200 TURNING THE TIDE 1943–1944
BATTLES AT
GERMANY’S GATE
Weary from the Battle of Normandy and their advance across
France, the Allies faced organized German resistance as they tried
to cross the German border in late 1944. Although they made gains
in Alsace–Lorraine and in Germany itself, exhausting campaigns in
the Scheldt and Hürtgen Forest depleted their forces.
In Operation Market Garden (see
pp.198–199) the Allies had failed to cross
the Rhine and to establish an invasion
route into Germany. This, together with
their severely overstretched supply
lines, lost the Allies the initiative they
had won after their breakout from
Normandy (see pp.194–195) and so their
chances of bringing the war to an end
in 1944. Instead, they spent the fall and
early winter trying to breach German
defenses along the borders in Belgium,
the Netherlands, and France.
After a grueling battle, the Allies
cleared the German defenses on the
Scheldt Estuary in the Netherlands,
opening up the port of Antwerp in
Belgium as a supply route for their
forces. However, to reach the Rhine
River, the Allies now had to contendwith two formidable deterrents: the
Westwall (or Siegfried Line), a 373-mile
(600-km) German defensive line of
bunkers, tank traps, and tunnels; and
the increasingly cold, wet weather.
The US 7th Army and French 1st
Army met with success on the southern
end of the front, advancing toward
the German industrial region of the
Saarland and reducing the Germans in
eastern France to a small pocket around
Colmar; and the Canadians and British
succeeded in bringing Antwerp back
into operation. However, the Allies’ aim
to reach the Ruhr Valley, Germany’s
most economically important region,
was hampered when the US 1st Army
was defeated and suffered more than
33,000 casualties in a long battle in the
Hürtgen Forest.“In Hürtgen they just froze up hard; and it was so cold
they froze up with ruddy faces.”
ERNEST HEMINGWAY, ACROSS THE RIVER AND INTO THE TREES, 1950Oct 3–8 The RAF bombs the
dykes on Walcheren, flooding
the island and corralling the
Germans on the higher ground.Nov 26 Allied
merchant vessels
enter Antwerp.▷ Fallen bunker
This bunker on
Germany’s Westwall
defensive line has been
destroyed by Allied
armor-piercing
weapons. In 1944,
Hitler ordered a large-
scale reinforcement of
the line, but the bunkers
became vulnerable
to newly-developed
Allied weaponry.Walcheren
IslandThe^Eifel A r d e n n e s BlackForestALSACE- LO
RRAINENorthSeaL
U
X
EM
B
O
U
R
GGerman
15th ArmyS
W
I T
Z E
R L A N D
F R A N C E
B E L G I U M
NETHERLANDSDyleMaasWaalRhineRhineRhineIjsselLippeSaarSeilleMoselleRuhrOurtheMoselleScheldt
EstuaryHürtgen
ForestBelfort GapScheldtR
hi
neRo
erCalaisDunkirkOstend
BrugesBreskensThe HagueRotterdam ArnhemNijmegenGochVenloOverloonAltdorfAachenWeselEssenDortmundMaastrichtLiegeCologneBonnRemagenCoblenzMannheimWormsSaarbruckenStrasbourgBaden-BadenBaselColmarMulhouseBelfortNeufchâteauChaumontSt.-DizierÉpinalMonsBrusselsAntwerpEindhovenRoermondTilburg‘s-HertogenboschLuxembourgTriersMetzUckangeThionvilleMallingNancy
LunevilleVerdunBastogneCanadian
1st ArmyBritish
2nd ArmyG R E A T E R
US
9th ArmyGerman 1st
Parachute ArmyGerman
7th ArmyGerman
Army Group GGerman
1st ArmyGerman
5th ArmyGerman
19th ArmyGerman Army
Command WestUS
1st ArmyUS
3rd ArmyUS 7th ArmyFrench
1st ArmyUS 12th
Army GroupGerman
Army Group BG E R M A N Y
RUHRSAARLANDOct 2–21, 1944CLEARING THE SCHELDT ESTUARY
OCTOBER 1–NOVEMBER 8, 1944
The Allies had captured Antwerp in early September,
but the Scheldt Estuary leading to the port was
impassable as it was under the control of the German
15th Army. On October 1, the Canadian 1st Army
began clearing opposition in the Scheldt Estuary,
trapping the Germans in the Beveland Peninsula. To
the south, the Allies cleared resistance in the Breskens
Pocket by November 2. Commandos who had landed
on Walcheren Island helped bring the campaign to an
end and finally open Allied access to Antwerp.3
Canadian
1st Army advanceBeveland PeninsulaBreskens PocketTHE BATTLE OF HÜRTGEN FOREST
SEPTEMBER 19–DECEMBER 15, 1944
For two months, the US 1st Army fought a grim, cold,
and ultimately unsuccessful battle to clear German
forces out of the Hürtgen Forest. The Germans
were equally determined to maintain their positions
there, which allowed them to threaten the Allies’
flank and retain control over the dams in the Roer
River. US casualties topped 30,000, and more than
8,000 men suffered from mental breakdowns during
the relentless battle.2
Hürtgen ForestRoer damsBattle of Hürtgen
ForestALLIED SUCCESS IN ALSACE–LORRAINE
SEPTEMBER 5–DECEMBER 13, 1944
Operation Market Garden had strained Allied
resources, giving the Germans the chance to
re-establish defensive lines near Metz and Nancy in
eastern France. General Patton’s US 3rd Army
reached the Moselle River on September 5 but the
Germans halted their advance. In early November,
US forces crossed the Moselle to the north and
south of Metz and assaulted the city’s fortifications,
capturing it on November 18. The US forces then
pursued the retreating Germans to the Saar River.1
Battle of MetzAllied advance in Alsace–LorraineSaarland industrial regionUS_200-201_Grinding_german_defences.indd 200 16/04/19 11:21 AM