Rhineland Offensive

Rhineland Offensive
Part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany
Churchill tanks at the onset of Operation Veritable, 9 February 1945
Date 8 February – 27 March 1945 Location Reichswald, (Germany), and adjacent areas Result Allied victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  Canada  United States	Germany

The Rhineland Offensive was a series of allied offensive operations by 21st Army Group commanded by Bernard Montgomery from 8 February 1945 to 25 March 1945, at the end of the Second World War. The operations were aimed at occupying the Rhineland and securing a passage over the Rhine river.^[1]

It was part of General Dwight D. Eisenhower's "broad front" strategy to occupy the entire west bank of the Rhine before its crossing. The Rhineland Offensive encompassed Operation Veritable, Operation Grenade, Operation Blockbuster, Operation Plunder and Operation Varsity.^[2]

Opposing forces

Allies

 

  Bernard L. Montgomery

 

  Canada Henry D.G. Crerar

Forces deployed North to South:^{[3]: 87  [4]}

Allied 21st Army Group
Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery

  Canadian First Army

Lieutenant-General Henry D.G. Crerar

British XXX Corps (Lt-Gen Brian G. Horrocks)

British 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division (Maj-Gen Colin Muir Barber)

British 43rd (Wessex) Division (Maj-Gen Sir G. Ivor Thomas)

British 51st (Highland) Division (Maj-Gen Thomas G. Rennie)

British 53rd (Welsh) Division (Maj-Gen Robert Knox Ross)

British Guards Armoured Division (Maj-Gen Allan Henry Shafto Adair)

Canadian 2nd Infantry Division (Maj-Gen A. Bruce Matthews)

Canadian 3rd Infantry Division (Maj-Gen Daniel C. Spry)

Canadian II Corps (Lt-Gen Guy G. Simonds)

Canadian 4th Armoured Division (Maj-Gen Christopher Vokes)

 

  Miles Dempsey

  British Second Army

Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey

79th Armoured Division (Maj-Gen Sir Percy C.S. Hobart)

British I Corps (Lt-Gen John T. Crocker)

Polish 1st Armoured Division (Maj. Gen. Stanisław Maczek)

49th (West Riding) Infantry Division (Maj-Gen Gordon H.A. MacMillan)

British VIII Corps (Lt-Gen Evelyn H. Barker)

11th Armoured Division (Maj-Gen George P.B. Roberts)

3rd Infantry Division (Maj-Gen Lashmer G. Whistler)

British XII Corps (Lt-Gen Neil M. Ritchie)

7th Armoured Division (Maj-Gen Lewis O. Lyne)

52nd (Lowland) Division (Maj-Gen Edmund Hakewill-Smith)

 

  William H. Simpson

  US Ninth Army

Lieutenant General William H. Simpson

75th Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Ray E. Porter)

95th Infantry Division (Maj. Gen. Harry L. Twaddle)

US XVI Corps (Maj. Gen. John B. Anderson)

8th Armored ("Thundering Herd") Division (Maj. Gen. John M. Devine)

35th Infantry ("Santa Fe") Division (Maj. Gen. Paul W. Baade)

79th Infantry ("Cross of Lorraine") Division (Maj. Gen. Ira T. Wyche)

US XIII Corps (Maj. Gen. Alvan C. Gillem Jr.)

5th Armored ("Victory") Division ((Maj. Gen. Lunsford E. Oliver)

84th Infantry ("Railsplitters") Division (Maj. Gen. Alexander R. Bolling)

102nd Infantry ("Ozark") Division (Maj. Gen. Frank A. Keating)

US XIX Corps (Maj. Gen. Raymond S. McLain)

2nd Armored ("Hell on Wheels") Division (Maj. Gen. Isaac D. White)

29th Infantry ("Blue and Gray Division") Division (Maj. Gen. Charles H. Gerhardt)

30th Infantry ("Old Hickory") Division (Maj. Gen. Leland S. Hobbs)

83rd Infantry ("Thunderbolt") Division (Maj. Gen. Robert C. Macon)

Axis

Theatre commander

 

Gerd von Runstedt

Army group commanders

 

Johannes Blaskowitz

 

Walter Model

Oberbefehlshaber West
Generalfeldmarschal Gerd von Rundstedt

Forces deployed North to South:^{[3]: 86  [5]}

Heeresgruppe H

Generaloberst Johannes Blaskowitz^[a]

Twenty-Fifth Army

General der Infanterie Günther von Blumentritt

XXX Corps (Otto Fretter-Pico)

LXXXVIII Corps (Hans-Wolfgang Reinhard)

First Parachute Army

General der Fallschirmtruppe Alfred Schlemm

XLVII Panzer Corps (Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz)

II Parachute Corps (Eugen Meindl)

LXXXVI Corps (Erich Straube)

Heeresgruppe B

Generalfeldmarschal Walter Model

Fifteenth Army

General der Infanterie Gustav-Adolf von Zangen

XII SS Corps (Eduard Crasemann)

LXXXI Corps (Friedrich Köchling)

LVIII Panzer Corps (Walter Krüger)

Fifth Panzer Army

General der Panzertruppe Hasso von Manteuffel thru 9 Mar, then Generaloberst Josef Harpe

LXXIV Corps (Carl Püchler)

LXVII Corps (Otto Hitzfeld)

LXVI Corps (Walther Lucht)

 

Rhineland campaign (February-March 1945)

See also

• Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine

Notes

1. Charged with war crimes; committed suicide May 1948.

References

1. Paul Douglas Dickson (2007). A thoroughly Canadian general : a biography of General H.D.G. Crerar. Toronto : University of Toronto Press, p.360.
2. Rosendaal, J. (2014). De Bevrijding in Beeld. Van Neerpelt tot Wesel, 1944–1945, Nijmegen, Vantilt, p.6. 9789081450003.
3. Ford, Ken (2000). The Rhineland 1945: The last killing ground in the West. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 978-1-85532-999-7.
4. Stanton, Shelby L. (1984). World War II Order of Battle. New York: Galahad Books. ISBN 0-88365-775-9.
5. Tessin, Georg (1975). Verbände und Truppen der deutschen Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS im Zweiten Weltkrieg 1939-1945. Vol. 2. Osnabrück: Biblio-Verlag. p. 283. ISBN 978-3764810832.

Further reading

• Berkel, Alexander (2004). Krieg vor der Eigenen Haustür, Kleef, B.o.s.s. Druck und Medien. ISBN 3924380228.
• Hag, Leo ten (2014). Het natuurgebied rondom Nijmegen bezien als militair landschap3. ISBN 9789090292595.
• Rawson, A. (2006). The Rhine Crossing. 9th US Army & 17th US Airborne, South Yorkshire, Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1844152324.
• Rosendaal, J. (2014). De Bevrijding in Beeld. Van Neerpelt tot Wesel, 1944–1945, Nijmegen, Vantilt. ISBN 9789081450003.
• Saunders, Tim (2006). Operation Plunder. The British & Canadian Rhine Crossing, South Yorkshire, Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 1844152219.
• Whitaker, W.D. en Whitaker, S. (1989). Rhineland. The Battle to end the war., Stoddart. ISBN 978-0312034191.

External links

• The Start Of The Rhineland Offensive, legionmagazine.com