18. WORLD WAR TWO

THE WAR IN EUROPE

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STOPPING THE GERMANS ON THE EASTERN FRONT

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Hitler focusses not on the capture of Moscow, but on the seizing of the grainlands of the Ukraine and Southern Russia and the oil fields at the Caspian Sea.  His troops advance all-out effort to hold the city.  This will be as far as the Germans will advance against Russia ... before they begin to slowly fall back. Meanwhile, the surrounded city of Leningrad (St. Petersburg) holds out against the Germans
(September 8, 1941 – January 27, 1944)

Russians looking for water in Leningrad during the German encirclement
Sovfoto/Eastfoto

Burying victims of Leningrad's siege at the Volkovo cemetery – October 1942
RIA Novosti archive

Supplies being brought into Leningrad across frozen Lake Ladoga
Sovfoto/Eastfoto

Stalingrad (1942-1943) In June of 1942, Hitler resumed his effort to head his troops towards Stalingrad. But the Russians were under orders that under no circumstances were the Germans to be allowed to take this Russian stronghold (any Russians attempting a retreat or escape would be executed on the spot by their senior officers).  And the Russians indeed held, as murderous as the situation became.  But it was equally murderous for the Germans, who finally showed up at the outskirts of Stalingrad in November – just as another Russian winter also showed up.  By this time however the German supply line to their front lines was vastly overstretched.  And the Russians succeeded in swinging around behind the main German force (Hitler’s Sixth Army) and proceeded to isolate them.  But Hitler foolishly refused to allow his Sixth Army to pull back from this trap.  Total disaster resulted for the Germans. Now the Germans found themselves in retreat in Russia.

The Battle of Stalingrad -- August 23, 1942 – February 2, 1943

Civilians fleeing the destruction of Stalingrad
German Federal Archives

View from the East bank of the Volga River of Stalingrad under attack – August 1942
RIA Novosti Archive

Soviet troops moving against the Germans at Stalingrad
Sovfoto/Eastfoto

A Soviet soldier waving the Red Banner over the central plaza in Stalingrad, 1943
RIA Novosti Archive
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Germans, done in by Russia's harsh winter conditions, surrendering to Russians

Masses of dead soldiers at Stalingrad

Out of the 100,000 German soldiers who survived long enough to surrender, only about 6,000 of them would ever make it back to Germany
RIA Novosti Archive
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

The Soviets now undertake a huge counter-offensive against the Germans

The Battle of Kursk – July 1943

German tanks at the Battle of Kursk- summer of 1943
Bundesarchiv

The Soviet advance in East Europe – second half of 1943
Wikipedia – "Battle of the Dnieper"

Soviet advances on the Eastern Front (WWII), August 1, 1943 to December 31, 1944
Wikipedia – "Eastern Front (World War II)"


The Summit Conference at Tehran (Iran) – November 28 – December 1, 1943

Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the Tehran Conference – 1943

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THE SLOW ALLIED ADVANCE IN ITALY

The Allied campaign in Sicily and Southern Italy (1943-1944) The British under Montgomery and the Americans under General George Patton followed the escaping Germans and Italians onto the island of Sicily and within a month (July-August) succeeded in driving the Axis troops from that island as well.2 Once again, numerous Axis troops made their escape to the nearby Italian peninsula, avoiding the possibility of being trapped in Sicily.  But at this point, the Italian government was tired of the game, and in July had already dismissed and arrested Mussolini – and had opened armistice discussions with the Allies, resulting in the Italians dropping out of the war in September. For Hitler’s troops there was no such option – and they dug into the heights of the central mountain chain that runs the length of the Italian peninsula, determined to give up not even an inch without a ferocious defense against the Allies now positioned in Southern Italy.  At this point the Allied advance ground down to a brutally slow pace. 2The huge egos of both Montgomery and Patton often made it appear that they were more interested in competing against each other for the glory of victory in battle than in just simply defeating German and Italian enemies!  This rivalry (and others like it) would be a continuing problem for General Dwight D. Eisenhower as he attempted to coordinate the efforts of the various Allied armies under his command. "Lt. Col. Lyle Bernard, CO, 30th Infantry Regiment, a prominent figure in the second daring amphibious landing behind enemy lines on Sicily's north coast, discusses military strategy with Lt. Gen. George S. Patton. Near Brolo." 1943. National Archives 111-SC-246532 GIs entering Palermo, Sicily Roosevelt meets with Eisenhower in Sicily – 1943 Behind a screen of smoke, Thunderbirds hitting the Salerno beachhead, September 1943 Courtesy of the 45th Infantry Division Archives "Pvt. Paul Oglesby, 30th Infantry, standing in reverence before an altar in a damaged Catholic Church.  Note: pews at left appear undamaged, while bomb-shattered roof is strewn about the sanctuary.  Acerno, Italy."  Benson, September 23, 1943. National Archives 111-SC-188691 179th Infantry looking for snipers in Caiazzo, Italy The ancient abbey and town of Monte Cassino – destroyed by Allied shelling Anzio Thus the following January (1944) the Americans decided to undertake a massive landing of their troops behind German lines further north along the Italian coast at Anzio.  It was a superb idea, but disastrously conducted by General Lucas – who halted his advance from the shore in order to await additional supplies and reinforcements.  But with that incredibly incompetent decision, all element of surprise was gone and the Germans meanwhile were able to position themselves overlooking the American encampment – pouring murderous fire onto these stranded American troops.  It was not until four horrible months later in May that the Americans were able finally to overcome the German defenses at Anzio. The two lines of Allied advance in Central Italy – February 1944 American troops coming ashore at Anzio – January 1944 American General John P. Lucas - the overly-cautious commander of Operation Shingle at Anzio German General Albert Kesselring – who quickly threw up very strong German defenses at Anzio The liberation of Rome (June 1944) And then General Mark Clark gave the order to head north to Rome (liberating the city fairly quickly in early June) … rather than heading east across the peninsula to cut off a potentially trapped German army.  The Germans thus managed to pull to the north out of this danger, to continue the fight – in fact all the way up to the end of the war, when the Germans were still holding huge portions of northern Italy. American tank rolls past the Roman Colosseum – June 1944 THE LIBERATION OF FRANCE General George C. Marshall Although President Roosevelt was, by the very designation of the American Constitution, commander in chief of all branches of the U.S. military, the person whom the president depended on most to help walk him through virtually all vital military and diplomatic decisions was the quiet, self-effacing American General George C. Marshall.  In a time of prima donna generals in love with their egos (for instance, American Generals Patton and MacArthur, English General Montgomery and French General de Gaulle) Marshall quietly worked in Washington behind the scenes, coordinating the war effort between the White House and Congress, somehow also keeping the egotistical generals working together to advance the Allied war effort.  He was a man of few words, but whose every word was trusted by all, for he was widely recognized as a man of great integrity. Perhaps most illustrative of his character was the moment when it was time to designate a general to lead the massive Allied crossing of the English Channel on D-Day, to begin the liberation of Western Europe, a command that would put the name of the general who led the effort on record forever as one of the greatest generals of all time (and probably a strong candidate for the U.S. presidency some day).  Everyone knew that this distinct honor belonged to the highly capable, hard-working General Marshall.  Roosevelt knew this too, but felt that he would be lost in the swirl of Washington and Allied politics with Marshall in Europe and not at his side.  It was up to Roosevelt to pick the general who would receive this great honor.  But instead he called on Marshall to pick the one who would lead the D-Day operation. Roosevelt confessed that the honor belonged to Marshall, but begged him to stay in Washington where the president, and the country, still needed him badly.  So, Marshall took a piece of paper, and on it wrote the name of his close friend, Eisenhower, and passed it to the president indicating that Eisenhower would be the one to lead the assault. Eisenhower was surprised to receive the honor, but performed well, and stepped into history as the war's most memorable general, and on the basis of that fame eventually did become president of the United States.  Marshall gave up that honor, in order to continue to serve the country rather than his own personal career.  There was a truly great man! The mastermind behind the building up of the US military:  Gen. George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall - Time magazine's 'Man of the Year' - 1943 The Normandy landing begins the Battle of France (June 1944) The Allies hoped to weaken the German line of defense along the Atlantic Wall by convincing the Germans that the crossing would occur way to the North of the area actually selected for the landing.  They thus created in the area just above the narrowest point in the English Channel (just across from French Calais) a huge phony army of dummy tanks and trucks and false radio communications – ones that they were hoping German intelligence was analyzing.  The fact that Patton was appointed head of this phony army was thought (correctly) to be the most convincing part of the ploy (Hitler and the Germans were convinced that Patton was the Allies' best general).  And indeed, Hitler was certain that the channel crossing of the Allies would be happening at Calais.  But in fact the Allied intentions were to head their troops not east from England – but instead to a section of the Normandy shoreline directly south of England … at a substantial distance from Calais.  The point of invasion was a highly-kept secret all the way up until the time it was actually launched. Training for the channel crossing (Operation Overlord) took place over many months.  But as the summer of 1944 approached, General Eisenhower knew it was time to move if they were to cross France and reach Germany before winter set in.  But bad weather delayed the first date chosen for the crossing.  Then a very brief break in very bad weather finally gave Eisenhower the conditions he needed before the tides began to change and the crossing would have to be delayed by weeks.  Because of that bad weather however the Germans were not expecting any action from the Allies.  In fact, Rommel took those days off to head back to Germany for a visit to his wife. Thus in the early hours of June the 6th, 160,000 American, British, Canadian and French troops went ashore along a fifty-mile strip of the coast of southern Normandy.  The Normandy landing area was divided into five sectors: Utah (American), Omaha (American), Gold (British), Juno (Canadian) and Sword (British and some French).  Omaha Beach and the Pointe de Hoc landing of Rangers (next to Omaha Beach) were the sectors with the highest Allied casualties because this area was defended by strong German emplacements atop very tall cliffs.  Juno was almost as bad, due to the German network of bunkers along the seawall. Utah Beach produced the lightest Allied casualties.  The Airborne divisions dropped behind German lines also suffered very high casualty rates. Eisenhower addressing troops prior to the Normandy invasion U.S. Army FDR offering a D-Day prayer the day of the Normandy landing (June 6th 1944) Roosevelt's prayer That night Roosevelt went on the radio to call the American nation to prayer: My fellow Americans: Last night, when I spoke with you about the fall of Rome, I knew at that moment that troops of the United States and our allies were crossing the Channel in another and greater operation. It has come to pass with success thus far. And so, in this poignant hour, I ask you to join with me in prayer: Almighty God: Our sons, pride of our Nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavor, a struggle to preserve our Republic, our religion, and our civilization, and to set free a suffering humanity. Lead them straight and true; give strength to their arms, stoutness to their hearts, steadfastness in their faith. . . . Some will never return. Embrace these, Father, and receive them, Thy heroic servants, into Thy kingdom. And for us at home fathers, mothers, children, wives, sisters, and brothers of brave men overseas whose thoughts and prayers are ever with them help us, Almighty God, to rededicate ourselves in renewed faith in Thee in this hour of great sacrifice. . . . With Thy blessing, we shall prevail over the unholy forces of our enemy. Help us to conquer the apostles of greed and racial arrogancies.  Lead us to the saving of our country, and with our sister Nations into a world unity that will spell a sure peace a peace invulnerable to the schemings of unworthy men.  And a peace that will let all of men live in freedom, reaping the just rewards of their honest toil. Thy will be done, Almighty God. Amen Allied invasion plans and German positions in Normandy on D-Day (June 6, 1944) U.S. Department of Defense Forward 14"/45 guns of USS Nevada (BB-36) fire on positions ashore, during the landings on "Utah" Beach, 6 June 1944. National Archives Approaching Omaha Beach.  Troops in an LCVP ('Higgins boat') landing craft approaching "Omaha" Beach on "D-Day", 6 June 1944.  Note helmet netting, faint "No Smoking" sign on the LCVP's ramp, and M1903 rifles and M1 carbines carried by some of these men. US Army Signal Corp – National Archives Soldiers taking direct hits from a German machine gunner as the ramp drops down for  unloading. Normandy landing - D-Day (June 6, 1944) Members of an American landing party lend helping hands to other members of their organization.  Their landing craft was sunk by enemy action off the coast of France.  These survivors reached Omaha Beach by using a life raft.  Photographer: Weintraub, 6 June 1944 Department of Defense American assault troops of the 3d Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st U.S. Infantry Division which landed in the first two waves, sheltering at the foot of the chalk cliffs.  The cliffs indicate this was in the area of Fox Red sector.  Having gained the comparative safety offered by the chalk cliff at their backs, they take a "breather" before moving onto the continent at Colville-Sur-Mer, Omaha Beach, in Normandy, France.  Medics who landed with the men treat them for minor injuries. 8 Jun 1944. U.S. Army Going ashore on Utah Beach, D-Day – 1944.  Assault elements of Force U, including DD tanks, were still on the beaches when this photo was taken shortly after H Hour.  The amphibious tanks await the blowing of breaches in the sea wall. U.S. Army Going ashore on Utah Beach, D-Day – 1944. Carrying a full equipment, American assault troops move onto Utah Beach on the northern coast of France.  Landing craft, in the background, jams the harbor. 6 June 1944. U.S. Army British troops going ashore at Sword Beach, D-Day – 1944 The British 2nd Army: Commandos of 1st Special Service Brigade landing from an LCI(S) (Landing Craft Infantry Small) on "Queen Red" Beach, SWORD Area, at la Breche, at approximately 8.40 am, 6 June.  The brigade commander, Brigadier the Lord Lovat DSO MC, can be seen striding through the water to the right of the column of men. The figure nearest the camera is the brigade's bagpiper, Piper Bill Millin. Imperial War Museum, London British troops advancing toward Caen, D-Day – 1944 Imperial War Museum, London British soldier and captured Germans,  D-Day – 1944 Imperial War Museum, London Paratroopers of Easy Company, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division after having seized Ste. Marie du Mont from the Germans (June 7, 1944) A group of paratroopers in a French village at St. Marcouf, Utah Beach, France.  From here they will move on into the continent, accomplishing their assigned objectives. 8 June 1944. U.S. Department of Defense Landing ships putting cargo ashore on Omaha Beach, at low tide during the first days of the operation, mid-June, 1944. Among identifiable ships present are LST-532 (in the center of the view); USS LST-262 (3rd LST from right); USS LST-310 (2nd LST from right); USS LST-533 (partially visible at far right); and USS LST-524.  Note barrage balloons overhead and Army "half-track" convoy forming up on the beach.  The LST-262 was one of 10 Coast Guard-manned LSTs that participated in the invasion of Normandy, France. United States Coast Guard Collection The advance again Hitler's forces in France The landing ultimately proved to be a success. Hitler at first refused to reposition his troops gathered further north at Calais, considering the Allied landing to be merely a feint designed to draw troops away from Calais so as to make Patton's invasion easier (there was, of course, no such Patton invasion).  For days Hitler hesitated before he finally came to the realization that this was the massive assault that the Germans had long been expecting.  But by that time the Allies were well planted in Normandy and moving inland fairly quickly. Several problems however complicated the Allied advance.  The British were expected to liberate the city of Caen almost immediately.  Their landing had been largely unopposed, but in reaching the outskirts of Caen the Germans showed themselves prepared to put up a major fight. Consequently, this key hinge point took two months to bring under Allied control. Also the farms of Normandy were outlined not by fences but by huge, thick centuries-old hedges that gave the Germans great defensive opportunities and made progress of the Allied tanks and infantry almost impossible, until an immense steel fork was created to be placed on the front of the tanks, allowing them simply to plow through the hedges.  With that innovation, the advance against the Germans proceeded much more quickly. At one point a huge German army was nearly surrounded by the advancing Allies. But failure to close quickly a gap in the circle allowed most of the Germans to escape and reorganize further east against the Allied advance. Nonetheless, the Germans were tiring and running out of men and supplies. At this point (August) the Allied move across France towards Germany was advancing quickly. In the meantime, a number of Allied troops in Italy under the command of General Truscott were redirected in mid-August to undertake an invasion of France along the southern, Mediterranean coast.  Here they were joined by large numbers of members of the French Resistance, and opposed by greatly weakened German forces.  Within the span of a month, Allies had liberated the entire region, opening key Mediterranean ports for supply of the Allied effort in the north against the main German defense.  This was a vital victory, which however, in the context of the huge attention focused on activities going on further north in France, was barely acknowledged at the time (or sadly, even since then as well). The decision to liberate Paris rather than head directly to a Rhine crossing At first the objective of the Allies as they headed east across France was to get to the Rhine as quickly as possible, cross it and then head across a weakened Germany towards Berlin, possibly ending the war by Christmas.  But key political factors had to be taken into account, especially given the political confusion the French found themselves in.  Eisenhower did not trust the French Communists, who after having sat out the war during its early and vital days (under instructions of Hitler’s ally at the time, Stalin) and then had joined the French Resistance only when Hitler attacked Russia.  Then the Communists attempted to pose themselves as the true heroes of the Resistance, with the goal in mind of taking control of a post-war France.  The original members of the Resistance were very nervous about the Communist role in the Resistance and de Gaulle was adamantly opposed to them.  Thus it appeared that there would be a huge political fight for France – fought naturally at the heartland of French life, Paris.  It was imperative that the Allied Armies, not some Communist element of the French Resistance, should be awarded the task of liberating this key symbol of French life and culture. Then there was perhaps the matter of what the Germans might do to Paris itself simply in retribution.  When Hitler sent Major General Dietrich von Choltitz to Paris to take charge of the German defense of the city, concern about his ultimate intentions naturally arose, for he was the ruthless Prussian commander who had been greatly responsible for the thorough destruction of both Rotterdam in Holland and Sebastopol in Russia.  The Allies did not know that he had instructions from Hitler to completely demolish Paris (leave not one Paris church, bridge, monument or landmark standing) rather than surrender the city intact – but they rather suspected something like that was bound to happen, given Hitler's move to send von Choltitz there. And thus the Allied armies turned toward Paris, fairly quickly taking control of the city (despite German snipers still holding out here and there in the city) – and letting de Gaulle lead the victory parade down the Champs Elys es boulevard as if it had been his Free French army that had performed the liberation.  In any case … no, Choltitz did not blow up Paris as ordered – although when he later put forth the claim that he had refused Hitler's orders for humanitarian reasons, questions arose as to whether this was indeed the case – or that the speed of Paris's delivery prevented him from such a treacherous act.  Perhaps it was some combination of both.  The world will never know. In the end, the cost of the decision to delay the Rhine crossing in order to liberate Paris was very, very high.  This gave Hitler time to reorganize his troops in the West, to end British General Montgomery's hope to quickly cross the Rhine in the North in Holland before the Germans could react (and thus open a very direct and lightly-defended path to Berlin), even to give the Germans the time to organize enough for one last push to throw the Allied effort back to the Atlantic (a combination of V-2 bombs and the German winter offensive known in the West as the "Battle of the Bulge"), and worst of all, to give him that much more time to try to complete the eradication of the entire European Jewish community with his "Final Solution."  Thus a lot of lives were lost elsewhere because of the decision to redirect the Allied war effort toward Paris. In short, a precious, precious price was paid to spare a precious, precious Paris (and France from the grip of Communism), a hard but momentous decision. Charles de Gaulle on BBC radio during the war "General Charles de Gaulle speaks to the people of Cherbourg from the balcony of the City Hall during his visit to the French port city on August 20." 1944. National Archives 208-MFI-5H-1 Members of the Maquis (French Resistance) in La Tresorerie – Boulogne, France, 14 September 1944 Library and Archives Canada A Frenchman offering a drink to GIs on their way to Paris An American officer and a French partisan crouch behind an auto during a street fight in a French city. 1944. National Archives 111-SC-217401 De Gaulle and Eisenhower conferring National Archives Henri Tanguy - leader of the Communist Partisans Major General Dietrich von Choltitz, German Commander in Paris National Archives Free French Partisans taking a stand at one of the "barricades" in Paris Waving the French tri-colored flag in victory atop a captured German tank General Jacques Phillippe Leclerc directing French action in Paris from his half-track. National Archives Tanks of Gen. Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division moving down the Boulevard St. Michel (August 25) National Archives Germans surrender in Paris – August 25, 1944 High ranking German officers seized by Free French troops which liberated their country's capital are lodged in the H tel Majestic, headquarters for the Wehrmacht in the days of the Nazi occupation, Paris, France. Small pockets of German resistance would hold out here and there in the Paris suburbs for the next week De Gaulle leading the victory march down the Champs Elys es – March 26 National Archives Free French tanks and half-tracks of General Leclerc's 2nd Armored Division pass through the Arc de Triomphe, down the Champs Elys es, after Paris was liberated.  August 26, 1944 Library of Congress American troops in tank passing the Arc de Triomphe after the liberation of Paris, August 1944. National Archives 208-YE-68 "American troops of the 28th Infantry Division march down the Champs Elysees, Paris,in the 'Victory' Parade."  Poinsett, August 29, 1944. National Archives 111-SC-193197 An American tank crew in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral  standing ready to defend Paris from German holdouts GIs sharing a streetcorner feast with the French in Paris "Bing Crosby, stage, screen and radio star, sings to Allied troops at the opening of the London stage door canteen in Piccadilly, London, England."  Pearson, August 31, 1944. National Archives 111-SC-193249 THE SOVIET SUMMER OFFENSIVE ... AND THE DESTRUCTION OF WARSAW The Soviet summer offensive of 1944 By mid-1944 the Russians were ready for a major offensive against the Germans, one designed to drive them from the borders of the Soviet Union and the eastern part of Poland that the Russians had once held under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Treaty with Germany.  The Russians had been making constant progress against the Germans in eastern and central Ukraine … and the Russian troops were in high spirits.  In mid-July the offensive began on three separate fronts and quickly achieved its objectives.  Indeed, by the end of August the Germans had lost approximately everything they had gained since June of 1941 when they had undertaken the surprise invasion (Operation Barbarossa) of Soviet-held territory in Poland and even the Soviet Union itself.  By the end of August the Russians had rolled all the way up to the Vistula River in central Poland.  The Germans were in retreat everywhere in the East. Russian troops being welcomed in the Romanian capital of Bucharest – August 1944 Stalin did not send his troops through Poland to liberate it ... but to enslave it! The Warsaw Uprising (August-September 1944).  Then the Russians abruptly stopped their advance.  This was because the Polish Government-in-exile in London had just given the orders for the Polish Resistance to rise up against its German occupiers – in an obvious effort to find the Poles in control of the capital before the distrusted Russians could make their entry into the city. But Stalin was going to have none of this.  He had already created his own Polish government-in-exile, a Communist group that he intended to place in power over Poland – and to control fully.  So he ordered his Russian troops to halt and let the Germans do what he knew they by instinct would do to the rebels: destroy them all ... and possibly even their beautiful and ancient capital city of Warsaw. Mass destruction.  Stalin proved right in his estimation of the Germans. The Germans were brutal.  Some 150,000 to 200,000 Poles were killed by the Germans.  And Warsaw was nearly completely destroyed – by careful design of the Germans themselves, who torched the buildings that their bombs had not destroyed. With the surrender of the Polish resistance (October 2, 1944), the surviving civilian population was removed from the city by the Germans and sent to a transit camp for scrutiny, with nearly 100,000 sent to labor camps and some 60,000 sent to concentration (or "death") camps.3 During this time, Russian action in the region had halted completely ... and was resumed under Stalin's orders only when the Polish resistance movement was crushed by the Germans ... and Warsaw destroyed.  Then and only then was Stalin willing to have the Russians resume their offensive against the Germans … "liberating" (taking control of) a broken city which the Russians then intended to govern. 3After the war Stalin had these same returning Polish prisoners arrested (sent off to Soviet concentration camps in Siberia or even executed directly) on various charges (including even Fascism!), fearing such former Polish activists would become potential rebels against his own rule in Poland (through compliant Polish Communists). A German Stuka Ju-87 bombing Warsaw's Old Town – August 1944 German soldiers of the Brennkommando torching Warsaw buildings The Polish Uprising ceases with the surrender of the Polish resistance – October 2, 1944. Then – and only then – Stalin ordered his troops to resume their attacks on the Germans! A greatly devastated Warsaw THE GERMANS HOLD THE LINE IN THE NETHERLANDS .... AND UNDERTAKE A COUNTERATTACK IN BELGIUM "Corporal Charles H. Johnson of the 783rd Military Police Battalion, waves on a 'Red Ball Express' motor convoy rushing priority materiel to the forward areas, near Alen on France." Bowen, September 5, 1944. National Archives 111-SC-195512 The failed Operation Market Garden in the Netherlands (September-November 1944) British General Montgomery, who commanded the northern flank of the Allied Army in the West, was given the lead4 in implementing a concentrated assault on the German defenses in the north of Holland – the purpose being to gain a crossing of the Rhine River in the more lightly defended Netherlands.  Montgomery's claim was that this would allow the Allies to swing around from the North, encircle the heart of industrial Germany and gain quick access to Berlin, possibly bringing the war to an end before Christmas. Although numerous paratroopers were dropped behind German lines to take control (protection) of the vitally needed bridges, bringing up ground troops to help secure this northern passage proved to be far more difficult than Montgomery had anticipated.  Troop movement had to take place along narrow roads elevated above the often-swampy surrounding land and through Dutch towns, where the population poured out onto the streets to celebrate their freedom with their Allied liberators, often bringing troop movement to a near halt.  Thus the element of surprise was completely lost.  The Germans were quick to understand the Allied program and move their troops not only into strong defensive positions, but capture most of the paratroopers at these vital bridges.  The whole thing turned into a monumental disaster 4This would infuriate American general Patton, whose tank corps was making good headway against the Germans as it advanced toward Germany itself.  For this meant not only diverting important supplies (especially fuel for his tanks) to his nemesis Montgomery but also the loss to Patton of the glory that both men sought on the battlefield! The original plan for Operation Market Garden – September 17-25 1944 Wikipedia - "Operation Market Garden" Yanks of 60th Infantry Regiment advance into a Belgian town under the protection of a heavy tank. September 9, 1944. National Archives 111-SC-193903 Parachutes open overhead as waves of paratroops land in Holland during operations by the 1st Allied Airborne Army. September 1944. National Archives 111-SC-354702 The 101st Airborne with members of the Dutch Resistance in front of the Eindhoven cathedral. CIA A paratrooper in Holland under fire British prisoners taken at Arnhem by the Germans Deutsches Bundesarchiv "A U.S. Infantry anti-tank crew fires on Nazis who machine- gunned their vehicle, somewhere in Holland." W. F. Stickle, November 4, 1944. National Archives 111-SC-197367 Meanwhile, elsewhere the advance against the Germans continues "The endless procession of German prisoners captured with the fall of Aachen marching through the ruined city streets to captivity."   Germany, October 1944. National Archives 260-MGG-1061-1 Meanwhile ... back in the States, Roosevelt is elected to a fourth term of office as US President The presidential election of November 1944 Department of the Interior The Battle of the Bulge (December 1944) In the middle of December 1944, the Germans totally surprised the Allies with a well-prepared attack on the densely wooded section of the Ardennes Forest in Belgium, catching the Allies off guard and thus thrusting deep into Allied lines, thus creating a deep bulge in the Allied line of advance. The "Battle of the Bulge" was thus underway.  The German goal was to reach the key port of Antwerp, shut down the Allies' vital operations there, and seize Allied supply bases (supplies greatly needed by an impoverished German army) along the way. Hitler's generals tried to reason with Hitler concerning all of the dangers involved in such a move.  But Hitler's mental state at this point was such that he thought himself totally brilliant as a military strategist and ignored the warnings. In the end, his advisors proved right.  It turned out to be a grand disaster for the Germans.  Americans refused to give up the key crossroads town of Bastogne, and when the clouds lifted on Christmas Eve, Allied planes were able to conduct ruinous attacks on the German positions.  The Germans were thus forced to retreat back into Germany, now as broken in the West as they were in the East. The German offensive, 16-26 December 1944 The U.S. Army in World War II – The Ardennes: The Battle of the Bulge. American soldiers were caught completely by surprise "A lanky GI, with hands clasped behind his head, leads a file of American prisoners marching along a road somewhere on the western front. Germans captured these American soldiers during the surprise enemy drive into Allied positions." Captured German photograph, December 1944. National Archives 111-SC-198240 Some of the Germans were now playing by new rules of war "American soldiers, stripped of all equipment, lie dead, face down in the slush of a crossroads somewhere on the western front."  Captured German photograph. Belgium, ca. December 1944. National Archives 111-SC-198245 Malmedy massacre – 84 American soldiers were killed after their capture by SS troops. NOAA's Historic Coast & Geodetic Survey (C&GS) Collection The bodies of Belgian men, women, and children, killed by the German military during their counter-offensive into Luxembourg and Belgium, await identification before burial. National Archives But the American line holds - notably at the town of Bastogne Wearied GIs trapped inside the Belgian town of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge United States Army U.S. tanks moving cautiously through the Ardennes – December 1944 American soldiers taking up defensive positions in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge National Archives U.S. troops pinned down in the Ardennes by German troops -  December 1944 U.S. Army U.S. 82nd Airborne helping to relieve US troops caught in the Battle of the Bulge – December 1944 U.S. Army "We were getting our second wind now and started flattening out that bulge.  We took 50,000 prisoners in December alone."  American soldier with captured Germans.  ca. 1944. National Archives 208-YE-105 "Chow is served to American Infantrymen on their way to La Roche, Belgium. 347th Infantry Regiment."  Newhouse, January 13, 1945. National Archives 111-SC- THE WESTERN ALLIES PUSH INTO A FAST-COLLAPSING GERMANY In March of 1945 the Western Allies (Americans, British, French, etc.) finally crossed the Rhine River and were heading rapidly eastward across Germany.  In the same month the Russians captured Vienna (Austria).  The end was nearing for Hitler’s Third Reich.  At this point the Allies Are Streaming into Germany "Then came the big day when we marched into Germany – right through the Siegfried Line." 1945. National Archives 208-YE-193. "First U.S. Army men and equipment pour across the Remagen Bridge; two knocked out jeeps in foreground." Sgt. William Spangle, Germany, March 11, 1945. National Archives 111-SC-201973 Crossing the Rhine under enemy fire at St. Goar. March 1945.  "I drew an assault boat to cross in – just my luck.  We all tried to crawl under each other because the lead was flying around like hail."   National Archives 208-YE-132 American infantry moving through Bensheim, Germany as a woman contemplates the destruction – March 1945 National Archives "All this inanimate wreckage around us was little enough compensation for the human wreckage we hauled back and forth, back and forth. Lunebach, Germany" – ca March 1945 – Army National Archives "Infantrymen of the 255th Infantry Regiment move down a street in Waldenburg to hunt the Hun after a recent raid by 63rd Division." 2d Lt. Jacob Harris, April 16, 1945. National Archives 111-SC-205778 But the Germans continue to give full account of themselves in Italy "Moving up through Prato, Italy, men of the 370th Infantry Regiment, have yet to climb the mountain which lies ahead." Bull, April 9, 1945. National Archives 111-SC-205289 The corpses of Mussolini, his mistress Clara Petacci and other Fascists strung up in Milan – May 1945 U.S. Army Air Forces Go on to the next section:  Victory!   Miles H. Hodges