Battle of the Rhineland theFSSF



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Battle of the Rhineland

Boer War First World War Western Front Trench Warfare: 1914-1916 Allied Offensive: 1916 Allied Offensives: 1917 German Offensive: 1918

The Battle of the Rhineland was fought in Feb-Mar 1945 between Allied forces from Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States (as well as smaller national contingents), and the German forces occupying territory south and west of the Rhine River during the North-West Europe campaign of the Second World War.

Advance to Victory: 1918

Siberia

SecondWorld War

Situation

War Against Ja~an North Africa Italian Cam~aign Sicil~ - -

Southern Ital~ The Sangro and Moro

BattlesoftheFSSF

Cassino

Liri Valley Advance to Florence Gothic Line Winter Lines

In early 1945, after a long winter stalemate, military operations by the Allied armies in North-West Europe resumed. The exertions of the First Canadian Army in the Battle of the Scheidt had resulted in the port of Antwerp being opened in late 1944. A build up of Allied forces on the western front, as Southern France was cleared of German soldiers and the other Allies advanced to the German frontier, "laid the foundation for a further offensive on the western front. The enemy's costly effort in the Ardennes and imposed delay, but the broad pattern of Allied strategy remained unchanged ."1

North-West Europ

North-West Euro~

Normand~

Southern France

Channel Ports

The Battle of the Rhineland would be the first of three major strategic phases

DieP.11!! ? NormanQY. - Southern France - Channel Ports - ?? J:!.ijmegen Salient - Rhineland - Final Phase

envisaged by General Eisenhower:

Scheidt

Nijme,gen Salient Rhineland Final Phase Korean War Cold War

Gu~War

In planning our forthcoming spring and summer offensives, I envisaged the operations which would lead to Germany's collapse as falling into three phases: first, the destruction of the enemy forces west of the Rhine and closing to that river; second, the seizure of bridgeheads over the Rhine from which to develop operations into

The Rhineland Feb - Mar 1945

Operations

Germany; and third, the destruction of the remaining enemy east of

GAUNTLET Aug~ (Spitsbergen)

the Rhine and the advance into the heart of the Reich. This was the

HUSKY Jul 1943 COTTAGE Aug 1943

(Sicily) (Kiska)

same purpose that had guided all our actions since early 1944. 2

TIMBERWOLF Oct 1943

(Italy)

OVERLORD Jun 1944 (Normandy) The initial goal was to reach the Rhine River, the last significant natural

MARKET-GARDEN SeR 44 (Arnhem) barrier between Allied forces and Germany. From their winter positions in the

BERLIN Nov 1944 VERrTABLE Feb 1945

(Nijmegen) (Rhineland)

Nijmegen

Salient, the

First Canadian

Army

reinforced

by elements

of the

British 2nd Army, began operations to advance south east, clearing all land

Battle Honours

west of the river. Operation VERITABLE was a costly advance through

Boer War Paardeberg

18 Feb 00 flooded terrain and German defensive lines, followed by Operation

First World War

BLOCKBUSTER which succeeded in driving through almost to the banks of

Western Front

the Rhine River. Operation BLOCKBUSTER II cleared the town of Xanten to

Trench Warfare: 1914-1916

Ywes, 1915

22Apr-25 May 15

end

the

fighting

in

the

Rhineland.

A

supporting

operation

by

the

US

9th

Gravenstafel

22-23 Apr 15 Army, Operation GRENADE, was planned to coincide from the River Roer to

St. Julien

24 Apr-4 May 15 the south but was delayed for two weeks by German flooding of the Roer

The Rhineland - The Reichswald - Waal Flats - lvloyland V Goch-Calcar Road - The Hochwald - Veen - xanten

Frezenberg

Beliewaarde

8-13 May 15 valley.

24-25 lvlay 15

Festubert, 1915 i?iuntSorrai-

15-25 lvlay 15 2-13 Jun 16

Allied Offensive: 1916

Sorn me, 1916

Albert Bazentin

Pozieres

Gu ill ernont

1 Jul-18 1-Jov 16 The Rhineland battle was intended to be a prelude to a set-piece crossing of '

.1-13Jul16 the Rhine by the 21st Army Group. While this operation did proceed in late ;,

.14-17 Jul 16 .23 Jul-3 Sep 16

Mar 1945, American forces

managed to

cross the

river in

other locations i ?

.3-6 Sep 16 with less preparation, including the capture of an intact bridge at Remagen ?

Ginchy Flers-Courcelette

Thie~val Le Transloy Ancre Heights

.9 Sep 16 on 7 Mar 1945 by the US 1st Army, and a crossing by the US 3rd Army the

15-22 Sep 16 26-29 Sep 16

day

before

the

British

crossing,

Operation

PLUNDER.

PLUNDER

was

. 1-18 Oct 16 supported by Operation VARSITY, a large airborne drop on the far side of

1 Oct-11 Nov 16 the Rhine in which the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion played an active

Ancre, 1916

13-18 Nov 16 part. The Rhine crossings and battles afterward comprised the Final Phase

Allied Offensives: 1917

Arras 1917

8 Apr-4 11/iay 17

of the war in Europe.

Vlmy,Jfill

.9-14 Apr 17

Arleux

28-29 Apr 17 The Battle Honour "The Rhineland" refers only to actions fought west of the

Scarpe, 1917 Hil l 70 lvlessines , 1917

.3-4 May17 river, while the Battle Honour "The Rhine" was awarded to units fighting in

.15-25 Aug 17

.7-1 4 Jun 17 the crossing itself as well as on the east bank during the Final Phase.

Ypres, 1917

.. 31 Jul-10 Nov 17

Awaiting the final clearing of the Rhineland on 4 Mar 1945 at

Pilckern

31 Jul-2 Aug 17

Kranenburg, Germany. From left to right General H.D.G. Crerar

Langemarck, 1917 .16-18 Aug 17

i-C First Canadian Army, Lieutenant General G.G. Simonds GC

Menin Road

.20-25 Sep 17

Canadian Corps, Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke (CiGS), Prime

Polygon Wood

26 Sep-3 Oct 17

Winston Churchill, and at far right Field Marshal B.L. Montgome

Broodseinde

.4 Oct 17

i-C 21st Army Group

Poelcapelle

.9 Oct 17

Passchendaele

Ca rnbrai, 1917

.12 Oct 17

20 Nov-3 Dec 17 The Battle

German Offensive: 1918

1

18

:~B~ap~a:u:m~e1),

: 1918

Rosieres

21 ~~~;J :J'r ~~ The terrain in the Rhineland was marked by clear boundaries, 24-2~ M:; 18 bordered on one side by the Rhine and the other by the Maas, 26-27 Mar 18 measuring about 50 kilometres long by from 20 to 30 kilometres wide ,

The Battle of the Rhine! Sfeb-11 Mar1945

1 of 4

2021-03-02, 4:40 p.m.

canadiansoldiers. com

.com/history/ campaigns/northwesteuro ...

Avre

A Apr 18 widening as one moved further from the Allied start line. The first

::ts~aires

::~;:;;~ third, from the Allied viewpoint, was flooded and the other two were

lv!sssines , 1918

1?0-11 Apr 18 covered in thick mud due to winter rains. Much of the ground was

Bailleu!

13-15Apr18 marked by thick forests, and there were no nolicably high or low

Kemmer

17-19Apr18 features. Engagement ranges were short. Defences were well

AmieAndsvance

lo

Victory: 1918 8_11 Aug

18

prepared,

as

the

enemy

had

four

months

to

. improve

. . pos1l1ons,

Arras, 1918

.26 Aug-3 Sep 18 including some of the pre-war Siegfried Line obstacles. The Germans

Scarpe, 1918

26-30Aug 18. built strong points and hedgehogs - positions for all-around defence

Drocourt-Queant

Hindenburg Line canal du Nord

12

s?e2p?_39s0ecpt

18 18

against

attack

from

any

direction.

All

these

factors

"made

for

a

very

:27sep-2 Oct 18 complex battle, extremely difficult for higher headquarters to 'read' on

i:'

t

St. Quentin canal .29 Sep-2 Oct 18 an hour-by-hour basis, and the brunt of the decision-making seems to

Epehy

8 :~;n~i:~~;:

~i: ;~ 3-5 Oct 18 have fallen on the two corps commanders, Sir Brian Horrocks (British

~~;

XXX Corps) and (Lieutenant General Guy) Simonds (II Canadian

I

Sambre

.4 Nov 18 Corps)."3

Pursuit to Mons .28 Sep-11Nov Second World War war Against Japan

< The initial attack on 8 Feb 1945 .(Operation VERITABLE) was

British 2nd

south-East Asia

launched by three British divisions and the 3rd Canadian Infantry

Hong Kong

8-25 Dec 41 Division on the flooded left flank over the Waal Flats. The ancient city

Italian Campaign

of Cleve was bombed flat and the heaviest artillery bombardment of

Landing inBSaitctillex of Sicily 9.12 Jul 43 Ihe e.nti.re war was Ia,.d on' . The Materb om Gap was cons,?dered Ihe

Grammichele

15 Jul 43 key to the advance; 3,000 metres of open ground stretching between

Piazza Armerina : ?;~,'::"nera

16-17 Jul 43 Cleve and the trees of The Reichswald to the south. The British made

~~:~; 3~: :; it through on 11 Feb after three costly days of fighting through the

Leonforte

21-22 Jul 43 woods. The 3rd Division, making use of amphibious vehicles, had a

~gl@ Adrano

Catenanuova

24-28 Jul 43 slightly easier time and many opted to withdraw as the British

29 Jul-7Aug 43 advances threatened to cut them off

29-30 Jul 43

?

E_egalbuto

Centuri~

29 Jul-3Aug 43 31 Jul-3Aug43 As the British advance slackened, the 2nd Canadian Infantry Division

Traina Valley

2-6 Aug 43 moved up, and both divisions now had as their objective the Goch-

Pursuit to Messina 2-17 Aug 43

.

.

Southern Italy

Calcar ~oad, which _would be th_e Start Line for the second ~hase of

Landing at Regg)Q

3 Sep 43 the Rhineland fighting, Operation BLOCKBUSTER. The line was

Potenza

Motta Monlecorvino

Termoli

Monte San

Marco

19-20 Sep 43 cleared at great cost; one of the fallen , Sergeant Aubrey Cosens of

~31-~

0 0

cctt

43 43

Th_e

Q_ ueen's

Own

Rifles

of

Canada,

was

awarded

a

posthumous

6-7 Oct 43 Victoria Cross.

1 u~ t(Army_

?a~2:~&.tlf

/

// ?~

Gambatesa

7-8 Oct 43

CamP-Qbasso

Baranello Colle d'Anchise Tarella

11-14 Oct 43 17-18 Oct 43

22-24 Oct 43 24-27 Oct 43

The Germans practised their traditional tactics of giving ground L..1_j__? _ _ __":-?-?~'=":'z.,_ _ _ _ _J::JallllllBIIL_ _j

under pressure but then immediately launching counter-attacks to recover the lost ground before the Canadians could

consolidate their successes. When that happened, infantry companies which had been badly weakened in the initial a:

The Sangro and Moro

The Sang.[Q

19 Nov-3 Dec 43

Castel di Sang.[Q .23-24 Nov 43

The Moro

5-7 Dec 43

San Leonardo

8-9 Dec 43

The Gullx

.. 10-19 Dec 43

were often cut off and assailed from all sides. The ultimate response was to call down artillery fire on their own positions... Veritable... (cost) the British nearly seven thousand casualties and the Canadians nearly two thousand - a re roughly proportionate to their respective commitments - while the Germans lost about twelve thousand killed, the samt number taken prisoner, and perhaps another twenty thousand wounded. 4

Casa Berardi

Ortona

.. 14-15 Dec 43 20-28 Dec 43 For the second phase, BLOCKBUSTER, the 4th Canadian (Armoured) Division replaced the 3rd in the line. To the south, the

San Nicola-San

.31 Dec 43 American 9th Army was also advancing to the Rhine in Operation GRENADE, delayed until 23 Feb due to the German deslrL

Point 591Tommaso29 Dec 43_

two key dams on the_Roer River and consequent heavy flooding making the area impassable. They found, once they were m

---=ro;;:e M.Jcchia

4 Jan 44 north towards the Bnt1sh and Canadians , that most of the Germans had been moved away to oppose VERITABLE. The Gem

Battles of the FSSF

were desperate to hold out at long as possible west of the Rhine as at least 17 divisions were streaming to the bridges at We:

Monte Camino .5 Nov-9 Dec 43 now only 15 kilometres from the Canadians and 20 from the Americans.

Monte la D~ensa-

2-8 Dec 43

tv1onte la Rem etanea.

Hill 720

25 Dec 43 The 2nd and 4th Canadian Divisions now advanced roughly abreast into more heavy forest; The Hochwald, Tuschenw

Monte MajQ

3-8 Jan 44. Bambergerwald, running along a low ridge and with positions improved by the Germans for the previous two weeks. l

Radicosa

Monte Vischiataro

Anzio

: 3an 44 Division went straight into the Hochwald while the 4th Division aimed for a narrow gap in the woods. Two attacks went in , an

22 Jan-22 ~ 1,;,~ made apparent an armoured division was not able to simply blast through; the Germans had a wide variety of close-range c

Rome

.22 May-4 Jun 44 weaponry, the tanks had trouble negotiating the mud , and the Canadians didn't have enough infantry to clear a path for th,

Advance

.22 May-22 Jun 44 The battle for the Hochwald Gap lasted from 27 Feb to 3 Mar and advances were measured in hundreds of yards . The 3rd

to the Tiber. Monte Arrestino

25 Ma 44 returned to the line and the 2nd Division sent a brigade to assist in opening the gap. The other two brigades of the 2nd Divis

Rocca Massima

27 Ma~ 44 pressure on the Germans elsewhere on the line. Captain Frederick Tilston of The Essex Scottish was awarded a Victoria C

Colle Ferro

2 Jun 44 his actions in one of the many small unit actions.

Cassino

Cassino II

Gustav Line

Sant' Angelo in

11-18 May 44

.

11 .18 May 44 By the second week of Mar, the Germans had fallen back to the Wesel Pocket, and final actions at Veen and Xanten had cle,

13May44 final defenders away by the 10th. A hastily organized operation to "bounce" the Rhine was scrubbed when the sound of 1

Teodice.

demolitions announced that the last bridges over the River had been blown up.

Pignataro

14-15 May44

Uri Valley

Liri Vallex Hitler Line

18-30 May 44 Casualties 18-24 May 44

: :~i:~rossing

1!;: ::~ ~ The fight to advance 20 miles into the Rhineland and clear the remaining German units west of the great river took as lor

Ceprano

26-27 May44 month - as the 200 mile advance that would follow it. The cost in terms of casualties was also higher; 9,284 American soldi

Torrice~:~sns:~~~sFtorenc!OMay 44 17,685 British and Canadian soldiers became casualties. 5 First Canadian Army took 22,000 German prisoners and f

Advance

17 Jul-10Aug 44 seriously wounded 22,000 more. Including the losses inflicted by the US 9th Army (which lost 7,300 men, took 29,000 prison,

to Florence. TSraansfiamluecncehiLoine

killed or seriously wounded 16,000 Germans during the Rhineland fighting) the Germans all told lost 90,000 men while i

20-30 Jun 44

.

. 6

20_21 Jun 44 23,000 Allied casualties.

Arezzo

4-17 Jul 44

Cerrone

. _ 25 - 31 Aug 44 Battle Honours

Gothic Line

Gothic Line

25 Aug-22 Sep 44

lvbnteciccardo

27-28 Aug 44 The following Battle Honours were awarded to Canadian units participating in the Battle of the Rhineland:

2 of 4

2021-03-02, 4:40 p.m.



.. .

M::mtecchio

30-31 Aug 4'I

Point 204 (Pozzo Alto) Monte Lura

31 Aug 4'I 1 Sep 4'I

? The Rhineland

Bargo Santa Maria Tomba di Pesaro

Coriano

1 Sep 4'I 1-2 Sep4'1 3-15Sep4'1

? The Reichswald ? Waal Flats

VVinter Lines

Rimini Line

14-21 Sep 4'I

San Martino-

14-18 Sep 4'I

? Cleve ? Mayland Wood

San Lorenzo. San Fortunato

18-20 Sep 4'I

? Goch-Calcar Road

Casale

23-25 Sep 4'I

? The Hochwald

Sant' Angelo in Salute.

11-15Sep4'1

? Veen

Bulgaria Village

Cesena

13-14 Sep4'1 15-20 Sep 4'I

? Xanten

Pisciatello

16-19Sep4'1

Savio Bridgehead Monte La Pieve

20-23 Sep 4'I Notes

13-19 Oct 4'I

Monte Spaduro Monte San Bartolo Lam one Crossing Capture of Ravenna Naviglio Canal Fosso Vecchio Fosso Munio Conventello-

Com acchio.

19-24 Oct 4'I 11-14 Nov4'1 2-13 Dec 44

3-4 Dec 4'I 12-15 Dec 4'I 16-18 Dec 4'I 19-21 Dec 4'I

2-6 Jan 45

1. Stacey, C.P., The Canadian Army 1939-1945: An Official Historical Summary (Queen's Printer, Ottawa, ON, 1948), p.236 2. Quoted in Stacey, Ibid, p.236 3. Marteinson, John. We Stand on Guard: An Illustrated History oflhe Canadian Army (Ovale Publications, Montreal, PQ, 1992) ISBN 2894290438 p.317 4. Ibid, pp.318-319 5. Whitaker, Denis & Shelagh Rhineland: The Battle to End the War (Stoddart Publishing Company, Ltd., Toronto, ON, 1989) ISBN 0773753907 p.347. William

below for reference) gives a fiture of 15,634, broken down as 10,300 British and 5,655 Canadian. 6. Williams, Jeffery The Long Left Flank: The Hard Fought Way to the Reich, 1944-45 (Stoddart Publishing Company, Ltd., Toronto, ON, 1988) ISBN 077372'

p.251

Granaro lo

3-5 Jan 4'I

Northwest Europe

DieP.R?!

19 Aug 42

Battle of Normandy

NormandY. Landing

6 Jun 4'I

Authie

7 Jun 4'I

Putot-en-Bessin

8 Jun 4'I

Bretteville

8-9 Jun 4'I

-l'Orgueilleuse

Le Masnil-Pat[)I

11 Jun 4'I

CarJ1Lquet

4-5 Jul 4'I

Caen

4-18 Jul 4'1

The Orne (Buron)

8-9 Jul 4'1

Bourguebus Ridg.?

18-23 Jul 4'1

Faubour~

18-19 Jul 4'I

Vaucelles

S~ur-Orne

19-23 Jul 4'I

Malt6t

22-23 Jul 4'I

Verrieres Ridge-Tilly.::

25 Jul 4'I

la-Cam1 ................
................

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