Figure 1.--After the Normandy breakout and the rapid liberation of France and Belgium, the retreating German soldiers stood and fought at the West Wall. The failire of Market Garden and supplu problemd gave the Germans time to harden the West Wall before the Allies reached it. Many of the guns had ben stripped from the West Wall, but the hardened emplacements were still in tact. After the tough figtening through the West Wall defenses, the Germans prived un able to defend the Rhine. This after crossing the Rhine (March 1945), the Allies no longer faced fixed German defenses. And German units were no longer mobile. Allied troops still suffered casualties as they were die hards that refused to surrender. Germans did not want their villages and towns defended because it meant destruction by Allied artillery and air strikes. Most soldiers Germans by this stage of the war thought fortunate to surrender to the western Allies rather than the Soviets. The Wetern Allies made rapid progress as they swept east toward the Soviets advancing west. Scenes like this took place in one German town and village after another as the Allies swept east. Notice that the mother here is allowing the boys to play openly with tanks (a prominent symbol of NAZI aggression as can be seen in the caption). The toys strangely more like Soviet than German tanks. Perhaps even more notable, the mother has let the girl play outside with the boys in the presence of American troops. Nothing like this would have occurred in the East. The caption here read, "Nazi children play with Panzer toys: Private RussellmJ. Hobort of Beaumont, Texas a Signal Corpsmanof the Seventh U.S. Army, strings communication wire through Mosbch, Germany, April 6, 1945, as German children in the foreground play war games with minatiure Nazi tanks. Mosbach is 32 miles southeast of the Rhine River town of Mannheim." Source: U.S. Signal Corps Photo. ETO-HQ-45-30705.

The Americans began approaching the West Wall (September 1944). The lack of an operational deepwaer port, however, limited the quantity of supplies being landed. The German situation at the time was chaotic as the 7th Army streamed back to the Reich. The West Wall was a hallow shell and many of the German soldiers dispirited. If Patton have been given the supplies, most military historins believe that he could have driven into the Reich. Eisenhower had to make a decesion. There was not sufficent supplies for multiple offensives. He decided to bsupport Montgomery's plan to cross the Rhine River bridges in the north--Operation Market Garden (October 1944). It is not entirely clear why he chose Monty given sharp encounters the two had. It could have been coalition politics. Eliminating potential V-2 launch sites was certainly a factor. The failire of Market Garden meant that the invasion of Germany could not occur until the Spring. The Americans began driving into the Rhineland, but the German Buklge offensive temporarily delayed that (December 1944). . After the Bulge was reduced, the assaukt on the West Wall was renewed and the Rhineland occupied. The Americans and British began to cross the Rhine, a forbidable challenge, but made easier by the capture of the Remagen Bridge in tact (March 7, 1945). The Allies rushed accross the Rhine and a few weeks later at many other sites with landing craft and pontoon bridges. This was followed by Operation Varsity a massive paratroop drop on the German side of the Rhine (March 24). Within weeks the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland was surround and huge numbers of Germans soldiers surrendered in the Ruhr pocket. The Rhine was the last significant geographic barrier. Allied forces then began a race accross Germany toward the Russians pressing west.

Watch on the Rhine

The Rhine Rive is one of the major rivers in Europe and a waterway of almost mystical importance to the German people. "The Watch on the Rhine!" or "Die Wacht am Rhein!" is one of the most famous patriotic songs in German history. Max Schneckenburger wrote "The Watch on The Rhine" in 1840. It became very popular among Prussian and other German troops duting the Franco Prussian War (1870-71).

Supply Problems

Hitler and the Wehrmacht were keenly aware of the Allied supply issues. Heavily mechanized American units required vastly more supplies than comprable German units. Fuel was a particular problem because of the consumption by armored and other mechanized units. Landing supplies over beaches was a limiting factor. Mulberries at Normandy helped, but the American Mulberry was destroyed in a Channel storm. And even after the Allied advance across France, isolated Gerjan garrisons held out in ports. Antwerp was a paticularly important port and seized in relatively good condition, but German grrisons in estuary forts prevented use from the Allies. The German had not anticipted the American ability to move supplies by truck. (The Wehrmacht primarily used railroads.) The Red Ball Express supplied rapidly advancing American armies. (American trucks supplied the Soviets through Lend Lease also played a major role in the rapid Red Army advance in the East.) This kept the American units supplied, but not sufficently to support a major offensive all along the front line. Supply problems meant that after the failure of Market Garden, Allied armies did not have the supplies needed for another effort to cross the Rhine. The supply constraints and then the Bulge impeded Allied operations. The Allies finally resolved their supply contraints (February 1945).

The West Wall

The West Wall originated in World War I. It was named the Siegfriedstellung (Siegfried Line). It was a defensive military belt of forts and tank defenses constructed in occupied northern France (1916�17) as a section of the larger Hindenburg Line. It was the inspiration for the West Wall the Germans built west of the Rhine and along the Rhine after the NAZIs seized power (1930s). Planning began as part of the German remilitarization effort (1936) and the construction took place (1938-40). The allies did not know much about it as thet raced through France toward the Rhine. It was constructed facing the French Maginot Line. The allies continued using the term Siegfried Line, but the Germans called it the West wall. The West Wall extended some 630 km (390 miles) from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of the old German Empire, to the town of Weil am Rhein on the border to Switzerland. It consisted of 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. It was planned beginning in 1936 and built (1938-40). The Wehrmacht was expecting a long protracted war in the west. The collapse of France (June 1940) left the West Wall obsolete. Much of the armament was removed and used in the construction of the Atlantic Wall (1941-44). The supply problems the Allies experienced, gave the Germans time to move armaments back into the firts and pill boxes of the west Wall. And because most of the German aemy un France made in back to the Reich, manpower was availablr to man the West Wall by the time the Allies began approching it (September 1944). Properly armmed and manned, it was a formidable defensive line. Unlike the Fench Maginot Line, the Allies could not go around it. Hitler instead of basing his fefense in the west on the West Wall, decided to send his last reserves from out of the defense of the West wall.

The Bulge (December 16, 1944)

Hitler launched the last important German offensive of the War--Operation Norwind (December 16). The Germans for again strike in the Ardennes. The Wehrmacht launched a carefully planned attack against weak Anerican ynits in the Ardennes (December 16, 1944). The offensive was commanded by Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt. The NAZI panzers stormed westward along a 60-mile front stretching from Saint Vith in Belgium south to Echternach in Luxembourg. The German goal was to break through the American lines, sweep through the Ardennes, and seize Antwerp. The port of Antwerp was essential to the Allied offensive. The major limiting factor to the Allie was supplies and the Allies were beginning to repair the Antwerp port facilities. With Antwerp the British and Canadians in northern Belgium could be cut off and encircled. The Allied thought the Wehrmacht was esentially defeated and incapable of mounting amajor offensive. The Germans were also careful to avoid sending messages bout the offensive electronically. Thus Ultra did not have a clear picture, although Allied commanders were given some warnings. The Germans forced the U.S. 28th Division to retreat from Wiltz (December 19). Eisenhower ordered the 101st Airborne Division to defend the vital crossroads town of Bastonge in Belgium. The German panzers pushed west. German Panther and Tiger tanks in many ways were superior to the American panzers, but they were slower and the Tigers could not cross many Belgian bridges, limited possible crosings. They also guzzled huge quantities of fuel and fuel ws the principal limiting facor to the Germand offensive. he German plans were contingent on capturing American fuel depots. When the German offensive began, George S. Patton's 3rd Army to the south was about to launch an invasion into the German Saar. In a brilliant movement, within 2 days, he turned the offensive on a 90� axis and struck northward into the German flank to relieve the 101st Airborne in Bastogne. The 3rd Army liberated Ettlebruck on Christmas Eve and broke through the German lines to relieve Bastogne (December 26). The U.S. 5th Armored Division conducted a surprise night crossing of the River Sure and liberated Diekirch (January 18, 1945). The Germans were pushed back to the positions they held at the start of the battle (January 28). The Whrmacht offensive in the Ardennes delayed the Allied offensive toward the Rhine by about 6 weeks. The llies i the campaign, however, destroyed virtually all of the Wehrmacht reserves and important panzer units as well as futher depleting the Luftwffe. This meant that the ability of the Germans to defend the Rhine and Berlin was significantly reduced.

Approach to the Rhine (January-February 1945)

The Rhine was the last important barrier to the Western Allies. The Germans knew that once the Allies crossed the Rhine, the Reich was indefensible. The Western Allies reducded the Bulge. Eisenhower decided that Allied armies should first advance to the Rhine on a broad front before any further efforts were made to cross the River. It was a conservative approach and military experts today debate Eisenhower's broad front tactics. This approach to shorten Allied lines and provided Eisenhower the reserves needed to deal with any further German offensives. It also madev it impossible for the Germans to concentrate forces in any one area to oppose an Allied crossing--this was in fact a comprise aimed at minimizing conflicting views from British and American commanders. Probably Eisenhower's need to maintain the alliance was a factor in his decession to persue a broad front policy. Important elements of the Wehrmacht were destroyed west of the Rhine as Hitler insisted on defending the territory of the Reich. Eisenhower approach was to launch concentric attacks from the north by the British 21st Army Group and the U.S. Ninth Army and from the south by the U.S. First Army. Patton's Third Army would cut straight across central Germany. The Seventh Army would vere southward into Bavaria and Austria. After the Bulge, the Allied needed to take Colmar, a French city. to approach the Rhine in the south. A Franco-American attack was launched (January 20). The Canadian First Army pushed into the area between the Maas and Rhine Rivers. The First Army seized the key Rohr River dams, but were unable to prevent the Germans from floodingb the Rohr Valley. These floods delayed the American Ninth Army's advance. The Ninth Army finally linked up with the Canadians (late February). This cut off Wehrmact units facing the British. The American First Army pressed the drive for the Rhine. The Ninth Army reached the Rhine dear D�sseldorf (March 3), but Montgomery ordered them not to attempt a Rhine crossing. Chalfont, p. 272.]

Allied Build-up (January-March 1945)

Supply problems forced the Allies to slow down their advance after liberating France (august 1944). As Allied armies grew in size and noved away from the invasion beaches the supply problem grew increasingly desperate. The French rail system had been wrecked to limit German usage and now it vould not be used by the Allies. The Red Ball Express was set up to use trucks to bring supplies forward, this helpe but did not deliver the supplies needed or a large-scale offensive. And the Germans understanding the importance of logistics had destroyed major ports or left garrisons to delay capture by the Americans. Thus thecallie hd to land supplies on beaches, a much slower operation than using develop port infrastructire. Miraculously Antwerp was captured in tack, but Montgomery failed to clear the Scheldt Estusry in a timely fashion so the port could be used. As a result, Eisenhower had to choose which commander to give the resources needed for an offenive. In part because of the V-2s, he chose Mongomery who had designed Market Garden to cross the Rhine in the Netherlands (October 1944). When Market Garden failed, the Allies had to limit operations, build up supplies, and prepare for a Spring offensive. The Whermacht emerged out of the rdennes mist (December 1944) to divide the Allies and seize Antwerp before the Allies solved their supply problem, The Bulge offensive proved to be onr of the lrgest and mot codtly bttles evdr fought by the U.S. Army. At the end of the battle, the Whermacht was finally fatally wrecked and no longer capable of offensive operation. It retired behind the Rhine and prepared a fixed defense of the Reich. Allied armies pushed forward in the Rhineland and northern France. And through all this the Allies gradually sloved their supply lines. The French ports and Antwerp began moving large quantities of supplies. The French rail system was partially repaired. Massive quantities of supplies flowed forward. Now every Allied Army was fully supplied and repolacements reached combat units fter the Bulge bloodletting. The British as a result of Ocean Garden were already on the Rhine. The American and now reformed French Armies rapidly approached the Rhine further south. Montgomery in the North began preparing a huge operation to cross the Rhine, virtually a second D-Day. The overall operation was Operation Plunder. Mongomery's massive part was Operatuion Varsity. Along with tanks, trucks, artillery and supplies moving toward the Rhine were ampphibious vehicles and landing craft. And the Americans now had the M-26 Pershing capable foir the first time of slugging it out with the few remining Mk.5 Panthers.

Crossing the Rhine (March 1945)

Both the Germans and the Wesrern Allies, especially General Montgomery, saw the Rhine as a major barrier. Hitler based his last desperate hopes on holding the Rhine barrier. The Rhine is a wide river and could have been an important barrier--if the Germans had a well arned, mobile force. Hitler had, however, used his last mobile reserves in the Bulge offensive. And like the Atlantic Wall, the Allies could chose where and when to attack. In addition, by this point the Germans were basically immobile and unable to move quickly and in force to oppose Allied crosings. There was little fuel available for mechanized forces and Allied airshot up anything that moved. The German defense of the Rhine began disaterously at Cologne on the western bank. The American First Army took Cologne and to their surprise captured an intact, but damaged railway bridge at Remagen (March 7). German demolition attempts had failed. American tanks rushed accross the weakened, but intact bridge and seized a tiny bridhehead on the eastern bank. The Americans and British had not yet began their planned crossing. The Remagen Bridge was not decisive, but made the crossing a lot easier. American units poured accross the Rhine the Bridge as well as laid pontoon bridges thrown up to support the expanding bridgehead. Other Allied armies were not yet ready, however, to cross the Rhine in force. The Remagen bridgeheadhead forced the German to focus on that area. To prevent the German from concentrating on the Remagen bridgehead, the American Third and Seventh Armies launched coordinated attacks along the southern reaches of the Rhine. But in facr, the German focus on Remagen greatly assisted the overall crossing effort. Here the German capability was limited because Allied air superority significantly reduced their mobility. Allied armies by mid-March were ready for the massive assault on he Rhine envisioned by Eisenhower. The Third Army made major assault crossings of the Rhine (March 22 and 25). Mainz was the last German held city on the west bank. It fell against uneven resistance (March 22). This occurred as the amerivans begn the soughern crossing. The next day, the British Second Army and the attached U.S. Ninth Army in the north crossed the Rhine in strength around Rees-Wesel-Dinslaken (March 23). The British crossing under Montgomery, Operation Plunder, was meticulosly planned, some Amerians saw it to a point of absurdity. In part this was a part of Monty's military mindset, but he was also apparently still planning for a drive to Berlin. [Chalfont, p. 269.] Montgomery's crossing proved to be the most cumbersome of all the Allied Rhine crossings. The assault accross the Rhine was supported by Operation Varsity a massive paratroop drop on the German side of the Rhine (March 24). Varsity was the largest parartoop drop in history. The American Seventh Army (prt of the 6th Army Group) crossed the Rhine at Worms without fanfare or a parachute drop. (March 26).

NAZI Response

The NAZI elite expected the German people to fight to the bitter end as Soviet and Allied armies entered the Reich. The first step was to draft youths and old men. Then many Hitler Youth boys below the 16th year old draft age were armed. The Red Army first reached the borders of the Reich in East Peussia. Than the Americans reached the Rhineland (Germany east of the Rhine. As this point the advanc griund to a halt in the West because of supply shortages and the winter. The Red Army continued to grind forward. The German resistance in the East was stiff. It the West it varied. Hitler and Goebbels were shocked at the deterioraion in the west with towns and villages giving up without a fight and hanging white sheets out their windows. Goebbels in his dairy time again used the expression that he had to 'blush' in shame at the capitultions--including his home town. Hitler with is military disolving responded with terror to the first Allied crossing of the Rhine, the expected final western barrier. This time the terror was unleashed on the German people. He braced for the Allied on-slaught by issuing the "Nero Order" (March 19). For Germans that were still under the illusion that Hitler had any real interest in the the welfare of the German people, these actions make clear his total lack of concern. Hitler issued a series of orders designed to destroy the infrasture of Germany, creating a virtual wasteland in which the German people would have to try to sirvive. The Nero order read, "... all military, transportation, communications, industrial and food-supply facilities, as well as all other resources within the Reich which the enemy might use either immediately or in the forrseeable future for continuing the war, are to be destroyed." The Flag Order specified that all male inhabitants of a house showing a white flag were to be immediately shot. Hitler ordered his commanders to conduct "... the most fanatical struggle against the now mobil enemy. No consideration for the population can be taken." These ordres contrasted with efforts to save works of art. [Fest, p. 731.]

Drive into Germany (April 1945)

Once accross the Rhine there were no longer any major gepgraphic barriers to the Allies. The destruction of the German petrochemical plants and Allied air superorityb meant that the remaining German units were largely imobilized. This was exploited by highly mobile American armoured divisions which rapidly moved into the German hearland, surrounding and reducing any pockets of resistance encountered. Montgomery's units in the north drove towaed the major German ports: Bremen, Hamburg, and Luebeck. The Ninth Army moved toward Muenster and Magdeburg. Within weeks the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heartland was surround and huge numbers of Germans soldiers surrendered in the Ruhr pocket. The Ninth and First Army executed a giant pinzer movement which encircled the Ruhr--Germany's industrial heart (April 1). Caught in the Ruhr pocket was the German ?? Army. This was the Wehrmach's last significant force in the west. More than 325,000 German soldiers surrendered. The American First Army then moved further east toward Kassel and Leipzig. Patton's Third Army took Frankfurt and then drove east toward Eisenach and Erfurt. The Third Army then took the shatered city of Dresden and then turned south toward Czechoslovakia and Austria. The Sixth Army Group moved into nto Bavaria, taking Munich and Salzburg. The Allies were concerned that the NAZIs would dry to establish a redoubt in the difficult terraine of the Alps of southern Germany and Austria. The Allies did, not, however, moved toward Berlin. This is a matter of ongoing historical debate. Some say that Stalin hoodwinked Eisenhower. The British concerned with the political connotations were interested in striking at Berlin. Montgomery envisuioned a race accross northern Germmany to Berlin. [Chalfont, p. 271] Eisenhower rejected the drive to Berlin. Eisenhower explained later that he saw it as a waist of Allied manpowe to make a potentially costly drive toward Berlin to take ground that was later to be turn over to the Soviets. (The occupation zones had alreadt been determined by political leaders.) German commanders, however, were later to day that they were anxious to surrender to the Americans and could not understand why the Americans did not come. Instead Eisenhower focused on engaging the remaining remnants of the Wehrmacht not positioned around Berlin.

Eastern and Western Allies Meet (April 25, 1945)

Allied forces racing accross Germany moved toward the Russians pressing west. The Soviets launced their assault on Berlin (April 16). The Allies had fixed stop lines for their military forces along the Elbe and Mulde Rivers. The First Army was the first to meet up with the Soviets near the village of Torgau (April 25). Patton's Third Army moved into easterm Czechoslovakia. The British reached the Baltic, cutting off Denmark and the Jutland Peninsula.

Bavaria and Austria

Bavaria was much of southern Germany. Munich was the birth place of the NAZI movement. Austria had been incorporated into the Reich by the Anchluss (1938). Eisenhower gave considerable attention to Bavaria and Austria, concerned about reports of a potential NAZI redoubtb in the Alps. The Germans in northern were doing theirbest to get as much of the army as posible back to the Reich. The Germans in Italy finally surrendered (May 2). Advanced units of the U.S. Seventh Army moving eastward through Austria encountered advanced units of the Fifth Army driving north from Italy near the Brenner Pass.

Sources

Beavers, Anthony. The Fall of Berlin 1945.

Chalfont, Alun. Montgomery of Alamein (Atheneum: New York, 1976), 365p.

Fest, Joachim C. Hitler (Vintage Books: New York, 1974), 844p.

Kieser, Egbert. Tony Le Tissier, trans. Prussian Apocalypse: The Fall of Danzig (2011), 240p.

Kormann, John. "Mercy is its own reward," The Washington Post, May 28, 2004, p. W11.

Created: 7:51 AM 11/27/2015
Last updated: 8:56 PM 11/20/2017