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</html>";s:4:"text";s:36445:"After crossing the Rhine the Western Allies fanned out overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south before the Germans surrendered on May 7 1945. [22], As March turned to April the offensive east of the Rhine was progressing in close accordance with Allied plans. Location. [18], Montgomery had originally planned to attach one corps of the U.S. 9th Army to the British Second Army, which would use only two of the corps′ divisions for the initial assault. Following this primary assault, which the XII Corps would undertake, the U.S. VIII Corps would execute supporting crossings at Boppard and St. Goar, 25–30 mi (40–48 km) northwest of Mainz. Although Montgomery's drive was still planned as the main effort, Eisenhower believed that the momentum of the American forces to the south should not be squandered by having them merely hold the line at the Rhine or make only limited diversionary attacks beyond it. Nowhere, it seemed, were the Germans able to resist in strength. [16], Adding to the Germans′ woes, the U.S. 6th Army Group made an assault across the Rhine on 26 March. At the very beginning of 1945, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had 73 divisions under his command in North-western Europe, of which 49 were infantry divisions, 20 armored divisions and four airborne divisions. Saved from en.wikipedia.org This increased the importance of the southern offensives across the Rhine. By 13 April, the 9th Army had cleared the northern part of the pocket, while elements of the XVIII Airborne Corps′ 8th Infantry Division reached the southern bank of the Ruhr, splitting the southern section of the pocket in two. By attaching an infantry regiment of the 104th Infantry Division to the armored division and following the drive closely with the rest of the 104th Division, the VII Corps was well prepared to hold any territory gained. Unfortunately, Hobbs had not fully taken into account the nearly nonexistent road network in front of the XVI Corps bridgehead. The Germans could not do much to stop the final Allied attacks in Europe. [30], Meanwhile, on the 12th U.S. Army Group's southern flank, the 3rd Army had advanced apace, moving 30 mi (48 km) eastward to take Erfurt and Weimar, and then, by 12 April, another 30 mi (48 km) through the old 1806 Jena Napoleonic battlefield area. General Simpson now had both the opportunity and the means to unleash the power of the 9th Army and begin in earnest the northern drive to surround the Ruhr. His detailed plans, code-named Operation Plunder, were comparable to the Normandy invasion in terms of numbers of men and extent of equipment, supplies, and ammunition to be used. Final positions of the Allied and Soviet armies, May 1945. It said Germans had to give all weapons to the Allies. However, as the 3rd Army began pulling up to the Mulde on 13 April, the XII Corps—Patton's southernmost force—continued moving southeast alongside the 6th U.S. Army Group to clear southern Germany and move into Austria. The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theater of World War II. The Western Allied invasion of Germany was an attack on Nazi Germany that was done by the Western Allies in the final months of the European War in World War II. invasion. The 12th and 6th U.S. Army Groups were to mount a subsidiary offensive to keep the Germans off balance and diminish their ability to stop the northern thrust. Similarly, the 3rd Army on the 6th U.S. Army Group's left flank had advanced rapidly against very little resistance, its lead elements reaching the river on 24 April. Western Allies At 11:30 on 25 April, a small patrol from the 69th Infantry Division met a lone Russian horseman in the village of Leckwitz. His overriding objective was the swiftest military victory possible. By then, the paratroopers had taken all their first day's objectives in addition to 3,500 prisoners. Nevertheless, the 7th Army broke out of its Rhine bridgehead, just south of Frankfurt, on 28 March, employing elements of three corps—the XV Corps to the north, the XXI Corps in the center, and the VI Corps to the south. After losing this battle, Hitler had no strength left to stop the powerful Allied armies. Simpson, in turn, ordered a combat command of the 2nd Armored Division—which had just reached Beckum—to make a 15 mi (24 km) advance southeast to Lippstadt, midway between Beckum and the stalled 3rd Armored Division spearhead. The Allied line along the Rhine stretched 450 mi (720 km) from the North Sea to the Swiss border. The officer in charge of the unit capturing the area, typically a company or battalion, accepted responsibility over the town. The U.S. VII Corps, on the left, had the hardest going due to the German concentration north of the bridgehead, yet its armored columns managed to advance 12 mi (19 km) beyond their line of departure. He found out that Soviet forces held a bridge over the Oder River, 30 mi (48 km) from Berlin. On the Eastern Front, the Soviet Red Army had moved through Poland. By the beginning of the Central Europe attacks, Allied victory in Europe was certain. [22], A task force of the VII Corps′ 3rd Armored Division, which included some of the new M26 Pershing heavy tanks, spearheaded the drive for Paderborn on 29 March. The 9th Army's sector of the Ruhr Pocket—although only about 1/3 the size of the 1st Army's sector south of the river—contained the majority of the densely urbanized industrial area within the encirclement. The failure of this last major German attack took the last of Germany's strength. These mobile forces made great thrusts to isolate pockets of German troops, which were mopped up by additional infantry following close behind. By the end of 28 March, General Hodges′ 1st Army had crossed the Lahn, having driven at least 50 mi (80 km) beyond the original line of departure and capturing thousands of German soldiers in the process. This is known as the "Central Europe Campaign" in United States military histories. On the same day, however, Montgomery announced that the east bound roads out of Wesel would be turned over to the 9th Army on 30 March with the Rhine bridges leading into that city changing hands a day later. [39], The crossing of the Rhine, the encirclement and reduction of the Ruhr, and the sweep to the Elbe-Mulde line and the Alps all established the final campaign on the Western Front as a showcase for Allied superiority in maneuver warfare. The Allies still had to fight violent battles to capture Germany. The 1st Army's area, on the other hand, was composed of rough, heavily forested terrain with a poor road network. To accomplish this, he had to move quickly. At the very beginning of 1945, the Commander of the Allies, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had 73 divisions under his command in North-western Europe. United Kingdom However, concerned that the bypassed Germans would flood much of the nation and cause complete famine among a Dutch population already near starvation, Eisenhower approved an agreement with the local enemy commanders to allow the Allies to air-drop food into the country in return for a local ceasefire on the battlefield. [18], Another important aspect of Montgomery's plan was Operation Varsity, in which two divisions of the XVIII Airborne Corps were to make an airborne assault over the Rhine. As subsequent waves of troops crossed, units fanned out to take the first villages beyond the river to only the weakest of opposition. At the same time, General Devers′ 6th U.S. Army Group would move south through Bavaria and the Black Forest to Austria and the Alps, ending the threat of any Nazi last-ditch stand there. After crossing the Rhine the Western Allies fanned out overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to Austria in the south before the Germans surrendered on May 7 1945. [6], For several reasons, Eisenhower began to readjust these plans toward the end of March. By the end of the day, the units that had taken Leipzig joined the rest of the 1st Army on the Mulde, where it had been ordered to halt. Late on 26 March, the 8th Armored Division began moving into the bridgehead. This page was last changed on 21 October 2019, at 12:53. On 7 March, Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges's 1st Army had captured a bridge over the Rhine at Remagen.[6]. [13], The crossing of the Rhine between 22 and 28 March 1945, On 22 March, with a bright moon lighting the late-night sky, elements of the U.S. XII Corps′ 5th Infantry Division began the 3rd Army's Rhine crossing. Mar 6, 2019 - Western Allied invasion of Germany - Wikipedia. By the end of March, the Supreme Commander thus leaned toward a decision to place more responsibility on his southern forces. The same day, in response to the 3rd Army's robust showing in the Saar-Palatinate region, and to have another strong force on the Rhine's east bank guarding the 1st Army's flank, Bradley gave Patton the go-ahead for an assault crossing of the Rhine as soon as possible. Many towns flew white flags of surrender to spare themselves the otherwise inevitable destruction suffered by those that resisted, while German troops surrendered by the tens of thousands, sometimes as entire units. Western Allied Invasion of Germany - Operations - Ruhr Pocket Cleared (18 April) Ruhr Pocket Cleared (18 April) The first step in realizing Eisenhower's plan was the eradication of the Ruhr Pocket. The Western Front was marked by two phases of large-scale combat operations. [13], The terrain in the vicinity of Nierstein and Oppenheim was conducive to artillery support, with high ground on the west bank overlooking relatively flat land to the east. On 29 March, the 1st Army turned toward Paderborn, about 80 mi (130 km) north of Giessen, its right flank covered by the 3rd Army, which had broken out of its own bridgeheads and was headed northeast toward Kassel. Even when the hopelessness of the German situation became obvious to his most loyal subordinates, Hitler refused to admit defeat. Once this was done, the 21st Army Group would take Luebeck and Wismar on the Baltic Sea, cutting off the Germans remaining in the Jutland peninsula of Denmark, while the 6th U.S. Army Group and the 3rd Army drove south into Austria. Instance of. The XV Corps also captured Berchtesgaden, the town that would have been Hitler's command post in the National Redoubt. Although the defense of these sites was somewhat more determined than that the XII Corps had faced, the difficulties of the Boppard and St. Goar crossings were compounded more by terrain than by German resistance. Forty-nine of these divisions were A… However, Patton also realized that the Germans were aware of this difficulty and would expect his attack north of Mainz. World War II military engagements in Southern Europe and elsewhere are generally considered as separate theatres. The events of the first few days of the final campaign would be enough to convince him that this was the proper course of action. On the morning of 10 April, the 12th U.S. Army Group's drive to the Elbe began in earnest. On that day, Eisenhower instructed Patton to halt the 3rd Army at the Mulde River, about 10 mi (16 km) short of its original objective, Chemnitz. The Second Army's 12th Corps and the 9th Army's XVI Corps began the main effort about 02:00 on 24 March, following a massive artillery and air bombardment. The supreme Allied commander in the west, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, also wanted to occupy the Rhineland (the area of Germany west of the Rhine River) south of the Mosel River in order to protect Montgomery’s right flank and to provide territory for a secondary invasion of Germany through the Kassel-Frankfurt corridor. The 21st Army Group had 30 full-strength divisions, 11 each in the British Second and U.S. 9th Armies and eight in the Canadian First Army, providing Montgomery with more than 1,250,000 men. Gen. Leland S. Hobbs—formed two mobile task forces to make deeper thrusts with an eye toward punching through the defense altogether and breaking deep into the German rear. South of the Ruhr River, the 1st Army's northward attack was to be executed by the XVIII Airborne Corps, which had been transferred to Hodges after Operation VARSITY, and the III Corps, with the 1st Army's V and VII Corps continuing the offensive east. [9], When American or other western soldiers arrived in a town, its leaders and remaining residents typically used white flags, bedsheets, and tablecloths to signal surrender. While this was certainly short notice, it did not catch the XII Corps completely unaware. As its forces reached Nuremberg on 16 April, the Seventh Army ran into the same type of anti-aircraft gun defense that the 1st Army was facing at Leipzig. By sending armored spearheads around hotly contested areas, isolating them for reduction by subsequent waves of infantry, Eisenhower's forces maintained their eastward momentum. The ensuing airdrops, which began on 29 April,[37] marked the beginning of what was to become a colossal American-led effort to put war-torn Europe back together again.[38]. Bradley had two American armies, the U.S. 1st Army (Courtney Hodges) on the left (north) and the U.S. 3rd Army (George S. Patton) on the right (south). An hour later, at 03:00, the 79th Infantry Division began its crossing upriver, achieving much the same results. In a matter of days they would all be killed or captured. With Montgomery allowing use of the Wesel bridges to the 9th Army for only five out of every 24 hours, and with the road network north of the Lippe under 2nd Army control, General Simpson was unable to commit or maneuver sufficient forces to make a rapid flanking drive. Only when Soviet artillery was falling around his Berlin headquarters bunker did he begin to perceive the final outcome. As its forces approached Leipzig, about 60 mi (97 km) south of Magdeburg and 15 mi (24 km) short of the Mulde River, the 1st Army ran into one of the few remaining centers of organized resistance. [6], In addition, there was the matter of the Ruhr. German resistance everywhere was sporadic, and the hastily mounted counterattacks invariably burned out quickly, causing few casualties. France The American general felt that if a sufficiently strong force could be thrown across the river and significant gains made, then Eisenhower might transfer responsibility for the main drive through Germany from Montgomery's 21st Army Group to Bradley's 12th. To the south, Patton's 3rd Army was to drive east to Chemnitz, about 40 mi (64 km) southeast of Leipzig, but well short of the Elbe, and then turn southeast into Austria. In addition, he was worried about the Ruhr. Instead, the 1st Army struck eastward, heading for Giessen and the Lahn River, 65 mi (105 km) beyond Remagen, before turning north toward Paderborn and a linkup with the 9th Army. Some people said Hitler's most loyal troops were preparing to With spectacular thrusts being made beyond the Rhine nearly every day and the enemy's capacity to resist fading at an ever accelerating rate, the campaign to finish Germany was transitioning into a general pursuit. [11], These were exactly the orders Patton had hoped for. The crossings would be preceded by several weeks of aerial bombing and a final massive artillery preparation. The artillery fire had been so effective and so perfectly timed that the assault battalions merely motored their storm boats across the river and claimed the east bank against almost no resistance. On the whole, Allied plans were excellent as demonstrated by how rapidly they met their objectives. The Allied invasion of Germany started with the Western Allies crossing the Rhine on 22 March 1945 before fanning out and overrunning all of western Germany from the Baltic in the north to the Alpine passes in the south, where they linked up with troops of the U.S. Fifth Army in Italy. [9], To the south in the Saar-Palatinate region, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army had dealt a devastating blow to the German 7th Army and, in conjunction with the U.S. 7th Army, had nearly destroyed the German 1st Army. Eisenhower began to change his plans toward the end of March. United Kingdom At the very beginning of 1945, the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had 73 divisions under his command in North-western Europe, of which 49 were infantry divisions, 20 armored divisions and four airborne divisions. When the 4th Armored Division and elements of the 89th Infantry Division captured the small town of Ohrdruf, a few miles south of Gotha, they found the first concentration camp taken by the western Allies. Still, despite the terrain and German machine-gun and 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft cannon fire, VIII Corps troops managed to gain control of the east bank's heights, and by dark on 26 March, with German resistance crumbling all along the Rhine, they were preparing to continue the drive the next morning. 1. [32], Initially, the opposition in the 6th U.S. Army Group's sector was stiffer than that facing the 12th U.S. Army Group. Genealogy Projects tagged with Western Allied invasion of Germany on the Geni Family Tree « Back to Projects Dashboard Hitler refused to admit defeat until Soviet artillery was falling around his Berlin bunker.[7]. The French 1st Army—under General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny—was to attack to the south and southeast, taking Stuttgart before moving to the Swiss border and into Austria. The appropriate documents were signed on the same day and became effective on 8 May. As the first boats reached the east bank, seven startled Germans surrendered and then paddled themselves unescorted to the west bank to be placed in custody. Soldiers posted copies of Eisenhower's Proclamation No. On 7 March, elements of Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges's 1st Army had captured a bridge over the Rhine at Remagen and had been steadily expanding the bridgehead. Operation Torch (8 November 1942 – 13 May 1943) was an Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, https://simple.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_Allied_invasion_of_Germany&oldid=6696063, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2013, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License, End of World War II in Europe (concurrently with the. [28], On 4 April, as it paused to allow the rest of the 12th U.S. Army Group to catch up, the 3rd Army made two notable discoveries. [25], The reduction of the Ruhr Pocket and advance to Elbe and Mulde rivers between 5 and 18 April 1945, The first step in realizing Eisenhower's plan was the eradication of the Ruhr Pocket. On 4 April, the day it shifted to Bradley's control, the 9th Army began its attack south toward the Ruhr River. The final stage of World War II in the European Theatre commenced with the Western Allied invasion of Germany. In the center of the front, defending the Ruhr, Kesselring had Field Marshal Walther Model commanding Army Group B (15th Army and 5th Panzer Army) and in the south Paul Hausser's Army Group G (7th Army, 1st Army and 19th Army). It was launched on June 6, 1944 (D-Day), with the simultaneous landing of U.S., British, and Canadian forces on five separate beachheads in Normandy, France. After driving east nearly 100 mi (160 km), this corps was to meet elements of the 1st Army near Paderborn, completing the encirclement of the Ruhr. Early in the afternoon of 1 April elements of the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions met at Lippstadt, linking the 9th and 1st Armies and sealing the prized Ruhr industrial complex—along with Model's Army Group B—within American lines. The 9th Army's commander—Lt. As soon as Patton had received the orders on the 19th to make a crossing, he had begun sending assault boats, bridging equipment, and other supplies forward from depots in Lorraine where they had been stockpiled since autumn in the expectation of just such an opportunity. Additionally, to avoid being caught in the artillery preparation, the paratroopers would jump only after the amphibious troops had reached the Rhine's east bank. German casualties during the Allied campaign to reach the Rhine in February–March 1945 are estimated to 400,000 men, including 280,000 men captured as prisoners of war.[2]. France … Having gambled his future ability to defend Germany on the Ardennes offensive and lost, Hitler had no real strength left to stop the powerful Allied armies. [22], Beginning the next day, 26 March, the armored divisions of all three corps turned these initial gains into a complete breakout, shattering all opposition and roaming at will throughout the enemy's rear areas. [26], By 1 April, when the trap closed around the Germans in the Ruhr, their fate was sealed. The next day they gained some more ground, and one even seized its objective, having slogged a total of 6 mi (9.7 km), but the limited progress forced Hobbs to abandon the hope for a quick breakout. The 12th U.S. Army Group commander said that American troops could cross the Rhine anywhere, without aerial bombardment or airborne troops, a direct jab at Montgomery whose troops were at that very moment preparing to launch their own Rhine assault following an intense and elaborate aerial and artillery preparation and with the assistance of two airborne divisions. After taking Coburg, about 50 mi (80 km) south of Erfurt, on 11 April, XII Corps troops captured Bayreuth, 35 mi (56 km) farther southeast, on 14 April. It also said people could not go out at night or travel. In the early morning hours of 25 March, elements of the 87th Infantry Division crossed the Rhine to the north at Boppard, and then some 24 hours later elements of the 89th Infantry Division crossed 8 mi (13 km) south of Boppard at St. Goar. Eisenhower thus turned his attention to other objectives, most notably a rapid meet-up with the Soviets to cut the German Army in two and prevent any possibility of a unified defense. [7], On 21 March, Army Group H headquarters became Oberbefehlshaber Nordwest ("Army Command Northwest") commanded by Ernst Busch leaving the former Army Group H commander—Johannes Blaskowitz—to lead "Army Command Netherlands" (25th Army) cut off in the Netherlands. The inconsistency comes from the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine and Western Allied invasion of Germany which are actually somewhat like Strategic Directions rather then named campaigns like the Normandy Campaign, Lorraine Campaign, etc. Drawing on the experience gained during the campaign in Normandy and the Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine, the western Allies demonstrated in Central Europe their capability of absorbing the lessons of the past. [19], After an hour of extremely intense artillery preparation, which General Eisenhower himself viewed from the front, the 30th Infantry Division began its assault. After attempting to strike a deal whereby he would surrender only to the western Allies—a proposal that was summarily rejected—on 7 May Dönitz granted his representative, General Alfred Jodl, permission to effect a complete surrender on all fronts. Despite a wide armored thrust to envelop the enemy defenses, it took nine days of intense fighting to bring Heilbronn fully under American control. While Montgomery was carefully and cautiously planning for the main thrust in the north, complete with massive artillery preparation and an airborne assault, American forces in the south were displaying the kind of basic aggressiveness that Eisenhower wanted to see. German resistance, initially rather determined, dwindled rapidly. [34], On 30 April, elements of 7th Army's XV and XXI Corps captured Munich, 30 mi (48 km) south of the Danube, while the first elements of its VI Corps had already entered Austria two days earlier. After passing north of the Lippe on 29 March, the 2nd Armored Division broke out late that night from the forward position that the XVIII Airborne Corps had established around Haltern, 12 mi (19 km) northeast of Dorsten. American forces in the south were really fighting hard to win. The XV Corps′ 45th Infantry Division fought for six days before taking the city of Aschaffenburg, 35 mi (56 km) east of the Rhine, on 3 April. [20], In addition to the poor roads, the 30th Division's breakout attempts were also hampered by the German 116th Panzer Division. Western Allies From 18–22 March, Patton's forces captured over 68,000 Germans. Once this was accomplished the remaining German forces could be defeated in detail. Only on 20 April, after breaching the ring of anti-aircraft guns and fighting house-to-house for the city, did its forces take Nuremberg. This included 49 infantry divisions, 20 armored divisions and four airborne divisions. Montgomery's forces were to secure Bradley's northern flank while Devers′ 6th U.S. Army Group covered Bradley's southern shoulder. He was in control of one of the largest and most potent forces ever committed to battle. In addition, since Berlin and the rest of Germany had already been divided into occupation zones by representatives of the Allied governments at the Yalta Conference, Eisenhower saw no political advantage in a race for Berlin. Starting with the Invasion of Sicily in July of 1943, and culminating in the June 6, 1944, D-Day invasion of Normandy, Allied forces took the fight to the Axis powers in many locations across Western … Because of the poor road network on the east bank of this part of the Rhine, a second 9th Army corps was to cross over the promised Wesel bridges through the British zone north of the Lippe River, which had an abundance of good roads. By the early spring of 1945, the Allied forces in Europe were doing well. They also defended the bridge on the river's east bank. Army Group B commander Walther Model committed suicide on 21 April. Veritable - Grenade - Plunder - Varsity - Ruhr Pocket - Amherst. After the reduction of the Ruhr Pocket, the main thrust east would be made by Bradley's 12th Army Group in the center, rather than by Montgomery's 21st Army Group in the north as originally planned. U.S Airfields in Europe as of 8 May 1945. [5], As these three army groups cleared out the Wehrmacht west of the Rhine, Eisenhower began to rethink his plans for the final drive across the Rhine and into the heart of Germany. On the Western Front the Allies had by January turned back the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge. Thus, as his forces had approached the east bank of the river, Montgomery proceeded with one of the most intensive buildups of material and manpower of the war. On 19 April. [ 7 ] not proceed so casually to fight, often bitterly for. Of these divisions were American, 12 British, eight French, three Canadian and one Polish employed. Arrived in a town, its leaders and residents used white flags to that. 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