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On View
through December 29
Location:
First
Floor, Louisiana Memorial Pavilion |
American
infantrymen of the 290th Regimen fight
in fresh snowfall near Amonines,
Belgium.
January 4, 1945. (Army) |
Until the Second World War, military
campaigns typically wound down during
the winter as both sides sought shelter
from the elements—in fact, the first
winter of the war, 1939-40, was so quiet
it was called the Phony War. By the end
of World War II, the idea of not
campaigning in winter had changed
drastically as the German Army launched
a massive campaign against the Allied
forces in the Ardennes region. In what
became known as the Battle of the Bulge,
the largest land battle involving the
United States, combatants fought not
only each other but also the brutal
weather during one of the coldest
winters in history. At 5:30 a.m. on
December 16, 1944, when the battle
began, the temperature in Bastogne,
Belgium, was 14 degrees Fahrenheit.
Poorly equipped American forces suffered
greatly while German forces, drawing on
years of experience of fighting in the
Soviet Union, were equipped with warm
and practical clothing.
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