Special Report
The Tanks, Vehicles, and Artillery That Fought the Battle of the Bulge
Published:
The Battle of the Bulge is considered a major turning point in World War II as it was the last major offensive that Germany launched on Western Europe. Allied tanks and artillery clashed with German Panzer tanks and other vehicles for more than a month in the Ardennes Forest. The mechanized armies of each side proved formidable in this historic battle with the victory going to the Allies. This allowed them to further march their tanks across Europe and force the ultimate surrender of Germany.
More than 500,000 Americans and 55,000 British put a stop to the advance of 600,000 Germans with each side suffering severe casualties in what was the largest battle fought by U.S. forces in the war. The battle raged between Dec. 16, 1944, and Jan. 28, 1945, and resulted in a combined 190,000 soldiers missing, wounded, or killed. (This is the country that mobilized the most troops during World War II.)
Tanks and artillery played instrumental roles in the Battle of the Bulge as each side lost more than 800 tanks. To identify the military vehicles involved in the Battle of the Bulge, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed a catalog of World War II military vehicles from Military Factory, an online database of arms, vehicles and aircraft used by militaries worldwide. We ordered these vehicles by when they entered service and included supplemental information regarding the type of vehicle, country of origin, manufacturer, total units produced, top speed, and armament.
The M4 Sherman was a staple of U.S. forces throughout the course of the war despite only being introduced to service in 1942. More than 50,000 units were produced between 1942 and 1945. Their original 75mm main gun was later upgraded to 76.2mm and then to 105mm. The main gun was complemented by a 12.7mm Browning M2 heavy machine gun and a couple 7.62mm machine guns.
On the other side, Germany had a series of Panzer tanks that proved formidable but ultimately fell to Allied tanks and artillery. (These are the biggest and smallest armies of World War II.)
Here are the tanks, vehicles, and artillery that fought the Battle of the Bulge.
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