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YBaltic SeaRhineRhineRhineSeineLoireRhôneRo
erCanadian
1st ArmyBritish 21st
Army GroupBritish
2nd ArmyUS 9th
Army7–21 Mar 1945German Army
Group VistulaGerman 1st
Para ArmyGerman
15th ArmyGerman
5th ArmyGerman Army
Group A (Center)German Army
Group BGerman
1st ArmyGerman
19th ArmyUS 1st ArmyUS 3rd ArmyUS 7th ArmyFrench
1st ArmyAmsterdamArnhemNijmegenRoermondMünchen-GladbachKasselAachenRotterdamBrusselsStrasbourgUlmStuttgartPilsenVeniceTriesteZagrebFrankfurtNurembergOppenheimMannheimGermersheimLilleReimsTroyesDachauMunichBonn
RemagenCologneWeselDüsseldorfHamburgBremenBergen-Belsen BerlinLeipzigTorgauStrehlaViennaGdyniaOsnabrückNordhausenElbeElbeJan 14–24 The British
2nd Army clears the area
around the Roer River in
Operation Blackcock.Apr 4 British
troops take
the city of
Osnabrück.Feb 23 The US 9th Army
crosses the deliberately
flooded Roer River in
Operation Grenade.Apr 29 US forces liberate
the concentration camp
at Dachau.Apr 30 US forces take the
city of Munich before pressing
on into Austria and over the
Brenner Pass to Italy.Apr 17–26 After heavy
fighting, British forces
take the northern port
city of Bremen.Apr 11 US troops capture
the underground factory where
V-1 and V-2 rockets are made.Apr 15 British forces liberate
the concentration camp at
Bergen-Belsen, finding 60,000
starving prisoners and 13,000
unburied corpses.△ Floating bridge
Two American soldiers guard the Rozisch-
Blackburn-Thompkins bridge across the Rhine
near Remagen in March 1945. Pontoon bridges
were built in the effort to get Allied troops quickly
across the river and into Germany.FROM THE RHINE TO THE ELBE
MARCH 24–MAY 1, 1945
After crossing the Rhine, Allied forces continued
their drive east. The 21st Army Group took
Osnabrück and Bremen before entering Hamburg
without a fight on May 1. Patton’s men took Frankfurt
before fighting the Germans—now on the brink
of collapse—at Kassel. US forces drove through
Nuremberg toward Munich, intent on preventing
a German stand on the Austrian Alps.4
Allied advancesMajor objectives captured
by the AlliesTHE BATTLE FOR THE RUHR
APRIL 1–21, 1945
On crossing the Rhine, the Allies targeted Germany’s
industrial heartland of the Ruhr Valley. By April 1, the
region was encircled by US forces. Hitler commanded
German Army Group B to defend the Ruhr to the last
man, but resistance proved futile, and their commander
committed suicide. Within three weeks the area had
fallen and the Allies had taken 325,000 prisoners.5
Germans encircled in Ruhr PocketADVANCE TO THE ALPS APRIL 19–MAY 7, 1945
Concerned that German forces might attempt
a last stand in a feared “Alpine Redoubt,” General
Eisenhower ordered forces of the US 3rd and 7th
Armies to divert south toward Austria rather than
north to Berlin. The first units crossed the Austrian
border on April 26. They met relatively little resistance
on the way, and the rumored redoubt was eventually
revealed as nothing more than German propaganda.6
US advance through BavariaLINKING UP WITH THE SOVIETS APRIL 25, 1945
The Soviets had made their own advance into
Germany from the east and met US forces outside
the village of Strehla, near Torgau on the Elbe River.
The two sides quickly fraternized, with the Soviets
providing a banquet for their guests. Germany
was finally split in two, and lay almost defenseless
before the invading forces.7
Soviet advance (^) US and Soviet forces meet
to Apr 25
Apr 16 Soviet forces
begin the final assault on
Berlin (see pp.242–243).
US_232-233_Crossing_the_rhine.indd 233 24/05/19 1:17 PM