The initiative then shifted to the Americans when a task force from Companies A and B of the 37th Tank Battalion swept through Rechicourt, driving the Germans beyond the town. Although the 106th Panzer Brigade was led by veterans from the Eastern Front, its crews had received very little training and the brigade suffered from a severe shortage of communications equipment essential to coordinate an assault. Eisenhower (18901969) was chosen in July 1942 to head Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1943. "It's time for another Patton to die," he said aloud. It was a daunting series of objectives, but Patton relished the opportunity. Major General Clarence Huebner's V Corps made rapid advances with relative ease. Irwins 5th Infantry Division made another effort to secure a bridgehead across the Moselle at Arnaville, a short march south of Dornot, on September 10. Company A, advancing on the left, gained high ground west of Juvelize, and with substantial artillery support, it checked the momentum of the enemy armor pushing south. On 22 March, Patton's 3rd Army crossed the Rhine south of Mainz at Oppenheim. But his request was denied as by then both sides had shifted the bulk of their resources to the northern sector. On September 2, Hitler issued orders for the creation of 25 new divisions, most of which were to be given the designation of Volksgrenadier. After some confusion as to the location of their target, which was Maj. Gen. Raymond McLains 90th Division of Walkers XX Corps, the Germans regrouped on the evening of September 7 and advanced after midnight in two columns through the village of Briey toward the American position. A week before the Rhine crossing, Patton had held a press conference in which he delivered a classic performance, mixing the humorous, provocative, and the profane. Not content to wait for the infantry, the vanguard of Dagers CCB managed to ford the Moselle at Bayon, where the rivers height was substantially lower because water was diverted to fill canals on each side. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. Distinguished Unit Citations: 11. That remained the case in the first months of 1945. 140 kilometers to the north, British Second Army captured Wesel, Germany. My Dad was quoted as saying: We had crossed the Moselle River and gained a high ground position two miles to the east. As Pattons Third Army approached the Meuse River in late August, it paused before pushing into the Lorraine region. XXX Corps. The crossing was led by a heavy artillery shelling and supplemented by an airborne operation (Operation Varsity) by the American 17th Airborne Division and the British 6th Airborne Division. The destruction of the 112th Panzer Brigade occurred less than a week after the equally embarrassing debut of the 106th Panzer Brigade on Third Armys northern flank. We began to cautiously filter down through the moonlit streets toward the shingled beach. . Rather than give command of the U.S. First Army in the D-Day invasion to Old Blood and Guts, Ike gave it to Lt. Gen. Omar Bradley, a commander who had served directly under Patton in North Africa and Sicily. Even Hitlers closest supporters like Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels could clearly hear the clanging bell. To their surprise, they were not opposed by enemy forces. Bradley told General George S. Pattonwhose U.S. Third Army had been fighting through the Palatinateto "take the Rhine on the run". This kind of came as a surprise, but everything was so well prepared for us, recalled Tucker. The Shermans, which went into action in the morning, knocked out eight enemy tanks in quick order. Click here to see our comprehensive article on World War 2. The initial counterattacks against Third Armys bridgeheads should have convinced him that the enemy was regaining strength. The pause that refreshes. The general told the troops around him. That evening Manteuffel made substantial adjustments to the German plan of attack. It was during this week, in late March of 1945, that the U.S. Third Army under Gen. Patton, began its famous bridging and crossing operations of the Rhine. But its fortune ended there. In little more than a months time, Patton, together with his archrival British General Bernard L. Montgomery, commanding the British Eighth Army, liberated the strategic island from Axis control. Two days before, Bradley had called Patton and First Army Commander Maj. Gen. Courtney Hodge to his headquarters at Dreux and informed them that the supply situation was dire. Though Patton had hoped XII Corps would be ready to resume its advance on September 16, Eddy informed Patton that his troops would not be ready to resume their eastward advance until the 19th, after they had mopped up German forces behind their lines. By September 7, U.S. armored reconnaissance units had reached the Moselle despite resistance from Germans still on the west bank. Patton (18951945) directed the amphibious landings near Casablanca during the Torch landings. Both sides employed heavy guns to shell enemy forces clinging to their respective slopes. ww2dbaseSource:
Charging up the slope after nightfall, the Germans once again seized the crest, forcing the Americans to retreat to the northern slope. In addition, Wood ordered CCB to shift to CCAs right flank to cover the ground between Rechicourt and the Marne-Rhine Canal. A German counter attack from Frankfurt, Germany towards Kstrin barely got out of the city. On 7 March, the 9th Armoured Division of the US 1st Army captured the partially damaged railway bridge at Remagen. Hitler also made preparations for the creation of a new Fifth Army to be led by Manteuffel. To compensate for a reduction in forces, the main objective was switched to a strike toward Nancy to relieve those elements of the 553rd Volksgrenadier still fighting their way out of the tightening pocket. "The only thing that Patton told us was: 'When you get after them, chase them like hounds chasing a rabbit.' Then he said: 'Go to the Rhine and capture a bridge.' We did everything but capture. By September 10, Baades 35th Infantry Division was in force along the western bank of the Moselle south of Nancy. Please refrain from using strong language. We were surprised the Navy was there, he commented, and the Navy was surprised they were so far away from the ocean. The Shermans popped over the crest of the ridge and opened fire on the enemy tank column at a range of 900 yards, destroying five enemy tanks by striking them in the side. Patton would face significant leadership and tactical challenges in the region in the months following the Arracourt clashes. Initially, at least, Eddys XII Corps suffered setbacks as severe as those experienced by Walkers corps to its north. Patton knew his entrance into German-occupied territory was of monumental historical importance. The 134th Infantry Regiment was ordered to cross on the left below Nancy, and the 137th Infantry Regiment on the right. CROSSING THE RHINE. In Germany, US Third Army captured Frankfurt and Wiesbaden and US Seventh Army captured Mannheim. But Pattons dash ground to a halt shortly after it crossed the Meuse. As the troops of the French First Army crossed the Rhine River near Speyer, Germany, they became the first French troops to attack across the river since Napoleon Bonaparte. In late March 1945, Gen. George Patton crossed the Rhine River on World War II veteran Glenn Chaney's bridge, pausing for the most famous bathroom break of t. He wanted a quick, spectacular crossing that would produce newspaper headlines in the manner of He later went as far as the railway bridge at Wesel by Montgomery's staff car, a bridge that was still under enemy fire. Brad, dont tell anyone, but Im across. A surprised Bradley responded, Well, Ill be damned. Activated: 15 July 1942. Hardcover. Once it captured the section of the West Wall protecting the Saar factories, Third Armys next objective would be to cross the Rhine and seize Frankfurt. The Shermans therefore attempted to use the ridge for cover and engage the Panthers head-on, with disappointing results. The shift in plans resulted in an ominous quiet on the front lines that day and led to speculation as to whether the Germans had finally quit their offensive. When a column of 11 panzers appeared out of the mist that morning, three were immediately knocked out at close range by Shermans belonging to 1st Platoon, Company C, of Abramss 37th Tank Battalion in concealed positions. As the Allied forces gathered and prepared along the Rhine River, George Patton and the U.S. 5 th Division were quietly carrying . Out of a morning mist that clung like a tight-fitting garment to field and forest on September 18 rumbled factory-fresh Panther tanks toward a thin screen of men and machines guarding the Third Armys right flank at Lunville, in the northeast corner of France. After the war Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor of the U.S. A follow-on series of panzer brigades, numbered above 110, would contain a battalion of Panthers and a battalion of Mark IVs. Yet Abramss 35th Tank Battalion counterattacked in the afternoon and recaptured the town in a fight that inflicted substantial casualties on the Germans. Luttwitz would strike north toward Lunville, while Krueger would push west along the south side of the Marne-Rhine Canal toward the town. So dont make any announcementwell keep it a secret until we see how it goes.. German scouts reported to the Fifth Army commander that the crossroads of Moyenvic, four miles northeast of Arracourt and three miles west of Juvelize, was unguarded and could readily serve as the gateway for an attack. US First Army attacked Paderborn, Germany. The delay would prove a costly one. Because Knobelsdorff had no better luck than Manteuffel against the Americans, Balck returned control of the offensive back to Manteuffel. Units of the Canadian First Army, British Second Army, and the U.S. Pattons triumph of the summer in which Third Army raced across France against light opposition had given way to the hard reality of bitter fighting along the Moselle line. ww2dbaseDwight Eisenhower expected the German troops, some elite including soldiers of the First Paratroop Army, would be prepared for such an invasion in the northern Ruhr area. For a five-day period at the beginning of September, Pattons Third Army remained idle as German forces to their east regrouped and entrenched behind the Moselle. The light losses suffered by Abramss battalion were a result of his crews using their mobility to offset the advantage enjoyed by the Panthers long, high-velocity 75mm gun over the Shermans short 75mm gun. ", ww2dbaseAdditional Contribution by Alan Chanter. The 9th Armored Division quickly expanded the bridgehead into a full scale crossing. Patton told Wood to strike east the following day in the belief that it would keep the Germans off balance. Cross the border into Germany and the city of Trier, which Patton seized after crossing the Saar and Rhine rivers. I was convinced then there were no Germans ahead of us except those we were actually fighting. British sappers built another Rhine bridge, "Blackfriars", by noon. Balck expanded the fight by committing units from Knobelsdorffs First Army to the battle on September 24. Photo Credit: Men of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division hug the walls in one of the suburbs of Metz in early September 1944. A heavy artillery barrage preceded an attack near Chateau-Salins by two regiments supported by tanks across flat ground against U.S. forces in defensive positions on a long ridge. The historic city of Metz included an extensive system of man-made fortifications from previous wars. Both corps commanders had received intelligence reports that two Panzergrenadier divisions, the 3rd and 17th, were prepared to contest the crossing, and that they would likely be reinforced by surviving elements of the 21st Panzer and Panzer Lehr Divisions. Manteuffels attack for the following day involved a coordinated strike toward Arracourt using the 111th and 113th Panzer Brigades from Luttwitzs and Kruegers corps, respectively. Copyright 20122023 World War II - Day By Day. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Meanwhile, the main attack that morning by the Germans against the 51st Armored Infantry Battalion of Dagers CCB occupying the camelback was broken up by the concentrated fire of six artillery battalions. Until now, I cant find a webpage, book or other source for an . A spearhead of the 317th Infantry Regiment crossed the river in boats, but the following morning they were bombarded by German artillery and mortars, which forced them into their foxholes. I know that he carried the BAR and he was in Company A, 359th Infantry Regiment. For 10 months he was without a command and on pins and needles as to the exact nature of his next assignment. Some 22,000 tons of assault bridging had to be brought forward, including 25,000 wooden pontoons, 2,000 assault boats, 650 Storm boats, 120 River tugs, 80 miles of balloon cable and 260 miles of steel wire rope. Because Haislips corps threatened his left flank, a substantial part of Luttwitzs corps was directed to take up a defensive stance. Ive been looking forward to this for a long time, Patton said as he unzipped his fly and urinated into the river while an Army photographer recorded the moment for posterity. Patton had served with competence and distinction with the U.S. forces throughout Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. "My dear General", Winston Churchill said to the American general as they met the next morning, "the German is whipped. ww2dbaseAll this, plus the assembly of vast amounts of troops, assault boats, Buffaloes, guns etc. Beyond the German front lines, US aircraft harassed retreating German columns, destroying 246 trucks and 241 railway wagons. Crossing the Rhine 24 -31 March 1945: C-47 transport planes release hundreds of paratroops and their supplies over the Rees-Wesel area to the east of the Rhine. Throughout the night of 23 Mar and the next day, 80,000 British and Canadian troops crossed the 20-mile stretch of the river. But where he crossed the Main? The media and public back home were outraged that a general would treat an enlisted man in such a manner. On 22 March, General George S. Patton sent his Third Army across the Rhine, at Nierstein, to form another bridgehead. On the day of the deadline, Patton reported to Bradley that the southern wing of Third Army had broken out of its bridgeheads and was in position to continue pushing east. Shortly after crossing the Rhine river near Oppenheim, Gen. Pattons 3rd Army went into the heart of Germany as they crossed their next water barrier, the Main river. US First Army captured Paderborn and Hamm, Germany. Before more German tanks could ascend the hill, P-47s swooped in with bombs and rockets after the fog burned off, breaking up a counterattack. Leslie Mansfield, (daughter). WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. Patton would now report to Bradley. To their surprise, they were not opposed by enemy forces. North of Metz, Third Armys left flank lay exposed, and Knobelsdorff sent the 106th Panzer Brigade to attack the Americans in an effort to keep them off balance and slow their efforts to cross the Moselle. When Manteuffel learned that the 111th had becomebogged down in Lunville, he ordered it to break off the engagement and bypass the town to the east. Within three days Patton's troops were rapidly approaching Frankfurt, Germany, capturing bridges in tact as the German defenses began to fall apart. The Germans gained considerable ground on the morning of September 25, but the attack ground to a halt when the Germans were unable to dislodge CCA units from high ground northeast of Arracourt. Patton celebrated the victory by stopping on a treadway bridge his men had built and relieving himself into the river. Two days earlier, Patton had told Maj. Gen. Manton Eddy that his XII Corps would lead the way. Balck requested that Rundstedt provide Army Group G with three fresh divisions and 80 additional tanks and assault guns to continue the fight. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, In addition, he ordered the creation of 10 new panzer brigades, numbered 101 to 110, each of which would boast a battalion of approximately 45 Panther tanks. This paratrooper operation was not a typical one where troops were dropped a distance behind enemy lines before the operation to disrupt communications; this time, Bernard Montgomery chose to drop the paratroopers immediately behind the enemy lines after the conventional infantry had already crossed the Rhine River under the cover of darkness. His commanding general Omar Bradley, who issued the order for him not to cross to avoid interfering with Bernard Montgomery's operations, did not know of the crossing until the next morning. When he reached the other side of the river, Patton pretended to stumble, imitating William the Conqueror, who famously fell on his face when landing in England but transformed the bad omen into a propitious one by leaping to his feet with a handful of English soil, claiming it portended his complete possession of the country. At Nierstein assault troops did not meet any resistance. To cover CCBs former position in the line, Baades 35th Infantry Division advanced to a new position west of Chateau-Salins. US-Armee unter General George S. Patton (1885-1945) die Stadt Nierstein am Rhein. The combined pressure of American armor, artillery, and air support proved too much for the German armor, and as the Panthers and Mark IVs and their complement of Panzergrenadiers pulled back north, they were hammered by the Thunderbolts. The comparatively light casualty rate experienced by the first troops across (153rd and 154th Brigades of 51st Highland Division) clearly demonstrated how thorough the preparations had been made. Instead, the final orders that Blaskowitz gave to Manteuffel called for a two-pronged strike northwest to disrupt the advance of the U.S. 4th Armored Division and retake the crossroads at Chateau-Salins. Ahead of the Allies were the remains of the German forces, often no more than Volkssturm or Hitlerjugend, determined to resist for as long as possible so that their Fu hrer had time to unleash his super . The Germans, who observed the Americans pulling out of Juvelize, occupied the abandoned town the following day. Lying astride Third Armys route of advance were the key cities of Metz and Nancy, both of which are located on the east bank of the Moselle. Unlike Manteuffels forces, Knobelsdorffs had artillery with which to support an attack. Despite the ferocity of the attack, the cavalry held on for four hours before it finally withdrew into the town. Join historians and history buffs alike with our Unlimited Digital Access pass to every military history article ever published (over 3,000 articles) in Sovereigns military history magazines. This I felt was particularly true against the Germans, because as long as you attack them, they cannot find the time to plan how to attack you, Patton said. 1. You have made your Army a fighting force that is not excelled in effectiveness by any other of equal size in the world, and I am very proud of the fact that you, as one of the fighting commanders who has been with me from the beginning of the African campaign, have performed so brilliantly throughout. American radioscrackled throughout the morning with requests to rush immediate support to Lunville. Nevertheless, the Germans established strong defensive positions in two dilapidated French fortresses that effectively blocked the western approaches to the city. In the first day alone, CCAs vanguard had advanced nearly 20 miles and destroyed a dozen enemy tanks and 85 half-tracks and captured 350 prisoners. Haislips arrival in early September disrupted a key element of Hitlers plan for a counterattack against Third Army by denying the Germans a staging area on the west side of the Moselle from which they might isolate American forces on the east side. He sent one regiment from Maj. Gen. Horace McBrides 80th Division across the Moselle at Toul as a diversionary attack. While waiting for fuel to arrive with which to resume his eastward advance, Patton received good news from Bradley on September 4 that he would soon receive reinforcements in the form of Maj. Gen. Wade Haislips XV Corps, which would guard his right flank against German forces retreating up the Rhone Valley. For its part, the 15th Panzergrenadier Division had three dozen Mark IV tanks. The American tank crews also benefited from a hydraulic turret that allowed them to swing into firing position faster than the Germans slower hand-cranked traverse. McLain issued orders for the nearest infantry regiments to converge on the enemy column. US First Army finally broke out of Remagen bridgehead in Germany. The Lorraine campaign would test Patton and his men as they had never been tested before. From Metz to Nancy the Germans were deployed on the east bank of the Moselle as follows: the 559th Volksgrenadier Regiment opposite Thionville, Division Number 462 (partially composed of zealous officer cadets from the Metz service schools) and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division at Metz, the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division opposite Pont-a-Mousson, the 92nd Luftwaffe Training Regiment opposite Marbache, the 3rd Parachute Replacement Regiment in front of Nancy in a westward loop of the river, and the 553rd Volksgrenadier Regiment inside Nancy. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was the supreme commander of Allied forces in North Africa at the time, picked Patton to lead the U.S. Click here for parts Two and Three. Meanwhile, US Third Army captured Aschaffenburg, Germany, 40 kilometers to the southeast. On the night of March 22, 1945, elements of the Third Army crossed the Rhine at the German town of Oppenheim. If so, please consider supporting us on Patreon. The western boundary of Lorraine is formed by the Moselle Valley and the eastern boundary by the Saare River. It might be impossible to complete the mission which we started out on, but we could kill a lot of Germans trying, he told Eddy. Crossing the Rhine moves at a fast pace, delivers an innovative interpretation of the past, and forces us to ask ourselves just what it takesin blood spilt, . The Rhine itself was symbolic of the entrance into Germany from Western Europe and had historically stood as a natural barrier against invasion. The bombing started on 21 Mar, and by 24 Mar the German air force were no longer able to put up much of a resistance against its Allied counterpart; 8,000 sorties were launched between 21 Mar and 24 Mar, and Allied airmen reported only about 100 enemy aircrafts sighted. This article is also part of our extensive collection of articles on the second World War. The final stage of World War II in the European Theatre commenced with the Western Allied invasion of Germany. This was because Third Army, and the other Allied armies racing to its north, had stretched their supply lines until they snapped. I think, everybody here know the photo as Patton urinated into the Rhine. In December he was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and planned the July 1944 invasion of Europe (Operation Overlord). Elements of the 4th and 6th Armored Divisions, the latter which had been serving as Third Armys rear guard, and other units began converging on the townin response. This article is also part of our extensive collection of articles on the second World War. World War Two Timeline From The Great War To Germanys Surrender. click here for our comprehensive guide to General Patton. While we were digging in for the night, the Jerries sent over a heavy artillery barrage. The Germans failed to reconnoiter enemy positions, and their replacement tank crews were no match for Leclercs veteran troops. As a result, Eisenhower ordered him to make a personal apology to the soldier and also to everyone present at the time of the incident. 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 U.S. XII Corps' 5th Infantry Division began the 3rd Army's Rhine crossing. General der Panzertruppen Walter Kruegers 58th Corps, which formed the right wing, comprised the 15th Panzergrenadier Division and the also untested but intact 113th Panzer Brigade. ww2dbasePrior to crossing the Rhine, the Allied forces were already bombing German airfields to reduce the capability for the Luftwaffe to interfere with the plans. HTML tags are not allowed. Some of the hardest fighting was done by the 704th Tank Destroyer (TD) Battalion. 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