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Read Ebook: The war against Germany: Europe and adjacent areas by Hunter Kenneth E Ward Orlando Author Of Introduction Etc United States Department Of The Army Office Of Military History Bacon Mary Ann Book Editor Editor
Font size: Background color: Text color: Add to tbrJar First Page Next PageEbook has 309 lines and 13150 words, and 7 pagesNORMANDY CAMPAIGN SECTION II Normandy Campaign While the beachheads were expanded and the build-up continued, the infantry and armored units fought their way through the hedgerow country toward their objectives. The fighting was slow and costly as enemy opposition stiffened in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the Allied advance. With the capture of Cherbourg and Saint-L? the initial missions of the U. S. forces were completed and the forces were then assembled in preparation for the drives south and west from the beachhead toward Avranches and the Brittany Peninsula. The British forces were to push southward from Caen exploiting in the direction of Paris and the Seine Basin. These attacks were scheduled to begin on 19 July 1944 but because of bad weather the supporting aerial assault was delayed and the breakout of Normandy did not get under way until 25 July. NORTHERN FRANCE CAMPAIGN Northern France Campaign On 25 July 1944 the Allied forces fighting in Normandy were able to begin the offensive to break out of Normandy and carry to the German frontier. Preceding the ground attack planes of the Allied air forces dropped more than 3,390 tons of bombs on enemy positions on a narrow front in the vicinity of Saint-L?. The air attack's crushing power and its paralyzing effect on the German forces opened the way for a rapid and powerful drive by Allied armored and infantry units. Cities were captured in quick succession and the enemy troops were forced to flee in a disorderly retreat. The armored spearheads led the way out the Brittany Peninsula which was quickly occupied, with the exception of the fortresses of the port cities which were to continue to fight until after the German borders had been reached. While part of the U. S. forces were overrunning the Brittany Peninsula, the major portion turned toward the east in the direction of Paris, and British and Canadian troops moved southward from Caen along the road to Falaise. The battle of the Falaise-Argentan pocket was a disastrous defeat for the German forces who were trying to prevent the Allies from moving eastward. During the fighting in this area elements of two German armies were so disorganized and destroyed that their effectiveness was greatly impaired. Paris surrendered on 25 August and by the 27th all enemy resistance ceased there. The advance continued toward the eastern borders of France, where the Allies stopped their rapid drive, and though a few further advances were made, 14 September 1944 found them consolidating their positions along the Moselle River and northward in Belgium and Holland. The major port cities of Le Havre and Antwerp, which were badly needed by the Allies as ports of entry for men and materials, were captured. INTRODUCTION RHINELAND CAMPAIGN SECTION IV Rhineland Campaign On 15 September 1944 the Allied forces that had invaded southern France came under control of the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force. This added the 6th Army Group to the forces opposing the enemy along the German frontier, making a total of forty-eight Allied divisions in the European Theater of Operations. In a little over three months, 6 June-15 September 1944, the Western Allies had carried their offensives from the Normandy beaches to the western borders of Germany. During the next three months little, if any, progress was made. Several factors contributed to this general slowdown. As fall and winter approached, rain, mud, and snow greatly hindered operations and made living conditions extremely trying. The terrain became more difficult since many rivers and streams had to be crossed and rough, wooded, and hilly country was encountered. Enemy resistance stiffened as the Allies reached the German border. But more important than any other single factor was the problem of supplying the large forces which had advanced so rapidly that they had outrun their supplies. During this period, as the Allies came to the West Wall and the Rhine, severe fighting took place all along the front. Some of the most difficult operations of the war in western Europe occurred during the Rhineland Campaign as battles were fought in the Arnhem area, the Schelde estuary, the Huertgen Forest, the Aachen sector, the Metz and Saar regions, and the Belfort and Saverne Gaps. On 15 December the efforts of the Allies in the Rhineland were interrupted when the enemy broke through the lines in the Ardennes, causing a shift of troops to the Ardennes to reinforce the lines there. ARDENNES-ALSACE CAMPAIGN SECTION V Ardennes-Alsace Campaign In mid-December 1944 the Allies stopped along the German border, but continued to attack in the Saar and Roer regions, while they concentrated the majority of their strength for an attack in the north. The Germans, taking advantage of their continuous front along the West Wall, planned a counterattack to strike the Allies in one of the weakest portions of the line--the Ardennes sector. The ultimate goals of this German operation were to capture the port city of Antwerp, sever the major Allied supply lines emanating from that port, and destroy the Allied forces north of the Antwerp-Brussels-Bastogne line. Early on the morning of 16 December the German armies struck the Allied troops located in Belgium and Luxembourg. The Allies holding this portion of the line were too thinly dispersed to offer any great resistance against the powerful enemy attack and were forced to fall back. While the defenders fought the Germans, Allied armies shifted their drives and troops were rushed to the Ardennes to reinforce the hard hit units along the front from Monschau to Echternach. After severe fighting during late December 1944 and early January 1945 the Germans were defeated and by 25 January the Allies were once more ready to move toward Germany through the West Wall defenses. During the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign winter set in and the cold weather and snow-covered terrain made operations and living conditions extremely difficult. During this period the British forces in the north eliminated the Germans in the Roermond triangle and captured the enemy bridgehead west of the Roer River. The U. S. and French troops of the 6th Army Group fought a determined enemy in Lorraine and Alsace and by 25 January had driven the attacking Germans back across the Moder River. The Ardennes-Alsace Campaign, which delayed the Rhineland Campaign for six weeks, secured no major terrain objectives for either side. The Germans, who had employed some of their best remaining units, lost nearly 250,000 men, 600 tanks and assault guns, and about 1,600 airplanes. The Allies suffered 72,000 casualties. RHINELAND CAMPAIGN SECTION VI Rhineland Campaign At the successful conclusion of the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign the Allies again turned their attention to the Rhineland. Between 26 January and 21 March a major objective was achieved: the German troops which tried to halt the advance were cut off and destroyed, thus eliminating future enemy action west of the Rhine. CENTRAL EUROPE CAMPAIGN Central Europe Campaign Appendix A List of Abbreviations BAR Browning automatic rifle cm. Centimeter DD Duplex drive DUKW 2 1/2 -ton 6 x 6 amphibian truck E-boat Small torpedo boat Flak Fliegerabwehrkanone Jaeg. Jaegdtiger K. Kanone Kar. Karabiner Kw. Kraftwagen Kw. K. Kampfwagenkanone LBK Landing barge, kitchen LBV Landing barge, vehicle LCI Landing craft, infantry LCR Landing craft, rubber LCT Landing craft, tank LCT Landing craft, tank LCVP Landing craft, vehicle-personnel LST Landing ship, tank M. G. Maschinengewehr mm. Millimeter OCS Officer Candidate School Pak. Panzer abwehrkanone Pz. Panzer Pz. Kpfw. Panzerkampfwagen SCR Signal Corps Radio SHAEL Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force Stu. G. Sturmgeschuetz Stu. K. Sturmkanone U-boat Submarine WAAC Women's Army Auxiliary Corps WAC Women's Army Corps Appendix B Acknowledgments U. S. Navy: pp. 24, 77, 94b, 96, 110b, 122 U. S. Coast Guard: pp. 80, 88a, 92 UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The following volumes have been published: The War Department Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and Preparations Washington Command Post: The Operations Division Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1941-1942 Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1943-1944 Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940-1943 Global Logistics and Strategy: 1943-1945 The Army and Economic Mobilization The Army and Industrial Manpower The Army Ground Forces The Organization of Ground Combat Troops The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops The Army Service Forces The Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces The Western Hemisphere The Framework of Hemisphere Defense Guarding the United States and Its Outposts The War in the Pacific The Fall of the Philippines Guadalcanal: The First Offensive Victory in Papua CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls Campaign in the Marianas The Approach to the Philippines Leyte: The Return to the Philippines Triumph in the Philippines Okinawa: The Last Battle Strategy and Command: The First Two Years The Mediterranean Theater of Operations Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West Sicily and the Surrender of Italy Salerno to Cassino Cassino to the Alps The European Theater of Operations Cross-Channel Attack Breakout and Pursuit The Lorraine Campaign The Siegfried Line Campaign The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge The Last Offensive The Supreme Command Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume I Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume II Add to tbrJar First Page Next Page |
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