1. “THE HELL OF WINTER”
FROM FRANCE TO BERLIN

2. VERDUN, DIEPPE, ROUEN,ABBEVILLE, ANTWERP, & BRUSSELS,

6. Volkssturm “The Home Guard”
All able bodied men to defend Germany
By Mid-November all 6 Allied Armies were poised to break out of France and into Germany
But German defensive build up was eclipsing the Allies numbers

8. US TROOPS REACH SIEGFRIED LINE
SEPT. 13, 1944

10. On 17 September 1944 thousands of paratroopers descended from the sky by parachute or glider up to 150 km behind enemy lines. Their goal: to secure to bridges across the rivers in Holland so that the Allied army could advance rapidly northwards and turn left into the lowlands of Germany, skirting around the Siegfried line. If all carried out as planned it should have ended the war by Christmas 1944.

11. OPERATION MARKET & GARDEN
A BRIDGE TO FAR

16. Aachen. October, 1944

18. Wacht am Rhein December 16, 1944
The operation's goal was to create an opening from Germany to Antwerp, Belgium
Hitler’s choice go East or West???

19. The 6th Panzer Army of General Josef "Sepp" Dietrich would be responsible for the principal effort in the north.
The 5th Panzer Army of General Hasso von Manteuffel would drive in the same direction as the 6th, but on a more southerly route.
The 7th Army of General Erich Brandenberger would attack between Vianden and Wasserbillig. Then it would take Luxembourg and cover the whole operation by joining Semois and the Meuse south of Givet

23. “Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men” Patton

24. The Ardennes Offensive

25. “The Battle of the Bulge”
The "bulge" refers to the extension of the German lines in this battle, forming a growing salient into Allied controlled territory, seen clearly in maps presented in newspapers of the time.

26. German assault began on 16 December 44, at 0530 hrs with a massive artillery barrage on the Allied troops facing the 6th SS Panzer Army
By 0800 all 3 German armies were attacking in the Ardennes
1st wave was mostly infantry

27. General Winter Snowstorms engulf the forest
Grounded Allied aircraft, but also slowed the German advance
“The Red Ball Express”
250,000 troops in a week

28. Miss drops scattered and left Allies concerned
Operation Stösser
Fallschirmjager
(German paratroopers)
Miss drops scattered and left Allies concerned
Operation Greif
English-speaking Germans behind Allied lines
“Krauts... speaking perfect English... raising hell, cutting wires, turning road signs around, spooking whole divisions, and shoving a bulge into our defenses". Patton

29. Otto Skorzeny
The most dangerous man in Europe

30. Malmédy Massacre
150 American POW’s executed by SS officers and 6th SS Panzer Army, Kampfgruppe Peiper
After the incident orders were given to shot all SS officers and paratroopers on sight

33. BASTOGNE

34. All roads led to Bastogne No supplies, cut off, no winter clothes
Small city stuck right smack in the middle of the German offensive in the Ardennes
The town was being held by the US101st Airborne and Combat Command B or the US 10th Armored Division
All roads led to Bastogne
No supplies, cut off, no winter clothes
Battling Bastards of Bastogne

35. "Nuts!" Awakened with an offer to surrender
10 days and the weather breaks
One last shot and it is over
506 Easy Co.
Band of Brothers

37. Patton’s 3rd Armored relieves Bastogne
By Dec. 23 p-47 started to destroy German troops
By 24th the offensive was stalled short of the Meuse

38. OPERATION BONENPLATTE
LUFTWAFFES OFFENSIVE AGAINST AIRFIELDS IN THE LOW COUNTRY
THE DAMAGE TO ALLIED AIRCRAFTS WAS HEAVY, BUT RECOVERABLE
THE LUFTWAFFE SUFFERED A DEATH BLOW AS AN OFFENSIVE WEAPON

39. Operation Nordwind LAST MAJOR OFFENSIVE Seventh U.S. Army
ALSACE & LORRAINE
14,716 casualties VI ARMY
US SUFFERS ROUGHLY 9000

40. VICTORY IN THE ARDENNES
Houffalize
PATTON AND MONTY
FREEZING COLD-URINATE ON YOUR WEAPON TO KEEP IT FROM FREEZING
BY 7 JAN. HITLER PULLS THE SS UNITS OUT
Bradley and Patton both threatened to resign unless Montgomery's command was changed

41. The Battle of the Bulge ended when the two American forces met up on 15 JAN. 1945

42. SOVIETS ENTER AND LIBERATE WARSAW LET THE RACE TO BERLIN BEGIN

43. Dresden Firestorm Feb. 13-14, 1945
Dresden was a cultural center in Germany
769 Lancasters struck the city in two waves and dropped 2500 tons of bombs
City burned for a week-- 35,000 killed, 1600 acres destroyed

49. YALTA--FEB.45’ “Big Three”
STALIN CHURCHILL ROOSEVELT
WHAT TO DO ABOUT POST WAR EUROPE?
WHO GET BERLIN?
WHAT ABOUT THE JAPANESE?

50. A QUICK ENDING BY MARCH THE OILFIELDS OF HUNGARY ARE LOST
THE GERMAN ARMY RETREATS TO IT’S INTERIOR
BERLIN IS ALL THAT REMAINS
IT IS A PRIZE THAT WILL BELONG TO THE SOVIETS

51. BY APRIL BERLIN IS SURROUNDED AND THE AMERICANS ARE IN NUREMBERG
THE SOVIETS UNDER ZHUKOV ASSUALT WITHOUT PITY THE CITY AND IT’S DEFENDERS
HITLER AND HIS TRUSTED SS ARE HIDING IN BUNKERS DEEP BELOW THE CITY

52. APRIL 12, 1945

54. Berchtesgaden, why not leave Berlin??
Goering leaves in the dead of night
Donitz leaves with instructions to take over leadership and continue the fight
Reichsführer-SS, Heinrich Himmler, had offered to surrender to the western Allies, but that this had been declined

56. The Cowards End
April 30, 1945 Hitler shoots and kills himself and Eva takes Prussic Acid Poison

57. Follow the Leader The entire family died of poison injection.
Goebbels also destroyed his dogs
HIMMLER DIES 22 MAY 45

58. BERLIN FALLS

59. General Alfred Jodl, Chief of the Operations Staff in the German High Command signed unconditional surrender on May 7, 1945
V-E DAY MAY 8, 1945

63. THE FALL OF THE THIRD REICH
WHAT WERE HITLER’S WORST MISTAKES?
COULD GERMANY HAVE WON THE WAR AND IF SO HOW?
WHAT DID THE “FINAL SOLUTION” COST HITLER?
WHERE DOES THE CREDIT FOR VICTORY BELONG?
WHO CAME OUT OF THE WAR ON TOP?
WHAT HAPPENED TO EUROPE?

65. GERMANY 18 MILLION + SERVED (VOLKS) 2.3 MILLION DIED
ROUGHLY 20% OF THOSE WHO SERVED DIED
WAFFEN SS 900,000 SERVED 310,000 DIED
OVER 11 MILLION WHERE TAKEN PRISONER

66. SOVIET UNION WELL OVER 14 MILLION WOUNDED 4.5 MILLION POWS
34.5 MILLION SERVED
ROUGHLY BETWEEN 8 & 10 MILLION DIED
WELL OVER 14 MILLION WOUNDED
4.5 MILLION POWS

67. 11.5 MILLION SERVED ROUGHLY 380,000 DEAD 475,000 WOUNDED BRITISH US
ROUGLHY 300,000 DEAD
ALMOST 700,000 CASUALTIES
LESS THAN 25 % SERVED TO CASUALTY RATIO

68. AFTERMATH OF THE WAR MARSHALL PLAN DIVIDING UP OF GERMANY
SOVIET OCCUPATION
WAR CRIMES TRIALS
NUREMBERG TRIALS
A WORLD OF CHANGE