Patton celebrated the victory by stopping on a treadway bridge his men had built and relieving himself into the river. So dont make any announcementwell keep it a secret until we see how it goes.. 1. 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. Though beaten across the Rhine by Patton's Third Army, Montgomery's meticulous operation shone in its flawless execution. 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. 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. 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. I think, everybody here know the photo as Patton urinated into the Rhine. 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. 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. In other words, they had no depth, Patton said. 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. 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. 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. As a result, the 112th Panzer Brigade lost 69 of its 90 tanks. 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. As Pattons Third Army approached the Meuse River in late August, it paused before pushing into the Lorraine region. The western boundary of Lorraine is formed by the Moselle Valley and the eastern boundary by the Saare River. HTML tags are not allowed. US-Armee unter General George S. Patton (1885-1945) die Stadt Nierstein am Rhein. Meanwhile, British 2nd Army began an offensive towards the Elbe River. Meanwhile the construction of an even larger Class 40 bridge "London Bridge" continued and was completed by midnight. The troops of the French First Army crossed the Rhine River near Philippsburg, Germany on 1 Apr. 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. Patton knew his entrance into German-occupied territory was of monumental historical importance. 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. The Germans gained considerable ground on the morning of September 25, but the attack ground to a halt when the Germans were unable to dislodge CCA units from high ground northeast of Arracourt. . This article is part of our larger selection of postsabout the George S. Patton. The very notion was unpalatable to Old Blood and Guts. In Germany, US Third Army captured Frankfurt and Wiesbaden and US Seventh Army captured Mannheim. 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 . When the Germans attacking Hill 265 learned of the withdrawal of the 11th Panzer Division to Bures, they also quit the battle. 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. To learn more,click here for our comprehensive guide to General Patton. By the time the Third Army had gained a firm foothold on the east bank of the Moselle in mid-September, the masterminds of the German high command had hatched plans for a bold strike to regain the initiative. The Crossing of the Rhine River. ww2dbaseThe river on XXX Corps' front was 500 yards across and defended on its eastern bank by the German 8th Parachute Division, in and around the town of Rees. 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. Lying astride Third Armys route of advance were the key cities of Metz and Nancy, both of which are located on the east bank of the Moselle. The Panthersknocked out three of the lightly armored HMCs in short order. 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. 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. Subsequently VIII Corps made two additional crossings downstream, to the south of Koblenz. 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. 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. 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. (Back in Berlin, Adolf Hitler urged the Wehrmacht to attack the Allied bridgehead at Oppenheim, only to be told that no reserve forces were available to embark on such an operation.) . Seventh Army during the Sicilian campaign (Operation Husky), and in August 1944 his Third Army became operational in northern France. But its fortune ended there. Manteuffels plans for September 27 called for Wietersheims 11th Panzer Division to seize the camelback and Arracourt, opening the road to Nancy. After two days of hard fighting, the two sides braced for more of the same. and useful information about WW2. Once Third Army reached the West Wall, Patton intended to concentrate his forces to achieve a breach. 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. 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. The Lorraine campaign would test Patton and his men as they had never been tested before. Two days earlier, Patton had told Maj. Gen. Manton Eddy that his XII Corps would lead the way. 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. 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 final stage of World War II in the European Theatre commenced with the Western Allied invasion of Germany. Activated: 15 July 1942. This post is part of our collection of resources on Nazi Germany. Please refrain from using strong language. 2nd Lt. Richard Buss, commanding a platoon of M18s, ordered one of his vehicles to take up a well-protected position behind a railroad embankment with only its barrel visible. Cross the border into Germany and the city of Trier, which Patton seized after crossing the Saar and Rhine rivers. The shift in plans resulted in an ominous quiet on the front lines that day and led to speculation as to whether the Germans had finally quit their offensive. For a five-day period at the beginning of September, Pattons Third Army remained idle as German forces to their east regrouped and entrenched behind the Moselle. The men of the 317th Infantry Regiment managed to cross a bridge left intact and braced themselves for a counterattack. Instead, he commented, They brought up a row of trucks filled with assault boats. The type of close-range fighting that day is exemplified by an encounter between an M18 Hellcat of the 704th against a pair of Panther tanks. . When I looked for a second target, it was gone.. News of the crossing made it around the world. 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. Days of Combat: 91. To compensate for a reduction in forces, the main objective was switched to a strike toward Nancy to relieve those elements of the 553rd Volksgrenadier still fighting their way out of the tightening pocket. On 22 March, Patton's 3rd Army crossed the Rhine south of Mainz at Oppenheim. 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. Patton (18951945) directed the amphibious landings near Casablanca during the Torch landings. As for Patton, he incorrectly dismissed the action as nothing more than another failed local counterattack. By the end of the day on September 22, the 111th Panzer Brigade had only seven tanks from an original strength of 90 when the offensive started a week before. To succeed in Lorraine, Patton would have to exercise careful planning, make quick tactical adjustments, and adjust his goals and expectations when the weather failed to cooperate. After the completion of the Battle in The Ardennes, Patton and his Army turned to the south and east attacking toward the Rhine. Hitler, who had never liked Blaskowitz, sacked him on September 21. 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. Company A, advancing on the left, gained high ground west of Juvelize, and with substantial artillery support, it checked the momentum of the enemy armor pushing south. While the fighting raged, P-47s flew repeated sorties against Bures, through which the Germans were funneling fresh troops and ammunition into the battle. Terms & Conditions; Privacy Policy Click here to see our comprehensive article on World War 2. McLain issued orders for the nearest infantry regiments to converge on the enemy column. The 112th Panzer Brigade decimated by the clash at Dompaire, had only two dozen serviceable tanks. Bradley, who found the report satisfactory, passed the news to Eisenhower that Third Army was indeed across the Moselle in strength. Elements of the 4th and 6th Armored Divisions, the latter which had been serving as Third Armys rear guard, and other units began converging on the townin response. A week before the Rhine crossing, Patton had held a press conference in which he delivered a classic performance, mixing the humorous, provocative, and the profane. If Third Army was unable to cross the Moselle by September 14, Bradley told Patton, it would have to go over to the defensive. events, and resources, Patton in Lorraine: Breaking the Moselle Line. Troops of the US Ninth Army finished clearing the Duisberg Pocket in Germany. . Abrams received orders from Wood to pivot south toward Arracourt, where he would be in a position to link up with CCB and complete the encirclement of Nancy. DEste begins with Pattons early life and family and moves through his decades at a pace that makes this long book seem far shorter. 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. 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. 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. Whats more, a series of determined counterattacks by the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division kept the U.S. infantry from expanding the bridgehead. When a column of tanks from the 111th Panzer Brigade appeared that morning out of the fog, it was left to the gunners of the 191st Field Artillery Battalion to fight off the attack. 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. 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. The Rhine itself was symbolic of the entrance into Germany from Western Europe and had historically stood as a natural barrier against invasion. 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. 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. On Pattons left wing, Walkers XX Corps began probing the Metz defenses on September 7. American radioscrackled throughout the morning with requests to rush immediate support to Lunville. 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. This kind of came as a surprise, but everything was so well prepared for us, recalled Tucker. Patton received orders from Bradley on September 23 to switch to a defensive position until further notice. The 134th Infantry Regiment was ordered to cross on the left below Nancy, and the 137th Infantry Regiment on the right. As expected, the Germans counterattacked at 1 pm on September 13 just as CCA began crossing the bridge. He was confident that Eddys 35th Division, with close support of the 4th Armored, could achieve a breach and hold it open to allow Third Armys armored divisions to punch through the wall. Despite the ferocity of the attack, the cavalry held on for four hours before it finally withdrew into the town. 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. I want the world to know Third Army made it before Monty starts across, he shouted. 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. While we were digging in for the night, the Jerries sent over a heavy artillery barrage. By mid-September 1944, the U.S. Third Army was poised to strike at the soft underbelly of Adolf Hitlers Third Reich along a fabled corridor in northeastern France used for centuries by armies tramping across Europe. 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. This was the greatest airborne operation of the war. 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. Indeed, the advance of Haislips XV Corps prevented German forces from assembling for their attack on the west bank of the Moselle, where they might cut off the forces on the east bank. In Germany, US Third Army captured Darmstadt and reached Main, allowing the linking up with US Seventh Army near Worms. Luttwitz and Krueger received their orders two days before the start date. Click here for our comprehensive information resource on the society, ideology, and key events in Nazi Germany. The pause that refreshes. The general told the troops around him. 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. Pattons rapid advance across France came to an abrupt halt at Metz, due to fuel shortages, deteriorating weather conditions, and increased enemy resistance. 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. North of Metz, Third Armys left flank lay exposed, and Knobelsdorff sent the 106th Panzer Brigade to attack the Americans in an effort to keep them off balance and slow their efforts to cross the Moselle. ww2dbaseSource: This was because Third Army, and the other Allied armies racing to its north, had stretched their supply lines until they snapped. 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. Although his unit was spearheading the attack toward the river, he assumed there would be a pause to get organized for the crossing. From there, Third Army would advance along a northeast route of march toward the fortified West Wall. Another 2,153 fighters supported the ground operations. 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. I was convinced then there were no Germans ahead of us except those we were actually fighting. From the standpoint of losses in men and equipment, the Arracourt battles were a resounding victory for the Americans. Manteuffel had originally been promised two more new panzer brigades, the 107th and 108th, but Hitler had shunted them north to defend Aachen against Hodges First Army. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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