At Nierstein assault troops did not meet any resistance. (To be fair to the British 21st Army Group, their Rhine crossings were marshy (Wesel) and twice as wide, with the river carrying a far higher volume of water than the crossings consigned to the U.S. Third and Seventh Armies and the French First Army, meaning that Montgomery could not possibly cross the Rhine on the run.) The next day Patton, showing his contempt for the enemy, made good on his pledge to piss in the Rhine in a week, which he did from a pontoon bridge in full view of his men and news cameras. Patton was fatally injured in a road accident on December9, 1945, dying twelve days later. With their high-velocity guns, the Panthers easily knocked out the Yanks vehicles. 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. Patton knew his entrance into German-occupied territory was of monumental historical importance. The reversal of fortune gnawed at Patton from the outset of his service in France. To order this book, please visit its online sales page atAmazonorBarnes & Noble. This post is part of our collection of resources on Nazi Germany. First, it is aiming to offer interesting . 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. 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. 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. 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. The 111th and 113th Panzer Brigades boasted two tank battalions, one of 45 Panthers and the other of 45 Mark IVs. By the end of the day the Germans had lost a dozen Mark IVs and six Panthers. Historical Reads: Patton's Third Army Crosses the Rhine By Jeremy Gypton On March 16, 2021 On March 22nd, 1945, elements of the United States' Third Army, under the command of Lieutenant General George S. Patton, crossed the Rhine River at Oppenheim, south of Mainz. Against light opposition, he had secured Morocco during the opening phase of Torch and ably led the U.S. II Corps when selected to replace Maj. Gen. Lloyd Fredenhall after the debacle at Kasserine Pass. Eisenhower (18901969) was chosen in July 1942 to head Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1943. In a widely publicized incident, he slapped and cursed a soldier suffering from battle fatigue in a field hospital in front of staff and patients. Unlike Patton, Churchill forbade photographs of the occasion. Whats more, a series of determined counterattacks by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division kept the U.S. infantry from expanding the bridgehead. They did a lot of grumbling.. Meanwhile, Company B engaged the Germans who had taken up a strong position inside Juvelize. . U.S. Army personnel cross the Ludendorff Bridge "CROSS THE RHINE WITH DRY FEET COURTESY OF 9TH ARM'D DIV". 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. He made his way halfway across the bridge before suddenly halting. Pattons notion that Third Army could cross the Moselle with ease and cover the 40 miles from the river to the West Wall in a matter of weeks had been shattered by Manteuffels determined, if futile, counterattack in September. Events in the northern sector made it necessary to divert precious fuel and ammunition to British and American units in that sector, which meant that Third Army would have insufficient resources to sustain prolonged offensive action. 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. 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. The strike destroyed five Panthers and 20 half-tracks. 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. Panzergrenadier formations then swept forward to clear American antitank, machine-gun, and rifle positions. As blue skies gave way to rainy spells signaling autumn's 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. The plan focused on Wesel, with multiple crossings set to occur along a 22-mile front on the evening of 23 March. In effort to ensure greater success, Manteuffel ordered a detailed reconnaissance of enemy positions. 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. Click here to see our comprehensive article on World War 2. 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. 2. 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. 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. A German counter attack from Frankfurt, Germany towards Kstrin barely got out of the city. To the north, German infantry launched a determined attack to seize Hill 265, but they could not prevail against entrenched forces with a clear advantage in artillery support. 6731 Whittier Avenue, Suite C-100 McLean, VA 22101, Stay up to date with all of our latest news, In a two-day pitched battle at Dompaire that began on September 12, a battle group from Maj. Gen. Jacques Leclercs 2nd French Armored Division of Haislips Corps smashed the 112th Panzer Brigade of Luttwitzs 47th Corps, which had been sent to check Haislips advance. News of the crossing made it around the world. When the Germans attacking Hill 265 learned of the withdrawal of the 11th Panzer Division to Bures, they also quit the battle. This kind of came as a surprise, but everything was so well prepared for us, recalled Tucker. The final stage of World War II in the European Theatre commenced with the Western Allied invasion of Germany. WW2DB site administrators reserve the right to moderate, censor, and/or remove any comment. 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. Terms & Conditions; Privacy Policy He sent one regiment from Maj. Gen. Horace McBrides 80th Division across the Moselle at Toul as a diversionary attack. 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. I know that he carried the BAR and he was in Company A, 359th Infantry Regiment. 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. That same day Third Army received about 240,000 gallons of fuel, which was sufficient to resume its advance the following day. But the Americans stood their ground. ww2dbaseFurther to the south, General Patch's Seventh Army crossed the Rhine River on the same day the Remagen contingent marched forward. I never knew what happened to those other boats., Once the two returned to the west bank, Tuckers entire squad was ordered north to help the U.S. Navy. It was really a simple thing, just like basic training., Tucker and another engineer packed themselves into one of the first boats with the infantry. 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. By September 7, U.S. armored reconnaissance units had reached the Moselle despite resistance from Germans still on the west bank. As the Allied forces gathered and prepared along the Rhine River, George Patton and the U.S. 5 th Division were quietly carrying . Nevertheless, the Germans established strong defensive positions in two dilapidated French fortresses that effectively blocked the western approaches to the city. 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. Brad, dont tell anyone, but Im across. A surprised Bradley responded, Well, Ill be damned. 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. But its fortune ended there. Instead, he commented, They brought up a row of trucks filled with assault boats. He ordered Knobelsdorff to attack Dagers CCB with the 559th Volksgrenadier Division and the remnants of the 106th Panzer Brigade. The Hellcats bought precious time for Companies A and B of the 37th Tank Battalion to rumble north from Lezey toward the battlefront. 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. ww2dbaseSource: Photo Credit: Men of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division hug the walls in one of the suburbs of Metz in early September 1944. Operation Plunder landed over 16,000 British and American troops across the Rhine River region, allowing link ups with advancing British 21st Army Group's 4 bridgeheads. 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. Major General Clarence Huebner's V Corps made rapid advances with relative ease. For the crossing 8,000 Royal Engineers came under command of the C.E. The Commanders: The Leadership Journeys of George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, and Erwin Rommel. Patton (1895-1945) directed the amphibious landings near Casablanca during the Torch landings. He believed that it would leave too long of a left flank vulnerable to German counter offensives. 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. After the war Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor of the U.S. 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. 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. We were surprised the Navy was there, he commented, and the Navy was surprised they were so far away from the ocean. 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. Until now, I cant find a webpage, book or other source for an . Second, it is to showcase Meanwhile, US Third Army captured Aschaffenburg, Germany, 40 kilometers to the southeast. Activated: 15 July 1942. In response to the changing circumstances, Patton issued orders on September 24 for CCA to pull back from Juvelize to Arracourt to lessen its exposure to any subsequent enemy attacks. 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.. 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. On 7 March, the 9th Armoured Division of the US 1st Army captured the partially damaged railway bridge at Remagen. 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. Two days earlier, Patton had told Maj. Gen. Manton Eddy that his XII Corps would lead the way. 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. HTML tags are not allowed. The Germans attacking toward Hill 265 captured several key towns, one of which was Xanrey, a few miles northwest of Arracourt. His training and experience in cavalry operations and his experience serving with the U.S. tank forces in World War I served as solid preparation for the challenges he would face as a commander when the United States declared war on Japan and Germany in December 1941. Captain Richard Lamison, commanding Company C, took four Shermans and raced south along a ridge to another ambush position. Although his unit was spearheading the attack toward the river, he assumed there would be a pause to get organized for the crossing. The next morning, elements of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division overran the bridgehead, killing 300 Americans. Even $1 per month will go a long way! Right: Patton famously relieved himself in the Rhine on March24, 1945and made sure he was photographed doing so. He received the Bronze Star and was shot on or about 28 September, 1944. Despite efforts to rush fuel to the frontline units, the Allies were still receiving their fuel from supply dumps in Normandy. Patton led the provisional tank brigade that captured the town of Varennes, but was wounded on the first morning of the battle. In other words, they had no depth, Patton said. From there, Third Army would advance along a northeast route of march toward the fortified West Wall. 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. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Against All Odds: A True Story of Ultimate Courage and Survival in World War II, Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day's Black Heroes, at Home and at War, A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II, The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz: A True Story of Family and Survival, Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 19411942 (The Pacific War Trilogy, 1), Facing the Mountain: An Inspiring Story of Japanese American Patriots in World War II, Sons and Soldiers: The Untold Story of the Jews Who Escaped the Nazis and Returned with the U.S. Army to Fight Hitler, Hitler's American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germanys March to Global War, The Bedford Boys: One American Town's Ultimate D-day Sacrifice, A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II, The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, Potsdam: The End of World War II and the Remaking of Europe. To descend the ridge and maneuver against the Panthers would have exposed the Shermans to the Panthers highly effective guns. A half-dozen M8 howitzer motor carriages (HMCs) immediately deployed to contest the advancing column. The main attack would come from the town of Bures to the south, where Manteuffel had scraped together a battle group composed of 30 tanks and assault guns to capture the camelback. In preparation for his counterattack, Hitler made several key command changes. 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. 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. Anthony Read and David Fisher, The Fall of Berlin. Patton spent so much time cajoling Bradley for permission to continue his advance east and additional reinforcements that he was seemingly oblivious to the stiffening enemy resistance and to evidence that the Germans were amassing substantial reinforcements in the Nancy sector. 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 . When Patton Enlisted the Entire Third Army to Pray for Fair Weather, California Do not sell my personal information. 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. Great article cannot wait for the rest of the battle, I am trying to find out more about where and in what battle my Dad, Donald Mansfield was shot. 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. It was an unusually costly day for the Americans, who lost a dozen Shermans. The following day Patton arrived at the pontoon bridge his engineers had constructed over the Rhine. 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. Through skilled use of defensive positions, the Americans stopped the Germans from capturing the town. On September 6, he sacked First Army commander General der Infanterie Kurt Chevallerie in favor of General der Panzertruppen Otto Knobelsdorff, who would lead German forces covering the line from Sedan to Nancy. 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. The 134th Infantry Regiment was ordered to cross on the left below Nancy, and the 137th Infantry Regiment on the right. He is all through. 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. By dawn the Germans had seized the crest of Hill 318. The initial counterattacks against Third Armys bridgeheads should have convinced him that the enemy was regaining strength. Behind the lines, Dwight Eisenhower transferred US 9th Army from Bernard Montgomery's army group to Omar Bradley's army group as Anglo-American objective shifted toward southern Germany and Czechoslovakia. 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. I think, everybody here know the photo as Patton urinated into the Rhine. 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. To their surprise, they were not opposed by enemy forces. His pleas fell on deaf ears, and he prepared to make do with the untrained and understrength units he had been given. Meanwhile, US Third Army reached Siegen, Germany. 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. 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. Did you enjoy this article or find this article helpful? Eddy planned to isolate Nancy in a double envelopment. If Third Army was unable to cross the Moselle by September 14, Bradley told Patton, it would have to go over to the defensive. Days of Combat: 91. Hitler, who reluctantly agreed to a far less ambitious counterattack than initially envisioned, issued orders for the German attack to begin on September 18. Crossing the Rhine. 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. Site created in November 2000. 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. 9th AID M3 Half-tracks advancing through Engers, Germany, 27 March 1945. Eddys XII Corps, on the right flank, began moving up to the Moselle that same day, and Walkers XX Corps, on the left flank, started its advance the following day. Objekt des Monats Mrz: Rhine River Crossing Memorial. The men of the 317th Infantry Regiment managed to cross a bridge left intact and braced themselves for a counterattack. . 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. 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. 20th Century Timeline Of World History: What Happened? It is thought that the accompanying photo of General George Patton documents Patton urinating into the Rhine River. Luttwitz and Krueger received their orders two days before the start date. To cover CCBs former position in the line, Baades 35th Infantry Division advanced to a new position west of Chateau-Salins. With the vise tightening on Nancy, Blaskowitz ordered the 553rd Volksgrenadier Division to pull out of the Nancy pocket before it was cut off. 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. Despite the ferocity of the attack, the cavalry held on for four hours before it finally withdrew into the town. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. Having mustered 50 tanks for the attack, Manteuffel ordered Wietersheim to capture Moyenvic and inflict as much damage as possible on CCA. Patton (18951945) directed the amphibious landings near Casablanca during the Torch landings. Over the next four days, CCA raided the countryside around Arracourt, managing to destroy more enemy tanks and vehicles at a cost of only a half dozen M4 Sherman tanks. The flames were transparent orange, rising with startling swiftness. . We are now fairly started on that phase of the campaign which I hope will be the final one. That remained the case in the first months of 1945. 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. By the end of 24 Mar 1945, the German airfields were so damaged that the Luftwaffe practically ceased to exist on this front. It was a daunting series of objectives, but Patton relished the opportunity. Within three days Patton's troops were rapidly approaching Frankfurt, Germany, capturing bridges in tact as the German defenses began to fall apart. 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. Since the days of the Roman Empire it has served as central Germany's traditional defense against invasion from the west. The Rhine is no ordinary river. Near Moncourt, just east of Arracourt, a platoon of Mark IVs and towed anti-tank guns ambushed Abramss Company C, leaving a half-dozen M4 tanks mangled. Even Hitlers closest supporters like Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels could clearly hear the clanging bell. For its part, the 15th Panzergrenadier Division had three dozen Mark IV tanks. So dont make any announcementwell keep it a secret until we see how it goes.. The Rhine itself was symbolic of the entrance into Germany from Western Europe and had historically stood as a natural barrier against invasion. That evening German artillery brought down the bridge, and the 104th Panzergrenadier Regiment attacked with armor support in the dark of night, overrunning the bridgehead. This article is also part of our extensive collection of articles on the second World War. We've got him. It was significant to the Allies because it offered a gateway between the Ardennes and Vosges Mountains, through which Allied forces might reach Germany. The 134th was fortunate to find a bridge intact and threw a battalion across the river. 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. As Third Army firmly established itself on the east bank of the Moselle at Nancy, capturing not only crossing points but also key crossroads on the east bank, the Germans had to postpone their counterattack several times and continually revise it to adjust to new events. 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