. On the night of March 22, 1945, elements of the Third Army crossed the Rhine at the German town of Oppenheim. . TeachingAmericanHistory.org is a project of the Ashbrook Center at Ashland University, 401 College Avenue, Ashland, Ohio 44805 PHONE (419) 289-5411 TOLL FREE (877) 289-5411 EMAIL [emailprotected]. Copyright 20122023 World War II - Day By Day. All of these units suffered serious armored and antitank deficiencies. The 37th Tank Battalion would get no rest on September 20. Meanwhile, US Third Army captured Ludwigshafen and Speyer, Germany. Occupied Zone in Germany. The reconstituted Fifth Panzer Army was inserted into Blaskowitzs Army Group G between First Army to the north and the Nineteenth Army to the south. You can also buy the book by clicking on the buttons to the left. 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, . By the end of the day on September 22, the 111th Panzer Brigade had only seven tanks from an original strength of 90 when the offensive started a week before. Major General Clarence Huebner's V Corps made rapid advances with relative ease. 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. We are now fairly started on that phase of the campaign which I hope will be the final one. 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. In Germany, US Third Army captured Frankfurt and Wiesbaden and US Seventh Army captured Mannheim. CROSSING THE RHINE After several days of what passed for R&R (Rest & Recreation) in Koblenz, we loaded up and climbed on trucks in the late afternoon of March 24 and moved upstream on the west side of the Rhine to the small town of Boppard. In 1943 he commanded the U.S. "The pause that refreshes." The general told the troops around him. The German armored column continued south, hoping to stampede the American soldiers into abandoning their positions. But by the time Eddy was ready to resume his advance, Manteuffels Fifth Army had materialized as if out of thin air. 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. Patton celebrated the victory by stopping on a treadway bridge his men had built and relieving himself into the river. Bradley (18931981) took part in the buildup to the July 1944 Normandy landings (Operation Overlord) and was given charge of the U.S. First Army. Even $1 per month will go a long way! I was certainly very full of hopes and saw myself crossing the Rhine, Patton said. This was the first crossing of the Rhine River by boat by an invading army since Napoleon Bonaparte. Despite the impressive numbers, the only armored unit initially available to Knobelsdorff was the 106th Panzer Brigade, one of the first of the newly formed panzer units with a full battalion of Panther tanks, which constituted First Armys thin operational reserve. The Germans, who observed the Americans pulling out of Juvelize, occupied the abandoned town the following day. Charging up the slope after nightfall, the Germans once again seized the crest, forcing the Americans to retreat to the northern slope. Although his unit was spearheading the attack toward the river, he assumed there would be a pause to get organized for the crossing. (Back in Berlin, Adolf Hitler urged the Wehrmacht to attack the Allied bridgehead at Oppenheim, only to be told that no reserve forces were available to embark on such an operation.) His pleas fell on deaf ears, and he prepared to make do with the untrained and understrength units he had been given. 1. This meant that two columns of tanks and half-tracks from the 113th would have to carry the objective themselves. 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. Altogether, the 106th Panzer Brigade lost 30 tanks and 60 halftracks, which greatly reduced the role it would play in subsequent operations. Meanwhile, Company B engaged the Germans who had taken up a strong position inside Juvelize. The Germans, in an effort to regroup, turned southwest to escape the ambush. This meant that CCA was now on the left flank of the Arracourt-Juvelize salient and CCB was on the right. All rights reserved. But the Americans stood their ground. 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. Lorraine, situated in northeastern France, consists of a large plateau interspersed with forests, lakes, fields, and towns, through which the upper stretches of the Meuse and Moselle Rivers flow. By September 10, Baades 35th Infantry Division was in force along the western bank of the Moselle south of Nancy. Lloyd Clark. Terms & Conditions; Privacy Policy But there are so few Krauts around there they dont know it yet. Pattons rapid advance across France came to an abrupt halt at Metz, due to fuel shortages, deteriorating weather conditions, and increased enemy resistance. C. Peter Chen of Lava Development, LLC. The main column found itself in the midst of the 90th Division headquarters at 3 am, and several Panthers engaged an M4 Sherman guarding McLains command post situated on a knoll. First Armys center, which was anchored at Metz, was the responsibility of SS General-Lieutenant Herman Priess, commanding the 13th SS Corps, while First Armys left wing at Nancy was entrusted to General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Luttwitz, commanding the 47th Panzer Corps. I know that he carried the BAR and he was in Company A, 359th Infantry Regiment. Left: Keeping a low profile, soldiers of the U.S. Third Armys 89th Infantry Division cross the Rhine in assault boats under intense German fire, March1945. 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 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. The day dawned with a thick blanket of fog shrouding the crest of the hill. About 766 miles in length, with an average width of about 1,300 feet, the generally north-flowing waterway also is exceptionally swift and deep. It was significant to the Allies because it offered a gateway between the Ardennes and Vosges Mountains, through which Allied forces might reach Germany. Eddy was tasked with locating possible crossing points above and below Nancy, while Walker was instructed to do the same above and below Metz. Please use this data for any reference citations. Further south, where the river was narrower, Patton's Third Army vaulted the Rhine with its customary elan, as did Devers' Sixth Army Group. Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? 20th Century Timeline Of World History: What Happened? 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. Opposition was negligible and within 24 hours the entire US 5th Division had crossed the river. That same day Third Army received about 240,000 gallons of fuel, which was sufficient to resume its advance the following day. In addition, Wood ordered CCB to shift to CCAs right flank to cover the ground between Rechicourt and the Marne-Rhine Canal. Once again, Company C of the 704th TD Battalion rushed forward to delay the advance supported by P-47s firing rockets and machine guns. Even Hitlers closest supporters like Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels could clearly hear the clanging bell. 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. Having raced 400 miles from the hedgerows of Normandy to the forested banks of the Moselle River in less than one months time, Lt. Gen. George S. Pattons troops had fought desperately to secure bridgeheads in the Lorraine region from an enemy that had at last turned like a cornered animal and bared its fangs. Although a bridge had been captured some weeks before at Remagen, and a bridge-head tenuously held, this was to be the first river assault crossing of this famous stream since . The events on the French front in World War II during September 1944, specifically Patton's inability to progress beyond the Metz fortress complex and, most importantly, the failure of British General Bernard Montgomery's attempted Rhine crossing in Operation Market Garden, would appear as evidence that such hopes of lightning victories . Yet Abramss 35th Tank Battalion counterattacked in the afternoon and recaptured the town in a fight that inflicted substantial casualties on the Germans. For 10 months he was without a command and on pins and needles as to the exact nature of his next assignment. By the end of 24 Mar 1945, the German airfields were so damaged that the Luftwaffe practically ceased to exist on this front. Our orders were to get the infantry to the east bank, then push our boat back into the river and let it float downstream., To prevent beached boats from blocking follow-up waves, the engineers were ordered to push as many boats back into the river as possible and then gather up the rest of the engineers who landed and pile into a single boat to return. He engineered the Normandy breakout and was made commander of the Twelfth Army Group. This was because Third Army, and the other Allied armies racing to its north, had stretched their supply lines until they snapped. Mrz 2023; . The Lorraine campaign would test Patton and his men as they had never been tested before. Days of Combat: 91. That remained the case in the first months of 1945. On March 23, 1945, Eisenhower wrote a warm letter to Patton: I have frequently had occasion to state, publicly, my appreciation of the great accomplishments of this Allied force during the past nine months. 140 kilometers to the north, British Second Army captured Wesel, Germany. 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. By September 7, U.S. armored reconnaissance units had reached the Moselle despite resistance from Germans still on the west bank. 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. This had elements of the 6th and 7th Parachute Divisions on their flanks and, to their rear in reserve, the 15th and 116th Panzer Divisions. 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. . To order this book, please visit its online sales page atAmazonorBarnes & Noble. Troops of the US Ninth Army finished clearing the Duisberg Pocket in Germany. Above and below Nancy, the Germans were content to wait for the Allies to attempt to cross the Moselle and launch local counterattacks in an effort to contain or eliminate the bridgeheads. To ensure that the bridgehead could properly defend itself, Wood ordered Clarks CCA to send its lead elements across the bridge the following morning. Germany. Bradley did not announce this crossing until the night of 23 Mar; Patton had wished the Americans to announce that they had crossed the Rhine River before the British. Nevertheless, Knobelsdorff secured permission from Hitler to use the brigade for a quick strike provided he return it to First Army reserve within 48 hours. Eisenhower issued orders in late August to all of his top commanders outlining a two-pronged offensive against western Germany in which the principal targets were the Ruhr and Saar industrial areas. Although the Panzergrenadiers on the crest had managed to hold on during the morning, the combined pressure of American ground fire and air strikes finally broke the enemys nerve and the ground troops began retreating down the southern slope in the afternoon. 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. To the far left is scrolled, WARS MAY BE FOUGHT WITH . After the completion of the Battle in The Ardennes, Patton and his Army turned to the south and east attacking toward the Rhine. Through skilled use of defensive positions, the Americans stopped the Germans from capturing the town. Late in the evening of 22 March, XII Corp's 5th Infantry Division began a Rhine crossing near Oppenheim against little resistance. For Gods sake, send some gasoline.. Against such odds, a breakout at that location was not deemed feasible. 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. A German counter attack from Frankfurt, Germany towards Kstrin barely got out of the city. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. The task before Third Army was to establish bridgeheads across the Moselle that would enable it to capture the two strategic towns. The plan focused on Wesel, with multiple crossings set to occur along a 22-mile front on the evening of 23 March. US-Armee unter General George S. Patton (1885-1945) die Stadt Nierstein am Rhein. Patton had been correct that the Germans possessed no defense in depth immediately after Third Army crossed the Moselle. Because Haislips corps threatened his left flank, a substantial part of Luttwitzs corps was directed to take up a defensive stance. You mean across the Rhine? Sure am, Patton replied, I sneaked a division over last night. The type of close-range fighting that day is exemplified by an encounter between an M18 Hellcat of the 704th against a pair of Panther tanks. Equally devastating was the loss of both panzer brigade commanders during the two-day assault on CCAs left flank. 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