Figure 1.--German civilians in 1945 now we faced with surviving the ground fighting tey had inflictd on people thrughout Europe. Thet were caught in the middle. If a twnn or village resisted, the Allieswould plaster it with artillery or air strikes before cimmitting infantry. If they did not resist, they risked summary execution by diehard SS units. And depending on where they lived, there was also the danger of advancing Red Army troops. Given the date, it is likely that he was fleeing from the advancing Soviets seeking safety with the Canadian forces. The press caption read, "The horrors suffered by refugee victims of Hitler's lust for power now are beng suffered by the German people. Here is a German pushing his little boy through the mud of a battlefield to the safety of Canadian lines." The photograph was dated April 30, a few days bfore the Germn surrender. .

Montgomery's 21st Army Group as well as the Americans to the south closed up to the Rhine, the final geographic obsacle to victory (March 1945). Twenty-First Army Group at thetime was made up of the British Second Army commaded by General Miles C Dempsey, the First Canadian Army under General Harry Crerar, and the US Ninth Army, under General William Simpson. The Americas had been added to Montgomery command after the Germans launched the Bulge offensive and they had been separted from other U.S. formtions. The First Canadian Army launched Operation Veritable in difficult weather, driving from Nijmegen in the Netherlands east through the Reichswald Forest then southwards. The Canadians were to be he northern part of the Operation Grenade pincer movement with the US Ninth Army moving as the southern prong northwards towards Düsseldorf and Krefeld. The objective was to clear the west bank of the Rhine north of Cologne. The Americans prog was slowed when the Germans destroyed the Roer dams and flooded the American route of advance. The Canadians pushed forard on their own, engaging and mauling the poorly armed German reserves deployed to defend the Cologne Plain. With the Rhineland secured, the Allies aided by the Remagen Bridge taken by theAmericans, the Allies plunged accross the Rhine. Montgomery executed Operation Plunder (March 13), a massive set-piece battle including a major air drop. Plunder was typical of Montgomery's Clossal Cracks approach. The British 2nd Army and the US 9th Army were able to cross the Rhine at various places north of the Ruhr. German resistance now without a geographic barrier quickly fell apart. Montgomery used the First Canadian Army to liberate the Dutch north of the Rhine who wre strving. The Canadiand wheeled left at entered the etherlands. The British 2nd Army occupied much of north-west Germany. The U.S. 9th Army moved south and formed the northern arm of the envelopment of German forces in the Ruhr Pocket. Eisenhower had planned to use the Montgomery's 21st Army Group as the major force driving into Germany. Eisenhower was still thinking zbout Berlin. Montgomery was generally cautious, in part to keep casualties to a minimum. But like Market Garden he began to ask Eisenhower t suport a drive to Berlin. His relations with Eisenhower and the Amercass were icey and plumted further when he gave apress interview and claimed respnsibility for the Bulge victory. After the battle for the Ruhr shaped up, however, he decided to make Bradley's 21st Atmy Group the focus of the Western offensive. After the Ruhr Pocket was reduced, Eisenhower reassigned the U.S. Ninth Army to Bradley's 12th Army Group (April 4). This essentially made Montgomery's drive to Berlin impossible (April 4). Montgomery was deeply disappointed. So were Bradley and Patton who Eienhowered ordered south, to cut off any German moves to estanlishan Alpine retreat. Montgomery's Tewenty-First Army Group rove towaed the major German ports: Bremen, Hamburg, and Luebeck, cuttig off the Red Army from the Jutland Peninsula (Denmark). Montgomery accepted the unconditional surrender of the German forces in the Netherlands, in north west Germany and Denmark (May 4). American historians have sharpy criticized Montgomery's performance, especilly in Normandy and the Nethrlands for his caution and bothched Marker Garden campaign. Montgomery has, however, his advocates. One historian stresses his caution was neceitated by the need to limit British casialties. [Hart] Itis not at all clearthat Montgomery's caution managed to limit caialties more than the tactics of the more aggessive American commanders.

Sources

Hart, Stephen Ashley. Colossal Cracks: Montgomery's 21st Army Group in Northwest Europe, 1944-45 (Stackpole Military History Series, 2007).

Created: 9:43 AM 7/14/2014
Last updated: 9:43 AM 7/14/2014