After advancing a mere eight miles, the German attack ground to a halt.

To make matters worse, the Germans were now coming under fire from ground-attack aircraft. He had survived arrest, torture and imprisonment during Stalin’s purge of army officers in 1937. Soviet Commander of the northern sector of the Kursk salient. He was mortally wounded in an attack by Ukrainian nationalists in February 1944. Soviet Commander of the southern sector of the Kursk salient. On the other hand, the Americans had only about 80,000 men, 400 guns and about 400 AFVs, including about 240 Sherman tanks. German panzers included Panzer IVs, Panthers, Tiger 1s and Tiger 2s.

He committed suicide at the end of the war. German forces at the start of the battle included about 200,000 men, 1,900 guns, and 600 tanks and other tracked vehicles. Nicknamed the Führer’s Fireman, Hitler considered Model one of his best generals. He had been key in the defeat of France in 1940 and, earlier in 1943, had stabilised the front after German failure at Stalingrad.Ĭommander of the northern German pincer.

Between them, these four men commanded around 2.8 million men, 8,000 tanks and 4,200 aircraft…Ĭommander of the southern German pincer.

Battle of the bulge tank battle