a heavy bomber that earned its renown because so many of its crews survived the long bombing raids over Europe that were central to Allied strategy. The B24 Liberator, also a long-range heavy bomber, was the most heavily produced U.S. aircraft during the war, with a heavier load and longer range than the B17. The B26 Marauder could fly faster and carry still heavier loads, but it was a less adaptable design, and early training accidents had earned it the ill-omened name "Widowmaker." Among the medium bombers in use in the European theater was the B25 Mitchell, and the P47 Thunderbolt, nicknamed the "Jug." While the Jug was primarily a heavy fighter, its design made it ideal for air-to-surface combat, including bombing in support of other craft.
In the first days after the German offensive, air support was made difficult or impossible by the wintry weather. Among the bombers' first tasks when the weather cleared on Dec. 23 was destroying bridges that gave German troops access to Bastogne; this strategically located French town was the focus of Gen. Patton's reinforcement of the Allied position. The Allied bombers did not only target bridges, but also communications centers, munitions depots and other German strategic resources. Destruction of these vital resources was key to slowing the German advance and allowing American troops to counter it.
The German response is clear evidence of the importance of the American bomber offensive. On Jan. 1, 1945, the Luftwaffe -- the German air force -- launched Operation Bodenplatte, aimed at reducing the effectiveness of American air power by destroying air fields in the region. The historians of the 365th Fighter Battalion recall that 122 P47 Thunderbolts were destroyed, at a high German cost. Indeed, historian Danny Parker gives the final tally at about 300 Allied planes lost, versus about the same number of German planes, 85 of these to their own surface-to-air defenses. Although the loss in terms of American air power was damaging, new planes were deployed; Germany could not replace its own planes readily because of the strains that Allied bombing campaigns had placed on its industrial infrastructure -- another, albeit indirect, way in which bombers affected the outcome of the Battle of the Bulge. Historian John F. Fuller concluded, "Allied air power helped break the back of the German offensive."