READY FOR TODAY – EVOLVING FOR TOMORROW
EX ARRCADE BUGLE – LESSONS
IN CORPS WARFIGHTING FROM
THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
Lt Col Scott Morrison (CAN-A)
Staff Rides, or Battle Field Tours as they are more commonly referred to, are an essential
part of military education. They enable students to understand the lessons from previous
conflicts and consider their relevance to modern operations. The Battle of the Bulge
offers an ideal subject to look at the challenges of conducting Corps Warfighting in a high
intensity conflict.
military operations in the 21st century.
Supported by Dr Guy Finch, a military
historian, participants looked at both
German and Allied planning and
execution in order to understand the
thinking behind the plans, and compare
how one would plan and fight a similar
operation today.
View of River Meuse at La Roche en Ardennes (Day 2)
In late 1944 and early 1945 ‘Operation
Wacht am Rhein’ was Hitler’s last
attempt to interdict the Allied build-up
of forces on Continental Europe and
to regain the initiative. The intent was
for the German army to break through
the US lines in the Ardennes, cross the
River Meuse and take Antwerp; thereby
cutting the Allied forces in two. To Hitler,
this was achievable based on Germany’s
experiences at the start of WWII, but
was, in reality, doomed to failure from the
outset.
Despite this flawed thinking, the ability
of the Germans to concentrate over
two hundred thousand men and about
fourteen hundred tanks and assault guns
has to be one of the greatest feats of
military organisation of the entire war.
Equally impressive was the fact that
they did so under the noses of the Allies.
The Americans, in particular, were quite
unaware of the build-up in the Eifel;
opposite the weakest sector of their front.
Over a five-day period, Staff Officers
from HQ ARRC conducted a visit to the
Ardennes Region to study the battlefields
of the operation; better known as the
Battle of the Bulge. The trip formed
part of the ARRC’s recalibration work to
understand and develop processes and
procedures for the conduct of large scale
The exercise began three weeks
prior to the trip with a short academic
presentation on the Strategic and
Operational background leading up to
the late part of 1945. This focused on
the German key personnel and their
thinking, as well as a consideration
of Allied officers, and why they had
not anticipated such an operation.
It was important to understand the
background leading up to the Operation
and understand the strategic issues
surrounding not only the decision by
Hitler to undertake such an offensive and
the secrecy with its planning and build
up, but also why the Allies misinterpreted
what they were facing in the Ardennes.
An important part of ‘Mission Command’
is an understanding of the higher level
thinking in terms of main effort and
end state, and since our study was at
the Corps level, understanding Army/
Theatre aspects was a necessity.
The week itself started with a visit to the
Henri-Chappelle American cemetery.
This was the first of three cemeteries
visited during the trip, the other two
ALLIED RAPID REACTION CORPS
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