Aided by secrecy and poor weather, the initial
assaults of the German Ardennes offensive met
with success

December 16-22
Western Front, Ardennes
Hitler launches Operation Watch on the Rhine, his attempt to break through the US VIII Corps on the Ardennes Front, reach the Meuse River, and capture Antwerp, thereby splitting the Allies in two. The German units - 200,000 men - form Army Group B under the overall command of Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. This force comprises the Sixth SS Panzer Army, Fifth Panzer Army, and Seventh Army. US forces total 80,000 men. Surprise is total and there is dense cloud and fog, which negates Allied air superiority, but the Germans fail to take the towns of St. Vith and Bastogne immediately, which narrows their attack Front. On the 17th, troops of SS Lieutenant Colonel Joachim Peiper's battlegroup murder 71 American prisoners of war at Malmédy in Belgium, leaving their bodies in a field.

By the 22nd, the Americans, having lost 8000 of 22,000 men at St. Vith, pull back from the town, but the men of the 28th Infantry, 10th, and 101st Airborne Divisions continue to hold out stubbornly in Bastogne against one infantry and two panzer divisions. On the same day the Germans mount their last attempt to reach the Meuse.

As part of their sabotage operations, the Germans are using English-speaking commandos dressed in US uniforms to spread confusion, especially at road junctions and on bridges. However, measures have been taken to defeat these infiltrators, many of whom are later shot as spies.

December 20
Mediterranean, Greece
British tanks and armored cars have lifted the siege of Kifissia RAF base by ELAS rebels (the National Liberation Army - the military wing of the country's communist party).

December 24
Air War, Belgium
The first jet bomber operation takes place when twin-engined German Arado 234B bombers raid a factory and marshaling yards. The raid is led by Captain Dieter Lukesch.

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