Battle of The Bulge (film) - Historical Inaccuracies

Historical Inaccuracies

The final tank battle is a rough depiction of the Battle of Celles on December 26, 1944 where the U.S. 2nd Armored Division smashed the German 2nd Panzer Division. The film creates the false impression that large numbers of American tanks sacrificed themselves against the heavy Tiger IIs and in the process lured the enemy off course which caused them to run out of gas. In reality, they were already stranded. The tanks used (despite the claims of the producer in an interview which is one of the DVD extras) are not historically accurate. But the American M47 Pattons representing German King Tiger tanks conveyed the superior size and gun power which the M24 Chaffees representing the M4 Sherman had to contend with.

Aside from the initial American encounters with the German offensive, there is some absence of cold weather and snow, which were the conditions in which the real battle was fought. There is no trace of snow at all in the film's major tank battle scene. Nor were some battle scenes fought in flat and bare territory, considering the mountainous, and forested and grassy nature of the Ardennes. The film was shot on location in Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range and Madrid, Spain.

The role of Lt. Schumacher and his men was based on Operation Greif, the plan to parachute English speaking Germans using American equipment behind American lines to sow confusion and capture the bridges.

Absent from this movie is the response by General George Patton whose Third Army relieved the siege of Bastogne. Indeed, there is no reference to British forces in the area, although British troops were largely kept behind the Meuse river and thus almost entirely out of the fighting. Also not mentioned is General Eisenhower's decision to split the Bulge front into two, ceding temporary command of two American armies to Field Marshal Montgomery in the northern half of the Bulge; implying a totally American operation. Neither was there mention of the role of Allied air power hitting the Germans hard at the first sign of clear weather.

The film's opening narration, by William Conrad, does mention both Montgomery and Patton, but is inaccurate, saying:

to the north, stood Montgomery's Eighth Army. To the south, Patton's Third.

In fact, Montgomery's northern command was actually the 21st Army Group. The Eighth Army, Montgomery's previous command, was actually in Italy at the time of the Battle of the Bulge. Although Patton was in charge of 3rd Army during the battle, this army was part of a much larger American force in the south. Third Army was one of four American armies that constituted the 12th Army Group under General Omar Bradley. It was Patton, however, who was Montgomery's American counterpart on the Western Front.

The fictional German character, Hessler, is generally modeled after Colonel Joachim Peiper whose SS unit carried out the Malmedy massacre. However, this is not evident in the film where Hessler is openly critical of the Malmedy incident, pointing out such things turn a defeated rabble into an avenging army.

The film recaptures the major aspects of the battle, depicting how the inexperienced replacement American units stationed in the Ardenne were initially overwhelmed and the confusion which followed. It points out the superiority of heavy German tanks, along with their one weakness, lack of fuel.