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. Scouts from the U.S. 42nd Cavalry Squadron detected a German column approachingfrom the south toward Lunville at 7 am on September 18. From there, the vehicle fired an armor-piercing shell into the side of a Panther in a field 300 yards away. The turning point in the battle came when a U.S. artillery observer directed more than 300 howitzer rounds onto a German column lined up on a sunken road in preparation for an assault on the village of Mairy. 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. He wanted a quick, spectacular crossing that would produce newspaper headlines in the manner of 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. Both sides employed heavy guns to shell enemy forces clinging to their respective slopes. 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 fact, it was the first time an invading force had crossed the Rhein into Germany since Napoleon! So Patton called Bradley again. Copyright 20122023 World War II - Day By Day. About 766 miles in length, with an average width of about 1,300 feet, the generally north-flowing waterway also is exceptionally swift and deep. Meanwhile, US Third Army captured Aschaffenburg, Germany, 40 kilometers to the southeast. Tom Tucker was one of the first men from Pattons Third Army to cross the Rhine River, the last natural barrier to the heart of Germany. Eisenhower (18901969) was chosen in July 1942 to head Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1943. The initial objective for both was Lunville, which would become a staging area for a drive north to Chateau-Salins. Though Patton had hoped XII Corps would be ready to resume its advance on September 16, Eddy informed Patton that his troops would not be ready to resume their eastward advance until the 19th, after they had mopped up German forces behind their lines. 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. 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. 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. As a result, the 112th Panzer Brigade lost 69 of its 90 tanks. This post is part of our collection of resources on Nazi Germany. The new panzer brigades each had a battalion of Panzergrenadiers drawn from the three Panzergrenadier divisions already in Lorraine. The Germans attacked again in the vicinity of Rechicourt in the afternoon, but after losing another nine tanks they broke off the action. 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. Seventh Army in the invasion of Sicily in July 1943. Leslie Mansfield, (daughter). At daybreak, the 358th Infantry Regiment attacked the column with a wide range of antitank weapons including bazookas, 3-inch guns, and 105 mm howitzers. 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. 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. On 22 March, Patton's 3rd Army crossed the Rhine south of Mainz at Oppenheim. Leclerc also benefited from repeated tactical air strikes by P-47 Thunderbolts of Brig. The delay would prove a costly one. The Shermans therefore attempted to use the ridge for cover and engage the Panthers head-on, with disappointing results. On the day of the deadline, Patton reported to Bradley that the southern wing of Third Army had broken out of its bridgeheads and was in position to continue pushing east. 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. To protect the fatherland, Hitler ordered all German forces on the Western Front to hold their positions on the Moselle to allow engineers to make much-needed improvements to the West Wall fortifications. The purpose of this note is to express to you personally my deep appreciation of the splendid way in which you have conducted Third Army operations from the moment it entered battle last August 1. On March 23, 1945, Eisenhower wrote a warm letter to Patton: I have frequently had occasion to state, publicly, my appreciation of the great accomplishments of this Allied force during the past nine months. click here for our comprehensive guide to General Patton. Major General Clarence Huebner's V Corps made rapid advances with relative ease. 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. ww2dbaseTo assist the Engineer the RAF's No.159 Wing was approached to furnish some of the men who operated the balloons to handle the winches that were to be used to haul the ferries and rafts across. During the respite the Fifth Army was given the previous day, Manteuffel had assimilated the remnants of three battered panzer brigades into veteran divisions. On March 24, 1945, Patton approached a newly constructed pontoon bridge over the Rhine that his troops had placed two nights before and a Third Army division had already crossed. Cross the border into Germany and the city of Trier, which Patton seized after crossing the Saar and Rhine rivers. and useful information about WW2. Overseas: 26 August 1944. 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. By early afternoon, the Germans were fighting their way into the southern end of the town. Further south, where the river was narrower, Patton's Third Army vaulted the Rhine with its customary elan, as did Devers' Sixth Army Group. Once again, Company C of the 704th TD Battalion rushed forward to delay the advance supported by P-47s firing rockets and machine guns. Hitler also reappointed General Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, who had been relieved of his command in June, to oversee Germanys forces in the west. 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. 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. 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. While the fighting raged, P-47s flew repeated sorties against Bures, through which the Germans were funneling fresh troops and ammunition into the battle. The men of the 317th Infantry Regiment managed to cross a bridge left intact and braced themselves for a counterattack. The historic city of Metz included an extensive system of man-made fortifications from previous wars. Though beaten across the Rhine by Patton's Third Army, Montgomery's meticulous operation shone in its flawless execution. This operation to cross the northern Rhine River launched in the night of 23 Mar 1945. 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. Left: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in the company of Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery and a party of U.S. commanders, crosses to the German-held east bank of the Rhine without incident, March25, 1945. Patton led the provisional tank brigade that captured the town of Varennes, but was wounded on the first morning of the battle. 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. 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. To their surprise, they were not opposed by enemy forces. But there were simply too many crossing points for the Germans to contest every one with such promptness as they had shown at Dornot, Arnaville, and Pont-a-Mousson. We were surprised the Navy was there, he commented, and the Navy was surprised they were so far away from the ocean. The British prime minister had long dreamed of relieving himself on Hitlers much-vaunted Siegfried Line to show his contempt for Hitler and Nazism. Charging up the slope after nightfall, the Germans once again seized the crest, forcing the Americans to retreat to the northern slope. Unlike Manteuffels forces, Knobelsdorffs had artillery with which to support an attack. 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 Pattons left wing, Walkers XX Corps began probing the Metz defenses on September 7. The initial counterattacks against Third Armys bridgeheads should have convinced him that the enemy was regaining strength. You have made your Army a fighting force that is not excelled in effectiveness by any other of equal size in the world, and I am very proud of the fact that you, as one of the fighting commanders who has been with me from the beginning of the African campaign, have performed so brilliantly throughout. The tank battle raged well into the afternoon as Company B arrived to help Abrams hold back the Germans. 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. He did not expect to encounter substantial resistance until he reached the West Wall. Patton had seriously underestimated the Germans ability to recover from setbacks and mount a tenacious defense as the Western Allies neared the German border. 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. Equally devastating was the loss of both panzer brigade commanders during the two-day assault on CCAs left flank. Throughout the night of 23 Mar and the next day, 80,000 British and Canadian troops crossed the 20-mile stretch of the river. 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. Your IP address will be tracked even if you remain anonymous. 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. Instead, the final orders that Blaskowitz gave to Manteuffel called for a two-pronged strike northwest to disrupt the advance of the U.S. 4th Armored Division and retake the crossroads at Chateau-Salins. 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. Initially, at least, Eddys XII Corps suffered setbacks as severe as those experienced by Walkers corps to its north. 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. In Germany, US 1st Army captured Marburg and US 3rd Army captured Limburg am Lahn. By September 7, U.S. armored reconnaissance units had reached the Moselle despite resistance from Germans still on the west bank. Bradley told General George S. Pattonwhose U.S. Third Army had been fighting through the Palatinateto "take the Rhine on the run". Eddy planned to isolate Nancy in a double envelopment. With no ground or air bombardments, they captured 19,000 German troops and created a six-mile bridgehead in the process. 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. 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. Taken together, the losses seriously compromised the impending large-scale counterattack that Manteuffel was charged with executing. Photo Credit: Men of the U.S. 5th Infantry Division hug the walls in one of the suburbs of Metz in early September 1944. Beyond the German front lines, US aircraft harassed retreating German columns, destroying 246 trucks and 241 railway wagons. Near Moncourt, just east of Arracourt, a platoon of Mark IVs and towed anti-tank guns ambushed Abramss Company C, leaving a half-dozen M4 tanks mangled. In December he was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force and planned the July 1944 invasion of Europe (Operation Overlord). 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. 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 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. For inquiries about military records for members of the World War II armed forces, please see our FAQ. Click here to see our comprehensive article on World War 2. US First Army attacked Paderborn, Germany. The German armored column continued south, hoping to stampede the American soldiers into abandoning their positions. 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. The 37th Tank Battalion was sent to the rear to rest and refit. 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. It was an unusually costly day for the Americans, who lost a dozen Shermans. events, and resources, Patton in Lorraine: Breaking the Moselle Line. 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. Frankfort was captured by Allied troops on 29 Mar. Pattons troops beat Montgomery across the Rhine by one day. The plan focused on Wesel, with multiple crossings set to occur along a 22-mile front on the evening of 23 March. Meanwhile the construction of an even larger Class 40 bridge "London Bridge" continued and was completed by midnight. His plan called for a narrowing of the front, with two corps abreast and one in reserve. 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. Right: Patton famously relieved himself in the Rhine on March24, 1945and made sure he was photographed doing so. Copyright 2004-2023 Lava Development, LLC., all rights reserved, See all 47 photographs of Crossing the Rhine, Message from George Patton to US 5th Infantry Division. This was the first crossing of the Rhine River by boat by an invading army since Napoleon Bonaparte. Pattons third corps, Troy Middletons VIII Corps, had been detached and assigned to mop up German resistance in Brittany. 2nd Lt. 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