His plan called for a narrowing of the front, with two corps abreast and one in reserve. He did not expect to encounter substantial resistance until he reached the West Wall. Hitler, who reluctantly agreed to a far less ambitious counterattack than initially envisioned, issued orders for the German attack to begin on September 18. Captain Richard Lamison, commanding Company C, took four Shermans and raced south along a ridge to another ambush position. Thank you. Total losses for the day were five Shermans and more than 40 Panther and Mark IV tanks. The 134th was fortunate to find a bridge intact and threw a battalion across the river. But there were simply too many crossing points for the Germans to contest every one with such promptness as they had shown at Dornot, Arnaville, and Pont-a-Mousson. All rights reserved. Subsequently VIII Corps made two additional crossings downstream, to the south of Koblenz. As the Americans prepared to resume their push east, the vanguard of CCA shifted north toward Chateau-Salins. The purpose of this note is to express to you personally my deep appreciation of the splendid way in which you have conducted Third Army operations from the moment it entered battle last August 1. This airborne operation was the largest of its kind during the entire war, utilizing 1,625 transports, 1,348 gliders, and 889 escort fighters to deliver over 22,000 airborne infantry into the contested territory. Although Heckers division was at nearly full strength, Rodts had been depleted as a result of nearly a year of hard fighting. Brad, dont tell anyone, but Im across. A surprised Bradley responded, Well, Ill be damned. 20th Century Timeline Of World History: What Happened? Patton would face significant leadership and tactical challenges in the region in the months following the Arracourt clashes. Click here to see our comprehensive article on World War 2. Hitler, who had never liked Blaskowitz, sacked him on September 21. But the main attacks were made by the bulk of the 80th Division north of Nancy, and by Maj. Gen. Paul Baades 35th Infantry Division south of the city. He was confident that Eddys 35th Division, with close support of the 4th Armored, could achieve a breach and hold it open to allow Third Armys armored divisions to punch through the wall. On Pattons left wing, Walkers XX Corps began probing the Metz defenses on September 7. The 37th Tank Battalion would get no rest on September 20. He announced that the Third Army would shortly capture its 230,000th prisoner of war. Germany. After suffering significant casualties from heavy anti-aircraft fire, the airborne infantry landed and participated in direct combat during daylight to attack the German defenders from both sides. Montgomery was supposed to make the next crossing in a complex operation utilizing ground and airborne troops. The Panthersknocked out three of the lightly armored HMCs in short order. The Germans, in an effort to regroup, turned southwest to escape the ambush. Pattons Third Army found itself mired in a morass as it struggled against fuel shortages, flooded rivers, and fresh German panzer units in September 1944. Leslie Mansfield, (daughter). Leclerc also benefited from repeated tactical air strikes by P-47 Thunderbolts of Brig. U.S. Army personnel cross the Ludendorff Bridge "CROSS THE RHINE WITH DRY FEET COURTESY OF 9TH ARM'D DIV". 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. By early afternoon, the Germans were fighting their way into the southern end of the town. Opposition was negligible and within 24 hours the entire US 5th Division had crossed the river. Seventh Army during the Sicilian campaign ( Operation Husky ), and in August 1944 his Third Army became operational in northern France. Bradley, who found the report satisfactory, passed the news to Eisenhower that Third Army was indeed across the Moselle in strength. 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. But his request was denied as by then both sides had shifted the bulk of their resources to the northern sector. Patton might have been destined to oversee U.S. forces in the invasion of France the following year, but his inability to control his emotional outbursts and a personal sense of honor and duty that blocked him from sympathizing with the trials and tribulations of frontline troops caused him to stumble. At Nierstein assault troops did not meet any resistance. 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. Out of the fog on September 22, the remaining tanks of the 111th Panzer Brigade punched like a steel fist through CCAs cavalry screen around Juvelize. At daybreak, the 358th Infantry Regiment attacked the column with a wide range of antitank weapons including bazookas, 3-inch guns, and 105 mm howitzers. By August 30, Pattons army was receiving only about 32,000 of the 400,000 gallons of fuel it required to run all of its tanks and vehicles. 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. The fight that began that morning touched off an 11-day running tank battle that raged across the hills of southern Lorraine and tested the resourcefulness of two of World War IIs most gifted practitioners of the art of mobile warfare. ww2dbaseTo cross the Rhine presented the Royal Engineer with many highly technical problems, but experiments and preparations for just such a task had been carried out on the River Ouse, near Goole, since 1943, and orders for specialised equipment needed had been placed with the Ministry of Supply in good time. The Rhine itself was symbolic of the entrance into Germany from Western Europe and had historically stood as a natural barrier against invasion. ww2dbaseTo Eisenhower's surprise, the crossing of the Rhine River north of the Ruhr was not met with fierce resistance, and he attributed it to the beginning of the destruction of German morale. 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. 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. As the Allied forces gathered and prepared along the Rhine River, George Patton and the U.S. 5 th Division were quietly carrying . 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. ww2dbaseSources: Site created in November 2000. Control of the crest of Hill 318 shifted back and forth on September 28. Because Haislips corps threatened his left flank, a substantial part of Luttwitzs corps was directed to take up a defensive stance. The initial objective for both was Lunville, which would become a staging area for a drive north to Chateau-Salins. Two days earlier, Patton had told Maj. Gen. Manton Eddy that his XII Corps would lead the way. After the completion of the Battle in The Ardennes, Patton and his Army turned to the south and east attacking toward the Rhine. Patton drove to the XII Corps front on September 19, where he met first with Eddy and later with Wood. Two days earlier, Patton had told Maj. Gen. Manton Eddy that his XII Corps would lead the way. Campaigns: Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe. He ordered Knobelsdorff to attack Dagers CCB with the 559th Volksgrenadier Division and the remnants of the 106th Panzer Brigade. HTML tags are not allowed. Patton had seriously underestimated the Germans ability to recover from setbacks and mount a tenacious defense as the Western Allies neared the German border. Indeed, the advance of Haislips XV Corps prevented German forces from assembling for their attack on the west bank of the Moselle, where they might cut off the forces on the east bank. . XXX Corps. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. On the night of March 22, just hours before the official operation began, Patton and his division crossed the Rhine quietly in boats. Because the raising of fresh Volksgrenadier divisions and panzer brigades would take time, Hitler transferred two crack divisions, General Hans Heckers 3rd Panzergrenadier and General-Lieutenant Eberhard Rodts 15th Panzergrenadier, by train from the Italian front. Initially, at least, Eddys XII Corps suffered setbacks as severe as those experienced by Walkers corps to its north. The Shermans then retreated behind the crest of the ridge and reappeared at another point to finish off the three remaining Panthers. By the time the Third Army had gained a firm foothold on the east bank of the Moselle in mid-September, the masterminds of the German high command had hatched plans for a bold strike to regain the initiative. This was the greatest airborne operation of the war. This was because Third Army, and the other Allied armies racing to its north, had stretched their supply lines until they snapped. Although the U.S. First Army had already captured an intact bridge over the river at Remagen, there was still a rivalry between Patton and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery to cross next. By September 7, U.S. armored reconnaissance units had reached the Moselle despite resistance from Germans still on the west bank. Copyright 2004-2023 Lava Development, LLC., all rights reserved, See all 47 photographs of Crossing the Rhine, Message from George Patton to US 5th Infantry Division. The 37th Tank Battalion, led by the hard-charging Lt. Col. Creighton Abrams, brushed aside German resistance and turned north to gain the east-west road leading to Nomeny. 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. Click here to see our comprehensive article on World War 2. 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. 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. 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. The Germans attacked along the entire line on September 29, and Wietersheim committed his final reserve of 40 tanks to the fight for Hill 318. 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 . Whats more, a series of determined counterattacks by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division kept the U.S. infantry from expanding the bridgehead. . ww2dbaseBetween Frankfort and the Ruhr River, the American First Army had breached the Rhine River barrier earlier in the month near Remagen. Einheiten des 3. His superior, General Omar Bradley, released news of this crossing to the press "at a time calculated to take some of the luster from the news of Montgomerys crossing." [5] ww2dbaseAll this, plus the assembly of vast amounts of troops, assault boats, Buffaloes, guns etc. We are now fairly started on that phase of the campaign which I hope will be the final one. When I looked for a second target, it was gone.. The Germans attacking toward Hill 265 captured several key towns, one of which was Xanrey, a few miles northwest of Arracourt. Luttwitzs 47th Panzer Corps, constituting the left flank, consisted of the understrength 21st Panzer Division, the untested but intact 111th Panzer Brigade, and the remnants of the 112th Panzer Brigade. Constant shelling from German long-range guns stationed at Fort Driant, an elevated outpost on the west bank of the Moselle, made it impossible for U.S. engineers to lay a bridge at that crossing. If you supply any information, it would be appreciated by his family. Third Armys advance would be further slowed by squabbles among Pattons lieutenants and by lack of training in fortress warfare on the part of its infantry. Had I not secured a good bridgehead by that time, I was to stop arguing and assume the mournful role of a defender, Patton said. With their high-velocity guns, the Panthers easily knocked out the Yanks vehicles. Mrz 2023; . 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. After the completion of the Battle in The Ardennes, Patton and his Army turned to the south and east attacking toward the Rhine. Until now, I cant find a webpage, book or other source for an . Terms & Conditions; Privacy Policy We were surprised the Navy was there, he commented, and the Navy was surprised they were so far away from the ocean. This was the first crossing of the Rhine River by boat by an invading army since Napoleon Bonaparte. 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. Photo Credit: Men of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division hug the walls in one of the suburbs of Metz in early September 1944. 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. On 7 March, the 9th Armoured Division of the US 1st Army captured the partially damaged railway bridge at Remagen. Unfortunately for the Germans, the 111th Panzer Brigade became lost in unfamiliar countryside and didnt reach the staging area at Bures until late afternoon on the 19th. Having reached the Moselle as early as September 5, the 80th Division attempted to gain a foothold on the eastern bank at Pont-a-Mousson. Patton, not wanting to compromise his army's success with publicity, telephoned Omar Bradley the following morning and uncharacteristically told him to keep it a secret. But there are so few Krauts around there they dont know it yet. Maj. Gen. Leroy Irvins 5th Infantry Division pushed across the swollen waters of the flooded Metz River the following day to gain a precarious bridgehead at Dornot, five miles south of Metz. Patton simply used ad hoc tactics to push the 5th Infantry across. Pattons troops beat Montgomery across the Rhine by one day. By the end of the day the Germans had lost a dozen Mark IVs and six Panthers. On September 2, Hitler issued orders for the creation of 25 new divisions, most of which were to be given the designation of Volksgrenadier. 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. . His high hopes for a rapid advance to the West Wall would be dashed as heavy rains over the next two months restricted Third Armys tank columns to primary roads and sharply curtailed tactical air support. Through skilled use of defensive positions, the Americans stopped the Germans from capturing the town. After 48 hours of hard fighting, the bridgehead was abandoned. Email Address Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. To their surprise, they were not opposed by enemy forces. I want the world to know Third Army made it before Monty starts across, he shouted. Occupied Zone in Germany. The western boundary of Lorraine is formed by the Moselle Valley and the eastern boundary by the Saare River. If Third Army was unable to cross the Moselle by September 14, Bradley told Patton, it would have to go over to the defensive. This meant that two columns of tanks and half-tracks from the 113th would have to carry the objective themselves. ), Patton also requested the help of the press corps in informing the Germans that four of his armored divisions were slashing away at them. Most of the forces opposite Pattons Third Army belonged to the German First Army, which was part of General-Colonel Johannes Blaskowitzs Army Group G. Hitler planned to increase the forces opposite Patton to the point that they would be capable of launching a strong counterattack that would rock Third Army back on its heels. The day dawned with a thick blanket of fog shrouding the crest of the hill. Click here for our comprehensive information resource on the society, ideology, and key events in Nazi Germany. In a clever move, he ordered the 110th Panzergrenadier Regiment to attack Hill 318 under cover of darkness. Still, the 137th Infantry Division that same day managed to establish several small bridgeheads on the eastern bank. The bulk of men and supplies would be detailed for the primary thrust toward the Ruhr in the north, but a secondary thrust through Lorraine was considered worth undertaking to stretch German forces along the Western Front. The 37th Tank Battalion was sent to the rear to rest and refit. When word reached Clark that morning of another determined attack by the Germans, he ordered the entire combat command to turn back to Arracourt and sweep the area. For Gods sake send some gasoline. Neither a patient nor defensive-minded commander, Patton seems not to have hindered his promotion to the temporary rank of four-star general in April by acting or remarking as he did. 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