Battle Of The Bulge Order Of Battle
The Ardennes Counteroffensive, commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge, was a massive military operation undertaken by Nazi Germany in southern Belgium and northern Luxembourg which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945.
The intent of the offensive was to split the ground forces of the Western Allies from each other and encourage them to make peace with Germany, leaving all of Germany's military might to fight off the resurgent USSR.
The operation was conceived entirely by German head of state and armed forces chief Adolf Hitler. The plan was vigorously opposed by the two ranking generals who would oversee the assault, who saw only a waste of men and material with little chance of success. The Führer dismissed all objections, convinced that the elite German forces would roll over the war-weary and/or inexperienced American formations in the Ardennes Forest and drive all the way to the English Channel port of Antwerp.
In order to mislead any Allied intelligence personnel who might discover the plan, it was given the defensive sounding name Wacht am Rhein, meaning "watch on the Rhine".
The order of battle presented here reflects a point near the end of the campaign. As with any large army organization in extended combat, forces and their assignments shifted over the course of the battle. For example, when the German attack began on 16 December, the US 7th Armored Division was assigned to XIII Corps, US Ninth Army, 12th Army Group. Later that day, its alignment became VIII Corps, US First Army, 12th Army Group. On 20 December, the alignment switched to XVIII Corps, US First Army, 12th Army Group — and later that day to XVIII Corps, US First Army, 21st Army Group. On 18 January 1945, the alignment changed one last time, to XVIII Corps, US First Army, 12th Army Group — as it is given in the following hierarchy. This OOB — specifically, at a point near the end of the battle, which lasted from 16 December 1944 until 25 January 1945.
See for Allied and German Orders of Battle: December 1944 & January 1945: (Tucker-Jones pp 263–287)
High-level orders of battle
Axis
Theatre and army group commanders
Gerd von Runstedt
Walter Model
Oberbefehlshaber West
Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt
Heeresgruppe B
Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model
Armies deployed North to South:
Sixth Panzer Army (Northern Sector)- Oberstgruppenführer der Waffen SS Josef "Sepp" Dietrich
- I SS Panzer Corps (SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Priess)
- II SS Panzer Corps (SS-Obergruppenführer Willi Bittrich)
- LXVII Corps (Generalleutnant Otto Hitzfeld)
- Fifth Panzer Army (Central Sector)
- General der Panzertruppen Hasso von Manteuffel
- XXXIX Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppe Karl Decker)
- XLVII Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz)
- LVIII Panzer Corps (General der Panzertruppen Walter Krüger)
- LXVI Corps (General der Artillerie Walter Lucht)
- Seventh Army (Southern Sector)
- General der Panzertruppen Erich Brandenberger
- LIII Corps (General der Kavallerie Edwin von Rothkirch)
- LXXX Corps (General der Infanterie Franz Beyer)
- LXXXV Corps (General der Infanterie Baptist Kniess)
Allies
Allied theatre commander
Dwight D. EisenhowerAllied army group commanders
Bernard L. Montgomery
Omar N. Bradley
Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces
General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower
Armies deployed North to South:
21st Army Group - Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery
12th Army Group - Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley
- US First Army (Lieut. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges)
- V Corps (Maj. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow)
- VII Corps (Maj. Gen. J. Lawton Collins)
- XVIII Airborne Corps (Maj. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway)
- US Third Army (Lieut. Gen. George S. Patton Jr.)
- III Corps (Maj. Gen. John Millikin)
- VIII Corps (Maj. Gen. Troy H. Middleton)
- XII Corps (Maj. Gen. Manton S. Eddy)
- US First Army (Lieut. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges)
- Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley
- Allied air forces
US Strategic Air Forces in Europe (General Carl Spaatz) - US Eighth Air Force (Strategic) (Lt. Gen. James H. Doolittle)
- US Ninth Air Force (Tactical) (Lt. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg)
Royal Air Force - Bomber Command (Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur "Bomber" Harris)
- Fighter Command (Air Marshal Sir Roderic Hill)
- Second Tactical Air Force (Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham)
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Axis forces
Sixth Panzer Army (Northern Sector)
Oberstgruppenführer der Waffen SS Josef "Sepp" Dietrich
- Army-level units
- 683rd Heavy Antitank Battalion
- 217th Assault Panzer Battalion
- 394th, 667th, and 902nd Assault Gun Battalions
- 741st Antitank Battalion
- 1098th, 1110th, and 1120th Heavy Howitzer Batteries
- 428th Heavy Mortar Battery
- 1123rd K-3 Battery
- 2nd Flak Division (41st and 43rd Regiments)
- von der Heydte Fallschirmjager Battalion
- 4th Todt Brigade
LXVII Corps
Generalleutnant Otto Hitzfeld
‡ Units involved in the initial assault 16 Dec
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I SS Panzer Corps
SS-Gruppenführer Hermann Prieß
‡ Units involved in the initial assault 16 Dec
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II SS Panzer Corps
SS Obergruppenführer Willi Bittrich
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Fifth Panzer Army (Central Sector)
General der Panzertruppen Hasso von Manteuffel
- Army-level units
- 19th Flak Brigade
- 207th and 600th Engineer Battalions
- 653rd Heavy Panzerjäger Battalion
- 669th Ost (East) Battalion
- 638th, 1094th, and 1095th Heavy Artillery Batteries
- 25th/975th Fortress Artillery Battery
- 1099th, 1119th, and 1121st Heavy Mortar Batteries
- 3rd Todt Brigade (paramilitary engineers)
LXVI Corps
General der Artillerie Walter Lucht
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LVIII Panzer Corps
General der Panzertruppen Walter Krüger
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XLVII Panzer Corps
General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz
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XXXIX Panzer Corps
Generalleutnant Karl Decker
Seventh Army (Southern Sector)General der Panzertruppen Erich Brandenberger 
LXXXV CorpsGeneral der Infanterie Baptist Knieß
LXXX CorpsGeneral der Infanterie Franz Beyer
LIII CorpsGeneral der Kavallerie Edwin von Rothkirch
Luftwaffe
Allied ForcesArmies deployed north to south Allied 21st Army Group Field Marshal Sir Bernard L. Montgomery XXX Corps
Corps Reserve
Allied 12th Army Group.jpg) Lieutenant General Omar N. Bradley US First ArmyLieutenant General Courtney H. Hodges
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