patton crossing the rhine

To order this book, please visit its online sales page atAmazonorBarnes & Noble. But Pattons dash ground to a halt shortly after it crossed the Meuse. First, it is aiming to offer interesting In 1943 he commanded the U.S. The 111th and 113th Panzer Brigades boasted two tank battalions, one of 45 Panthers and the other of 45 Mark IVs. Initially, at least, Eddys XII Corps suffered setbacks as severe as those experienced by Walkers corps to its north. Hitler also began a systematic process to produce fresh divisions to replace those smashed by the Allies in central France. 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. Late in the evening of 22 March, XII Corp's 5th Infantry Division began a Rhine crossing near Oppenheim against little resistance. 20th Century Timeline Of World History: What Happened? Dwight Eisenhower, Crusade in Europe Nevertheless, the Germans established strong defensive positions in two dilapidated French fortresses that effectively blocked the western approaches to the city. Click here for our comprehensive information resource on the society, ideology, and key events in Nazi Germany. Thank You, Meanwhile, US Third Army captured Ludwigshafen and Speyer, Germany. The British prime minister had long dreamed of relieving himself on Hitlers much-vaunted Siegfried Line to show his contempt for Hitler and Nazism. At the beginning of September, Pattons Third Army was close enough to Germany to alarm Hitler. 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. CROSSING THE RHINE. Patton would face significant leadership and tactical challenges in the region in the months following the Arracourt clashes. 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. In addition, the Royal Navy provided a team to construct an anti-mine boom upriver to prevent the Germans from floating demolitions down to destroy the bridges after they had been constructed. Another 2,153 fighters supported the ground operations. Terms & Conditions; Privacy Policy ww2dbaseAs the Allied forces gathered on the west banks of the Rhine River, it was no longer a matter of surprise. Patton knew his entrance into German-occupied territory was of monumental historical importance. At Toul, where a great bend in the Moselle channeled the Moselle away from Nancy, the Germans were content to allow McBrides 319th Infantry Regiment to cross unopposed on September 5. Balck requested that Rundstedt provide Army Group G with three fresh divisions and 80 additional tanks and assault guns to continue the fight. 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. Please refrain from using strong language. He is all through. von Florian Weber; Verffentlicht am 1. Hitler, who had never liked Blaskowitz, sacked him on September 21. At this location, on March 22 & 23, 1945, the 249th Engineer Combat Battalion, after supporting the U.S. Army 5th Infantry Division at Oppenheim, in the first successful Rhine river assault crossing since Napoleon, completed the construction of a 366 meter floating bridge to carry elements of General George S. Patton's 3rd Army across the Rhine. 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? The events on the French front in World War II during September 1944, specifically Patton's inability to progress beyond the Metz fortress complex and, most importantly, the failure of British General Bernard Montgomery's attempted Rhine crossing in Operation Market Garden, would appear as evidence that such hopes of lightning victories . The crossing would be difficult with German mortar and artillery guns already trained at river crossings. Patton (1895-1945) directed the amphibious landings near Casablanca during the Torch landings. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. Upon arriving at a dock area, Tucker and his comrades saw a group of sailors lowering a Landing Ship Tank (LST) into the water with a large crane. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. I want the world to know Third Army made it before Monty starts across, he shouted. 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. Eddy planned to isolate Nancy in a double envelopment. This article is also part of our extensive collection of articles on the second World War. Meanwhile, the main attack that morning by the Germans against the 51st Armored Infantry Battalion of Dagers CCB occupying the camelback was broken up by the concentrated fire of six artillery battalions. Geplant war eine Flussberquerung, die nach dem Willen des Oberkommandierenden berraschend, schnell und spektakulr werden sollte. All rights reserved. The Hellcats bought precious time for Companies A and B of the 37th Tank Battalion to rumble north from Lezey toward the battlefront. When I looked for a second target, it was gone.. 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 . 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. U.S. Army personnel cross the Ludendorff Bridge "CROSS THE RHINE WITH DRY FEET COURTESY OF 9TH ARM'D DIV". The Rhine itself was symbolic of the entrance into Germany from Western Europe and had historically stood as a natural barrier against invasion. Following the disaster at the Falaise Gap in August, where the Germans suffered 300,000 casualties, resistance had been light as the surviving German units raced east toward better defensive ground in the Ardennes and Alsace-Lorraine regions. Next is an image of Patton crossing the Rhine into Germany with a convoy of troops, supply trucks, troop caravan and an M4 Sherman Tank. This was because Third Army, and the other Allied armies racing to its north, had stretched their supply lines until they snapped. Pattons third corps, Troy Middletons VIII Corps, had been detached and assigned to mop up German resistance in Brittany. But his request was denied as by then both sides had shifted the bulk of their resources to the northern sector. . After the war Eisenhower was appointed Military Governor of the U.S. 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. That remained the case in the first months of 1945. They rose through the branches of the trees to a height of 60 feet. 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. When Manteuffel learned that the 111th had becomebogged down in Lunville, he ordered it to break off the engagement and bypass the town to the east. 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. 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. 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. 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. George Patton's US 5th Division crossed the Rhine River during the night of 22 Mar 1945, establishing a six-mile deep bridgehead after capturing 19,000 demoralized German troops. National Interest Newsletter. 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. 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. "My dear General", Winston Churchill said to the American general as they met the next morning, "the German is whipped. Patton was relieved of command in the wake of the incident but was not dismissed from war service. 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. 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. 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. 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. Within three days Patton's troops were rapidly approaching Frankfurt, Germany, capturing bridges in tact as the German defenses began to fall apart. First Armys center, which was anchored at Metz, was the responsibility of SS General-Lieutenant Herman Priess, commanding the 13th SS Corps, while First Armys left wing at Nancy was entrusted to General der Panzertruppen Heinrich Freiherr von Luttwitz, commanding the 47th Panzer Corps. 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. This dramatic entrance to the battle by CCA caught the Germans off guard and paid large dividends. Luttwitz and Krueger received their orders two days before the start date. Frankfort was captured by Allied troops on 29 Mar. 25 March Military History Office 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. 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. 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. The new panzer brigades each had a battalion of Panzergrenadiers drawn from the three Panzergrenadier divisions already in Lorraine. But where he crossed the Main? 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. Meanwhile the construction of an even larger Class 40 bridge "London Bridge" continued and was completed by midnight. 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 . 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. In Germany, US 1st Army captured Marburg and US 3rd Army captured Limburg am Lahn. It was significant to the Allies because it offered a gateway between the Ardennes and Vosges Mountains, through which Allied forces might reach Germany. US First Army attacked Paderborn, Germany. As for Patton, he incorrectly dismissed the action as nothing more than another failed local counterattack. Having previously been denied permission to photograph the face of the 200,000th prisoner (the Geneva Convention required that a prisoner be protected against acts of public curiosity), Patton announced that this time we will take a picture of his ass. (A week later their POW capture would top 300,000. Troops of the US Ninth Army finished clearing the Duisberg Pocket in Germany. 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. The Shermans therefore attempted to use the ridge for cover and engage the Panthers head-on, with disappointing results. After some confusion as to the location of their target, which was Maj. Gen. Raymond McLains 90th Division of Walkers XX Corps, the Germans regrouped on the evening of September 7 and advanced after midnight in two columns through the village of Briey toward the American position. The delay would prove a costly one. 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. 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. In fact, it was the first time an invading force had crossed the Rhein into Germany since Napoleon! 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. Objekt des Monats Mrz: Rhine River Crossing Memorial. 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. On the evening of March 22, 1945 General George S. Patton's forces were fronting the last major obstacle to the heart of Germany, the Rhine River. 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. By that evening, the Germans had discovered Pattons forces, and perhaps more important, Pattons British rival, Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, was preparing to cross the Rhine as well. He engineered the Normandy breakout and was made commander of the Twelfth Army Group. In the first day alone, CCAs vanguard had advanced nearly 20 miles and destroyed a dozen enemy tanks and 85 half-tracks and captured 350 prisoners. 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. Thank you. 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. March 22, 1945 On this date in 1945, one day before the British 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery was due to launch Operation Plunder, the long-awaited northern offensive across the Rhine River at Rees and Wesel in North Rhine-Westphalia, Gen. George S. Patton sneaked a division of his U.S. Third Army across the Rhine at Oppenheim, lower on the river and south of Mainz. Charging up the slope after nightfall, the Germans once again seized the crest, forcing the Americans to retreat to the northern slope. This operation to cross the northern Rhine River launched in the night of 23 Mar 1945. A major firefight developed that resulted in the destruction of seven enemy tanks at the cost of three Shermans. ", ww2dbaseAdditional Contribution by Alan Chanter. 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. Eisenhower (18901969) was chosen in July 1942 to head Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1943. Days of Combat: 91. 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. World War Two Timeline From The Great War To Germanys Surrender. 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. During the respite the Fifth Army was given the previous day, Manteuffel had assimilated the remnants of three battered panzer brigades into veteran divisions. Eddy was tasked with locating possible crossing points above and below Nancy, while Walker was instructed to do the same above and below Metz. Yet Abramss 35th Tank Battalion counterattacked in the afternoon and recaptured the town in a fight that inflicted substantial casualties on the Germans. Photo Credit: Men of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division hug the walls in one of the suburbs of Metz in early September 1944. 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. So dont make any announcementwell keep it a secret until we see how it goes.. Third Army, which formed the right wing of Bradleys 12th Army Group, was composed of Maj. Gen. Walton Walkers XX Corps and Eddys XII Corps. Copyright 20122023 World War II - Day By Day. 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. 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. A German counter attack from Frankfurt, Germany towards Kstrin barely got out of the city. We hope that visitor conversations at WW2DB will be constructive and thought-provoking. The attack on the 25th was not substantial enough to disrupt a shuffling of U.S. forces in the Arracourt sector. Seventh Army in the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. 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. The Americans captured the northern fort almost immediately, but German paratroopers held out in the southern fort for five days. This article is part of our larger selection of postsabout the George S. Patton. The Shermans then retreated behind the crest of the ridge and reappeared at another point to finish off the three remaining Panthers. . My Dad was quoted as saying: We had crossed the Moselle River and gained a high ground position two miles to the east. In little more than a months time, Patton, together with his archrival British General Bernard L. Montgomery, commanding the British Eighth Army, liberated the strategic island from Axis control. 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. ww2dbaseOn 24 Mar, Churchill crossed the Rhine River in an LCM (landing craft, mechanized), setting foot on the eastern bank of the river, symbolizing the crossing of the top British political leader over the traditional border of Germany that no foreign army had crossed in 140 years. The Lorraine campaign would test Patton and his men as they had never been tested before. 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. To cover CCBs former position in the line, Baades 35th Infantry Division advanced to a new position west of Chateau-Salins. Patton was chomping at the bit to get at the Germans as soon as he arrived in France, and Bradley received permission from Ike to activate Third Army on August 1. 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. Major General Clarence Huebner's V Corps made rapid advances with relative ease. The Germans attacked again in the vicinity of Rechicourt in the afternoon, but after losing another nine tanks they broke off the action. Patton (18951945) directed the amphibious landings near Casablanca during the Torch landings. On September 2, Hitler issued orders for the creation of 25 new divisions, most of which were to be given the designation of Volksgrenadier. You mean across the Rhine? Sure am, Patton replied, I sneaked a division over last night. Patton simply used ad hoc tactics to push the 5th Infantry across. 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. The Crossing of the Rhine River. When the Germans attempted to withdraw, they found their escape route blocked by the 359th Infantry Regiment moving east to cut them off. 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. Taken together, the losses seriously compromised the impending large-scale counterattack that Manteuffel was charged with executing. Patton celebrated the victory by stopping on a treadway bridge his men had built and relieving himself into the river. Manteuffels plans for September 27 called for Wietersheims 11th Panzer Division to seize the camelback and Arracourt, opening the road to Nancy. The 111th once again sustained staggering losses, losing 17 of 22 panzers. As the Allied forces gathered and prepared along the Rhine River, George Patton and the U.S. 5 th Division were quietly carrying . Bradley quickly exploited the opportunity and expanded the bridgehead into a full-scale crossing. 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. 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] 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. On the night of March 22, 1945, elements of the Third Army crossed the Rhine at the German town of Oppenheim. In effort to ensure greater success, Manteuffel ordered a detailed reconnaissance of enemy positions. 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. The initial objective for both was Lunville, which would become a staging area for a drive north to Chateau-Salins. So he decided to imitate William the Conquerors entrance into England before leading Norman forces in their heroic conquest of the entire island in 1066. 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. Walkers corps consisted of the 5th and 90th Infantry Divisions and the 7th Armored Division, while Eddys corps, at that time, consisted of the 35th and 80th Infantry Divisions and the 4th and 6th Armored Divisions. Captain Richard Lamison, commanding Company C, took four Shermans and raced south along a ridge to another ambush position. As US Third Army made another Rhine River crossing near Worms, Germany, British Second Army and Canadian First Army launched their assaults across the Rhine River north of the Ruhr River. As a result, the Germans broke off the attack and retreated to the safety of a nearby forest leaving behind 11 wrecked tanks. Lava's technical capabilities. 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. 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. The following day Patton arrived at the pontoon bridge his engineers had constructed over the Rhine. Once Third Army reached the West Wall, Patton intended to concentrate his forces to achieve a breach. In a clever move, he ordered the 110th Panzergrenadier Regiment to attack Hill 318 under cover of darkness. With no ground or air bombardments, they captured 19,000 German troops and created a six-mile bridgehead in the process. 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. In short order, more than a half-dozen M5 Stuart tanks sat smoldering and crumpled in fields near the town. While waiting for fuel to arrive with which to resume his eastward advance, Patton received good news from Bradley on September 4 that he would soon receive reinforcements in the form of Maj. Gen. Wade Haislips XV Corps, which would guard his right flank against German forces retreating up the Rhone Valley. 18951945 ) directed the amphibious landings near Casablanca during the Torch landings miles to the battle by caught! 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