Often maligned as a dull "broad front" strategist—keeping all his armies moving forward in lockstep—Ike could spot a battlefield opening as well as any general in the war. The Ninth Army lost 341 killed, 121 missing and just under 2,000 wounded. Army Group B's commander, Field Marshal Walter Model, was one of the most determined fighters left in Adolf Hitler's stable, a bitter-ender and a defensive specialist of great skill. Think of World War II as a tale of two armies. However, SS units were able to crush the resistance, and executed a number of those involved. The Division exploited the bridgehead, moving south and east across the Lahn River toward Limburg, where thousands of Allied prisoners were liberated. ... the river Rhine in Germany when it was captured during the Battle of Remagen by United States Army forces during the closing weeks of World War II. The Ruhr was the moment when the German army died, when German dreams of world conquest evaporated, and when Germany became what it was destined to be all along: an important regional power rather than a global one. The lead elements of the two Allied army groups linked up on 1 April 1945 east of the Ruhr Area to create a massive encirclement of 317,000 German troops to their west. [11] Completely worn out, the division was immediately thrown into action on 10 April by XVII Airborne Corps commander Matthew Ridgway, who, under pressure from army commander Courtney H. Hodges to speed up operations, ordered it to encircle and "destroy" the German forces. The number of prisoners exceeded all expectations, amounting to 317,000 men, twice the US intelligence estimate. At Lippstadt, the lead elements of the two US armies—the 9th coming over from Wesel and the 1st coming up from Remagen—made contact. Der Ruhrkessel: Ende der Kämpfe im Westen – Verbrechen der Wehrmacht, der SS und Gestapo an der Bevölkerung bis zum letzten Tag, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ruhr_Pocket&oldid=987494873, Land battles of World War II involving the United Kingdom, Short description is different from Wikidata, North Rhine-Westphalia articles missing geocoordinate data, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Steady Allied offensives continue into central and southern Germany, This page was last edited on 7 November 2020, at 12:17. During Easter Week, the Americans solidified the ring around Army Group B, placing four corps around the perimeter. 206-238) DOI: 10.2307/j.ctvbqs6c5.13 The last week of March 1945, General Patton’s Third Army crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim and was piercing the heart of Germany. In the Ruhr, the Wehrmacht proved unable to keep up with the Americans in a contest of maneuver, or to stand up to them in a pounding firefight. It was April 1, Easter Sunday, just after noon. Shop books by the Museum's Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of War and Democracy and the Samuel Zemurray Stone Senior Historian. The pace was frenetic and US infantry often hitched a ride on the nearest Sherman tank to keep up, rather than wait for their trucks. Montgomery launched Operation Plunder (now Plunder-Varsity) on March 23, kicking things off with a massive four-hour, 4,000-gun artillery barrage and followed by airborne drops by British 6th and US 17th Airborne Divisions. [1], The Americans liberated hundreds of thousands of hungry, diseased and weakened prisoners-of-war and slave laborers, the former consisting mainly of Red Army soldiers who were very happy at their liberation. The liberated slaves also had a tendency to loot and terrorize the German population once released and to clog up the roads in front of the U.S. Due to the “late arrival” into the war, they were the first division to enter both theaters of operation. The 5th Panzer was defending the Ruhr, one of the Reich's last remaining heavy industrial centers, home to the massive Krupp Steel Works at Essen, while 15th Army stood watch against the US bridgehead at Remagen. Hitler promised to send a newly formed army, the 12th, to relieve the Ruhr, and hinted that new "wonder weapons" were on the way that would turn the tide of battle—but it was soon clear to Model that neither 12th Army nor miracle weapons were going to show up anytime soon. Bristling with modern equipment and vehicles—tanks, halftracks, self-propelled artillery—the US Army was both mobile and lethal. Communications between its units rapidly broke down and the division was held up by a stream when it deployed to "destroy" the Germans. The Ruhr Pocket campaign of April 1945 ended Germany's hopes—and established the US Army. The Ruhr Pocket campaign of April 1945 ended Germany's hopes—and established the US Army. Simpson's forces were not yet over the Rhine, crossing the river required care, and Montgomery was a cautious commander who liked to line things up and take his time. When asked for instructions by the squad leader of a German unit that was still armed, Model told them to go home as their fight was over. columns. history. He eluded roadblocks when he could and blasted through others, making 45 miles in one day. The result was almost always the same: a hailstorm of US fire that flattened the town and killed German soldiers and civilians alike. But fighting through the Ruhr, with all its cities, factories, and millions of civilians, had real bloodbath potential, and could easily turn into a super-Stalingrad, an urban battle on an unimaginable scale. Field Marshal Model, crushed by the totality of the defeat, as well as the news that the Soviet government had listed him as a war criminal, was growing more despondent by the hour. The first international war crimes tribunal in history revealed the true extent of German atrocities and held some of the most prominent Nazis accountable for their crimes. His operational plan called for a classic pincer maneuver by two armies. [15] The commander of the Allied XVIII Airborne Corps, Matthew Ridgway sent an aide bearing a white flag to Army Group B's headquarters, calling on Model to surrender but the Field Marshal refused, citing his oath to Hitler. 945 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA 70130 The Americans suffered 10,000 casualties including 2,000 killed or missing. And with the lucky break at Remagen, he saw a big one. Model tried to get to the Harz mountains through the American lines in a small column, but could not make it. River-crossing operations are highly complex by nature, requiring careful planning, tight cooperation between infantry, engineers, and artillery, and time to prepare. Closing the Ruhr Pocket - A Firetorm Red Thunder After Action Report So I'm bringing over another of my battle reports from the recent Firestorm campaign to the blog. Some 317,000 German troops were taken prisoner along with 24 generals. But he also wanted to save as many lives as possible for the post-war rebuilding. In the south, while the Third Army headed east, the First Army headed northeast and formed the southern pincer of the Ruhr envelopment. On The Division drove on to Frankfurt and then turned to assist in the closing of the Ruhr Pocket. info@nationalww2museum.org In the Ruhr, however, the US Army lived the dream: establishing full-spectrum dominance to win decisive victory at minimal cost. After the closing of the Ruhr pocket on that day, Ninth Army reverted to the command of 12th Army Group. Model refused, as he knew Hitler would not authorize it. By noon, all three US corps had made a clean breakthrough out of the Remagen bridgehead, advancing twelve miles the first day and twenty on the second. [14] He decreed the discharging of all youths and older men from the army. While the Americans maneuvered, Model and the Germans barely moved. Already, US columns were taking the surrender of thousands of Germans, 17,000 by III Corps on March 26th alone. It failed to reach its objectives in time, and was overtaken by U.S. infantry divisions. US troops fought the battle of maneuver to perfection, deftly synchronizing fire and movement and proving, once and for all, that soldiers of a democracy will fight like lions when the nation's interests are threatened. But in one of the war's most dramatic moments, the looming barrier suddenly vanished. At this point, both armies would wheel inward, turn towards one another, and link up behind Army Group B, encircling and destroying it. The courtroom of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg hosted nearly 400 visitors each day, including 250 members of the international press. Zangen was neither, but was equally unable to raise Model by radio. The German Wehrmacht dominated the fighting early, but had gone downhill ever since. The Ruhr's prosperous middle classes rushed to their local banks to pull out their Reichmarks, a currency that would soon be all but worthless. The US Army joined the war late and stumbled in its debuts in North Africa and Italy. Richardson's objective was Paderborn, 60 miles due north. "Such a thing is just not possible." In April it continued east, encircled Leipzig and secured a line along the Mulde River. In the north, the Allied 21st Army Group under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery crossed the Rhine in Operation Plunder on 23 March. In 1945, all these advantages came together in the greatest American victory of World War II.

closing the ruhr pocket

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closing the ruhr pocket 2020