Charting the Ardennes Offensive

After days at it, I finally completed this massive 14,000 x 6,000 pixel graphic about the waning days of the Second World War's Battle of the Bulge. This completion apparently coincides with the imminent demise of my once cutting-edge and now venerable 7-year-old Sony laptop, which is now in its final gasps (going by the noises it is making). Ha. C'est la vie.

About the map: The challenge was to figure out how many men were made casualties during the battle. Much of the hard statistical data was gleaned from Trevor Dupuy's "Hitler Last Gamble." In the end, the casualty figures for both sides turned out to be about equal - which was unexpected. Neither side was the victor in the short-run, although the elusiveness of victory was certainly more damaging to the Nazis.

Clicking the image above will take you to my other blog, where a 5,000 x 3,000 pixel variant of the graphic can be downloaded.