Luttwitz and Krueger received their orders two days before the start date. Look for the Monument Patton and stop by the General Patton Memorial Museum. A follow-on series of panzer brigades, numbered above 110, would contain a battalion of Panthers and a battalion of Mark IVs. In Germany, US 1st Army captured Marburg and US 3rd Army captured Limburg am Lahn. Panzergrenadier formations then swept forward to clear American antitank, machine-gun, and rifle positions. 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. To their surprise, they were not opposed by enemy forces. Despite efforts to rush fuel to the frontline units, the Allies were still receiving their fuel from supply dumps in Normandy. That evening Manteuffel made substantial adjustments to the German plan of attack. Mrz 2023; . Patton would now report to Bradley. 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. 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. Most of CCA had shifted north to prepare for an advance east in the direction of the West Wall, leaving artillery and other support units at Arracourt. Bradley, who found the report satisfactory, passed the news to Eisenhower that Third Army was indeed across the Moselle in strength. 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. 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. Einheiten des 3. Taken together, the losses seriously compromised the impending large-scale counterattack that Manteuffel was charged with executing. Patton had served with competence and distinction with the U.S. forces throughout Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. Against such odds, a breakout at that location was not deemed feasible. 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. So dont make any announcementwell keep it a secret until we see how it goes.. 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. 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. 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. From there, Third Army would advance along a northeast route of march toward the fortified West Wall. This article is also part of our extensive collection of articles on the second World War. He engineered the Normandy breakout and was made commander of the Twelfth Army Group. Patton celebrated the victory by stopping on a treadway bridge his men had built and relieving himself into the river. To ensure that the bridgehead could properly defend itself, Wood ordered Clarks CCA to send its lead elements across the bridge the following morning. 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. Distinguished Unit Citations: 11. Bradley quickly exploited the opportunity and expanded the bridgehead into a full-scale crossing. To learn more,click here for our comprehensive guide to General Patton. The 134th Infantry Regiment was ordered to cross on the left below Nancy, and the 137th Infantry Regiment on the right. So Patton called Bradley again. 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. To their surprise, they were not opposed by enemy forces. C. Peter Chen of Lava Development, LLC. Based on their experience pursuing the Germans across France, Patton and his corps commanders believed the enemy was broken and they would be across the Rhine in a matter of weeks. The Lorraine campaign would test Patton and his men as they had never been tested before. Opposition was negligible and within 24 hours the entire US 5th Division had crossed the river. Although ordered to avoid German forces concentrated at Chateau-Salins, Abrams nevertheless overtook an armored column from the 15th Panzergrenadier Division and, in another stunning attack, captured or destroyed 26 armored vehicles and took 400 prisoners. 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. Old Blood and Gutss fixation with supply problems and haggling with his superiors over reinforcements had distracted him from the detailed planning necessary to get Third Armys divisions across the Moselle as quickly as possible. Throughout the night of 23 Mar and the next day, 80,000 British and Canadian troops crossed the 20-mile stretch of the river. I was certainly very full of hopes and saw myself crossing the Rhine, Patton said. This was the greatest airborne operation of the war. 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. Meanwhile, British 2nd Army began an offensive towards the Elbe River. Desperate to achieve their objective, the Germans toiled throughout the day to construct strongpoints and establish camouflaged positions on the southern slope to support their attack. 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. As the Allied forces gathered and prepared along the Rhine River, George Patton and the U.S. 5 th Division were quietly carrying . With no ground or air bombardments, they captured 19,000 German troops and created a six-mile bridgehead in the process. However, Patton was aware that this would be obvious to the Germans, and therefore he and his staff made rapid plans for another site at Nierstein and Oppenheim, about 12 miles south of Mainz. Patton led the provisional tank brigade that captured the town of Varennes, but was wounded on the first morning of the battle. A half-dozen M8 howitzer motor carriages (HMCs) immediately deployed to contest the advancing column. In December he was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and planned the July 1944 invasion of Europe (Operation Overlord). 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. 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. 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. You mean across the Rhine? Sure am, Patton replied, I sneaked a division over last night. But his request was denied as by then both sides had shifted the bulk of their resources to the northern sector. On 22 March, General George S. Patton sent his Third Army across the Rhine, at Nierstein, to form another bridgehead. I think, everybody here know the photo as Patton urinated into the Rhine. 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. 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. 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. In a clever move, he ordered the 110th Panzergrenadier Regiment to attack Hill 318 under cover of darkness. Objekt des Monats Mrz: Rhine River Crossing Memorial. Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks of XXX Corps commented later that, although they heard stories of German soldiers surrendering in their thousands at other places, the German troops encountered in XXX Corps' area were extremely fanatical in defence of their homeland. The 134th was fortunate to find a bridge intact and threw a battalion across the river. 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. Click here for parts Two and Three. The Rhine itself was symbolic of the entrance into Germany from Western Europe and had historically stood as a natural barrier against invasion. and useful information about WW2. 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. 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. This operation initially called for an air drop by the troops of the US 13th Airborne Division, but as the German defenses crumbled, the airborne operation was called off. Telling a story of a man whose ambition was matched by his audacity and creativity and drive, the author presents a picture of a compelling, complicated man.Interested in World War II? As for Patton, he incorrectly dismissed the action as nothing more than another failed local counterattack. 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. Some of the hardest fighting was done by the 704th Tank Destroyer (TD) Battalion. 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. Meanwhile, the western thrust of the 113th Panzer Brigade that morning ran headlong into a platoon of four Hellcats from the 704th TD Battalion, which had been informed of an attack that morning and taken a defensive position in a depression in the landscape. He is all through. 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. . While we were digging in for the night, the Jerries sent over a heavy artillery barrage. XXX Corps. Eisenhower (18901969) was chosen in July 1942 to head Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1943. To Allied supreme commander Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower he wrote: I have just pissed into the Rhine River. The 9th Armored Division quickly expanded the bridgehead into a full scale crossing. 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. Cross the border into Germany and the city of Trier, which Patton seized after crossing the Saar and Rhine rivers. Please refrain from using strong language. The Germans, in an effort to regroup, turned southwest to escape the ambush. Yet Abramss 35th Tank Battalion counterattacked in the afternoon and recaptured the town in a fight that inflicted substantial casualties on the Germans. The German troops knew that the Allied forces were only taking a short time to gather up strength before the invasion into Germany would commence. A severe shortage of fuel in the early days of September slowed Third Armys advance to a crawl, giving the Germans time to rush reinforcements from as far away as Italy to cover thinly defended sectors. Late in the evening of 22 March, XII Corp's 5th Infantry Division began a Rhine crossing near Oppenheim against little resistance. Although his unit was spearheading the attack toward the river, he assumed there would be a pause to get organized for the crossing. Major General Clarence Huebner's V Corps made rapid advances with relative ease. The Rhine is no ordinary river. 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. Patton would be promoted to General (four stars) in April, 1945, after his troops liberated some of the worst concentration camps in Germany, and was fighting toward the Czech border by the time VE Day was declared on 8 May 1945. Suddenly, I saw the billowing of flames, Buss said. U.S. Army personnel cross the Ludendorff Bridge "CROSS THE RHINE WITH DRY FEET COURTESY OF 9TH ARM'D DIV". 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. For its part, the 15th Panzergrenadier Division had three dozen Mark IV tanks. After the completion of the Battle in The Ardennes, Patton and his Army turned to the south and east attacking toward the Rhine. In Berlin, Adolf Hitler wanted to counterattack at the Allied bridgehead at Oppenheim, but he was told that no reserve forces were available to embark on such an operation. This article is also part of our extensive collection of articles on the second World War. This article is part of our larger selection of postsabout the George S. Patton. Patton simply used ad hoc tactics to push the 5th Infantry across. However, such a strong resistance was not encountered as elements of the 21st Army Group and Ninth Army crossed the river in the north in the Ruhr River region. As the Americans prepared to resume their push east, the vanguard of CCA shifted north toward Chateau-Salins. 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. 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. Subsequently VIII Corps made two additional crossings downstream, to the south of Koblenz. Total losses for the day were five Shermans and more than 40 Panther and Mark IV tanks. The German armored column continued south, hoping to stampede the American soldiers into abandoning their positions. 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. 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. World War Two Timeline From The Great War To Germanys Surrender. News of the crossing made it around the world. Hardcover. But its fortune ended there. 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. By the end of 24 Mar 1945, the German airfields were so damaged that the Luftwaffe practically ceased to exist on this front. Until sufficient forces were gathered for the counterattack, the frontline troops were ordered to defend as many crossing points along the Moselle as possible between Nancy and Metz. 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. In short order, more than a half-dozen M5 Stuart tanks sat smoldering and crumpled in fields near the town. Still, the 137th Infantry Division that same day managed to establish several small bridgeheads on the eastern bank. As expected, the Germans counterattacked at 1 pm on September 13 just as CCA began crossing the bridge. When Patton Enlisted the Entire Third Army to Pray for Fair Weather, California Do not sell my personal information. Though Gen. Patton had the blessing of Twelfth Army Group head Gen. Omar Bradley (take the Rhine on the run), his intent was to steal Montys thunder on the eve of the British commanders massive buildup of land-based and airborne units and to make the British offensive anticlimactic. Churchill suggested the Allied forces to skip over the Ruhr region and march east toward Berlin, but Eisenhower refused to leave the Ruhr region unsecured. Montgomery was supposed to make the next crossing in a complex operation utilizing ground and airborne troops. click here for our comprehensive guide to General Patton. In addition, Eisenhower and Bradley had decided to transfer Haislips XV Corps to Lt. Gen. Jacob Devers Sixth Army leaving Patton once again with just two corps. On Pattons left wing, Walkers XX Corps began probing the Metz defenses on September 7. Captain Richard Lamison, commanding Company C, took four Shermans and raced south along a ridge to another ambush position. 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. 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. The Crossing of the Rhine River. Thank you. 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 37th Tank Battalion would get no rest on September 20. With no ground or air bombardments, they captured 19,000 German troops and created a six-mile bridgehead in the process. 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. Please use this data for any reference citations. 140 kilometers to the north, British Second Army captured Wesel, 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. On the same day, 150 bombers of the Fifteenth Air Force flew from Italy to bomb the German capital of Berlin nearly unopposed from the air, meanwhile British Royal Air Force bombers attacked rail and oil targets in the Ruhr region. 2. Photo Credit: Men of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division hug the walls in one of the suburbs of Metz in early September 1944. 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. 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. 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. events, and resources. Again, the Germans proved they had the determination and resources to make the Americans pay heavily to get their forces across the Moselle. Luttwitz would strike north toward Lunville, while Krueger would push west along the south side of the Marne-Rhine Canal toward the town. 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 . Patton's goal was to cross the Rhine, even if not a single bridge was left standing over which to do it. Because of the heavy losses the Germans had sustained after the Normandy breakout, the Allies enjoyed a substantial advantage over the Germans in equipment, which amounted to a 2-to-1 advantage in artillery and nearly a 20-to-1 advantage in tanks. At the beginning of September, Pattons Third Army was close enough to Germany to alarm Hitler. But where he crossed the Main? This meant that two columns of tanks and half-tracks from the 113th would have to carry the objective themselves. 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. All rights reserved. To the far left is scrolled, WARS MAY BE FOUGHT WITH . He sent one regiment from Maj. Gen. Horace McBrides 80th Division across the Moselle at Toul as a diversionary attack. 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. The following day, CCB lined up with the 137th Regiment at Lorey in time to defeat another counterattack by the 15th Panzergrenadier Division. Manteuffel, who had arrived to take command of Fifth Army in the field only a week before, pleaded for yet another extension, arguing that his forces were not strong enough to achieve their objective. 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. 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. 1. Charging up the slope after nightfall, the Germans once again seized the crest, forcing the Americans to retreat to the northern slope. Along the way the Third Army liberated some of the most ghastly killing and concentration camps in the Reich: Ohrdruf (a subcamp of Buchenwald), Flossenbuerg, Dachau, and Mauthausen-Gusen. 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. In Germany, US Third Army captured Frankfurt and Wiesbaden and US Seventh Army captured Mannheim. 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 gasoline arrived and Pattons men pressed headlong across southern Germany and into Czechoslovakia. The media and public back home were outraged that a general would treat an enlisted man in such a manner. 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. Altogether, the 106th Panzer Brigade lost 30 tanks and 60 halftracks, which greatly reduced the role it would play in subsequent operations. . In preparation for his counterattack, Hitler made several key command changes. While the fighting raged, P-47s flew repeated sorties against Bures, through which the Germans were funneling fresh troops and ammunition into the battle. Meanwhile the construction of an even larger Class 40 bridge "London Bridge" continued and was completed by midnight. Lava's technical capabilities. Patton received orders from Bradley on September 23 to switch to a defensive position until further notice. Pattons third corps, Troy Middletons VIII Corps, had been detached and assigned to mop up German resistance in Brittany. 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. The Panthersknocked out three of the lightly armored HMCs in short order. On 22 March, Patton's 3rd Army crossed the Rhine south of Mainz at Oppenheim. 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. Another bridgehead a northeast route of March toward the Rhine river captured 19,000 German troops and a. 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