Battle in the Reichswald
Map of the battle
| date | 7. bis 22. February 1945 |
|---|---|
| place |
Kleve , Goch , Kalkar , Uedem , Rees Reichswalde , Materborn , Kranenburg , Bedburg-Hau |
| output | Allied victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| British infantry divisions: 15th (Scottish) Division , 43rd (Wessex) Division , 51st (Highland) Division , 53rd (Welsh) Division Canadian infantry divisions: 2nd Canadian Infantry Division , 3rd Canadian Infantry Division British armored units: 11th Armored Division , Guards Armored Division Total approx 75,000 soldiers |
7th Paratrooper Division , 84th Infantry Division A total of approx. 15,000 soldiers |
| losses | |
|
15,634 |
~ 44,239 |
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1944: Overlord · Dragoon · Mons · Market Garden · Scheldt estuary · Aachen · Hürtgenwald · Queen · Alsace-Lorraine · Ardennes
1945: Nordwind · Bodenplatte · Blackcock · Colmar · Veritable · Grenade · Blockbuster · Lumberjack · Undertone · Plunder · Würzburg · Ruhrkessel · Nuremberg
The battle in the Reichswald ( Operation Veritable ) took place in the Second World War between allied expeditionary forces of the 21st Army Group and units of the German 1st Parachute Army from February 7 to 22, 1945 in the Kleve area on the Lower Rhine . The bitter fighting over the Klever Reichswald lasted over two weeks; over 10,000 Allied and German soldiers fell. The civilian population also suffered heavy losses. The battle marked the beginning of the Rhine campaign, which led to the expulsion of German troops along the entire length of the western German bank of the Rhine by March 10, 1945. In the combat area, the British-Canadian 21st Army Group then crossed the Rhine at Wesel on March 24, 1945.
Starting position
After the invasions in Normandy on June 6, 1944 and in southern France on August 15, 1944 , the Western Allies managed to advance quickly through France and in the north via Belgium and the Netherlands to the German border in late summer. There the German front had stabilized again and after the defensive success at Arnhem , the Americans and British began to reorganize and build up a strong supply.
In the background, the dispute between two strategies smoldered : In Montgomery's view, the Americans had weakened his planned, concentrated advance into Germany into the Ruhr area (and a possible end to the war in 1944) by insisting on a broad-based approach. Eisenhower had indeed weighed this plan, but did not clearly support it and in 1945 he saw no point in a concentrated advance.
Eisenhower's campaign plan
Operation Veritable was part of the campaign plan by Eisenhower , the Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces in Northwestern Europe (SHAEF) , who after the setback from the Battle of the Bulge assumed "that another large, offensive campaign carried out on a broad front would hit Hitler's Germany." In a first phase it should be important to " destroy the bulk of the enemy armies west of the Rhine ."
Although Montgomery's 21st Army Group was supposed to lead the main thrust in the north, the British demanded after "the old controversy of autumn [1944]: a single thrust or broad front", to abandon the broad-based approach in favor of an enterprise reinforcing their operation. The Americans prevailed, however - it was also important that the Soviet success in the winter offensive of January 1945 was now known and the German western front, weakened by the withdrawal of troops, seemed more manageable. Eisenhower's campaign on the Rhine was developed in three phases: In the north, “by converging attacks by the Canadian 1st Army from the Reichswald and the 9th US Army from the Roer” Rur , both under Montgomery's command. (This sparked violent protests from the commander of the 12th US Army Group - General Bradley ). In the middle, the 1st US Army was to advance towards Cologne and then south-east to the Eifel, while the 3rd US Army ( Patton ) was supposed to advance frontally through the Eifel towards Koblenz and then together with the 7th US Army in the south secure the triangle Mosel-Saar-Rhine up to the level of Karlsruhe. The aim of the Allies was to occupy the west bank of the Rhine.
Starting point for Operation Veritable
“On February 8th [1945 ...] the XXX , which was subordinate to the Canadian 1st Army Command, broke . Corps south-east of Nijmegen from the compressed front projection between the Meuse and the Rhine against the Reichswald. [...] The barrage that preceded the attack lasted five and a half hours, and on the first day 1,034 guns fired over half a million shells on a seven-mile front occupied by a single German division. "Corps commander Horrocks deployed 5 infantry divisions , 3 tank brigades and 11 special regiments to defeat fortifications, behind them 2 divisions for operational use. However, only two gravel roads led through the narrow corridor between the forest and the flooded river valleys. In addition, the Germans had five months undisturbed to build defensive positions. Beyond the Reichswald the cities of Kleve and Goch were strongly fortified "and further south a fast corps of 3 divisions was ready to face an attack over the Roer or the Meuse."
Terrain conditions
The rivers Maas - Rur - Rhine and the Lower Rhine ridge were natural obstacles. The western part of the Pfalzdorfer Höhen went down in war history as the “Reichswald” . There were a number of makeshift but also well-developed positions in the area.
After the failure in the Ardennes, the German military leadership was aware that a major offensive was to be expected. Since December 1944, ever larger parts of the Rhine lowlands were under water after the Rhine and Waal dykes began to be blown up. The Rhine valley had become a more difficult obstacle for the British and Canadians attacking here. The thaw had set in with the attacks .
The attack
“At the time the operation was planned, the ground was frozen and bearing. But when the attack divisions [...] penetrated the Reichswald, the roadways had started to turn into mud while the floods rose in the flanks. ”The German front division was penetrated after the bombardment and the peak of the attack reached on the afternoon of the second day Kleve: "The city had not been bombed with incendiary bombs, as Horrocks had requested, but with 1,384 tons of high-explosive bombs, and the attack came to a standstill in the crumbled and rubble-covered streets." Horrocks had deployed reinforcements without reporting this the meanwhile clogged streets got stuck, because vehicles could not move onto the flooded fields. The chaos on the entrances and in the city, which has meanwhile been reinforced with German troops, delayed the continuation of the attack. “Kleve was not free from the enemy until February 11 and the Reichswald on February 13. By then, however, the Germans had brought in two tank divisions and two paratrooper divisions, which prevented the outbreak. "
location
“The German leadership was able to muster strong forces against the attack from the Reichswald because at the moment they did not need to fear an attack via the Roer. […] The US 9th Army's offensive [should] begin on February 10th (Operation Grenade), 48 hours after Veritable opened. On February 9th, however, when the Americans reached the last of the Roersta dams, the Germans destroyed the drainage facilities and thus prevented the flooding of the river from receding for less than two weeks. ”(Wilmot, 723 f.). The attack by the US 9th Army was blocked by the flood.
On February 9, 1945, associations of the Wehrmacht not only blew up the dikes on the Lower Rhine, but also the closures of the Kermeter tunnel at the Heimbach power plant (whereupon the Urft dam drained to the level of the Kermeter tunnel) and the closures of the bottom drain tunnels of the Schwammenauel dam ( Rursee ). Both together created a flood downstream that silted up the floodplains and thwarted the 9th US Army's attempt to cross the river.
“The Americans were forced to postpone Operation Grenade . […] Forced to continue the battle alone for another fortnight, the British and Canadians gained ground slowly and were drawn into an extremely fierce battle. […] While the American 1st and American 9th Armies were forced to wait idly behind the roaring Roer, 9 German divisions were dragged into battle on a front that had been occupied by a division. During these fourteen days of hard struggle, the 1st Canadian Army took over the reserves that v. Rundstedt (commander in chief on the western front ) had tried to position himself in the Cologne plain. "
According to Wilmot, the Allied Headquarters ( SHAEF ) had assumed that the Wehrmacht would “return in full order behind the Rhine in good time”, but they overlooked the fact that the Rhine was “the vital transport route between the Ruhr area and the arms industry in the rest of Germany. […] It was the necessity to keep the waterway open, which drove the Wehrmacht to oppose such bitter and stubborn resistance to the attack on the Reichswald. "
New start of the Rhine campaign
In connection with the new approach of the attack by the 9th US Army from February 23, 1945, made possible by the subsiding floods, Operation Veritable could also be rescheduled - it was now called Operation Blockbuster .
Attack by the 9th US Army
“Towards morning on February 23, 4 divisions of the 9th US Army and 2 of the 1st US Army began to cross the Roer (Operation Grenade). Since the flood had not yet completely subsided, the attack, from which the Germans had still thought they were safe, came as a surprise. […] On the evening of the second day, Simpson's divisions had built nineteen bridges, including seven for tanks. ”After some protracted fighting, the 9th US Army made rapid progress on February 28, 1945 and occupied Neuss on March 2.
At the beginning of March the resistance was overrun, the right wing was shortly afterwards south of Düsseldorf on the Rhine, "and on March 3rd (Simpsons) left wing north of Venlo established contact with the Canadian army." On March 6th a connection was also established Wesel.
Attack continuation after Veritable
On February 22, 1945, the 1st Canadian Army with the British XXX. Corps renewed the offensive (Operation Blockbuster), on February 25th there was fighting at Goch (until March 3rd), on February 27th Kalkar fell and after hard fighting Uedem was reached: three British-Canadian divisions took German positions in Uedemer Hochwald before they advanced on Xanten. North of Uedem , on the Uedemer Totenhügel, the Canadian troops under General Crerar were embroiled in the heaviest tank battle in their history. On March 3, they united with the 9th US Army in Berendonk near Geldern .
Final phase of the Rhine campaign
On March 2nd, the German troops were withdrawn towards the Rhine in order to hold a bridgehead. “Now 15 German divisions west of the Rhine were pressed into a vice and exposed to destruction if they were not pulled out immediately. But Hitler forbade this. ”A bridgehead had to be held between Krefeld and Wesel in order to secure the connection from Duisburg via the Dortmund-Ems Canal [at that time it led to the Rhine] to Central Germany. "Even in the Eifel and Saarland, Hitler forbade going back: a retreat 'only means moving the catastrophe from one place to another.'"
After the withdrawal of the 1st Paratrooper Army on March 10, 1945, the western bank of the Rhine from Wesel to Emmerich was completely in the hands of the Allied troops. 10 German divisions were left with the surrender, 50,000 men were taken prisoner.
As planned, the 1st US Army began the attack on March 1, 1945 ( Operation Lumberjack ). She crossed the Erft , the North Corps reached Euskirchen on March 4th and Cologne on March 5th - in front of the bridgeless Rhine. On March 7, 1945, the top of the 9th US Armored Division succeeded in capturing the Ludendorff Bridge near Remagen in a single stroke.
The attack of the 3rd US Army ( Patton ) through the Eifel, which was supported by the South Corps of the 1st US Army, on the Koblenz area began on February 25, 1945, reached the Rhine there on March 7 and a little later also south of Mainz, Oppenheim and Mannheim.
The 7th US Army then captured the Palatinate and the Rhine from Mannheim on the previous front line north of Strasbourg. On March 10, 1945, the western bank of the Rhine was thus “free of enemy” for the Western Allies.
Importance of Operation Veritable
The importance of the battle in the north - Operation Veritable - was primarily due to the fact that it attracted all German reserves and thus made attacks by the US armies much easier. According to Wilmot, this is also evident from the list of losses: “The Canadians and British suffered more than twice as many losses as the Americans in the clearing up of the lower Rhineland: 15,634 versus 7,478. The German losses cannot have been much less than 75,000, since 53,000 Germans were taken prisoner from February 8 to March 10. "
The British Cemetery of Honor in the Reichswald
Due to the costly battle, the British Cemetery of Honor was created in the Reichswald . In terms of area, it is the largest British military cemetery of the 15 collective cemeteries in Germany and has 7,654 graves. In the right rear area are graves of soldiers from the 53rd Welsh Division who died in this battle.
Remarks
- ↑ There was a makeshift Maas-Rur position between Heinsberg and Venlo - it was evacuated without a fight before March 1st - and the Niers-Rur position (also known as the Schlieffen line). The latter began at Niedermörmter / Rees on the Rhine and ran south towards Geldern (Ralph Trost (2001), p. 429 mentions Niedermörmter , Xanten- Marienbaum , Appeldorn on the western edge of the Uedemer Hochwald and the Balberger Wald to Geldern . In the area of Uedemerbruch the Niers-Rur position near the Goch-Xanten railway line (source: Kevelaerer Enzyklopädie ). The Niers-Rur position had three sections: Wankum, Viersen and Erkelenz (source: Panzergraben Süchteln (140) ) and then east of the Niers upstream South).
- ↑ In view of the state of the railways, there was no substitute for the Rhine as a transport route, and after Upper Silesia was lost, the Ruhr area "could (not) be dispensed with in the least as a source for coal and finished steel." (Wilmot: Der Kampf um Europa , P. 724).
- ↑ Führer situation discussions, fragment 1. The exact date is not known, but the conference in question apparently took place before March 6, 1945. (Wilmot, p. 725).
literature
- Reichswald settlement project 1950–2000, pp. 78–86, ISBN 3-89413-194-2 , published by Boss-Verlag Kleve.
- Peter Elstob: Battle of the Reichswalde , 1970, Ballantine's Books, New York, “Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II” series.
- Denis and Shelagh Whitaker: Final battle for the Rhineland , 1991, Ullstein Verlag, Berlin / Frankfurt a. M.
- RW Thompsen: The battle for the Rhineland , 1960, Huber & Co. AG Frauenfeld / Switzerland.
- Wilhelm Michels and Peter Sliepenbeek: Lower Rhine country at war. A contribution to the history of the Second World War in the Kleve district , 1964, Boss-Druck und Verlag, Kleve. ISBN 978-3-922384-10-6 .
- Wolfgang Dahms: 40 Years of Reichswalde , 1990, Boss-Druck und Verlag, Kleve.
- Chester Wilmot : The Struggle for Europe , Gutenberg Book Guild, Zurich 1955.
Documentation
- War on the Lower Rhine - 3-part, 122-minute long documentary film from 1975 (produced by the Kleve district) about the final phase of the Second World War on the Lower Rhine, which introduces and explains Operation Veritable.
Web links
- War on the Lower Rhine - Part 1 of the documentation
- War on the Lower Rhine - Part 2 of the documentation
- War on the Lower Rhine - Part 3 of the documentation
- Pictures of the destruction of the city of Kleve in the Second World War
- A detailed, personal account of the battle (English)
- A biography of Henry Crerar (English)
- The British Cemetery of Honor in the Reichswald
- History of the Reichswald
- www.weltkriegsopfer.de
- "The Battle of the Rhineland, Part I: Operation VERITABLE" , official account of the Canadian Army on its history in World War II.
swell
- ↑ Eisenhower: Crusade , p. 369 f. Quoted from: Chester Wilmot : Der Kampf um Europa , Gutenberg Book Guild, Zurich 1955, p. 714 ff.
- ↑ After Wilmot, p. 716 ff.
- ↑ Wilmot, p. 722 f.
- ↑ Hochwasser in der Düffel (2008), pages 33–44 ( 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. (PDF; 9 MB)
- ↑ Wilmot, p. 723.
- ^ Kermeter tunnel 1945. Retrieved September 29, 2012 .
- ↑ Wilmot, p. 724.
- ↑ www.stadtarchiv-neuss.de ; The Zero Hour
- ↑ Wilmot, p. 725.
- ↑ "The Hochwald Gap" at Canadianheroes.org
- ↑ Wilmot, note 4), p. 724.
