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. Please refrain from using strong language. 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. Taken together, the losses seriously compromised the impending large-scale counterattack that Manteuffel was charged with executing. The attack, which came as a complete surprise, was being orchestrated by one of the Third Reichs most talented panzer leaders, the diminutive General der Panzertruppen Hasso von Manteuffel, whom Hitler had plucked from the Eastern Front with his staff to drive Pattons forces back across the Moselle. Patton would face significant leadership and tactical challenges in the region in the months following the Arracourt clashes. During the fighting around Juvelize, the Americans lost 14 Shermans and 7 Stuarts. Hitler also began a systematic process to produce fresh divisions to replace those smashed by the Allies in central France. Patton's goal was to cross the Rhine, even if not a single bridge was left standing over which to do it. This kind of came as a surprise, but everything was so well prepared for us, recalled Tucker. 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. events, and resources, Patton in Lorraine: Breaking the Moselle Line. I was certainly very full of hopes and saw myself crossing the Rhine, Patton said. After the completion of the Battle in The Ardennes, Patton and his Army turned to the south and east attacking toward the Rhine. Patton told Wood to strike east the following day in the belief that it would keep the Germans off balance. Germany. First, it is aiming to offer interesting US First Army captured Paderborn and Hamm, Germany. After 48 hours of hard fighting, the bridgehead was abandoned. 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. When I looked for a second target, it was gone.. Days of Combat: 91. von Florian Weber; Verffentlicht am 1. Manteuffels plans for September 27 called for Wietersheims 11th Panzer Division to seize the camelback and Arracourt, opening the road to Nancy. Click here for parts Two and Three. 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. Patton would now report to Bradley. 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 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. To descend the ridge and maneuver against the Panthers would have exposed the Shermans to the Panthers highly effective guns. But the Americans stood their ground. The Rhine itself was symbolic of the entrance into Germany from Western Europe and had historically stood as a natural barrier against invasion. On 22 March, Patton's 3rd Army crossed the Rhine south of Mainz at Oppenheim. Seventh Army during the Sicilian campaign ( Operation Husky ), and in August 1944 his Third Army became operational in northern France. Meanwhile, British 2nd Army began an offensive towards the Elbe River. With the vise tightening on Nancy, Blaskowitz ordered the 553rd Volksgrenadier Division to pull out of the Nancy pocket before it was cut off. BATTLE OF THE BULGE is scrolled underneath. 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. Copyright 20122023 World War II - Day By Day. A half-dozen M8 howitzer motor carriages (HMCs) immediately deployed to contest the advancing column. Two days earlier, Patton had told Maj. Gen. Manton Eddy that his XII Corps would lead the way. From Metz to Nancy the Germans were deployed on the east bank of the Moselle as follows: the 559th Volksgrenadier Regiment opposite Thionville, Division Number 462 (partially composed of zealous officer cadets from the Metz service schools) and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division at Metz, the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division opposite Pont-a-Mousson, the 92nd Luftwaffe Training Regiment opposite Marbache, the 3rd Parachute Replacement Regiment in front of Nancy in a westward loop of the river, and the 553rd Volksgrenadier Regiment inside Nancy. 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. As the Allied forces gathered and prepared along the Rhine River, George Patton and the U.S. 5 th Division were quietly carrying . He sent one regiment from Maj. Gen. Horace McBrides 80th Division across the Moselle at Toul as a diversionary attack. 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. 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. Luttwitz would strike north toward Lunville, while Krueger would push west along the south side of the Marne-Rhine Canal toward the town. Left: Keeping a low profile, soldiers of the U.S. Third Armys 89th Infantry Division cross the Rhine in assault boats under intense German fire, March1945. In short order, more than a half-dozen M5 Stuart tanks sat smoldering and crumpled in fields near the town. 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. US First Army finally broke out of Remagen bridgehead in Germany. Patton immediately issued orders to Eddy and Walker to proceed with reconnaissance-in-force missions to determine the best points at which to cross the Moselle. 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. XXX Corps. ), Patton also requested the help of the press corps in informing the Germans that four of his armored divisions were slashing away at them. HistoryOnTheNet 2000-2019. By dawn the Germans had seized the crest of Hill 318. 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. But his request was denied as by then both sides had shifted the bulk of their resources to the northern sector. Panzergrenadier formations then swept forward to clear American antitank, machine-gun, and rifle positions. The next morning, elements of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division overran the bridgehead, killing 300 Americans. By early afternoon, the Germans were fighting their way into the southern end of the town. He wanted a quick, spectacular crossing that would produce newspaper headlines in the manner of 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 111th once again sustained staggering losses, losing 17 of 22 panzers. Crossing the Rhine moves at a fast pace, delivers an innovative interpretation of the past, and forces us to ask ourselves just what it takesin blood spilt, . Luttwitz and Krueger received their orders two days before the start date. "My dear General", Winston Churchill said to the American general as they met the next morning, "the German is whipped. Another 2,153 fighters supported the ground operations. The media and public back home were outraged that a general would treat an enlisted man in such a manner. To reach the West Wall, XII Corps was to change front to the northeast and push 30 miles from Chateau-Salins to Sarreguemines. 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. US First Army attacked Paderborn, Germany. As a result, the 112th Panzer Brigade lost 69 of its 90 tanks. Lava's technical capabilities. McLain issued orders for the nearest infantry regiments to converge on the enemy column. 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. Thank You, 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. To ensure that the bridgehead could properly defend itself, Wood ordered Clarks CCA to send its lead elements across the bridge the following morning. 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. Eddy planned to isolate Nancy in a double envelopment. With that measure of skill, the 704th managed that day to destroy eight Panthers without losing a single tank destroyer. 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. So dont make any announcementwell keep it a secret until we see how it goes.. He engineered the Normandy breakout and was made commander of the Twelfth Army Group. The troops of the French First Army crossed the Rhine River near Philippsburg, Germany on 1 Apr. DEste begins with Pattons early life and family and moves through his decades at a pace that makes this long book seem far shorter. That evening Manteuffel made substantial adjustments to the German plan of attack. 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. 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. The 134th was fortunate to find a bridge intact and threw a battalion across the river. 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. and useful information about WW2. Subsequently VIII Corps made two additional crossings downstream, to the south of Koblenz. In 1943 he commanded the U.S. Hitler, who reluctantly agreed to a far less ambitious counterattack than initially envisioned, issued orders for the German attack to begin on September 18. All comment submissions will become the property of WW2DB. Manteuffels goal, as head of the 5th Panzer Army on the Western Front, was to transform Lunville into a base from which to roll up Third Armys flank on the east bank of the river. Eddy was tasked with locating possible crossing points above and below Nancy, while Walker was instructed to do the same above and below Metz. From there, Third Army would advance along a northeast route of march toward the fortified West Wall. 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. This operation to cross the northern Rhine River launched in the night of 23 Mar 1945. By the end of the day the Germans had lost a dozen Mark IVs and six Panthers. 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. 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. 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. 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. Throughout the night of 23 Mar and the next day, 80,000 British and Canadian troops crossed the 20-mile stretch of the river. We began to cautiously filter down through the moonlit streets toward the shingled beach. Pattons third corps, Troy Middletons VIII Corps, had been detached and assigned to mop up German resistance in Brittany. After the completion of the Battle in The Ardennes, Patton and his Army turned to the south and east attacking toward the Rhine. ww2dbaseDwight Eisenhower expected the German troops, some elite including soldiers of the First Paratroop Army, would be prepared for such an invasion in the northern Ruhr area. 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. Patton had served with competence and distinction with the U.S. forces throughout Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa. The 37th Tank Battalion was sent to the rear to rest and refit. All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB. 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. 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. 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. 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. For its part, the 15th Panzergrenadier Division had three dozen Mark IV tanks. 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. If you supply any information, it would be appreciated by his family. I know that Third Army will be in at the finish in the same decisive way that it has performed in all the preliminary battles. Seventh Army in the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. On 26 Mar 1945, these troops marched southward toward Patton's troops. You can read more about the day . The 134th Infantry Regiment was ordered to cross on the left below Nancy, and the 137th Infantry Regiment on the right. 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. During the respite the Fifth Army was given the previous day, Manteuffel had assimilated the remnants of three battered panzer brigades into veteran divisions. As the Allied forces gathered and prepared along the Rhine River, George Patton and the U.S. 5 th Division were quietly carrying . Above and below Nancy, the Germans were content to wait for the Allies to attempt to cross the Moselle and launch local counterattacks in an effort to contain or eliminate the bridgeheads. The Shermans then retreated behind the crest of the ridge and reappeared at another point to finish off the three remaining Panthers. Fearing Hitlers ire, Blaskowitz berated Manteuffel for failing to make any noticeable gains and ordered him to continue the counterattack regardless of the losses incurred. 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. The flames were transparent orange, rising with startling swiftness. The fighting resulted in the final destruction of two panzer brigades. 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. Shortly after crossing the Rhine river near Oppenheim, Gen. Pattons 3rd Army went into the heart of Germany as they crossed their next water barrier, the Main river. The crossing began at 2230 hours on 23 March, when the first boats carrying 11th Infantry Regiment troops left the western bank of the Rhine. The German high command also reinforced the Fifth Panzer Army with Gen. Lt. Wend von Wietersheims 11th Panzer Division. The reversal of fortune gnawed at Patton from the outset of his service in France. US-Armee unter General George S. Patton (1885-1945) die Stadt Nierstein am Rhein. The goal of this . Overseas: 26 August 1944. 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