Operation Lumberjack

Operation map

The Operation Lumberjack ( German  company lumberjack ) was a military operation of the Allies on the Western Front of World War II in March 1945. It was conducted by the American 12th Army Group with the aim of the west bank of the Rhine to reach. It created the conditions for the Army Group's subsequent Rhine crossing.

Starting position

The 21st Army Group under Bernard Montgomery had already established itself as part of the Veritable and Grenade operations along a stretch of the Rhine north of Cologne.

plan

The 12th Army Group under General Omar Bradley was now preparing to move from their positions in the Eifel to the Rhine and, if possible, to conquer intact bridges over the river. Bradley's plan was the first US Army under Cortney Hodges from space Düren from the area between the mouths of the Erft and Ahr to clean the Rhine and in the space Ahrweiler with the troops of the US 3rd Army under George S To meet Patton , who was supposed to advance through the Eifel at the same time. If successful, Operation would take Cologne , secure the area around Koblenz and bring the 12th Army Group downriver from Koblenz - where the Moselle meets the Rhine - to the banks of the Rhine. The 12th Army Group also hoped to take many prisoners of war.

Allied forces

During the operation from north to south the VII., III. and V. US Corps of the 1st US Army .

• The 8th , 99th and 104th US Infantry Divisions and the 3rd US Armored Division were subordinate to the VII US Corps .
• The III. US Corps were subordinated to the 1st , 9th and 78th US Infantry Divisions and the 9th US Armored Division .
• The V US Corps were under four infantry divisions ( the 2nd , 28th, 69th, and 106th).

The 7th US Armored Division did not take part in the operation and was only subordinated to the V Corps on March 7th.

The 3rd US Army deployed:

• The VIII US Corps with the 4th and 87th US Infantry Divisions and the 6th and 11th US Armored Divisions,
• the XII. US Corps with the 5th, 76th and 80th US Infantry Divisions and the 4th US Armored Division as well
• the XX. US Corps with the 26th and 94th US Infantry Divisions and the 10th US Armored Division

German forces

Opposite them stood on the German side (from north to south):

• From the 15th Army ( Gustav-Adolf von Zangen ):
  • the LXXXI. Army corps under Friedrich Köchling with the 9th and 11th Panzer Division, the 59th Infantry Division , the 363rd Volksgrenadier Division and Division No. 476 and
  • the LVIII. Panzer Corps under Walter Krüger with the 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division , the 12th Volksgrenadier Division and the 353rd Infantry Division .
• From the 5th Panzer Army ( Hasso von Manteuffel ):
  • the LXXIV. Army corps under Carl Püchler with the 3rd Parachute Division , the 85th Infantry Division and the 272nd Volksgrenadier Division ,
  • the LXVII. Army corps under Otto Hitzfeld with the 89th Infantry Division and the 277th Volksgrenadier Division , and that
  • LXVI. Army corps under Walther Lucht with the 5th Paratrooper Division .
• From the 7th Army ( Hans-Gustav Felber ):
  • the LIII. Army corps under Edwin von Rothkirch and Trach with the 167th, 326th and 340th Volksgrenadier Division,
  • the XIII. Army Corps under Ralph von Oriola with the 2nd Panzer Division and the 9th, 79th, 276th and 352nd Volksgrenadier Division,
  • the LXXX. Army corps under Franz Beyer with the 212th and 560th Volksgrenadier Division.

course

March 1, 1945

Bradley started Lumberjack on March 1, 1945. In the north, the 1st US Army quickly struck bridgeheads over the Erft, reached Euskirchen on March 4 and the ruins of the largely destroyed Cologne on March 5 . While the 1st Army was able to operate relatively freely in the Cologne Bay , the 3rd US Army had to pass through the terrain of the Hocheifel , which was poorly tracked and progressed much more slowly. Armored spearheads of the 4th US Armored Division captured the German General Edwin von Rothkirch and Trach on March 6 near Neunkirchen (Daun) and were able to penetrate as far as the Rhine near Koblenz.

Within a week the front was moved 10 to 40 miles (about 16–65 km) east. In the north, the VII. US Corps reached the banks of the Rhine in Cologne, the III. US corps reached positions near Bonn and Remagen . Even further south, the US Corps advanced about 15–30 km into the Hocheifel along the Ahr .

March 7th, Remagen

In the operational area of ​​the 1st US Army, a troop of the 9th US Armored Division (commanded by 2nd Lt. Karl H. Timmerman) advanced towards Remagen on March 7th . He was very surprised to see that the Ludendorff Bridge , a railway bridge over the Rhine, had not yet been blown up by the Germans. Timmerman attacked; the Germans attempted a demolition; however, the explosion only briefly lifted the bridge out of its bearings and fell back there. Timmerman managed to capture the bridge; this went down in the annals of war history as the “miracle of Remagen”. Within 24 hours, 8,000 soldiers crossed the Rhine towards the east bank. In addition to American soldiers, Belgian and British soldiers were also involved in the conquest. However, the Kronprinz-Wilhelm-Brücke near Urmitz was blown up ; it was carried out on March 9, 1945 at around 7:30 am, although hundreds of fleeing German soldiers were still on the bridge.

This finally gave the Western Allies a bridgehead over the Rhine. In the Battle of Remagen , the Germans tried with great effort to destroy the bridge, but they did not succeed. Eisenhower ordered Bradley to move five divisions across the Rhine to secure the beachhead, but he did not immediately let the 12th Army Group take advantage of the advantage that had opened up.

March 13, 1945

Rather, Eisenhower instructed Bradley on March 13th to make the bridgehead a maximum of 25 miles wide and 10 miles deep.

March 17, 1945

The bridge collapsed on March 17th; by then, western Allied troops had built several pontoon bridges over the Rhine.

March 22, 1945

On the morning of March 22nd, the 1st US Army under Lieutenant General Hodges began carrying out attacks from the Remagen bridgehead area.

literature

• Charles MacDonald, The Last Offensive , Washington: GPO, 1973. ( Online )
• Georg Tessin , Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS 1939 - 1945 , Volume 2, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1973.
• Georg Tessin, Associations and troops of the German Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS 1939 - 1945 , Volume 4, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1975.

Web links

• The Rhineland Campaign

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Ralf Anton Schäfer: The end of the war at home  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. ( [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )