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I agree with @bobcockayne – for Gurkas in Europe your best best is the Italian campaign, Arno Valley, Gothic Line, starting in late 43 and progressing through to the end of the war. Originally raised in Indian divisions, these battalions fought more commonly in North Africa, Syria, and Greece. In the Pacific they fought the Japanese in Burma, but also Malaya and India (well, modern day Bangladesh).
No worries, @zorg – you got the Hürtgen Forest connection ell enough, I knew what you were referring to. Oth divisions on the “front line” of the initial shock of Ardennes included the 106th “Golden Lions” Infantry, the 99th Infantry, and the 2nd Armored.
More epic shots, @wittmann007 . Indeed St. Vith was an incredibly important series of battles, often overshadowed by Bastogne. This is kind of a shame because St. Vith (as I’m sure you know) represents the assault corridor for what was supposed to be the main German thrust, Sepp Dietrich’s 6th SS Panzer Army, including divisions like SS “Hohenstaufen.” Our previous entries had 9th SS Pz marked on their map (upper left) almost behind St. Vith from the north, fighting Combat Command “A” of 7th US Armored at places like Poteau.
What makes St. Vith important (along with battlefields extending further north like Elsenborn Ridge) is how is more of less slams 6th SS Panzer Army in its tracks (aside from vanguard units like KG Peiper, etc.). This is what forces the Germans to sidestep to the south, shift the “schwerpunkt” further south into 5th Panzer Army’s sector (Hasso von Manteuffel). This represented an attempt to get around American positions like St. Vith and Elsenborn Ridge, and finally find a way toward the Meuse River and their ultimate objectives, Brussels and Antwerp (fantastically optimistic, of course, but these were their objectives at the time).
It was this new route of advance that leads to Bastogne. So in summary, Bastogne, “Nuts,” Patton’s “Rescue,” and other media-stealing elements, none of them ever become “a thing” without the outcomes of battles like St. Vith and Elsenborn Ridge.
