Eighty years ago this week the German army and Italian PoWs in Scotland roll the dice for the last time
The German launched a counter-attack in the Ardennes with 13 infantry and 7 armoured divisions with around one thousand tanks and assault guns. These were almost the last reserves available. The strategic goal was unclear; Hitler imagined that it would be possible to recapture Antwerp; von Rundstedt and the other generals knew this was too ambitious. Ultimately the rationale did not go far beyond hoping that a major breakthrough would somehow seriously compromise the Allied offensive. The Germans achieved complete tactical surprise, mainly because poor weather had stopped allied aerial reconaissance. The human intelligence on German dispositions which had been plentiful during the advance through France and the Low Countries had also disappeared now that the Germans were operating from their homeland. The allies did not expect an attack in the sector whose terrain favoured the defenders and it was manned by tired or inexperienced US units. V-2 rockets were being targ...
