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WWII The Liberation of Europe - The Push to Berlin

Mar 17, 2024
To the average American, the imposing German cathedrals and narrow, winding city streets were as foreign to them as the yellow brick streets of Oz, but this was Germany, Cologne, Dusseldorf, of the industrial might of Hitler's Nazi Germany. , which stretched from the Rhine River to the elk only. The tired soldiers had one thing left: advance eastwards, towards Berlin and conquer it. The following programs pick up the battles of World War II in the early spring of 1945. Allied soldiers are marching out of the Roar Valley toward the mighty Rhine River using brought-in Higgins boats. Advanced by the US Navy and the bridge captured at Ramagan, the army successfully crossed and joined the paratroopers on the eastern shores launched in one of the largest air assaults;
wwii the liberation of europe   the push to berlin
However, the combined forces are now advancing towards the great German cities, Frankfurt, Heidelberg, Cologne, Dusseldorf for the first time. time since the beginning of hitler's march through

europe

the germans get a taste of their own medicine the programs that follow were produced months after the battles and are presented here without editorial intervention or contemporary revisionism not only show the march through germany Through music, words and layered sound effects, they capture a sense of time and place that modern documentaries simply cannot recreate first, although we begin with a gallery of photographs of the Allied advance during the advance towards Berlin, north of Trier, in the valley of the Lower Moselle.
wwii the liberation of europe   the push to berlin

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Units of General Patton's Third Army fight their way through the Eiffel Hills straightening a line that runs 35 miles to the fallen enemy base of Prim In early March, the 11th Armored Division along with the 4th Infantry Division advances in preparation for a jump from the Kill River over the Moselle on the right German positions in the hills above Trier are attacked. This offensive that began at the end of February, when armor and infantry crossed the Moselle and began to clear the Moselle Zar triangle, will cause the last enemy to collapse. territory west of the rhine nazi prisoners seek refuge from the fires of german batteries they were captured in host germany northeast of prim this action is far beyond the siegfried line which the third army has shattered at all points north of trier the road to colony in the At the approaches to Germany's fourth largest city, the enemy had prepared huge barricades that they would place in their positions when the first troops of the army attacked from the northern and southern outskirts in the fifth march, The men of the 3rd Armored Division eliminated pockets of resistance in the suburban towns of Poulheim and Bakumunta.
wwii the liberation of europe   the push to berlin
A total of 15 villages around Colonia are taken in the advance towards the city. The few remaining civilians seek refuge in our lines. As street fighting intensifies, troops under the command of Major General Maurice Rose quickly defeated the irregular opposition. Upon its penetration into the city limits of Cologne, augmenting the first two army units that had crossed the Ruhr in Urine, the Third Army led the advance eastwards reaching the Rhine downstream of Cologne before turning south for this run. towards the city the streets of colony are not far ahead the tanks and infantry advance on the road that leads directly to the heart of the besieged metropolis.
wwii the liberation of europe   the push to berlin
The spiers of the cathedral gradually approach as the column advances uninterruptedly. There is some machine gun fire and occasional projectiles, but little concerted resistance in the underpass into the city. The Nazis have set up a barricade. made up of disabled trams and heavy iron beams, and a company from the 36th armored infantry regiment are the first to reach this roadblock and quickly remove its numerous components. A tank bulldozer is used to remove trams blocking the underpass within 45 minutes. The barrier has been removed and the armored vehicles reach the city proper. The Germans are resisting at several strong points and buildings destroyed by bombs.
Most of the opposition comes from regular troops. Our units report that there is no house-to-house resistance according to the Forex term. The enemy is chased from the street. onto the street those trying to flee in cars are shot repeatedly at snipers are driven from their positions a tanker truck suffers a direct hit and the crew jumps from the flames concussion shakes the portable camera with its telephoto lens wow close the helmet of The cathedral is still standing almost intact, except for the holes in the roof, the building did not receive direct hits from bombs in approximately 25 total attacks in Colonia inside the 700 year old cathedral is naked its religious relics have been moved to safe places 15 miles south of colony the first army captures bond the enemy barely had time to blow up the section that crosses the rhine two nazi engineers were trapped on the bridge after placing the charge while the first division takes bond the 9th division that has been fighting at his side for two years of A large-scale campaign crashes into Bot Gotesbia.
This city 12 miles south of Bonn is captured on the morning of March 8. The normal population was 23,000. In 1938, Hitler and Neville Chamberlain met in this building before the Munich conference. in which the dismemberment of Czechoslovakia was formally ratified, the observation was established that the bridgehead vehicles would move in a long line to the section that bears the name of General Ludendorff. Nazi plans called for the demolition of this bridge between Ramogan on the west bank and the airport on the east, but on March 7 Patrols of the 9th Armored Division removed the charges before serious damage could be caused and we had a bridge intact over the Rhine.
Tanks and infantry crossed to capture the airport and surrounding highlands before advancing inland. The bridge's railroad tracks have been boarded up for vehicle traffic. The law opposes the enemy's persistent attempts to dive-bomb the Ludendorff Bridge despite these attacks, the bridgehead rapidly expanding. This marks the first break of the Rhine River line since Napoleon crossed it in 1805. fifty miles north of the Raymargan bridgehead. Air and ground assaults marked the advance of the Ninth Army. Towards the Rhine, opposite Dusseldorf, a tank of the 2nd Armored Division opens fire. Lieutenant General Simpson's troops approach the rest of Field Marshal Montgomery's 21st Army Group.
The British Second Army in Canada attacks first from the Neus zone. , where three bridges have been blown up, the Ninth Army gains control of the thirteen miles of the west bank of the Rhine by firing on enemy barges on the Rhine, before Dusseldorf; Meanwhile, the 35th Infantry Division, after taking the town of Gelton, Germany advances to establish contact with British units advancing from the north of the 35th Rally the tommies of a Welsh division the bicycles are used by elements of The 84th Infantry Division along the roads in front of Dewisborg Two-wheeled vehicles are abandoned as they advance through somewhat rugged Rhineland terrain A combined Anglo-American advance further north is reducing the enemy's bridgehead capacity in the west bank off basil paving the way for further crossings of the rhine north of roaring tanks take part in defeating the last enemy forces fleeing to the east bank the battle for the town of gaynem west of dewisport less than three weeks later of this action on the 21st army group is across the north rhine the raf and the us 8th air force attack tactical targets beyond the rhine for a week before the allies

push

the rhine cross airpower pulverizes basil and other strong points rocket-launching typhoons cut down Nazi installations defense network Mitchell bombers on Basil between March 22 and 24 RAF dropped 1,700 tons on troops and positions in Basil 1,975 tons on Nazi concentrations throughout the northern edge of the roar and at buckhold over basil on friday night march 23, just before allied armies begin crossing the rhine raf bomber command opens the way for ground troops brilliantly clear weather holds for All night arsonists burn Nazi installations that could disrupt our bridgehead operations at dawn March 24 south of Paris paratroopers begin assembling for the largest airborne attack operation in history, the officers and men of the 17th .a US airborne division put on their gear before entering troop transports, the planes are c-47s carrying 18 men and, for the first time, curtis command transports carrying 36 paratroopers, the command C-46 is equipped with two doors and launches its shooters from both sides simultaneously, meanwhile, at the Allied bases in England, the British 6th Airborne Division begins another phase of operations, the activities are in exact synchronization with the takeoffs of the US 17th Airborne Division from France, gliders packed with equipment are ready to be hitched to British sterling bombers, Tommies in gliders climb aboard for the journey to the bridgehead sector, where the British commandos have already launched Marshal Montgomery's advance to cross the lower rhine at the same time that American infantry in gliders leave the airfields in France, these units board the Waco or CG4A glider.
They typically carry 12 fully equipped soldiers or a combination of soldiers and equipment weighing up to 4,000 pounds. The nylon rope is prepared to hook the glider behind the nose of the ship ready for takeoff. The CG4A glider can be carried at a speed of up to 150 miles per hour with its full load, although the normal cruising speed behind the C- 47 is 120 miles per hour. All American gliders in this operation are towed in pairs. Troops taken to a loft constitute the 194th Glider Infantry Regiment from nearby French airfields paratroopers take off the initial elements of Lieutenant General Lewis H Brayton's First Allied Airborne Army on their way to the Rhine at the same early dawn across the channel in england sterling leaves the airfield with the first British glider to take off on the March 24 Operations Two types of Blighters transport weapons and supplies to British troops.
The Hammel vehicle, which can transport a light tank of approximately eight tons or any other equivalent load. The Horsa, which is the British standard glider and carries a load of three tons. Both are towed. individually inside one of the gliders aboard a Sterling bomber as the glider train makes its way over the British countryside crossing the English Channel the meeting point of the British and American planes is near Brussels and moves eastwards Through Belgium the two great air forces total sixteen hundred planes, fourteen hundred gliders and forty thousand soldiers over the ruins of the Belgian cities.
General Baroton and British officers observe how the air armada advances towards the objective, approaching the Rhine River, one of our planes lies in flames near the river bank paratroopers and parapac supplies spill Over the drop zone in the basal area of ​​the run, in this jump from the enemy positions east of the Rhine, the objective of the airborne divisions is first to contain the German rear and then make a quick crossing with the ground troops. A C-46 caught in a dive. towards the ground the gliders are ready to release at the signal glider from the tip of the ship the nylon tow rope is unhooked the first landings of the glider without mishap the fighters and bombers have been maintaining a protective cover over the area that is infested with anti-aircraft positions hidden one of the blasts this operation is a reversal of allied airborne tactics in normandy and holland here glider and paratrooper forces enter after ground troops begin their assault across the rhine advancing against objectives mapped during the sessions briefings assembling squadrons and forming combat units deployed behind Nazi lines on the first day airborne troops captured six bridges across the Isil River intact seized four thousand German soldiers behind their own front lines the American advance toward the The troops on the Ruhr river line of the First and Ninth Army wait for the signal to follow the platoons that negotiated the swollen Rur and the hours before dawn the tanks give protective fire on the River bank.
A morning fog hangs over the western shore likeelements of the 104th infantry division. advance assault boats to cross to dura area east of akin despite enemy fire from the east bank and the rapid current of the roar bridgehead operations advance almost without interruption once the river is crossed units Assault troops of the 104th advanced toward initial objectives in and throughout Europe they attacked the factory section of the German industrial city that had a normal population of 35,000. A building by building Nazi defenses surpassed except for slight delays surrounding the strong points that our troops completed the capture during without encountering formidable opposition simultaneously with the opening of the rural offensive of the First Army the units of the Ninth Army are ready to jump in the vicinity of a 16-mile northwest slope downstream in early February, the river had increased from its normal width of 20 to 40 yards to 300 yards by the 23rd, it was already down. at a maximum width of 50 yards but still running at six to seven miles per hour the complicated currents twist and shake the light wooden boats one of the assault craft is shown again having capsized and nearly drowned its occupants replays of such incidents are numerous.
Rescuers save many lives, completely drenched in exhaustion from their ordeal, they continue to join the troops moving beyond the rare eastern shore. Combat engineers build a pedestrian bridge to facilitate new crossings under intense machine gun and mortar fire. The infantrymen remain undercover until the stretch is ready for use as they cross. An American reconnaissance plane surveys the operation. Many small towns lie in the path of the rapid advance and an initial prisoner count reveals 4,000 captured in the first 24 hours. The 29th Infantry Division is yet another arm of the coordinated advance through the roar tasked with seizing the river fortress city of Ulic Veterans of the Siege of Saint Low in Normandy Major General Charles Gerhart's troops run across the bridge of infantry support and advance towards the objective General Gerhart crosses along with his troops and directs the advance towards the besieged Julia, the city that had been heavily swept by American planes before this attack is quickly cleared by the 29 last moat the defenders are expelled from the vendors within yulic the crossings towards ulic continue making this position through the roar secure the troops of the ninth army occupy a ridge to the north and east of the city overlooking the bridgehead area before exit on the 29th this poster was published the aerial views of eulek show the effectiveness of the artillery and the aerial bombardments that preceded the assault by the infantry troops the ninth air force carried out more than two thousand flights aimed at helping the armies through the river in initial successes in this area are quickly followed by attacks against the colony guarding German lions and the spearhead attack of Dusseldorf's Ninth Army beyond Hewlett.
This sudden advance northeastward toward the Rhine comes after rural bridgeheads have been consolidated into a 25-mile strip from north of Leanik to south of Durham. The Ninth Army's new campaign is coordinated with the operations of the first canadian army between moss and the rhine the vital road center city of air collins population 10,000 falls into the hands of the 102nd infantry division our troops encounter large numbers of civilians for the first time Time elapsed since their entry In Germany, hundreds of prisoners of war and forced laborers from many European countries are freed by the American advance. There is evidence that the Germans opened and used Red Cross food packages intended for American prisoners on February 28 at Heppendorf, men of the 104th Infantry.
The division finds boxes in Nazi quarters and throughout the city, while the Ninth Army continues northeast. The first army units to cross the roar during the advance directly to the east, towards the natural barrier of Cologne, before these troops are a tributary of the Rhine, the Aired River and its accompanying canals, three crossings. of land are made in the first march troops are deployed across the plains seven miles from colony as enemy resistance intensifies tank elements of the 3rd armored division go into action taking defensive positions and capturing German trenches despite enemy defenses consisting of large anti-tank mines and earth fortifications supporting the air, the first army maintains its control beyond the river line and approaches colony, meanwhile, on the second march, the city of noyce, with a pre-war population of 60,000, is captured by the 83rd Division. 9th Army we reach the Rhine, where it is 1180 feet wide and 50 feet deep, the telephoto lens shows Dusseldorf and its bridges crossing the Rhine.
American guns bombard the city. General Eisenhower, accompanied by General Simpson and McLean, visits the Army's Ninth Front on Third March in a statement on the current Supreme Defense. The Allied commander said we hope to destroy all the Germans west of the Rhine and within the area we are attacking. General Eisenhower added that if the German continues to show the spirit that he has now, there is only one way to defeat him. The allied armies must confront each other. the russians in central germany british film showing the transport of landing craft to the allied armies before the rhine crossing at austin belgium a landing dock unloads lcms and lcvps brought from england by both the royal navy and the land fleet American with hundreds of boats assisted in the amphibious crossing of the river, these higgins ships, after being unloaded in Austin, circle the coast to Antwerp and then advance towards the front through the Albert Canal.
The boats are sent to caches near the Rhine where they are stored. They wait for the signal to cross, although many ships travel along the river route to their destination, most landing craft are sent to the front in specially equipped trucks called tank transporters, the trucks moved along the roads towards Germany on the day of across the Rhine saw a stream of LCMS and LCVPS different men tanks weapons bulldozers and gasoline cans to the eastern bank playing a vital role in the successful bridge over the river so that the battle for Frankfurt in the mine elements of the 6th Armored Division They approach the only remaining bridge to Germany's ninth largest city weakened by repeated bombing the section is impassable for heavy armor Third Army tanks maintain access to the bridge while infantry troops try to cross in front of them there are small arms and bazooka fire along with an artillery bombardment from enemy points along the upper river our men are forced As the bombardment continues unabated for six hours, waiting for the signal for another attempt to cross, they approach the bridge again damaged with a single shot and then run across still under withering enemy fire, entering bombed-out Frankfurt.
Fifth infantry troops advance to clear out the snipers inside. the city that was defended by popular raiders and ss units frankfurt is cleared on march 29 10 miles southeast of the fallen rhyme bastion of mannheim the forces of the seventh army speed along the superhighway towards heidelberg german demolitions have destroyed all bridges over the nekkar river towards the former german university town infantry support rafts transport men and vehicles the 10th armored division and the 63rd infantry division capture heidelberg march 30 unlike german cities of similar size, heidelberg is practically unscathed all newer parts of the city north of the neck car are almost unmarked reports on the old town south of the river indicate only slight damage the liberated french celebrate in the streets of heidelberg to the northeast the 45th division of General Patch Infantry received support from the 12th Tactical Air Command in the attack on our mall.
This city was reported to be clear when the Third Army arrived at the end of the march but the Nazis take a new fanatical position bombs cause large fires Aschaffenburg is finally taken on April 3 another 7th Army Division the 12th Armored Division crosses the Bavarian plane in The vicinity of Yorkburgh This attack on March 31 is against the town of Nasik, just below the town of Sharp Mine River, it is estimated that 250 Nazis are holding out in the town. They are all reportedly young soldiers between 16 and 18 years old. An hour has allowed them to leave and surrender. 95 Germans surrender.
The interrogation reveals that these troops only had 15 days of training but their marksmanship is attested by the reports of the men of the 12th armored battalion the battle continues against the fanatical defenders who remain inside the nasa with the support of the tank elements black units of the 43rd armored infantry battalion enter the city the small town is a fire that falls on the troops of major general roderick allen on the first army front german shells explode over the city of limborg 22 miles east of koblenz a important railway and road terminal the 9th Armored Division enters the city with a crossing of the Lawn River this climax is embellished with the afternoon drive of March 26 in which the 9th swept the Cologne Frankfurt superhighway to reach Limburg.
Among the prisoners captured in the city were those who wore the popular storm bracelet. Limborg had a normal population of 12,000. The highway in this area is used as a landing strip by field artillery liaison pilots. Normal traffic is not interfered with, apart from the main upper section of the super highway, the American motorized team moves forward along the underpass employing the largest concentrations of armor in the army's first long-range column operations of general hodge deployed east along highways once hitler's pride germany in an allied plan to isolate the roar the third armored division turns north to link up with the troops of the ninth army moving at high speed the third armored spirits toured potterborn 100 miles northeast of colony the 104th infantry division under command of major general terry allen also participating in this action the commander of the 3rd armored major general maurice rose is killed near potterborn on March 30 the woods and hills south of potterborn They are cleared before the city has entered the attack on Geesen, just west of Audubon, running from Frankfurt to Leipzig, the 7th Armored Division takes the city.
It is in this area that 1,200 American, English, Russian and Polish prisoners of war are released on March 28, originally detained in Limborg. Being withdrawn when our troops isolated their captors that is Germany further extending its dominance in the long river the 7th armored vehicle enters this city adjacent to Geesen on March 29 Major General Robert Hosbrook's troops take many prisoners in the city still in flames fourteen days in service this nazi had seen only two hours of action when captured freed slave workers of all nationalities abandon betzlar ernst's optical works lights home of the leica camera city after city is taken by the seventh armor ross bear deacon bark and everything in an area 15 miles northeast of geeseton are taken in rapid succession the tanks speed past the smoke and flames the armor advances at a pace that allows only preliminary passage by motorized infantry and then the complete clearance by dismounted infantry the 7th armored division advances 96 miles in five days reducing all opposition in its path this is loren green in world war ii 61 divisions of the united states army were locked in mortal combat with the enemy the European theater of operations this film is about one of those divisions the 10th armored division its nickname was tiger division On December 16, 1944, Hitler began his great advance towards the port of Antwerp.
The Ardennes Offensive, six days later, on December 22, strong German forces surrounded the outnumbered and outgunned American defenders of Astonia, a key communications center vital to the success of Hitler's plan. As a result of this encirclement, the commanding general of the German 47th Panzer Corps delivered an ultimatum of surrender to General Anthony McAuliffe, commander of the Bastogne garrison, General McAuliffe's response to the German commander was madness, fighting in the besieged city was the combat command b of the 10th armored corps division from the beginning of the battle for bastogne dense fog and bad flying weather prevented aerial refueling and support of fighters there was a shortage of surgical equipment and there was noenough blankets for the wounded men and shock ammunition was running out and some of the artillery batteries were reduced to less than 10 shots per gun, but the morning of December 23 dawned clear and cold and visibility was unlimited from England to the trenches of Bastogne, where all the men looked to heaven and prayed and their prayers were answered.
I'm William Lyndon. Roberts, a retired U.S. Army Brigadier General, was commander of CCB Combat Command, 10th Armored Division in World War II. The 19th tactical strike, the 19th we called, gave us every half hour a squadron of planes circling at the same time. Luckily, a captain staggered. to Bastogne how he got there, I don't know, but he was an expert in operating with the air from the ground. We had an excellent VHF set that could work with air that we installed in the middle of the complex and he used the air in the following way, the air here, the planes carried napalm bombs, ordinary bombs, rockets and what he called bullets , he said that first I took out the napalm bombs, then I took out his bombs, then I took out the rockets, then I gave him bullets and before Let him go.
I circulated it once to give us new goals. I have estimated that the air was equivalent to at least two divisions' health because they could see in the freshly fallen snow where the tanks had gone and We were able to bomb all these, all these small forests and at one point they found a column moving towards the 4th armored division which was fighting to get into us and I think the air, the next air squadron destroyed the entire group. retired us army general anthony mcauliffe was in bathstone with the 101st airborne division in 1944. One of the saddest and most dramatic incidents occurred on christmas eve.
We had asked for volunteers when we lost our hospital and a very well-trained nurse, the daughter. of the town's hardware store, Renée Lemaire, volunteered and took care of a group of wounded from the 10th Armored Division in a house on the main street of Bastogne, but on Christmas Eve a 500-pound bomb hit the house, the crossed and none of them the soldiers of the 10th division of the army nor Rainy the mayor not a single one survived on December 26 elements of the 4th armored division crashed in Bastogne the siege was broken and for the Germans it was the beginning of the end after having been there about 30 days On January 16th we were relieved to have left Bastogne in one of the worst snow storms I have ever seen, climbing a long hill about 40 miles to the south, a big long hill with a gentle slope, the tanks simply could not reach it. sliding backwards like bears on a slippery slide as I think, think carefully, I have decided that if we had been alone in Bastogne, without infantry, we would not have been able to withstand the 101st in the air for ten minutes without the steel that my team provided, there would not have been could resist. but the steel of my team and the blood and flesh of his team made a pretty tough combination.
I have always found it unfortunate that the 10th Armored Division's b combat command did not get the credit it deserved in the Battle of Bastogne all year. the newspaper and the radio were talking about the paratroopers, in fact the 10th armored division was there a day before us and had a very hard fight before we got into it and I truly believe we would never have been able to get into Bastogne if so out. Had it not been for the defensive fighting of the three elements of the 10th Armored Division who were the first to reach Bastone and protected the city from the German invasion on February 20, 1945, after much-needed rest and reconditioning, The 10th Armored Division was advancing at full speed again, the mission this time was to clear our Moselle Triangle and capture the city of Trier, an important supply and communication center and one of the most fortified areas in the world.
This was work that General Patton had begun in November 1944 but was left unfinished due to the Ardennes counteroffensive. I am colonel james o'hara. I commanded the 54th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 10th Armored Division of our The division was involved in action in the Sar Moselle triangle on two different occasions, the first time I was not involved on the second occasion, after the Battle of Bastogne we were told to drive to Cyborg, as I remember the 94th division was an empty division. we cleared the way through the siegfried line and followed it and reached sarburg with few incidents when we reached the sire river our division headquarters moved to the city of ale and planned a river crossing for this river crossing the general Pyburn, who commanded the cca, was placed in command, assigned the three armored infantry battalions as his command and told to lead them across the river and assault the ships and take the high ground on the other side.
My name is John Drew Devereaux. I was a company commander in the 10th Armored Battalion. division during the second world war I think the river crossing we did on the way to Trier was one of the things I would least like to have to do again, we did it at night and it is always more difficult to do something at night and it is much scarier We took these assault boats for what seemed like about five miles through the woods as we came out of the woods at the edge of the river, we had to cross a lot of open country and go over a few fences while we were at it.
Walking past it of course it was pitch black and suddenly we walked into not only a minefield but the whole place was full of booby traps, just as the first miner of the first booby trap went off of course , they started letting us have it. With mortar and artillery fire and people shouting doctor, you didn't know if you should put your foot back in front of you for fear of stepping on something, if you should stay where you were or what to do. It's the scariest thing that's ever happened. I finally managed to cross the river without too many problems, but I tell you, it was a great feeling to get to the other side and step on solid ground again.
We reached the top of the hill and down in the valley we met General Pyburn again. There was not much action at that time and we saw many prisoners coming towards the rear, however, there were several pillboxes that had to be eliminated. General Piburn gave us the option of when to clean these pillboxes, some of them did not complete them during the day, I mean some of our Italians, in my case I decided to clean these pill boxes at night. I had received a lot of training in the United States on how to take a pill box, so when it came our turn to do this, we were pretty well prepared for it.
We crawled through about 1500 meters of open field and descended into an anti-tank. ditch and then the approved routine was that your bazooka man was to fire his bazooka into the observation slot of the pillbox while a couple of others went around the back and threw grenades. Well, I turned to the bazooka man and told him he was fine. Now you shoot at the observation slits and he said okay and turned to the rocket man and told him to give me the rocket for the bazooka only to find out that the rocket man was lying face down about 1500 meters from where we had started. so there wasn't much to do there, but grab a couple of n1's and jump through the crack while the platoon sergeant went around the back, it was more like in the movies, the cartoon sergeant opened the door, the back door, the pill box. and I would take a grenade and throw it and then we would slam the door shut and we would both lean on it to make sure no one got out.
We did this pretty well all afternoon and I think at the end of the afternoon we had about 150 prisoners by February 21, 48 hours after the attack on the Tsar Mosel triangle began, the tent tigers, along with elements of the 94th Infantry Division, had invaded 85 square miles of German terrain and captured 23 pounds, thus setting the stage. For the subsequent capture of Triad Well, the 10th Army was given the mission to take the city of Trier, so they sent us down the road and told us to take a trailer and we had to pass through a city called Surf My Battalion.
We arrived near the town of Zurf and discovered that the Germans we had eliminated from the area around the river had retreated just behind Zurb and were targeting Zurf with heavy artillery. I passed by the gentleman in the morning and discovered that the city was boiling with artillery I didn't see how anyone could live there I moved to a battalion that had lost its entire headquarters some sick some absent people died and my executive and I took care of this battalion it was raining it was dark they were bombing at the same time general patton was raising kane with general walker, the central commander who was raising cain with general morris, the division commander who was raised in the devil with me to enter Trier, as I said, practically the entire division was around here, except my small force that had just been relieved from Zerf, colonel richardson, lieutenant colonel richardson was in command, i heard that the rangers would be relieving him in the afternoon, He didn't deserve it, they were shouting on the radio, hey, I sat in the headquarters.
That night with Roberts, my executive and us, we used an old map and decided to play it as a map problem. We wanted to turn right, but found out it was dark, we had no guides, it was stuffy. In our minds we knew that the big minefields up there were afraid to do it, that the only way was directly towards the trailer, but you couldn't raise your hand in the afternoon on this road because the Germans were on the ridges on either side, so I couldn't understand this path, but it suddenly occurred to us that it was black and the German couldn't see anyone on the path, so we decided to send him this way.
Richardson broke free and entered headquarters. We told him that he was going to come in, he brought the young officers to him and informed them. I remember him telling a team. I'll take the bridge on the right. You take the bridge on the left. We happened to know that these two bridges were still intact from the plane. photographs of that day to summarize the story, Richardson arrived in the city and his bridge exploded in front of his face, he had not heard a boom on the other bridge, so he wandered in his tank to the other bridge and discovered that there was no exploded, there was some gunfire from this end of the bridge, but it was sporadic and not organized.
He organized the appetite, a platoon sent him across the bridge. He had his tank and some other things shooting at the other end. the bridge and luckily they made it across they captured the man the officer who was supposed to ruin it directed them to ten or eleven other officers who would have ratted him out if they had escaped they were in the back of a cafe so he got the whole group . My name is John Winter. I was a tank platoon sergeant in the 10th Armored Division during World War II after they took Trier. We are heading to Whitley's Germany.
After taking Whitledge, we retreated to Trier and I promised to rest, but my private platoon and an infantry platoon were given the mission to go to the opposite side of the mountain from Trier to try to take an intact bridge. We started under the cover of darkness as we approached this valley where the bridge was supposed to be where the Germans were stationed with 88 and infantry waiting for us that's where I lost my tank when they hit it, it burned down immediately and I got out of the side. upper, I dove and ran a large dairy barn for cover.
On March 16, the entire division was advancing towards the Rhine to get there, the Tigers faced endless enemy pillboxes dragging quick roadblocks and, worst of all, some 100,000 well-trained German soldiers. I am colonel curtis l hankins, i was a battalion commander of the 61st armored infantry battalion of the 10th armored division. one event i remember on the run to the line concerns the destruction of a german supply column that had place between Kaiserslautern and Frankenstein with the help of the air force which had bottlenecked some German vehicles. Earlier today we were able to destroy an entire German army supply train.
This was recognized as one of the largest concentrations of enemy equipment of the entire war and General Patton came to see this and said it was the most fantastic destruction of an enemy column that he had seen during the entire war. The tigers reached the Rhine Valley. In just over a week, capturing 8,000 prisoners in their advance and cutting off the escape route for more than 50,000 Germans, on March 28 they crossed the Rhine in Worms for the final cleanup that would take them directly to the Austrian and Bavarian Alps three days later. After heavy fighting, the division advanced through the historic university town of Heidelberg, but the Tigers were getting tired after six months of continuous and fierce fighting, the division was now 50 under strength and the men were showing theinevitable signs of wear.
This was a dangerous situation because although the Germans were definitely fleeing, they still delivered a murderous blow. On April 3, 1945, the 10th Armored Division and Battalion of the 100th Infantry Division received orders to seize the city of Heilbronn and continue east. I am Lieutenant Colonel George Hamill during World War II. I was a company commander in the 21st tank battalion. 10th armored division. The division had been ordered to seize the city of Heilbronn. key communications center and our battalion task force riley had driven to the very gates of heil braun only to discover that the bridges across the neca river had been blown in our faces and the division was then ordered to attempt to cut off heilbronn from the Hankins Rear Task Force crossed the Necker River north of Heilbronn and made a wide sweep towards Crail Shine.
They met with very little opposition. We were ordered to follow the Hankins task force. He passed through Crailsheim and continued towards Schwebush Hall. We successfully passed through Trailshine. We go through the next one. large city called Ilshofen and penetrated deeper into German territory when we reached some blown bridges and were completely stopped at that time the Germans had reacted to this penetration into their rear the German reaction was violent, it was their greatest show of force since the offensive of Ardennes by April 8 the Germans had cut off the trail. Supplies were running low for the Americans in the city and it seemed another Bastogne was brewing, but the air force passed again over the next two days.
Transports of the ninth. Troop Carrier Command brought in the necessary gasoline and ammunition rations to sustain the Tigers, despite their ability to repel one enemy attack after another, the Tigers were unable to maintain Trailshime's supremacy without reinforcements and reinforcements were unavailable. , as a result, the mission and division were changed. We were ordered to withdraw from the area, we were all upset, I think the fact that we had to give up this land that we had taken and held, we were certainly not expelled, we withdrew, it was a sad disappointment to be ordered to withdraw from Creole brilliance. especially after the overall objective seemed to have been won, from April 11 to 22 the combat-weary Tigers headed south on April 23 they were found in toys along the north bank of the Danube River southeast of ulm, where the 44th infantry division was located. was already fighting and where intelligence reports indicated that the German First Army was planning to take a desperate position, the city fell in a matter of a few hours as the lead vehicle passed the outskirts of the city at 8:54 in the morning.
I immediately sent the message to combat command and a few minutes later the Paris radio announced that the American forces had captured everything when in reality we were still fighting there with the capitulation of olm the tenth three combat commands rushed forward with violent effectiveness city after city were devoured in the great In haste, our division was ordered to attack across the Bavarian Alps to the Brenner Pass to join up with American troops coming north through Italy. The Germans had threatened to make a last defense in what was known as the German National Reading Area. There has been much talk about covert activities of what the Germans called werewolves.
As we approached the Alps, we could see them from a distance and it certainly made us stop and wonder what lay ahead. They were very beautiful snow-capped peaks. but for an armored unit, it was also quite intimidating, in fact when we reached the Alps we encountered very little resistance and our battalion fell to the Garmisch-Parten cushion through the town of Murnau, another column came down through Obaramagao while clearing the roadblock in Ogramagal. the scene of the world famous passion play an international representative of the red cross approached the other side of the roadblock he had with him a german captain they wanted to negotiate for the city of garmis sociokin the scene of the winter olympic games of 1936 they wanted us to agree not to fire on the city after considerable discussion we agreed not to fire unless the Germans shot us first.
When we got to the city, the representative of the international red cross escorted us through the city and the Germans kept his deal and didn't do it. I'll start shooting until we're well beyond the city. This ended the war for my work group and I can't think of a better place to end it than my trash buddy. I am Colonel Thomas Chamberlain during World War II. I commanded the 11th tank battalion of the 10th armored division, if the division staff had spent two years trying to choose the best place to end the war, they would not have done as well as we did, there were great hotels on the lakes where men could go swimming. and boating of course, lots of skiing and ice skating, plus there were horses available so they could go horse riding, it was a great place to relax after the war, the war was over and won, the temple tigers had fought and conquered the best. of the enemy they had traveled 600 bitter and bloody miles from sherburg to the brenner roads fighting almost every inch of the way they had taken 56,000 prisoners and 600 towns and villages yes, the war was over and won the fight was over and done so

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