But his request was denied as by then both sides had shifted the bulk of their resources to the northern sector. 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. Three weeks earlier Churchill had visited the front lines near Juelich. Gen. Holmes Dagers Combat Command B (CCB) to assist the 35th Infantry Division south of Nancy, and Colonel Bruce Clarks Combat Command A (CCA) to be held in reserve to exploit whichever crossing offered the most promise for a rapid breakout. This was because Third Army, and the other Allied armies racing to its north, had stretched their supply lines until they snapped. Some of the hardest fighting was done by the 704th Tank Destroyer (TD) Battalion. Patton had served with competence and distinction with the U.S. forces throughout Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. George Patton received permission from his superiors to take the US 3rd Army across the Rhine River. After two days of hard fighting, the two sides braced for more of the same. The 111th once again sustained staggering losses, losing 17 of 22 panzers. 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. It began with the crossing of the River Rhine in March 1945, with forces fanning out and overrunning all of Western Germany until their final surrender on May 8, 1945. On September 2, Hitler issued orders for the creation of 25 new divisions, most of which were to be given the designation of Volksgrenadier. In its place, Clark ordered three armored infantry battalions that were part of the 4th Armored Division to entrench on a camelback ridge composed of two adjacent prominences known as Hills 318 and 293, which barred the road to Nancy and allowed U.S. guns to sweep German positions to the east and south. Manteuffel had originally been promised two more new panzer brigades, the 107th and 108th, but Hitler had shunted them north to defend Aachen against Hodges First Army. Patton had been correct that the Germans possessed no defense in depth immediately after Third Army crossed the Moselle. Two days earlier, Patton had told Maj. Gen. Manton Eddy that his XII Corps would lead the way. This meant that two columns of tanks and half-tracks from the 113th would have to carry the objective themselves. 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. Seventh Army during the Sicilian campaign ( Operation Husky ), and in August 1944 his Third Army became operational in northern France. During the respite the Fifth Army was given the previous day, Manteuffel had assimilated the remnants of three battered panzer brigades into veteran divisions. The US 3rd Army crossed the Rhine River west of Mainz and near Oppenheim just before midnight; the Americans had beaten the British in crossing the river. Altogether, the 106th Panzer Brigade lost 30 tanks and 60 halftracks, which greatly reduced the role it would play in subsequent operations. Hardcover. ww2dbaseAll this, plus the assembly of vast amounts of troops, assault boats, Buffaloes, guns etc. We've got him. 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 reversal of fortune gnawed at Patton from the outset of his service in France. ww2dbaseTo assist the Engineer the RAF's No.159 Wing was approached to furnish some of the men who operated the balloons to handle the winches that were to be used to haul the ferries and rafts across. On March 24, 1945, Patton approached a newly constructed pontoon bridge over the Rhine that his troops had placed two nights before and a Third Army division had already crossed. Using speed to its advantage, Third Army roared across two bridges over the Meuse River on August 31 before German forces could demolish them and slow the American advance. As blue skies gave way to rainy spells signaling autumns approach, the U.S. Third Army readied itself for a push to the Rhine, and perhaps the honor of being the first Allied troops to hurdle the last major barrier on the road to Berlin. Opposition was negligible and within 24 hours the entire US 5th Division had crossed the river. Email Address Copyright 2023 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. 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. For the Allied high command, the all-out assault across the Rhine was hugely important because crossing the river, the historic boundary of German power in the west, rang the death knell on the lunacy and bestiality of Hitlers Thousand Year Reich. 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. Days of Combat: 91. 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. Although the 4th Armored Division lost 48 tanks in the fighting around Arracourt in September, the Germans lost 285, which constituted most of the replacement tanks sent to the Western Front that fall. To learn more,click here for our comprehensive guide to General Patton. Patton (18951945) directed the amphibious landings near Casablanca during the Torch landings. If youre interested in learning more about Patton, and his long history in and impact on the United States Army hint, its far deeper than just World War 2 Carlo DEstes biography, Patton: A Genius for War, is a good start. On 7 March, the 9th Armoured Division of the US 1st Army captured the partially damaged railway bridge at Remagen. He did not expect to encounter substantial resistance until he reached the West Wall. The Americans sought to offset the Germans armor advantage in the sector by committing a platoon of Shermans from the 8th Tank Battalion to the fight. This was the greatest airborne operation of the war. The Crossing of the Rhine 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 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. 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. Eddy planned to isolate Nancy in a double envelopment. The Germans attacking toward Hill 265 captured several key towns, one of which was Xanrey, a few miles northwest of Arracourt. 20th Century Timeline Of World History: What Happened? The flames were transparent orange, rising with startling swiftness. The new commander, General Hermann Balck, arranged for elements of the German First Army to join the battle the following day. 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. The initial objective for both was Lunville, which would become a staging area for a drive north to Chateau-Salins. It controlled the majority of American forces on the Western Front in 1944 and 1945: the U.S. First Army under Gen. Courtney H. Hodges, the Third Army under Gen. George S. Patton, the Ninth Army under Gen. William H. Simpson, and the Fifteenth Army under Gen. Leonard T. Gerow. A half-dozen M8 howitzer motor carriages (HMCs) immediately deployed to contest the advancing column. First, it is aiming to offer interesting 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. 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. The next morning, elements of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division overran the bridgehead, killing 300 Americans. He later went as far as the railway bridge at Wesel by Montgomery's staff car, a bridge that was still under enemy fire. Although Heckers division was at nearly full strength, Rodts had been depleted as a result of nearly a year of hard fighting. 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. 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. The 134th was fortunate to find a bridge intact and threw a battalion across the river. He wanted a quick, spectacular crossing that would produce newspaper headlines in the manner of Love him or hate him, Patton cuts a singular figure in military history, and left a long, complicated legacy for historians, soldiers, and history buffs to consider. Eddys final plan, which was a compromise between his initial plan and that of headstrong 4th Armored Division commander Maj. Gen. John Wood, called for Brig. Instead, he commented, They brought up a row of trucks filled with assault boats. The eastern thrust of the 113th Panzer Brigades attack that day was aimed at Companies C and D of the 37th Tank Battalion guarding the eastern and southern approaches to Arracourt. Hitler, who had never liked Blaskowitz, sacked him on September 21. When the Germans attacking Hill 265 learned of the withdrawal of the 11th Panzer Division to Bures, they also quit the battle. Control of the crest of Hill 318 shifted back and forth on September 28. Hitler also reappointed General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, who had been relieved of his command in June, to oversee Germanys forces in the west. This dramatic entrance to the battle by CCA caught the Germans off guard and paid large dividends. 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. 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. To cover CCBs former position in the line, Baades 35th Infantry Division advanced to a new position west of Chateau-Salins. The Germans, in an effort to regroup, turned southwest to escape the ambush. So dont make any announcementwell keep it a secret until we see how it goes.. Patton celebrated the victory by stopping on a treadway bridge his men had built and relieving himself into the river. Equally devastating was the loss of both panzer brigade commanders during the two-day assault on CCAs left flank. While the fighting raged, P-47s flew repeated sorties against Bures, through which the Germans were funneling fresh troops and ammunition into the battle. Overseas: 26 August 1944. 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. Patton had seriously underestimated the Germans ability to recover from setbacks and mount a tenacious defense as the Western Allies neared the German border. The German armored column continued south, hoping to stampede the American soldiers into abandoning their positions. The troops of the French First Army crossed the Rhine River near Philippsburg, Germany on 1 Apr. We figured we had a perfectly good boat. Whats more, a series of determined counterattacks by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division kept the U.S. infantry from expanding the bridgehead. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, This time the engineers were able to construct a bridge under the cover of darkness, but the bridgehead was again subjected to concentrated shelling by long-range guns from the Metz defenses and also from counterattacks by various elements of all three of the German Panzergrenadier divisions defending the Moselle. Our database is searchable by subject and updated continuously. Pattons troops beat Montgomery across the Rhine by one day. Major General Clarence Huebner's V Corps made rapid advances with relative ease. To the right side of the center banner WORLD WAR II 75th ANNIVERSARY is Patton in a B-3 Bomber jacket and his name, GEN. GEORGE S. PATTON JR. Next is an image of Patton crossing the Rhine into Germany with a convoy of troops, supply trucks, troop caravan and an Sherman M4 tank. The German high command also reinforced the Fifth Panzer Army with Gen. Lt. Wend von Wietersheims 11th Panzer Division. McLain issued orders for the nearest infantry regiments to converge on the enemy column. By September 7, U.S. armored reconnaissance units had reached the Moselle despite resistance from Germans still on the west bank. Manteuffels plans for September 27 called for Wietersheims 11th Panzer Division to seize the camelback and Arracourt, opening the road to Nancy. Despite efforts to rush fuel to the frontline units, the Allies were still receiving their fuel from supply dumps in Normandy. 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. The Lorraine campaign would test Patton and his men as they had never been tested before. Weeks ahead of his rival, British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, Patton fought his own higher command structure nearly as hard as he did the Germans, making impolitic comments in public, moving farther and more aggressively than ordered, and even having his troops pose as First Army soldiers in order to steal fuel from that units stores in order to maintain their own advance to the east. By early afternoon, the Germans were fighting their way into the southern end of the town. Click here to see our comprehensive article on World War 2. On the night of March 22, 1945, with no artillery preparation or air cover, assault boats of the 5th Infantry began their quiet crossing near Oppenheim. 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. (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.) 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. Suddenly, I saw the billowing of flames, Buss said. To the far left is scrolled, WARS MAY BE FOUGHT WITH . Click here to see our comprehensive article on World War 2. Meanwhile, US Third Army captured Ludwigshafen and Speyer, Germany. With that measure of skill, the 704th managed that day to destroy eight Panthers without losing a single tank destroyer. Significantly, none of the panzer brigades had either organic artillery or reconnaissance vehicles. ww2dbaseSources: When a column of tanks from the 111th Panzer Brigade appeared that morning out of the fog, it was left to the gunners of the 191st Field Artillery Battalion to fight off the attack. I think, everybody here know the photo as Patton urinated into the Rhine. 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. With no ground or air bombardments, they captured 19,000 German troops and created a six-mile bridgehead in the process. On 22 March, General George S. Patton sent his Third Army across the Rhine, at Nierstein, to form another bridgehead. Wietersheim ordered the battle group to break off its attack until the following day so that reinforcements could be sent to Bures. ", ww2dbaseAdditional Contribution by Alan Chanter. 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. Although the crossing was uneventful and drew no enemy fire, Tucker remembered, We swore not to push our boat into the water., Instead, once the infantrymen scrambled onto the shore, Tucker and his fellow engineer simply got back into their boat and paddled back across. Pattons rapid advance across France came to an abrupt halt at Metz, due to fuel shortages, deteriorating weather conditions, and increased enemy resistance. 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. C. Peter Chen of Lava Development, LLC. This article is also part of our extensive collection of articles on the second World War. On September 12, engineers had laid a 168-foot pontoon bridge across the Moselle that enabled the rest of the 35th Infantry Division and the remaining tanks of CCB to cross to the east bank, Two days later, CCB had pushed through light enemy resistance to reach the Marne-Rhine Canal seven miles beyond the Moselle. . 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. 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. The delay would prove a costly one. The 111th and 113th Panzer Brigades boasted two tank battalions, one of 45 Panthers and the other of 45 Mark IVs. But Pattons dash ground to a halt shortly after it crossed the Meuse. events, and resources. 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. He announced that the Third Army would shortly capture its 230,000th prisoner of war. But its fortune ended there. 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 publicity was not for meGod knows Ive got enoughI could go to heaven and St. Peter would recognize me right awaybut it is for the officers and the men. Patton then complained that the Marines go to town by reporting the number [of their men] killed, I always try to fight without getting [our] people killed.. On Pattons left wing, Walkers XX Corps began probing the Metz defenses on September 7. This kind of came as a surprise, but everything was so well prepared for us, recalled Tucker. BATTLE OF THE BULGE is scrolled underneath. A follow-on series of panzer brigades, numbered above 110, would contain a battalion of Panthers and a battalion of Mark IVs. For 10 months he was without a command and on pins and needles as to the exact nature of his next assignment. Patton was relieved of command in the wake of the incident but was not dismissed from war service. Tom Tucker was one of the first men from Pattons Third Army to cross the Rhine River, the last natural barrier to the heart of Germany. When Patton Enlisted the Entire Third Army to Pray for Fair Weather, California Do not sell my personal information. In short order, more than a half-dozen M5 Stuart tanks sat smoldering and crumpled in fields near the town. The 9th Armored Division quickly expanded the bridgehead into a full scale crossing. 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. Unlike Patton, Churchill forbade photographs of the occasion. Whats more, his decision to advance on a broad front ran contrary to the general understanding that it was necessary to concentrate forces to create a sizable breach worthy of exploiting in the enemys main line. With the vise tightening on Nancy, Blaskowitz ordered the 553rd Volksgrenadier Division to pull out of the Nancy pocket before it was cut off. On the night of March 22, 1945, elements of the Third Army crossed the Rhine at the German town of Oppenheim. In 1943 he commanded the U.S. News of the crossing made it around the world. Luttwitz would strike north toward Lunville, while Krueger would push west along the south side of the Marne-Rhine Canal toward the town. Photo Credit: Men of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division hug the walls in one of the suburbs of Metz in early September 1944. They swooped in at extremely low level, catching the German tank crews by surprise. 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. 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. von Florian Weber; Verffentlicht am 1. Bradley, who found the report satisfactory, passed the news to Eisenhower that Third Army was indeed across the Moselle in strength. Lloyd Clark. Having failed to reconnoiter the American lines, the Germans blundered into a hornets nest. Hitler also began a systematic process to produce fresh divisions to replace those smashed by the Allies in central France. You mean across the Rhine? Sure am, Patton replied, I sneaked a division over last night. This meant that CCA was now on the left flank of the Arracourt-Juvelize salient and CCB was on the right. 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 . 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. 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. I want the world to know Third Army made it before Monty starts across, he shouted. 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. The 134th Infantry Regiment was ordered to cross on the left below Nancy, and the 137th Infantry Regiment on the right. My Dad was quoted as saying: We had crossed the Moselle River and gained a high ground position two miles to the east. Patton, who actually did not have the orders to cross the river, did so under an extremely low profile: quietly, his troops crossed the river in boats without artillery barrage nor aerial bombardment. American troops had already made a crossing on March 7a signal moment in the war . Total losses for the day were five Shermans and more than 40 Panther and Mark IV tanks. 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. West Wall were transparent orange, rising with startling swiftness Panther and Mark IV tanks dash... 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