On December 16 , 1944 , the Germans launched a massive attack westward in the Ardennes forest , along a battlefront extending southwards from Monschau to Echternach , hoping to punch a hole in the Allied lines and capture the Belgian city of Antwerp . The Allies responded slowly , allowing the German attack to create a large " bulge " in the Allied lines . In the initial stages of the offensive , American POWs from the 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion were executed at the Malmedy massacre by Nazi SS and Fallschirmjäger
Malmedy massacre
Malmedy massacre
Military history of the United States during World War II