 Following a few months of relative calm in Belgium , on 16 December 1944 the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive with over a quarter of a million soldiers . Antwerp was the ultimate objective of the German offensive , but the German advance stalled before the Meuse River , at Celles near Dinant , and was pushed back in furious fighting over a period of six weeks in bitterly cold weather by American , British and Belgian troops . Belgian towns and civilians in the Ardennes suffered during the offensive as homes were reduced to ruins , and there were instances of German troops shooting civilians . Around 90 % of the town of La Roche @-@ en @-@ Ardenne was destroyed during fighting . By 4 February 1945 , the country was reported to be free of German troops . 
