The destruction of German Army Group B in the Ruhr pocket
Residents of Dusseldorf watch American M18 Hellcat self-propelled guns enter the city. April 17, 1945.
General situation
In February-March 1945, the Allies carried out a successful Rhineland operation (How the German Western Front Collapsed"). The German armed forces could no longer fight on two fronts and successfully contain the advance of the Anglo-American troops, who had gained experience and had superiority in forces and means. In the air, their advantage was total, in armored vehicles - overwhelming.
On the Western Front, the Germans were left with mostly secondary, "raw" divisions made up of newly recruited reservists, elderly people, teenagers, wounded and recovering soldiers. The units were not fully equipped with manpower, weapons and equipment. They were sorely lacking armored vehicles, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons. artilleryMoreover, the German armies were exhausted by previous attempts at counter-offensives in the Ardennes and Alsace, and their reserves were used up.
An American soldier at the destroyed bridge over the Rhine in Beuel (part of Bonn since 1969) looks at Bonn on the other (western) bank of the river. The bridge was blown up by German troops during their retreat on 8.03.1945 March XNUMX.
Therefore, the Allies, who were still cautious at first, mindful of the enemy's strong counterattacks, routed the Nazis on the western bank of the Rhine, reached the Rhine on a broad front by March 25, 1945, and crossed the Rhine line in several places on the move. Over the course of several days of fighting, the bridgeheads were expanded. The Third Reich lost the Saar industrial region.
At the same time, it is strategic aviation The US and Britain carried out intensive bombing of Germany. Waves of bombers literally destroyed German cities, often without garrisons or military production. It was aerial terror - cultural andhistorical centers of the German world. The German population keenly felt all the horrors of war. The Anglo-Saxons studied the possibility of "non-contact" warfare, when the enemy was brought to his knees with the help of air strikes only.
Ruhr Operation
The situation was most favorable, and the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces, Dwight Eisenhower, decided to continue the offensive without pause with the aim of defeating the enemy’s Ruhr group and occupying the Ruhr industrial region, which was of the utmost importance for the Third Reich.
The general plan of the Allied command for the offensive from the Rhine River line was as follows: to deliver powerful blows with the forces of two army groups: Montgomery's 2st Army Group (excluding the 21st Canadian Army) north of the Ruhr industrial region and Bradley's 1th Army Group from the areas northwest of Koblenz and southwest of Frankfurt-am-Main. These blows were directed in converging directions toward Kassel with the aim of encircling the troops of German Army Group B in the Ruhr. Subsequently, it was intended to develop the offensive deep into Germany with the main forces.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Allied Commander-in-Chief Dwight D. Eisenhower and British Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, commander of the 21st Army Group of the Western Allies, watch Allied troops crossing the Rhine near Wesel. March 24, 1945
The Rhine was a powerful obstacle, and forcing this line a few months ago would have been a major headache for the Allies. However, now the Germans did not have combat-ready units that could defend this line. Hitler did not allow the commanders to withdraw their troops in time, and the armies were defeated between the Meuse and the Rhine, south of the Moselle and on the Colmar bridgehead. Also, the fight for the Remagen bridgehead pulled away almost all the forces of Army Group B, which retreated behind the Rhine between Koblenz and Cologne in a broken state. Therefore, the Allies only needed to concentrate their forces in a few places to break through the weak and shallow defense of the enemy.
Churchill again suggested that the Americans concentrate all military efforts in the north and break through to Berlin at any cost first. Take the German capital before the Russians in order to gain decisive trump cards in the future division of Europe. However, Eisenhower believed that Berlin had no particular military value and did not want to sacrifice the lives of American soldiers. He also noted that the demarcation line had long been agreed upon with the Russians; it ran west of Berlin. Washington supported its supreme commander.
American soldiers pose in front of the collapsed Ludendorff Bridge (also Remagen Bridge, German: Ludendorffbrücke) into the Rhine.
A group of German prisoners of war captured in Mainz, under escort of a soldier from the 90th Infantry Division of the 3rd American Army. March 22, 1945
Offensive on the northern sector of the front
The 21st Army Group was increased to 29 British and American divisions, reinforced by five divisions that were transferred from Italy by sea through Marseille. Plus 12 separate brigades. Air support was provided by the Air Force of the 21st Army Group, which had over 4000 aircraft.
Montgomery's troops had to solve the most difficult task. On the lower reaches of the Rhine, the Allies did not have time to take bridgeheads; here the river was widest. The German 1st Airborne Army received some respite after the battles that ended on March 10 and managed to prepare a defense on the right bank of the Rhine.
The British Army Group had been preparing for several months for the planned crossing of the river on both sides of the Wesel on a broad front. Bridges had been built across the Meuse, materials for building crossings and watercraft had been accumulated. On the Meuse, the units of the 2nd English Army, which had not participated in the battles west of the Rhine, were conducting intensive training in forcing the water obstacle.
Soldiers of the 89th Infantry Division of the Third U.S. Army cross the Rhine River in a DUKW-353 amphibious vehicle near Oberwesel. March 26, 1945.
In mid-February, the Allied air force began preparing for an offensive. The Allies sought to paralyze all rail communications in Northern Germany west of the Koblenz-Bremen line. Heavy aircraft destroyed railway junctions and structures, and fighter-bombers attempted to paralyze the restoration of destroyed lines. At the same time, the Allies sought to destroy German airfields with massive strikes in order to stifle German jet aviation. Gradually, air raids were moved closer to the front in order to disrupt communications in the near rear of the German army. On March 20, three days before the start of the offensive, the air force began to destroy the enemy army's positions.
The marshalling yard in Limburg an der Lahn, destroyed by American bombers. The photo was probably taken after the air raid on 25.03.1945 March XNUMX.
The offensive involved the forces of the 9th American Army and the 2nd British Army, reinforced by Canadian units. The water level on the Rhine had dropped at this time, the land had dried out, which made it possible to use heavy weapons.
The German 1st Airborne Army had three infantry and four parachute divisions in the enemy's offensive zone. They were reinforced by several hastily assembled Volkssturm units and battalions. There were two weak tank divisions. The Germans did not have time to create a deeply echeloned defense in such a short time. The settlements were prepared for all-round defense. Anti-aircraft batteries were widely used to defend the river and for anti-landing defense, and the possibility of an enemy landing after the battles in the Arnhem area had to be taken into account.
British medium cruiser tank A34 "Comet" Mk.1 of the 11th Armoured Division on the march near the city of Wesel in Germany. March 1945
Before the infantry attack, an artillery barrage lasted for an hour. On March 23, the leading British units crossed the river in the area of Rees and Wesel. The enemy's resistance was weak, the German defense was destroyed by air strikes and artillery preparation. Early in the morning of March 24, the Americans began their offensive and easily crossed the river in the area of Reinberg. Only when the Germans discovered the enemy's crossing points and brought in reserves did the resistance intensify.
To facilitate the crossing, Montgomery envisaged a landing operation with paratroopers. This time, the landing units were to operate in private tactical cooperation with the troops advancing from the front. They were landed behind German positions so that the artillery could support them from the front with its fire. On the morning of March 24, the British 18th Airborne Corps was landed in the German rear northeast of the city of Wesel.
Anti-aircraft fire inflicted some losses on the paratroopers as the aircraft approached the landing areas. The paratroopers captured several large settlements north of Wesel. In the afternoon, the landing units joined forces advancing from the front. Overall, the landing, carried out thanks to a large number of transport aircraft and gliders, covered by about 900 fighters, was successful and facilitated the Allied advance.
C-47 transport aircraft drop hundreds of paratroopers and their supplies over the Rees-Wesel area east of the Rhine. A total of 1595 aircraft and 1347 gliders were used in the landing. The landing was covered by 889 fighters. The paratroopers began dropping at 10:00 on 24 March. Within two hours, more than 17 paratroopers, 000 light armored cars, 614 guns and mortars, as well as ammunition, fuel and food, had been dropped. The Allies lost 286 aircraft and 53 gliders during the landing. 37 aircraft and 440 gliders were damaged.
After forcing the river, the allies, due to the lack of reserves for the Germans to eliminate the bridgeheads, had only to eliminate the remaining pockets of resistance and ensure the crossing of the main forces. Thanks to long and good preparation, the allies quickly built bridges.
During the first two days, the troops of the 21st Army Group captured several bridgeheads in the Rhine region, they developed an offensive in the eastern direction and by March 28 expanded the bridgehead north of the Ruhr to 60 km along the front and 35 km in depth.
American soldiers on the Ernst-Ludwig Bridge (since 1951, the Nibelungen Bridge) in Worms. In the foreground is the body of a soldier killed by a sniper. The sniper's position is on the other bank of the Rhine. March 28, 1945
A street in Worms with white flags hanging before American troops entered the city
A crew of a German heavy infantry gun 15 cm sIG 33, destroyed on a road in the Worms area
The advance of the American army group
At the same time, the troops of the 12th Army Group (the 1st and 3rd American armies, a total of 25 divisions, supported by about 5 aircraft) were advancing from previously captured bridgeheads in the Remagen and Oppenheim areas. To the south, the troops of the 6th Army Group (the 7th American army and the 1st French army, a total of 21 divisions) were advancing.
The American offensive developed in more favorable conditions than the British army group. There were already bridgeheads, and the combat capability of the German troops in the central section of the front was significantly lower than in the north. The already defeated German units did not even have time to prepare a new line of defense.
Soldiers of the US 79th Infantry Division cross the Rhine in an LCM-3 boat. March 24, 1945.
The 1st American Army advanced from the Remagen bridgehead to the northeast and southeast. Using the existing bridgeheads, the troops of the 3rd and 7th American armies began to cross the Rhine between Mannheim and Mainz. Further south, the French were to cross the Rhine south of Speyer. Eisenhower planned to create a large continuous bridgehead on the banks of the Rhine.
General Patton's 3rd Army, which crossed the Rhine near Oppenheim on March 22, did not stop and continued its offensive. On March 24, American tanks entered Darmstadt, and on the 25th they reached Aschaffenburg, where they occupied entire bridges across the Main. Patch's 7th Army crossed the Rhine near Worms and joined up with the 3rd Army near Darmstadt, expanding the bridgehead to Mannheim.
An M3 armored personnel carrier of the American 9th Armored Division drives across a pontoon bridge in the German city of Limburg. March 27, 1945.
A column of German prisoners of war and an American M15 ZSU on the road near the city of Limburg an der Lahn. March - April 1945
Meanwhile, Hodges' 1st Army went on the offensive from the large Remagen bridgehead, having previously repelled a number of German counterattacks from the north. Here the Germans fought back quite stubbornly. To cover the Ruhr area, units of the German 5th Panzer Army prepared a defensive line on the Sieg River to the city of Siegen. However, the American offensive to the southeast met minimal resistance. The Allies reached the Lahn River in the Limburg region and began advancing through Giessen to Marburg.
Further south, the Allies crossed the Rhine at a bottleneck near Boppard. The German defense collapsed there. Units of the 3rd American Army attacked Wiesbaden, which they cleared in cooperation with troops advancing through Frankfurt am Main.
By the end of March 28, American troops reached the line Giessen, Frankfurt am Main, Aschaffenburg.
A queue for a river ferry in Frankfurt am Main, captured by American troops. The "Iron Bridge" (Der Eiserne Steg) in the city center was blown up by the German army on March 25.03.1945, XNUMX. Behind the bridge on the bank of the Main is the Frankfurt Cathedral (Imperial Cathedral of St. Bartholomew
An American M10 tank destroyer from the 6th Armored Division passes dead German soldiers in Frankfurt am Main, March 27, 1945.
The Ruhr "cauldron" and its liquidation
After concentrating the main forces of the 21st Army Group on the bridgehead, the Allied forces began an offensive bypassing the Ruhr from the north. The 2nd British Army advanced on Bremen and captured Münster and Osnabrück on April 3, and the 9th American Army on Lipstadt, which it captured on April 1.
At the same time, the troops of the 12th Army Group, meeting almost no resistance, were rapidly advancing north. On April 1, the 1st American Army joined forces with units of the 9th American Army in Lipstadt, completing the encirclement of the Ruhr group, which numbered about 18-20 divisions - a total of about 325 thousand people. The main forces of Walter Model's Army Group B - the 15th Field and 5th Panzer Armies - were caught in the "cauldron". This was the end of the German Western Front.
American paratroopers stand next to a British Churchill Mark V tank (95mm howitzer) on Prinzipalmarkt square in Münster, Germany. The ruined St. Lambert's Church is in the background. April 4, 1945
Field Marshal Model asked the high command to withdraw and save the troops, to leave the Ruhr. The Ruhr region, effectively cut off from the rest of Germany by Allied air raids, and which had already ceased to be the industrial and energy base of the Reich, was no longer worth the loss of the main forces of Army Group B. However, Model was not allowed to withdraw his troops, and they were surrounded.
Model's troops held the Ruhr River line in the north - there the 15th Army in the Bocholt area joined the 1st Airborne Army, in the west - the Rhine, in the south - the Sieg River line. The German command tried to break through the encirclement in the Hamm and Siegen area, but these attempts were unsuccessful.
American M4A1 Sherman tanks of the 771st Separate Tank Battalion in Munster. April 1945
A group of young Wehrmacht soldiers captured by the US 17th Airborne Division near Munster, Germany, April 19, 1945
The German troops were badly demoralized. Their supplies weapons, ammunition and fuel were exhausted. Command and supply of troops was greatly complicated. The Allies had total air superiority. Therefore, the resistance of the Nazis began to weaken quite quickly. In some areas, units began to surrender, in others they were still fighting.
On April 14, the German group was split into two parts as a result of attacks on Hagen from the north and south. Two days later, the smaller, eastern group was liquidated. The Americans took 80 people prisoner in just one day.
On April 17, Field Marshal Model, commander of Army Group B, gave the order to cease resistance and shot himself on April 21. About 317 German soldiers and officers were captured by the Allies. Among the prisoners were the commander of the 5th Panzer Army, Josef Harpe, and the commander of the 15th Army, Gustav Adolf von Zangen.
A captured Soviet KV-2 tank, used by the Germans during the defense of Essen, was recaptured - this time by the Americans. April 1945
German industrialist Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, arrested by American soldiers, sits in a U.S. Army SUV. April 11, 1945
As a result of the Ruhr operation, the last large German group on the Western Front was destroyed. In fact, the German Western Front now existed only on paper. The remaining German troops could no longer cover the entire front and could only offer resistance in certain directions, areas and cities. The Allies were able to occupy areas of Germany at the rate of a formation's movement per day.
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