Footsteps Battlefield Tours

On D-Day, June 6, 1944, the Allied invasion of Normandy began. Operation Neptune was the largest seaborne invasion in history. It marked the beginning of the liberation of North-Western Europe, occupied by Nazi Germany for four dreadful years.

The German counter-offensive in the Ardennes, known to history as the Battle of the Bulge, pitted the German army against the Allies in Belgium and Luxembourg. It began December 16, 1944, and was intended to end Allied use of the Belgian port of Antwerp. The Germans planned to split the Allied lines to encircle and destroy four armies with the ultimate goal of forcing Western Allies to negotiate a peace treaty in the Axis powers’ favor. The Germans were surprised by the quick reaction and stubborn resistance of American and British troops. The advance was halted and created a bulge in the Allied frontlines.

The Battle of The Hürtgen Forest was fought between the September 19 through December 16, 1944. It was the longest battle ever fought on German soil during World War II. It resulted in a dismal defeat for the U.S. Army and a defensive victory for the German army. Both sides lost tens of thousands of men and a staggering amount of armor and equipment.

Operation Market Garden was the largest airborne operation in history. Intended to bypass the German West Wall defensive line, the Allies hoped to end the war before Christmas 1944. The air operation involved more than 34,600 men of the British 1st Airborne, U.S. Army 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, and the Polish Parachute Brigade. The men were dropped in key locations in The Netherlands to secure several bridges along roads leading into the heart of Germany. The whole plan proved to be too optimistic, and the Allies failed to achieve their goal.

The Italian Campaign was the first effort of the Allied forces on the European continent. From the heat of Sicily in July 1943 to the cold winter on the Gothic Line in the fall of 1944, GIs made their path through treacherous mountains and narrow, muddy roads. The struggle against German and Fascist groups cost over 330,000 Allies lives. It was a slow and torturous fight to the Po River Valley and the surrender of the Wehrmacht troops in Italy in May 1945. Several months were spent on the Gothic Line, an impressive series of defensive fortifications and bunkers built in the extreme attempt to keep the Allies away from the river valley and from the Alpine passes that could lead to the heart of the Reich.