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 UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II

Pictorial Record

THE WAR AGAINST GERMANY:

EUROPE AND ADJACENT
AREAS

CENTER OF MILITARY HISTORY

UNITED STATES ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1989

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 First Printed 1951—CMH Pub 12–3

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, DC 20402-0001

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 UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II

Kent Roberts Greenfield, General Editor

Advisory Committee
James P. Baxter William T. Hutchinson
President, Williams College University of Chicago
Henry S. Commager S. L. A. Marshall
Columbia University Detroit News
Douglas S. Freeman E. Dwight Salmon
Richmond News Leader Amherst College
Pendleton Herring Col. Thomas D. Stamps
Social Science Research Council United States Military Academy
John D. Hicks Charles S. Sydnor
University of California Duke University
Charles H. Taylor
Harvard University

Office of the Chief of Military History

Maj. Gen. Orlando Ward, Chief
Chief Historian Kent Roberts Greenfield
Chief, World War II Division Col. Thomas J. Sands
Editor-in-Chief Hugh Corbett
Chief, Pictorial Section Capt. Kenneth E. Hunter

iii

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www.MtMestas.com
 . . . to Those Who Served

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www.MtMestas.com
 Foreword
During World War II the photographers of the United States
armed forces created on film a pictorial record of immeasurable value.
Thousands of pictures are preserved in the photographic libraries of
the armed services but are little seen by the public.
In the narrative volumes of UNITED STATES ARMY IN
WORLD WAR II, now being prepared by the Office of the Chief of
Military History of the United States Army, it is possible to include
only a limited number of pictures. Therefore, a subseries of pictorial
volumes, of which this is one, has been planned to supplement the
other volumes of the series. The photographs have been especially
selected to show important terrain features, types of equipment and
weapons, living and weather conditions, military operations, and
matters of human interest. These volumes will preserve and make ac-
cessible for future reference some of the best pictures of World War
II. An appreciation not only of the terrain upon which actions were
fought, but also of its influence on the capabilities and limitations of
weapons in the hands of both our troops and those of the enemy, can
be gained through a careful study of the pictures herein presented.
These factors are essential to a clear understanding of military history.
This book deals with the European Theater of Operations, covering
the period from the build-up in the United Kingdom through V-E Day.
Its seven sections are arranged chronologically. The photographs were
selected and the text written by Capt. Kenneth E. Hunter; the editing
was done by Miss Mary Ann Bacon. The written text has been kept
to a minimum. The appendixes give information as to the abbreviations
used and the sources of the photographs.

Washington, D. C. ORLANDO WARD

6 February 1951 Maj. Gen., USA
Chief of Military History

vii

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www.MtMestas.com
 Contents
Section Page

I. THE BUILD-UP IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND THE

AIR OFFENSIVE, EUROPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II. NORMANDY CAMPAIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

III. NORTHERN FRANCE CAMPAIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147

IV. RHINELAND CAMPAIGN: 15 SEPTEMBER 1944–15 DE-

CEMBER 1944 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

V. ARDENNES–ALSACE CAMPAIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261

VI. RHINELAND CAMPAIGN: 26 JANUARY 1945–21 MARCH

1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 325

VII. CENTRAL EUROPE CAMPAIGN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379

APPENDIX A: LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . 439

APPENDIX B: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 440

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443

ix

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 SECTION I

The Build-up in the United

Kingdom and the Air
Offensive, Europe*
The build-up of the United States Army in the United Kingdom,
from January 1942 until June 1944, with the huge amounts of supplies
necessary to equip and maintain the forces and to prepare for the in-
vasion of northern Europe was a tremendous undertaking. It involved
the transportation of men and supplies across the Atlantic during a time
when the German submarine menace was at its peak. The United
States Navy played a vital role in transporting men and supplies and in
protecting the convoys while en route. During this period the adminis-
trative task was enormous since facilities for quartering and training
such large forces and for storing supplies and equipment had to be
provided within the limited area of the United Kingdom. In October
1942 some of the units stationed in the United Kingdom were sent to
the Mediterranean for the invasion of North Africa. The build-up con-
tinued after this, well-trained units arriving from the United States. As
the time for the invasion of France approached, battle-tested units from
the Mediterranean theater were transferred to England to prepare for
their part in the assault. In spite of the limited terrain available, large-
scale maneuvers and realistic amphibious operations were conducted.
In the early spring of 1944 joint exercises of the ground, sea, and air
forces which were to make the attack in Normandy were held along
the southern coast of England. The last of these exercises was held in
early May, the units then moving to the staging areas and embarkation
points for the invasion.
While the ground forces were being equipped and trained the
Allied air forces bombed the fortress of Europe. The Royal Air Force
* See Gordon A. Harrison, Cross-Channel Attack, Washington, D. C., 1951.

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2 INTRODUCTION

Bomber Command carried out the air assault by night and the United
States Eighth Air Force by day. The first U.S. participation in the
bombing of Europe from British bases was on 4 July 1942, when Ameri-
can crews flew six British bombers. During the fall of 1942 the Eighth
Air Force prepared the Twelfth Air Force for the invasion of Africa,
and it was not until the beginning of 1943 that U.S. bombers began to
attack Europe from England in large-scale raids. From that time on the
attacks on Germany continued with increasing intensity and shattering
power until, in February 1944, the German Luftwaffe attempted to
sweep the U. S. bombers from the skies over Europe. After a battle of
one week’s duration over important industrial cities of Germany, the
Luftwaffe was beaten and supremacy of the air was in Allied hands
where it remained until the end of the war.

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NORTHERN IRELAND 3

U. S. TROOPS arriving in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first U. S. troops to cross the
Atlantic after the declaration of war by the United States went to Northern Ireland in
January 1942. In the same month the Special Observer Group was replaced by
Headquarters, United States Armed Forces in the British Isles. Shortly thereafter the
center of concentration was transferred from Ireland to England and the rapid build-up
of personnel commenced. Logistical planning began in April 1942. This build-up of
men and supplies was to become one of the greatest logistical undertakings in military
history. Supplies were shipped from the United States in ever increasing quantities
until, during the month of June 1944, approximately 1,000,000 long tons were received
in the United Kingdom.

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4 NORTHERN IRELAND

U. S. TROOPS marching through the streets of a town in Northern Ireland escorted

by a British sergeant. The first U. S. troops to arrive in Ireland were 18 officers and
18 enlisted men, the advance party for the first contingent. By 1 June 1944 there
were 1,562,000 U. S. troops in the United Kingdom. During the early months after
the United States’ entry into World War II a large part of the equipment was similar
to that of World War I. In the succeeding months much was done to improve all
types of equipment and many of the changes may be seen in the pictures that follow
in this volume.

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NORTHERN IRELAND 5

TRAINING IN IRELAND, FEBRUARY 1942. Before leaving the United States

members of the U. S. armed forces normally had completed their training, but to
keep the men at the peak of their fighting fitness programs in firing, field exercises,
and special problems were begun under varying weather and terrain conditions. Men
in their late teens or early twenties made the finest soldiers as they had stamina and
recuperative power far beyond that of older men. This physical superiority often
determined the issue in heavy and prolonged fighting.

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6 ENGLAND

INFANTRYMAN WITH WEAPONS. Soldier is holding a .45-caliber Thompson sub-

machine gun M1928A1; from left to right are: 60-mm. mortar M2, British antitank
gun, .30-caliber U. S. rifle Ml with bayonet Ml attached, .30-caliber Browning
machine gun M1919A4, hand grenades, .45-caliber automatic pistol M1911A1, .30-
caliber U. S. rifle M1903 with grenade launcher Ml attached, .30-caliber Browning
automatic rifle M1913A2, and 81-mm. mortar Ml (top). Infantryman has just com-
pleted an obstacle course (bottom).

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SCOTLAND 7

SOLDIERS LAND FROM AN ASSAULT BOAT during a training exercise in

Scotland, July 1942. The base of fire of a rifle platoon was its automatic weapons.
The riflemen concentrated their fire on the impact area blocked out by the automatic
weapons. The base of fire of a U. S. rifle squad in World War II was the Browning
automatic rifle (BAR). The man in right foreground is armed with this weapon. The
two men behind the soldier with the BAR are armed with .30-caliber U. S. rifles Ml.

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8 GERMANY

TWO TYPES OF U. S. HEAVY, FOUR-ENGINED BOMBERS. Consolidated

B–24 Liberators on a bombing mission over Europe (top); Boeing B–17 Flying
Fortresses dropping bombs on enemy installations in Bremen, Germany, while flak
bursts around them (bottom). The first U. S. air unit to engage in combat over
Europe was a light bombardment squadron. Flying British planes, six U. S. crews
joined six RAF crews in a daylight attack against four airdromes in the Netherlands
on 4 July 1942. On 17 August twelve B–17’s, accompanied by four RAF Spitfire
fighter squadrons, attacked the marshalling yards at Rouen, France, and successfully
completed the first U. S. attack over Europe. From these small beginnings the number
of planes taking part in the raids grew until the average per raid in 1943 was 570
heavy bombers, a figure that was to be almost doubled in 1944.

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ENGLAND 9

THREE TYPES OF ESCORT FIGHTER PLANES over England. From top to

bottom: Lockheed P–38 Lightning, North American P-51 Mustang, Republic P–47
Thunderbolt. P–47’s were the first to join the British Spitfires in providing escort for
heavy bombers, the P–38 was available in small numbers in October 1943, and the
P-51 began to appear in January 1944. At first the 47’s flew top cover, but before
long they began to drop down and engage the enemy fighter planes. As the war
progressed the escort opened out more and more until it became a huge net to envelop
the enemy.

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10 ENGLAND

A BRITISH POLICE SERGEANT gives road direction to a U. S. f irst sergeant

during a march. By the end of June 1944 there was a total of 140,656 Negro
personnel in the European Theater of Operations assigned to both combat and
service units. The Ml helmet worn by the sergeant was standardized on 9 June
1941, and mass production began shortly thereafter. It replaced the earlier
M1917A1 helmet shown in preceding pictures.

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ENGLAND 11

MEMBERS OF THE FIRST OFFICER CANDIDATE SCHOOL (OCS) in the United

Kingdom decontaminating a building that has been subjected to mustard gas (top).
Machine gun training at OCS (bottom). Qualified enlisted men were selected from
units stationed in the British Isles and sent to this school where, upon the successful
completion of the courses of instruction, they were commissioned second lieutenants
in the Army of the United States. The first class began in September 1942 and there
were in all seven classes, each lasting for approximately three months. The OCS in
England graduated and commissioned a total of 472 men.

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12 ENGLAND

A FIGHTER PILOT, standing beside his plane in England, wearing an oxygen

mask and helmet equipped with earphones. Over his leather flying jacket is a life
preserver. A number of young men from the United States joined the Canadian and
British air forces before America’s entry in the war. When the U. S. declared war
these pilots were transferred to the U. S. air force. The strength of the U. S. air
force in 1940 was about 43,000 men and 2,500 planes. In early 1944 there were
2,300,000 men and 80,000 aircraft.

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ENGLAND 13

INTERIOR OF A B–17 showing two .50-caliber Browning machine guns. These

planes were highly complex machines, well armed, with machine guns in front, rear,
sides, top, and bottom. The man in the picture is working on the gun turret which
protruded beneath the fuselage. The tank on top of this turret was for oxygen.

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14 ENGLAND

AN ORDNANCE SPECIALIST in the repair of optical equipment cleans a pair of

field glasses, England, September 1942. Ordnance responsibility extended to
“everything that rolls, shoots, is shot, or is dropped from the air.” Its complete cata-
logue contained 35,000 separate items, ranging from watch springs and firing pins
to 20-ton howitzers and 40-ton tanks.

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ENGLAND 15

A REPAIRED M3 MEDIUM TANK is given final check by Ordnance personnel.

Every tank, gun, or vehicle, damaged either by an accident or later in combat, which
could be repaired meant one less new tank to be supplied. As the war progressed the
medium tank underwent changes as did a great deal of other U. S. equipment. It
became lower so as to present a more difficult target, the riveted hull was replaced
by a welded or cast hull, and toward the end of the war the suspension system was
changed. These, and other mechanical changes, with the addition of better armament
and armor, made the vehicle a more formidable fighting machine, better able to com-
bat enemy tanks.

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16 ENGLAND

PARATROOPERS having their parachutes inspected before taking off for a practice
jump, England, October 1942. These troops were equipped with specially designed
clothing and equipment including helmets with a new type fiber liner and chin strap,
jump suits with large pockets that could be securely fastened, and boots that laced
higher up the leg and which had reinforced toes and stronger ankle supports.

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ENGLAND 17

SOLDIER BEING TRAINED in the correct method of attack when armed with a
knife. Note the difference between the uniform worn by the infantryman here and
that worn by paratroopers on opposite page.

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18 ENGLAND

AN ENGINEER COMPANY AT WORK ON AN AIRFIELD in England. By 1 June

1944 a total of 129 airfields was available in the United Kingdom for the Eighth and
Ninth Air Forces. In addition there were 3 base air depots, 7 combat crew and
replacement centers, 2 reconnaissance and 1 photographic reconnaissance fields, 19
troop carrier fields, 11 advance landing grounds, and 2 miscellaneous fields. Living
quarters for more than 400,000 air force personnel had to be furnished, plus many
thousands of square feet of space for storage.

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ENGLAND 19

B–17 LANDING, after having dropped two flares to indicate that it has wounded
crew members aboard, while two medical crews stand by to give first aid to the
wounded (top). During raids over enemy territory crew members were sometimes
wounded by flak or gunfire from enemy fighter planes. A crew member receiving
medical attention as soon as his plane lands (bottom). In this case blood plasma is
being administered. Blood plasma, which is whole blood minus the corpuscles, was
given to those who had lost blood or were in shock. The plasma increased the volume
of blood and kept the blood stream going. When casualties arrived at a hospital
whole blood was administered to replace the blood lost and also to relieve shock
before further treatment was begun.

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20 ENGLAND

ENLISTED MEN OF THE ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT operating caterpillar

tractor cranes to unload a crated gun carriage (half-track) which weighed approxi-
mately 20,000 pounds. The Ordnance Department maintained a large depot at Tid-
worth, England.

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ENGLAND 21

BOMBS BEING UNLOADED at a U. S. Air Corps Ordnance Depot in England.

After being stacked the bombs were covered with camouflage nets such as those
behind tractors at left center of picture. Facilities for storing bombs in any other
manner were limited. These stacks became common sights along the country lanes
and roads in England during the war years. (1,000-pound bombs; crawler-type
revolving crane on tractor mounting with diesel engine.)

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22 ENGLAND

MEDIUM M3 TANKS in an Ordnance Depot, England (top). Combat tracked

vehicles temporarily stored before being issued to the using units (bottom). After a
vehicle arrived in the United Kingdom there was much to be done before it could be
issued to the using unit. Tanks were received from the United States with about 500
items of accessory equipment, including small arms, radio, tools, gun sights, and
other incidentals, packed in waterproofed containers; many were coated with a
rust-preventive compound. The job of preparing an M4 tank took approximately
fifty working hours. Accessories were unpacked, cleaned, tested, and installed; the
motor and all mechanical components were checked and tuned. When a vehicle left
the Ordnance depot it was completely supplied, including ammunition and rations.

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ENGLAND 23

A 105-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE M7 on maneuvers in England, March

1943. This was an open-top, lightly armored vehicle and was the principal artillery
weapon of an armored division.

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24 NORTH ATLANTIC

U. S. NAVY PLANE attacks and sinks a German submarine in the North Atlantic,
June 1943. The sinking of a British liner without warning by a German submarine off
the coast of Scotland on 3 September 1939 opened the battle of the Atlantic, which
continued until 14 May 1945 when the last U-boats surrendered at American Atlantic
ports. Enemy submarines, traveling alone or in wolf packs, sank many Allied ships
but by the middle of 1943 the menace had been reduced to a problem. This was
accomplished by the use of the interlocking convoy system that provided escort
protection along the important convoy routes, small escort aircraft carriers and
destroyer escorts, and planes, from which hunter-killer groups were formed to seek
out and destroy the U-boats.

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SCOTLAND 25

LIGHTERS PULL ALONGSIDE THE QUEEN ELIZABETH to unload U. S. troops

in Scotland (top). Representatives of the American Red Cross serving refreshments
to Waacs who have just arrived in Scotland (bottom). On one trip the Queen
Elizabeth carried a record load of 15,028 troops. Between December 1941 and June
1944 the Queen Mary and the Queen Elizabeth transported a large portion of the total
number of troops to the United Kingdom, running alone through seas in which their
great speed was their chief protection against enemy submarines.

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26 GERMANY

BOMBS TUMBLE FROM THE BAYS OF AN OVERTURNED B–24 BOMBER. The

plane was caught in a heavy flak belt while on a mission over Germany. During 1943
the enemy became much more aggressive as he shifted his fighters from the Russian
front and the Mediterranean theater to western Europe. The German day fighters
continually harassed U. S. heavy bombers, sometimes following them far out to sea
on their withdrawal.

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NORTH SEA 27

A ROYAL AIR FORCE SEA RESCUE LAUNCH picking up the crew of a B–17
which crashed into the North Sea while returning to its base in England after a
bombing raid over Germany. The crew members are in rubber boats and are flying
a kite to which is attached the aerial of a short wave radio used to signal and give
their position to the rescue craft. Many bombers were shot down over enemy terri-
tory and their crews captured, killed, or wounded; others were badly damaged and
crashed into the North Sea on their return; while still others managed to return to
their bases even though damaged. Many crews of the planes forced down at sea
were rescued in the manner shown here.

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28 ENGLAND

SOLDIERS PLACING A BANGALORE TORPEDO under barbed wire during a

training problem in England, August 1943. When fired, the charge would explode and
clear a path through the obstruction. This method was not only faster than cutting
through the wire, but also did not expose the men unnecessarily to enemy fire.

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ENGLAND 29

MEMBERS OF AN AIRBORNE DIVISION loading a 1/4-ton 4x4 truck into a British

Horsa glider (top). By removing the tail section, the glider could be unloaded in
approximately seven minutes. Airborne infantrymen in a U. S. glider (bottom). In
this picture men are armed with .30-caliber U. S. rifles M1903A3; .30-caliber U. S.
rifles M1; .45-caliber Thompson submachine gun M1; 2.36-inch rocket launcher
M1A1; and .30-caliber Browning automatic rifle M1918A2. Machine guns, mortars,
and light artillery weapons were dropped by parachutes and brought in by gliders
along with other supplies which made the airborne troops a compact fighting unit.

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30 GERMANY

AERIAL VIEW OF SCHWEINFURT, GERMANY, October 1943. This city was the
center of the ball-bearing factories, one of the target priorities picked for destruction
by the strategic air force. The order of these priorities was as follows: (1) submarine
construction yards and bases, (2) aircraft industry, (3) ball-bearing industry, (4) oil
industry, (5) synthetic rubber plants, and (6) military transport vehicle industry. The
Schweinfurt raid had considerable significance at this time because the Americans
were still trying to prove the feasibility of daylight precision bombing. This crucial
raid was made by a force of 228 heavy bombers and there ensued one of the greatest
battles in Eighth Air Force history. From the German frontier at Aachen, where the
fighter escort had to leave the bombers because of limited gasoline capacities, to
Schweinfurt and return wave after wave of enemy fighters attacked the bombers.

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GERMANY 31

BOMBS STRIKING THE BALL-BEARING FACTORIES at Schweinfurt, Germany,

October 1943. Flak over the target was intense but good visibility enabled the
bombers to make an accurate run and more than 450 tons of high explosives and
incendiaries were dropped in the target area. Heavy damage was inflicted on the
major plants. The cost to the attackers was also severe. Sixty-two bombers were lost
and 138 were damaged. Personnel casualties were 599 killed and 40 wounded. Such
losses could not be sustained and deep penetrations without escort were suspended.
Schweinfurt was not attacked again for four months and the Germans were given a
chance to take countermeasures, which they did with great energy and skill.

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32 GERMANY

HEAVY BOMBERS ON A MISSION over southwestern Germany, December 1943.

Planes at upper level are Boeing B–17’s; those at lower level are Consolidated B–24’s.
After the Schweinfurt raid unescorted bomber raids were discontinued until 1944
when long-range fighters equipped with wing tanks were able to provide fighter
escort for the B–17’s and B–24’s as far as Berlin. By 1944 the Luftwaffe, although still
offering a formidable defense, basically had decayed and was very vulnerable to
Allied air power that was being concentrated against it. By April 1944 the Allies
had achieved air superiority which permitted full-scale air attacks on Germany, an
indispensable prerequisite for the invasion of Normandy.

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GERMANY 33

B–17’s DROPPING BOMBS OVER BREMEN, December 1943. Control of the air
started with an attack on the Focke-Wulf plant at Bremen in April 1943, but the main
attacks did not get under way until that summer. On six successive days in late July
Allied air forces attacked the German aircraft industry so successfully that the
production rate started downward. It was not until February 1944 that the decisive air
battle came, when for a period of six days of perfect weather a continuous assault on
the widely dispersed German aircraft-frame factories and assembly plants seriously
reduced the capabilities of the Luftwaffe. Subsequent attacks affected the entire
aircraft industry and it never fully recovered.

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34 ENGLAND

BRITISH FIRE FIGHTERS combating a fire started by bombs during a German

night attack over London, February 1944. The Battle of Britain began in August
1940 and continued on a large scale through October. During the air blitz over
England the Luftwaffe suffered irreparable losses from which its bombardment arm
never recovered, even though smaller attacks were carried out until late in the war.
In daytime raids over England during the Battle of Britain from August to October
1940, the Germans lost 2,375 planes and crews, while the British lost 375 pilots.

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ENGLAND 35

A BRITISH SPITFIRE FIGHTER chasing a German V-bomb over England. Only

fast low-level ships, such as the British Spitfire or the U. S. P–47 or P–51, were good
at this type of pursuit since the robot bombs averaged well over 300 miles per hour.
These bombs, launched from sites along the invasion coast of France and the Low
Countries, caused considerable damage in England and in addition were a demoral-
izing factor in that one never knew when or where they would strike. The launching
sites were placed on the list of targets for the Allied air forces, but because these sites
could be easily moved and camouflaged they were not completely destroyed until the
invasion forces took over the areas in which they were located. The first of the
V-bombs appeared over England on 13 June 1944.

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36 ENGLAND

MEMBERS OF AN ENGINEER UNIT operating multiplex machines in the process

of preparing maps from aerial mosaics. Relief and other features were plotted from
photographic diapositives, contained in the conical shaped holders on the beam in
background of lower picture, to sheets on which control and check points have been
plotted. In these two photographs contours are being drawn on the maps by use of the
multiplex machine. Contrary to general opinion, France was not a well-mapped
country. During World War I detailed maps showed primarily trench fortifications
and special small areas. The Engineers were responsible for making maps, which
required the services of highly trained personnel.

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ENGLAND 37

MEMBERS OF AN ENGINEER TOPOGRAPHICAL BATTALION preparing

maps of Europe prior to the invasion of France. In 1944 more than 125,000,000
maps giving more complete details than those shown here were printed for the
invasion alone. An average of 867 tons of maps was shipped each month from the
United States. In addition, 3,695,750 salvaged enemy maps were used for reverse
side printing. Large-scale maps showing beach and underwater obstacles on the
American and British assault beaches were produced by the U. S. Army Engineers
in preparation for the invasion.

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38 ENGLAND

ANEMOMETER AND WIND DIRECTION INDICATOR being checked by an

enlisted man of a weather section. Improvements in weather forecasting, instrument
bombing technique and equipment, and operating procedures had advanced so much
that whereas in 1942 U.S. bombers could operate on an average of only six days per
month, in the last year of the war they averaged twenty-two days.

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ENGLAND 39

MEMBERS OF A FIGHTER GROUP being briefed before taking off on a mission

England, 1944

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40 ENGLAND

WACS WORKING IN THE COMMUNICATIONS SECTION of the operations room

at an air force station. No opportunity was overlooked to replace men with personnel
of the Women’s Army Corps both in the United States and overseas, Wacs were given
many technical and specialized jobs to do, as well as administrative and office work.
The Medical Corps employed the largest number of Wacs in technical jobs, but other
technical services such as the Transportation Corps, Signal Corps, Ordnance
Department, and Quartermaster Corps had many positions that could be performed
by women as efficiently as by men.

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ENGLAND 41

MAIL FOR UNITS STATIONED IN ENGLAND being sorted. The handling of the
mails through the Army Post Office (APO) was a function of the Adjutant General’s
Department. Mail normally was delivered to the armed forces with the least possi-
ble delay as it was an important morale factor for men stationed away from home.
During the last week of May 1944 an artificial delay of ten days was imposed on the
forwarding of all American mail to the United States and elsewhere, and the use of
transatlantic telephone, radio, and cable facilities was denied to American person-
nel. British mail was strictly censored by the military authorities from April 1944
until the invasion on 6 June 1944. These precautionary measures were taken to
assure the secrecy of the coming invasion. In addition, a block was also placed on
diplomatic correspondence of all countries except the United States, Great Britain,
and the USSR.

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42 ENGLAND

ARTILLERY UNITS TRAINING IN ENGLAND. A liaison plane flying over a bat-

tery of 105-mrn. howitzers M2A1 (top). A 155-mm. gun firing (bottom).

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ENGLAND 43

155-MM. GUNS AND 105-MM. HOWITZERS (top and bottom respectively) stored
in England, 1944. After about 2,250 rounds had been fired, the barrel of the 155-mm.
gun had to be replaced; in howitzers the number of rounds was higher.

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44 ENGLAND

DIESEL LOCOMOTIVES, TANK CARS, AND FREIGHT CARS lined up in

England to be used on the Continent after the invasion (top). Caterpillar tractors and
bulldozers stored at an Engineer depot to be used after the invasion of France
(bottom).

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ENGLAND 45

20 GROSVENOR SQUARE, LONDON, U. S. Headquarters of the European Theater

of Operations (top). U. S. enlisted men passing Number 10, Downing Street,
residence and office of the Prime Minister of Great Britain (bottom). During the
period of the build-up in the British Isles, activities and plans were formulated for
the large and small units scattered throughout the United Kingdom in a group of
buildings located near the American embassy in London. This group of buildings
housed the offices of the personnel whose task it was to co-ordinate the activity and
training of units and, in addition, to handle the problems relating to the build-up of
supplies for the invasion.

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46 ENGLAND

A COLUMN OF HALF-TRACKS advancing along a road during the training peri-

od in England (top). The second, third, and fourth vehicles in the picture are 75-
rnm. gun motor carriages M3. This was the first standardized U. S. self-propelled
antitank weapon used in World War II, and provided high mobility for the 75-mm.
gun. It was replaced in March 1944 by the 76-mm. motor gun carriage M18, and in
September 1944 was declared obsolete. Temporarily stored half-tracks (bottom).
These vehicles were used as gun and howitzer motor carriages, antiaircraft gun car-
riages and personnel carriers

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ENGLAND 47

ARMORED UNITS PARTICIPATING IN MANEUVERS in England. In the spring

of 1944 intensified training was given to all units which were to take part in the
invasion of Normandy. Light tank M5A1 (top), medium tank M4A1 (bottom). The
U. S. tank was designed as a weapon of exploitation to be used in long-range
thrusts deep into the enemy’s rear where it could attack his supply installations and
communications. This required great endurance, low consumption of gasoline, and
ability to move long distances without a break-down.

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48 ENGLAND

MEN OF A SERVICE SQUADRON SALVAGING A FUEL TANK from the wing of

a P–51. These tanks helped to make the bomber escort planes into long-range planes
which gave fighter protection to the heavy bombers. The tanks, the fuel from which
was consumed first, were dropped when empty and the plane then used gasoline from
its permanent tanks.

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ENGLAND 49

P–51’S IN FORMATION. Each plane in this formation has two wing tanks attached.

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50 ENGLAND

A MEDICAL BATTALION QUARTERED IN TENTS, Cornwall, England (top). A

U. S. hospital installed in Quonset huts (bottom). The hospital plan in the United
Kingdom called for over 90,000 beds in existing installations, conversions, and new
constructions. The program was later increased by 30,000 beds by using tents for the
hospital units.

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ENGLAND 51

U. S. ARMY NURSE, wearing a helmet and fatigue uniform, preparing an intra-

venous injection; a kerosene lamp provides illumination. Hospital personnel worked
under conditions similar to those they might encounter upon their arrival on the
Continent after the invasion. Army nurses gave widely varying types of skilled serv-
ice, some of them in field hospitals and others in the general hospitals farther behind
the lines. World War II was the first war in which nurses received full military
benefits and real instead of relative officer rank. There were more than 17,000 Army
nurses in the ETO in May 1945.

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52 NORTHERN IRELAND

FIRING GERMAN WEAPONS. In order to become familiar with German weapons

and to learn the capabilities of enemy arms, U. S. infantrymen fired them during
training in Northern Ireland in the spring of 1944. The men in the top picture are firing
a German standard dual-purpose machine gun (7.92-mm. M. G. 34). The soldier in
the bottom picture is firing a German rifle (7.92-mm. Karbiner 98K—Mauser-Kar.
98K) which was the standard shoulder weapon of the German Army and very similar
to the U. S. rifle M1903.

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ENGLAND 53

MEMBERS OF AN ARMORED INFANTRY REGIMENT firing U. S. weapons

during training in England. In 1941 the Ordnance Department began its experiments
with the rocket launcher, which resulted in the invention of the 2.36-inch rocket
launcher (bazooka). This was the first weapon of its type to be used in the war.
Designed originally as an antitank weapon, it was used effectively against machine
gun nests, pillboxes, and even fortified houses. It required only a two-man team—a
gunner and a loader—and as it weighed only a little more than a rifle it could be car-
ried everywhere (top). The crew of a 60-mm. mortar M2 firing at a simulated enemy
position (bottom).

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54 ENGLAND

AN ENLISTED MAN ON GUARD DUTY at a rail junction in Wales where

American-made locomotives were stored. The United States shipped 1,000 locomo-
tives and 20,000 railroad cars to the United Kingdom for use on the Continent after
the invasion. In addition, 270 miles of railroad were constructed in England to facil-
itate movements. The Transportation Corps was responsible for the movement of men
and supplies by land and water, and for the operation and supply of a great deal of
this equipment. Since much of the railroad equipment in Europe had been destroyed
or damaged by preinvasion bombing by the Allied air forces, locomotives and cars
had to be supplied by both the United States and the United Kingdom for use in
Europe.

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ENGLAND 55

AN LST ARRIVES IN PLYMOUTH, England, carrying an LCT(6) as deckload, after

crossing the Atlantic under its own power (top). The LCT was unloaded by sliding it
over the side of the LST into the water (bottom). A great many landing craft were
needed to mount the coming invasion. These were built in the United States and the
United Kingdom.

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56 ENGLAND

OUTDOOR STORAGE OF FIELD WIRE which was to be used after the invasion of
France by the Signal Corps for telephone communications. The large rolls contained
one mile of wire while the smaller ones had a half-mile capacity (top). The
Quartermaster Corps, after salvaging shoes, supervised the rebuilding of them in
English shoe factories and returned the remade shoes to troops in the field. Bottom
picture shows shoes before and after being rebuilt.

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ENGLAND 57

MEN OF A QUARTERMASTER UNIT STORING FIELD RATIONS in a warehouse

in England, March 1944 (top). The U. S. Army was unquestionably better fed than
any other in history. However, food in combat can never be the same as that in
garrison or cantonment, since field rations must be nonperishable, compact, and
easily carried by the individual soldier. Combat rations were improved as the war
progressed and C rations were supplied in a more varied assortment. Engineer
construction supplies stored in England in preparation for the invasion of Normandy
(bottom). The large rolls of wire netting were to be used on the invasion beaches to
make improvised roadways for vehicles.

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58 ENGLAND

PARATROOPERS MAKING A MASS JUMP during their training in England. In

practice jumps prior to the drop into Normandy there were numerous casualties. The
injured were quickly cared for and the experience showed airborne medics what they
could expect during the actual invasion.

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ENGLAND 59

REPUBLIC P–47 FIGHTER PLANES (top) and Boeing B–17 heavy bombers
(bottom) lined up on an airfield in England before being issued to the units who will
fly them over the Continent against the enemy.

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60 ENGLAND

ENGINEERS CONSTRUCTING A PONTON BRIDGE in England during the

training period (top). Members of an antiaircraft artillery unit receiving instruction
from a British officer while training with a 40-mm. automatic antiaircraft gun Ml
(bottom).

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ENGLAND 61

GUN GREW OF AN ANTIAIRCRAFT ARTILLERY GROUP operating a 90-mm.

gun M1 near the coast of England, April 1944. In order to cope with the latest
developments in the fields of high-altitude bombing, a 90-mm. antiaircraft gun with
longer range, greater muzzle velocity, and a larger effective shell-burst area was
introduced.

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62 ENGLAND

EXHAUST STACKS AND AIR-INTAKE VENTS being installed on a medium tank

M4 (top). After the installation was completed, the tank was tested off the coast of
England (bottom). In addition to stacks, the tanks were further waterproofed by
sealing all unvented openings with tape and sealing compound to render the hull
watertight. Special attachments permitted rapid jettisoning of any waterproofing
equipment which might interfere with satisfactory operation of the vehicles when
on shore. These methods were first successfully used in the invasion of North
Africa in November 1942. All vehicles which were to be driven ashore in
Normandy under their own power, through water, and in the face of enemy fire,
were waterproofed. Ordnance inspectors checked the vehicle in the marshalling
yards a few hours before the tanks were loaded for the invasion.

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ENGLAND 63

LCT(R) FIRING ROCKETS DURING A TEST in Portsmouth Harbor, England (top).

Close-up of the rocket launchers (bottom). These ships converted from landing craft,
tank, were equipped to fire as many as 1,000 rockets.

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64 ENGLAND

LANDING MANEUVERS. During late April and early May 1944 these were held
for the invasion troops. Infantrymen landing from an LGI(L) (top). A combination
gun motor carriage M15A1 landing on the beach from an LCT (bottom). This was a
highly mobile weapon, capable of a concentration of rapid fire, and designed for
antiaircraft defense.

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ENGLAND 65

WATERPROOFED TANK RECOVERY VEHICLE M31 being loaded on an LCT

during training along the English coast (top). For camouflage purposes, the normal
appearance of the tank was retained as far as possible. A simulated turret without
cupola was used and dummy 75-mm. and 37-mm. guns were mounted in place of the
real guns. Actual armament was limited to two .30-caliber machine guns. A half-
track 81-mm. mortar carrier M21 maneuvering on a road in England (bottom) . The
mortar could be used on the vehicle or separate from it.

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66 ENGLAND

BOAT-LANDING DRILL during a training exercise, Slapton Sands near

Weymouth, Devon, England, May 1944. The infantrymen shown here have their
equipment as complete as it will be during the actual invasion landings. They are
descending ladders into an LCVP. Standing with his back to the camera at the top
of the ladder is an officer, identified by the broad white vertical stripe painted on
the back of his helmet. Noncommissioned off icers had a similar horizontal stripe
painted on their helmets.

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ENGLAND 67

MEN AND TRUCKS ON THE UPPER DECK OF AN LST near Slapton Sands in
May 1944. As D Day drew nearer loading exercises and amphibious operations were
practiced by the invasion troops. The greatest advantage the United States was to
have in equipment over the Germans was the multiple-drive motor equipment, prin-
cipally the 1/4-ton truck and the 21/2-ton truck. Shown in the picture are: 1/4-ton 4x4
truck, 3/4-ton 4x4 weapons carrier truck, 11/2-ton 6x6 personnel and cargo truck and
21/2-ton 6x6 truck.

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68 ENGLAND

AMPHIBIAN TRUCKS CARRY SUPPLIES ASHORE from a coaster under the

protection of a smoke screen during landing maneuvers (top). A 2 1/2-ton amphib-
ian truck hitting the beach during maneuvers (bottom). These versatile trucks
proved invaluable in bringing supplies to the beaches during the early stages of
landing and during the build-up after the invasion of Normandy. During one of the
amphibious exercises, which were made as realistic as possible, two LST’s were
sunk by German E-boats. In other respects the training was successful and valuable
lessons were learned.

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ENGLAND 69

LCVP’S CIRCLING NEAR THE MOTHER SHIP while waiting for the signal to
land on the beach during landing operation training at Slapton Sands (top). Members
of an armored unit being briefed at a marshalling area (bottom). At the conclusion of
the training exercises in May all the assault, follow-up, and build-up troops moved
from their camps to marshalling areas for final staging.

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70 ENGLAND

MEN AND EQUIPMENT BEING LOADED INTO LST’S (top) and LCVP’s
(bottom) during the f irst days of June 1944 at one of the “hards” (paved strips
running to the water’s edge) in southern England for the invasion of Normandy.
The training given the assault forces during the amphibious exercises was so thor-
ough that the final loadings for the invasion were accomplished with a minimum
of delay and confusion and resembled another exercise more than the real thing.
Two and one-half years after the first U. S. troops sailed for the United Kingdom,
the training and preparation was completed and the large invasion force of U. S.
and Allied troops was to receive its real test in battle against the enemy.

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 NORMANDY CAMPAIGN

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72 NORMANDY

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 SECTION II

Normandy Campaign
On 6 June 1944 the Allied military forces invaded northern France.
After long study of the German strength, including coastal defenses and
the disposition of enemy troops, the Allied commanders selected the
beaches along the Bay of the Seine for the assault landings. The two
beaches to be used by troops of the First U. S. Army were given the
names of utah and omaha. Those on which the British and Canadians
of the British Second Army were to land were named GOLD, SWORD,
and JUNO. The assault began at 0200 on 6 June when airborne troops
were dropped behind the beaches with the mission of securing exits
from the beaches. Planes of the Allied air force bombed the coastal
defenses and shortly after sunrise the Navy began shelling the beach
defenses. At 0630 the first troops landed on the beaches of Normandy.
The sea was rough and the assault forces met varying degrees of enemy
opposition, but the beachheads were secured and the assault and follow-
up troops moved on to accomplish their missions. The U. S. forces
landing on utah Beach moved northwest to clear the northern portion
of the Cotentin Peninsula and capture the port of Cherbourg. Those
landing on omaha Beach advanced southward toward Saint-Lô. The
troops of the British Second Army were to advance in a southeast
direction from Caen.
The enormous build-up of men and material began immediately
after the assault. This operation was made most difficult because of the
lack of port facilities, but before the invasion plans had been made for
the construction of artificial harbors. The plans were quickly put into
effect and the harbors were almost completed when a summer gale
struck the Channel coast destroying most of the construction work. By
using amphibian trucks and Rhino ferries, and by drying out LST’s,
the build-up over open beaches progressed much faster than was an-
ticipated and men and supplies were poured into France in ever in-
creasing numbers.

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74 INTRODUCTION

While the beachheads were expanded and the build-up continued, the
infantry and armored units fought their way through the hedgerow
country toward their objectives. The fighting was slow and costly as
enemy opposition stiffened in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the
Allied advance. With the capture of Cherbourg and Saint-Lô the initial
missions of the U. S. forces were completed and the forces were then
assembled in preparation for the drives south and west from the beach-
head toward Avranches and the Brittany Peninsula. The British forces
were to push southward from Caen exploiting in the direction of Paris
and the Seine Basin. These attacks were scheduled to begin on 19 July
1944 but because of bad weather the supporting aerial assault was
delayed and the breakout of Normandy did not get under way until 25
July.

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ENGLAND 75

FULLY EQUIPPED PARATROOPER, armed with a Thompson submachine gun M1,

climbing into a transport plane to go to France as the invasion of Normandy gets
under way. At approximately 0200, 6 June 1944, men of two U. S. airborne divisions,
as well as elements of a British airborne division, were dropped in vital areas to the
rear of German coastal defenses guarding the Normandy beaches from Cherbourg to
Caen. By dawn 1,136 heavy bombers of the RAF Bomber Command had dropped
5,853 tons of bombs on selected coastal batteries lining the Bay of the Seine between
Cherbourg and Le Havre.

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76 FRANCE

A MARTIN B–26 MEDIUM BOMBER flying over one of the invasion beaches,
early on D-Day morning. All planes which supported the invasion operations, with
the exception of the four-motored bombers, were painted with three white and two
black stripes for identification purposes. At dawn on D Day the U. S. Air Forces took
up the air attacks and in the half hour before the touchdown of the assault forces
(from 0600 to 0630) 1,365 heavy bombers dropped 2,746 tons of high explosives on
the shore defenses. This was followed by attacks by medium bombers, light bombers,
and fighter bombers. During the 24 hours of 6 June Allied aircraft flew 13,000
sorties, and during the first 8 hours alone dropped 10,000 tons of bombs.

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FRANCE 77

GUN CREW ALERT aboard the cruiser USS Augusta, as landing craft approach the
coast of France during the invasion, 6 June 1944. The three landing craft nearest the
Augusta are an LCT(6), an LBV, and an LBK. While the Allied air forces were bomb-
ing installations along the invasion beaches the Allied sea armada drew in toward the
coast, preceded by its flotillas of mine sweepers. Bad weather conditions and high
seas had driven the enemy surface patrol craft into their harbors, and the 100-mile
movement across the English Channel was unopposed. By 0300 the ships had
anchored in the transport areas some thirteen miles off their assigned beaches, and
the loading of troops into landing craft and the forming of the assault waves for the
dash to the beaches began. At 0550 the heavy naval support squadrons began a
45-minute bombardment which quickly silenced the major coast-defense batteries.

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78 FRANCE

OMAHA BEACH ON 6 JUNE 1944. From Grandcamp, cliffs extend eastward to

Arromanches-les-Bains with only two breaks, one in the Vierville–Colleville region
which was the V Corps area. The Aure River behind OMAHA Beach is a serious obsta-
cle for a distance of ten miles from its mouth, near Isigny. Between the Vire and Orne
Rivers the area is covered to a depth of forty miles inland by bocage (land divided

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FRANCE 79

into small fields by hedges, banks, and sunken roads). Observation was limited, and
vehicle movement was restricted to the roads. The highlands that extend across the
invasion front, with a depth up to twenty-five miles, are broken with steep hills and
narrow valleys. Although narrow, the roads in this area are generally good. Vital ini-
tial objectives were the towns of Carentan, Saint-Lô, Bayeux, and Caen.

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80 FRANCE

U. S. TROOPS WADING ASHORE FROM AN LCVP at omaha Beach during the

assault. Elements of two U. S. infantry divisions, with engineer troops and tanks of an
armored unit, made the first landings. The beaches selected for these landings were
about 7,000 yards in length. From the beach the ground curves upward and is backed
by bluffs that merge into the cliffs at either end of the sector. H Hour was at 0630 6
June. The mission of V Corps was to secure a beachhead in the area between the Vire
River and Port-en-Bessin, from which troops would push southward toward Caumont
and Saint-Lô, conforming to the advance of British Second Army to the east.

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FRANCE 81

INFANTRYMEN WADING ASHORE FROM AN LCT(6) (top). Troops leaving an

LCVP to wade ashore (bottom). Half-tracks and 21/2-ton amphibian trucks can be
seen on the beach, and in the background men marching in columns start southward
toward the bluffs. On the shelf the enemy strung barbed wire and planted mines.
Lanes had to be cleared through these obstacles before the infantry could advance.
Beyond this strip containing obstacles, the enemy laid out firing positions to cover
the tidal flat and the beach with direct fire, both plunging and grazing, from all types
of weapons. The men landing were fired upon from these positions, which for the
most part had escaped destruction during the prelanding bombardment.

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82 FRANCE

SURVIVORS OF AN LCVP which sank off OMAHA Beach coming ashore in an

LCR(S). The high seas added to the difficulties in getting ashore. Landing craft were
in some instances hurled onto the beaches by the waves and some of the smaller ones
were swamped before reaching shore. Others were flung upon and holed by the
mined underwater obstacles. Some of the assault troops were swept off their feet
while wading through the breakers. Of these some were drowned and those who
reached the beach were often near exhaustion. Because of the rough seas many of the
men were seasick during the crossing and arrived on the beach with their combat
efficiency temporarily impaired by the experience.

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FRANCE 83

ARMY MEDICS ADMINISTERING BLOOD PLASMA to a survivor of a sunken

landing craft on omaha Beach. D-Day casualties for the V Corps were in the neigh-
borhood of 3,000 killed, wounded, and missing. The two assaulting regimental combat
teams lost about 1,000 men each. The highest proportionate losses were taken by units
that landed in the first few hours, including engineers, tank troops, and artillerymen.
The D-Day casualties of V Corps were much higher than those suffered by VII Corps,
where the assaulting seaborne division lost 197 men, including 60 lost at sea.

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84 FRANCE

WOUNDED U. S. TROOPS OF V CORPS, waiting to be evacuated, take shelter

under the cliffs near the beach in the Colleville area (top). Some German troops and
laborers rounded up on OMAHA Beach (bottom). The assault troops reached the line
of the Bayeux–Carentan road on 7 June. The following day U. S. forces established
contact with the British on the American left flank. On 9 June U. S. divisions
advanced rapidly south and west reaching the Caumont–Forêt de Cerisy–Isigny line
by 11 June.

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FRANCE 85

MEMBERS OF A SHORE FIRE CONTROL GROUP operating Signal Corps radios.

Man at left is operating an SCR 284, while the second man operates the hand gener-
ator GN 45; man at right is using a hand-held radio set, “handie-talkie” SCR 536
(top). An enlisted man looks up a number before placing a telephone call on a field
telephone EE 8 (bottom). The function of the Signal Corps was to furnish radio, wire,
and messenger communications. Often Signal Corps personnel went inland, some-
times ahead of the infantry, to observe and correct the fire from the naval guns off-
shore.

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86 FRANCE

UTAH BEACH, 6 JUNE 1944. In the VII Corps zone the smooth and shallow beach-
es in the vicinity of Saint-Martin-de-Varreville are backed by sand dunes that extend
inland 150 to 1,000 yards. Behind the sand dunes the low ground had been inundat-
ed for a width of one to two miles, restricting travel from the beaches to four easily
defended causeways. Farther inland the Merderet River, running parallel to the coast,

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FRANCE 87

and the Douve River, from which the ground rises northward to the hills around
Cherbourg, restrict traffic to the established roads. Sainte-Mère-Eglise, Saint-
Sauveur, and Barneville are key points on the road nets leading to Cherbourg.
Southeast of UTAH Beach the Douve and Vire Rivers flow into the shallow, muddy
Carentan estuary which marked the boundary between VII and V Corps.

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88 FRANCE

ASSAULT TROOPS LANDING ON UTAH BEACH ON D DAY (top). Men and

equipment along UTAH Beach on D Day (bottom). The mission of VII Corps was to
assault UTAH Beach on 6 June 1944 at H Hour. 0630, and to capture Cherbourg with
a minimum delay. The troops, landing just west of the Vire estuary, encountered less
opposition than any other Allied forces on D Day.

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FRANCE 89

INFANTRYMEN RESTING ALONG THE SEA WALL and beginning to move

inland, 6 June (top). Advancing southward through the inundated low ground (bot-
tom). Fortunately, the first elements landed considerably south of the designated
beaches in areas less thickly obstructed and where enemy shore defenses were less
formidable than those opposite the intended landing beaches. While airborne troops
seized the causeways through the inundated low ground to prevent enemy reinforce-
ments from reaching the beach, the seaborne assault troops struck northwest toward
Montebourg, on the road to Cherbourg.

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90 FRANCE

AN ENEMY SHELL HITS THE BEACH where U. S. troops are advancing.

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FRANCE 91

GERMAN CASEMATED FORTIFICATION inland from the beach (top);

destroyed enemy gun emplacement (bottom). During 1943 the Germans had devel-
oped heavy frontal defenses at all the principal harbors from Den Helder to Brest.
As the invasion threat grew, Cherbourg and Le Havre were further strengthened,
while heavy guns were installed to block the entrance of the Bay of the Seine.
Between the ports stretched a line of concrete defense positions and coastal and
flak batteries. A program of casemating the coastal guns and strengthening the
defense posts was still in progress on 6 June. The beaches were mined and obsta-
cles were placed in the water offshore and on the beaches, but there was no sec-
ondary defense line behind the coastal defenses which the Germans thought would
stop the invading troops.

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92 FRANCE

MEMBERS OF THE FOLLOW-UP DIVISION aboard an LCI(L) headed for UTAH

Beach on D Day. Other LCI’s in the background have barrage balloons flying over-
head. These balloons were attached by cables to ships crossing the Channel so as to
keep low-flying enemy strafing planes away from the craft.

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FRANCE 93

A MEMBER OF AN ENGINEER UNIT using a mine detector SCR 625. The ground
outlined with white tape had not been cleared of enemy mines and enemy signs were
used to mark the mined areas. Army and Navy demolition teams, following the
assault infantry, found the beach less thickly obstructed than expected, and utah
Beach was cleared in an hour. Engineers prepared exits from the beach by clearing
lanes through the mine fields.

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94 FRANCE

GLIDERS BEING TOWED BY C–47 TRANSPORTS over the English Channel

carrying reinforcements for the airborne divisions, 7 June (top). A British Horsa
glider wrecked while landing (bottom). Six thousand six hundred men of one of the
two U. S. airborne divisions were scattered over an area 25 miles by 15 miles in
extent, and 60 percent of their equipment was lost. In general, however, these men
accomplished their mission successfully. Other gliders were flown in on 6 June but
suffered considerable casualties. (CG4A WACO.)

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FRANCE 95

GLIDERS AND TOW PLANES CIRCLING before the gliders are cut loose for a
landing, 7 June. On the ground are gliders which landed the previous day, many
which were wrecked in landing. While one airborne division of the U.S. forces held
the exists to UTAH Beach and stuck southward toward Carentan, the other airborne
division, despite heavy shelling in the Sainte-Mére-Eglise area, also established con-
tact with the infantry troops pushing inland from UTAH Beach early on 7 June.

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96 FRANCE

AN LCT(5) LOADED WITH REINFORCEMENTS moving toward the beach on 7

June. In left center is an LCT(R); at right center is an LBV. In the background sup-
ply ships wait to discharge their cargoes (top). U. S. Air Force glider pilots in an
LCVP on their way to a larger ship which will take them back to England (bottom).
After landing their gliders the pilots made their way to the beach to await shipping
to return them to their bases.

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FRANCE 97

AMPHIBIAN TRUCKS (DUKW’s) bring supplies ashore on utah Beach, 8 June

(top). Men and supplies come ashore; on the beach are LCT’s (bottom). Between 7
and 12 June the Allies concentrated their efforts on joining the beachheads into one
uninterrupted lodgement area and on bringing in men and supplies.

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98 FRANCE

A RAILROAD BRIDGE ACROSS THE SEINE destroyed by bombers of the Allied

air force. Even though hampered by poor flying weather during the first week after
D Day, the Allied air force bombed bridges across the Seine and Loire Rivers. This
seriously hindered the movement of enemy troops and supplies, and trains had to be
constantly rerouted in an attempt to reinforce the Germans trying to hold the assault
forces in the area of the beachheads.

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FRANCE 99

WRECKED TRAIN. Three trains were held up on this single track, in the vicinity of
Chartres, when fighter bombers knocked cars off the track. With the track thus
blocked the movement of trains was stopped and much of the undamaged rolling
stock later fell into Allied hands. Within an arc extending from the Pas-de-Calais
through Paris to the Brittany Peninsula, 16,000 tons of bombs were dropped on
coastal batteries, 4,000 tons on airfields, and 8,500 tons on railway targets between
6 and 11 June.

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100 FRANCE
AURE RIVER

TRÉVIÈRES AND THE SURROUNDING AREA showing the bocage type of

terrain. U. S. forces advancing inland from the omaha beachhead were checked by
the enemy in the Formigny-Trévières area on 7 June. Formigny was cleared on 8
June. On the same day the U. S. troops held their positions north and east of
Trévières and patrolled the outskirts of the town. The town was shelled by navy guns

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FRANCE 101

in the late afternoon. The approach to Trévières from the high ground just north of
the Aure River was strongly defended and the enemy forces continued to hold out in
this area until 10 June when the attacking U. S. forces outflanked and captured the
town. The fall of Trévières marked the end of enemy resistance north of the Forêt de
Cerisy.

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102 FRANCE

U. S. GUN CREW FIRING A 3-INCH ANTITANK GUN M5 at a house in which

enemy troops are holding out (top). In the advance of the Allies from utah Beach
toward Cherbourg the enemy was often cut off in small groups and surrounded. The
enemy groups in many cases would refuse to surrender, even though they were cut
off from their own forces, and had to be eliminated one group at a time. A 90-mm.
gun M1 of an antiaircraft battery firing near Vierville (bottom). Though enemy air
attacks were not a serious threat to the Allies and very little opposition was encoun-
tered, antiaircraft batteries were always on the alert.

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FRANCE 103

MULTIPLE GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M16 with its four .50-caliber machine guns
firing at the enemy in support of an infantry advance (top). This vehicle was a
weapon of an antiaircraft artillery unit, but the lack of enemy air activity in
Normandy made possible its use in other roles. U. S. artillerymen emplacing a 155-
mm. howitzer Ml in a camouflaged position (bottom).

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104 FRANCE

FORMATION OF DOUGLAS A-20’s over France. The infantry and armored attacks
were, when possible, preceded by concentrated air attacks. Employing carpet bomb-
ing methods, thousands of tons of bombs were dropped. Fragmentation bombs were
used to break enemy resistance without causing extensive cratering which would hin-
der the advance of tanks. Although these attacks were temporary in effect, the results
greatly aided the initial ground attack. Casualties to the enemy were few, but he was
stunned by the weight of the bombing and considerable confusion ensued.

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FRANCE 105

ENGINEERS LAYING WIRE MATTING in the construction of a landing strip near

Sainte-Mère-Eglise (top). A Republic P–47 Thunderbolt bursting into flames after
crash landing on the strip; still attached to underside of the wing are rockets which
were not fired (bottom). An important factor in insuring the success of the Allied
close-support operations lay in the establishment of landing strips in Normandy,
from which fighter planes could operate. Work began as soon as a footing was
obtained on shore and by 9 June planes were operating from these strips.

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106 FRANCE

A QUARRY NEAR OMAHA BEACH used by engineer units to supply rock and
stone for the construction of roads. The tremendous amount of traffic on the roads
in Normandy, as men and supplies were brought into France over the beaches
required the services of many engineer units to keep the roads in good repair. Most
of the roads leading to the beaches were not hard surfaced but were constructed of
rock and gravel.

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FRANCE 107

ENLISTED MEN PREPARE TO LAUNCH A BARRAGE BALLOON over one of

the beaches in Normandy. Balloons were attached to cables and by means of winches
could be raised or lowered to the desired altitude. These balloons were used to
protect ships and beach installations from low-flying enemy aircraft. When the
balloons were in position the enemy would not fly low over the beaches for fear of
running into the cables which kept the balloons in place.

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108 FRANCE

MEDICAL CORPS MEN TREATING AN ENLISTED MAN for a wrist wound.

When casualties entered a battalion aid station within a few hundred yards of the
front, they were immediately screened and sorted. Wounds were redressed, and per-
haps morphine or other drugs were given when available. Those whose wounds per-
mitted were evacuated to the rear, while those whose wounds did not permit further
evacuation were held, treated, given plasma, and then moved farther back.

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FRANCE 109

AN EVACUATION HOSPITAL with a 750-bed capacity, Normandy, 24 July (top).

Army surgeons perform an operation out-of-doors (bottom). In World War II the
number of deaths per hundred casualties was one half of that during World War I.
Responsible for this reduction was the surgical skill and painstaking care rendered by
personnel of the Medical Corps aided by better surgery, the sulfa drugs, penicillin,
plasma, and whole blood.

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110 FRANCE

ENEMY PRISONERS, taken during the first days of fighting, awaiting transporta-
tion to England. During the first week following the invasion landings the Germans
lost some 10,000 men as prisoners. The enemy forces that manned the static beach
defenses were largely Russians and other non-Germans, but were under German offi-
cers. Of the German troops, many companies were found to be composed of men
either under 20 or over 45 years of age. Many of these were of low medical categories
and their morale was not of the best.

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FRANCE 111

A MILITARY POLICEMAN studying French aboard a transport while waiting for

the landing craft which will carry him to the beach in Normandy. In addition to
handling informational and recreational activities of all kinds, the Special Services
Division of the Army Service Forces distributed pocket-sized soldier guides to the
customs and languages of the countries where members of the armed forces served.
The Army, recognizing that the strain created by war must be counteracted by
healthy diversional activities, arranged motion pictures and USO shows, and
distributed books, magazines, and athletic and other recreational equipment to
members and units of the armed forces.

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112 FRANCE

VIRE-TAUTE CANAL

CARENTAN. The approach to Carentan from the east is blocked by the Vire-Taute
Canal. U. S. forces advancing to secure the bridge on the road from Isigny met with
enemy resistance from the houses and hedgerows on the east bank and it was not
until midnight of 10 June that the enemy was driven out and defensive positions were

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FRANCE 113

BASIN

established by U. S. troops. Other U. S. troops moved along the Bassin à Flot and
crossed the canal on 12 June, moving rapidly into the center of Carentan which by
then was ringed by attacking troops. This trap was closed too late to capture most of
the German defenders, who escaped to the south during the night of 11–12 June.

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114 FRANCE

U. S. TROOPS MOVING INTO CARENTAN, 12 June (top). A 105-mm. howitzer

M3 firing at enemy positions during the fighting at Carentan (bottom). During the
night of 11–12 June, Carentan was set ablaze by artillery and naval gunfire, and
early on the morning of 12 June U. S. troops entered the town. Its fall marked the
effective junction of the two U. S. beachheads and the linking up of the two corps
of the First U. S. Army.

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FRANCE 115

U. S. PARATROOPERS PATROLLING THE STREETS OF CARENTAN in a

captured German Volkswagen (1. Pkw. K. 1 (typ 82)) (top). Airborne troops in a
jeep towing a British 6-pounder Mark III antitank gun in Carentan (bottom). The
enemy counterattacks against the U. S. forces in Carentan were unsuccessful in
their attempts to recapture the city, but were persistent enough to limit the U. S.
advance to gains measured in hundreds of yards. However, on 17 June 1944 U. S.
troops reached the west coast in the vicinity of Barneville, cutting the German
forces into two groups, one south of the Carentan–Barneville line, the other in the
Cherbourg area.

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116 FRANCE

DOUGLAS A–20’S DROPPING BOMBS on a probable flying bomb launching site.

The first flying bombs fell on England during the night of 12–13 June 1944, and the
regular attacks began three days later. The smallness, the effective nature of camou-
flage, the comparative mobility, and the ease with which the V-l launching sites could
be repaired made effective bombing attacks on them difficult.

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FRANCE 117

PART OF A GERMAN ROCKET INSTALLATION captured by U. S. troops. Many

of these flying bomb sites were captured by the Allies as they advanced. Although the
air force had destroyed some by bombing, most of the sites were taken by advancing
troops and destroyed.

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118 FRANCE

A PORTION OF THE ARTIFICIAL HARBOR AT OMAHA BEACH. This harbor

was in the Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer area of omaha Beach and was known as
“M ULBERRY A.” Breakwaters were formed by sinking ships and concrete caissons,
and steel bridging formed causeways to the beach. The harbor, construction on
which began on 7 June 1944, was designed to provide moorings for seven Liberty
ships and twelve coasters at one time. By 19 June it was 90 percent completed.

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FRANCE 119

ENGINEERS LAYING STEEL MATTING on omaha Beach at the exits of the cause-
way which extend to the piers of the artificial harbor (top). Vehicles moving from one
of the piers over the causeway to the shore (bottom). These floating causeways to the
beach rose and fell with the tide. The artificial harbors were constructed to facilitate
the unloading of the large numbers of men and material.

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120 FRANCE

DAMAGE TO THE ARTIFICIAL HARBOR AND LANDING CRAFT caused by the

storm. The greatest detriment to the Allied build-up was not the enemy, but the
weather. From 19–22 June 1944 one of the worst summer gales in Channel history
hit the Bay of the Seine. Unloading operations were virtually stopped, the floating
steel caissons broke free and sank, the concrete caissons moved or were broken up,
and the beach was strewn with hundreds of stranded and damaged craft. The line of
sunken ships remained fairly well intact, but as a whole the artificial harbor was
destroyed and useless.

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FRANCE 121

A TRUCK ON THE BEACH (2 1/ 2-ton) and one starting down the ramp of an LST
(1 1/ 2-ton). After the storm wrecked the artif icial harbors emergency measures,
such as using 2 1/ 2-ton amphibian trucks to bring men and supplies ashore and
“drying out” landing ships and coasters, were employed. By “drying out” the ves-
sels (as in picture) and unloading directly on the beaches, unloading operations
were carried out.

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122 FRANCE

TRUCKS FULLY LOADED with men and supplies leaving a Rhino ferry and being
helped ashore by a bulldozer (top). A 3/4-ton weapons carrier rolling through the surf
toward the beach under its own power (bottom). All the vehicles which made these
landings through the surf had been waterproofed before leaving England. Since they
were able to travel only a short distance on land under their own power when water-
proofed, the waterproofing material was removed soon after the vehicles landed.

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FRANCE 123

TRUCKS AND AMPHIBIAN TRUCKS (each is a 21/2-ton truck) on a beach in

Normandy. In spite of the damage caused by the storm, by 26 June omaha Beach was
discharging 122 percent of its planned cargo capacity. By this time 268,718 men,
40,191 vehicles, and 125,812 tons of cargo had been discharged over OMAHA Beach
alone. By 1 July the Allied commanders were not as much worried about a German
counterattack that would threaten the beachhead as about the possibility that the
enemy might bring in sufficient reserves to create a stalemate in Normandy. More
room was needed by the Allies to bring in men and supplies to support a sustained
drive toward the Seine.

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124 FRANCE

UNIT ADVANCING TOWARD CHERBOURG stops to inspect a German multipur-

pose gun (8.8-cm. Flak). When the enemy retreated from the vicinity of Montebourg
he destroyed the gun by splaying the barrel. This multipurpose weapon emerged as
the most publicized artillery piece of the German Army during the North African
campaign. It was primarily an antiaircraft gun adaptable to antitank and general
artillery use. In its role as an antitank gun it was fitted with a shield. In its mobile
form it was towed on four wheels, usually with an 8-ton half-tracked tractor.

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FRANCE 125

RESULTS OF ARTILLERY FIRE AND BOMBINGS in Montebourg (top). A

155-mm. howitzer Ml firing on the defenses of the city of Cherbourg (bottom). On
19 June Montebourg fell to the U. S. forces and Valognes was taken the following
day. The advance on Cherbourg was continued by three U. S. infantry divisions. An
attack on Cherbourg was launched on the afternoon of 22 June, after an 80-minute
air and artillery bombardment of the outer defenses, but the enemy at first fought
back with determination.

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126 FRANCE

HILL 171 AREA BOIS DU MONT DU ROC

THE BOIS DU MONT DU ROC AREA. On 22–23 June the U. S. troops launched an
attack from the valley to seize Hill 171. The critical enemy defense areas at
Flottemanville-Hague and Hill 171 were closely pressed and before dark on 23 June the
area of Hill 171 was reached and 400 enemy prisoners were taken. The Flottemanville-
Hague defenses were bombed by Allied planes and the defenses were taken by the
ground forces shortly thereafter. The enemy’s fortified line protecting Cherbourg was
then broken and the U. S. troops were ready for the final drive to the city.

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FRANCE 127

FORTIFICATIONS AROUND CHERBOURG DAMAGED by Allied shelling and

bombardment. The German defenders refused to surrender the city to the attacking
U. S. forces, and on 22 June a co-ordinated attack was launched by the attackers, sup-
ported by aircraft of the tactical air forces and heavy artillery fire. However, no real
break-through was achieved by this bombardment and the U. S. troops resorted to the
methodical reduction of the strong points. It was not until 24 June that the main
defenses cracked, and the next day the three attacking infantry divisions, supported
by heavy naval bombardment, reached the outskirts of the city.

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128 FRANCE

TWO U. S. INFANTRYMEN ROUTING A SNIPER during street fighting in

Cherbourg (top). German prisoners taken in Cherbourg (bottom). By 25 June U. S.
forces were fighting in the streets of the city while the Germans demolished the port
facilities. At 1500 on 26 June the German commanders surrendered. The Arsenal
held out until the following morning and fanatical groups had to be eliminated one
by one. A certain number of the enemy still remained to be rounded up in the north-
west corner of the Cotentin Peninsula, but on 1 July all resistance in the northern
Cotentin came to an end.

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FRANCE 129

A MEMBER OF AN ENGINEER UNIT, operating a bulldozer, clears a street in

Cherbourg (top). Members of an Engineer unit stationed in Cherbourg take time out
to prepare a meal in the doorway of a house (bottom). C and K rations were general-
ly issued to troops in combat. Where there was more time for the preparation of food,
troops were given the “10 in 1” ration which contained more variety than the C and
K rations. When units were more permanently settled regular messes were set up, but
during the early days on the Continent just after the invasion, and while the supply
situation was still critical, troops resorted to eating rations that could be more easily
transported and prepared.

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130 FRANCE

FORT DU ROULE ARSENAL AREA

A PORTION OF CHERBOURG showing the inner harbor and docks. Fort du Roule,
built high and secure into a steep rock promontory which stands immediately back
of the city, dominated the entire harbor area. It was primarily a coastal fortress but
was also defended against a ground attack. The P–47’s which bombed the fort did lit-
tle damage to the subterranean tunnels housing the big guns. The fort was finally
taken by infantry troops armed with machine guns, mortars, grenades, pole charges,

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FRANCE 131

and rifles. The fort surrendered in sections and it was not until late on 25 June that
the complete surrender was accomplished. After the rest of the city had been taken
the Arsenal still held out. This structure, partially protected by a moat, was high-
walled and well-armed. On 27 June the Arsenal surrendered bringing to an end all
organized resistance in the city. With the fall of the city every effort was made to
clear the harbor and repair docking facilities as quickly as possible.

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132 FRANCE

THE FIRST SHIP-TO-SHORE GASOLINE LINE, put in operation at Cherbourg.

During the assault phase the Allied forces relied on canned gasoline, but by 3 July
bulk supply was being introduced by ship-to-shore pipeline which brought in part of
the large quantities of gasoline necessary to the Allied forces.

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FRANCE 133

ORDNANCE MEN CUTTING ANGLE-IRON with acetylene torches (top). An M5

light tank equipped with a hedgerow cutter (bottom). During the fighting in
Normandy armored vehicles found the hedgerows a serious obstacle which they
could neither cross over nor break through. An enlisted man of an Ordnance unit in
Normandy devised the method of attaching to the front of tanks rake-like cutters
improvised from heavy angle-iron salvaged from the underwater beach obstacles
which the Germans had placed to wreck landing craft. During a period of 48 hours
maintenance companies of the Ordnance Department turned out 300 of these cutters,
which enabled the tanks to open passageways through the hedgerows of Normandy,
and play an important part in the advance leading to the break-through at Saint-Lô.

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134 FRANCE

.30-CALIBER BROWNING MACHINE GUN M1919A4 being f ired through an

opening in a hedgerow by an infantryman. The July offensive, one of the most
difficult and bloody phases of the Normandy Campaign and known as the Battle
of the Hedgerows, was conducted from 7 to 20 July 1944. Four U. S. Army corps,
ultimately employing twelve divisions, were involved in the effort. German rein-
forcements stiffened, particularly in the hills protecting Saint-Lô, and the U.S.
forces in the Cotentin Peninsula fought their way southward, alongside the U.S.
troops east of the Vire River, to win ground for mounting the attack which was to
break through the German defenses at the end of the month of July.

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FRANCE 135

A 3-INCH GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M10 moving along a road near Saint-
Fromond. While the British Second Army battled furiously against enemy armored
strength to the east, the First U. S. Army struggled forward on both sides of the Vire
River in their drive on Saint-Lô. The advance was laborious because of the nature of
the terrain and the poor weather conditions. The enemy rallied to prevent any break-
through to Saint-Lô, and the British redoubled their efforts in the Caen area where
the Germans had most of their 900 tanks.

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136 FRANCE

TWO GERMAN PANTHERS, heavy tanks (Pz. Kpfw.-7.5-cm. Kw. K. 42-L/70),

knocked out on a road near Le Désert (top). A damaged German self-propelled
assault gun (Stu. G. IV with Stu. K. 40-L/48) near Périers (bottom). During the fight-
ing in the Saint-Lô area the German forces included two corps with elements of no
less than twelve divisions, including two armored divisions. The losses sustained by
the enemy armored units removed the possibility of a further large-scale counterat-
tack west of the Vire River.

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FRANCE 137

GERMAN PANTHER (top). U. S. medium tanks M4A1 pass German medium tanks
(Pz. Kpfw. IV) which were knocked out in the July fighting near Saint-Lô (bottom). In
hedgerow fighting tanks were expected to give great assistance, by their fire power, in
dealing with hedgerow strong points but there was always the problem of getting them
through the embankments fast enough to maintain their support to the infantry.

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138 FRANCE

ARMY MEDICAL AID MEN preparing to evacuate wounded (top). U. S. troops

along a sunken road during the advance to Saint-Lô (bottom). The U. S. losses dur-
ing this campaign totaled nearly 11,000 killed, wounded, and missing. The Germans,
as a result of the action, were prevented from regrouping and wore down their last
immediate reserves for use against a break-through.

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FRANCE 139

AN INFANTRY PATROL picking its way through the blasted ruins of Saint-Lô (top).
Allied and German shelling and Allied aerial bombing reduced Saint-Lô to ruins
(bottom). The original objectives of the July offensive were not attained except for
the capture of Saint-Lô on 18 July 1944 and the high ground suitable for launching
the break-through attempt. The ground won was sufficient to give the troops more
room and better jump-off positions which they needed to break out of Normandy.

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140 FRANCE

SAINT-LÔ IN RUINS after the capture of the city by the U. S. forces. It was shelled
both by the attacking Allied forces who needed the area to stage troops who were to

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FRANCE 141

break out of the hedgerow country of Normandy, and by the enemy forces who were
trying to prevent the U. S. troops from taking the city.

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142 FRANCE

INFANTRYMEN RESTING IN THEIR FOXHOLE. Rain, which continued for 6

days, delayed the air bombardment and in turn the advance of the First Army which
had scheduled an attack for 19 July 1944. During this period the men were compelled
to huddle in their foxholes under the dripping hedgerows in conditions of extreme
discomfort, while the enemy, also entrenched behind the natural defenses of the
country, was alert to every movement. The low-lying country became a sea of mud,
stopping further tank operations during this period.

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FRANCE 143

JEEP SPLASHING THROUGH A FLOODED ROAD IN NORMANDY. The rains,

which held up the advance, flooded the dirt roads which by this time were in a bad
state of repair from the heavy traffic and shelling. On the front of the jeep is an iron
bar used to cut thin strands of wire that the enemy strung across the roads level with
the heads of the occupants of vehicles, which traveled with tops and windshields
down.

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144 FRANCE

INFANTRYMEN FIRING FROM A HEDGEROW. The man in the foreground is

shown about to fire a fragmentation grenade using a U. S. rifle .30-calibre Ml with a
grenade launcher M7 (top). Grenade has just been fired (bottom). The terrain
through which the Allied troops fought was favorable to the defense. In the close
bocage countryside, dotted with woods and orchards and with fields divided by tree-
topped embankments where armor could not well be employed, the infantry had to
wage a grim struggle from hedgerow to hedgerow and from bank to bank, harassed
by snipers and machine gun posts. On 24 July the troops of the U. S. First Army were
waiting for the weather to clear sufficiently for an air attack before they attempted to
break out of Normandy in the area of the Periers-Lessay-Saint-Lô road.

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 NORTHERN FRANCE
CAMPAIGN

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146 NORTHERN FRANCE

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 SECTION III

Northern France Campaign*

On 25 July 1944 the Allied forces fighting in Normandy were able
to begin the offensive to break out of Normandy and carry to the
German frontier. Preceding the ground attack planes of the Allied air
forces dropped more than 3,390 tons of bombs on enemy positions on
a narrow front in the vicinity of Saint-Lô. The air attack’s crushing
power and its paralyzing effect on the German forces opened the way
for a rapid and powerful drive by Allied armored and infantry units.
Cities were captured in quick succession and the enemy troops were
forced to flee in a disorderly retreat.
The armored spearheads led the way out the Brittany Peninsula
which was quickly occupied, with the exception of the fortresses of
the port cities which were to continue to fight until after the German
borders had been reached. While part of the U. S. forces were overrun-
ning the Brittany Peninsula, the major portion turned toward the east in
the direction of Paris, and British and Canadian troops moved south-
ward from Caen along the road to Falaise. The battle of the Falaise-
Argentan pocket was a disastrous defeat for the German forces who
were trying to prevent the Allies from moving eastward. During the
fighting in this area elements of two German armies were so disorgan-
ized and destroyed that their effectiveness was greatly impaired.
Paris surrendered on 25 August and by the 27th all enemy resist-
ance ceased there. The advance continued toward the eastern borders
of France, where the Allies stopped their rapid drive, and though a few
further advances were made, 14 September 1944 found them consoli-
dating their positions along the Moselle River and northward in
Belgium and Holland. The major port cities of Le Havre and Antwerp,
which were badly needed by the Allies as ports of entry for men and
materials, were captured.
* See Martin Blumenson, Break-Out and Pursuit.

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148 INTRODUCTION

During the Northern France Campaign the expanding Allied forces

reorganized. The Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force,
moved to the Continent of Europe. The 21 Army Group was made up of the
British Second and the Canadian First Armies. The 12th Army Group, com-
posed of the First and Third U. S. Armies, became operational. In August
1944 Allied forces invaded southern France and moved northward to join
those in northern France. This force, made up of the U. S. Seventh and
French First Armies, made a junction with the northern group on 11
September. Also during this period the U. S. Ninth Army became opera-
tional and took over the reduction of the Brittany fortresses.

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FRANCE 149

MEDIUM TANK M4A1, equipped with a hedgerow cutter, breaking through a

hedgerow. The build-up was continuing generally as anticipated and the destruc-
tion of the enemy forces progressed. On 23 July 1944 the Canadian First Army
became operational on the left flank of the Allied line. The Third U. S. Army had
begun moving to the Cotentin Peninsula on 5 July and was proceeding on the right
flank of the Allied line.

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150 FRANCE

75-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGES M8, partially concealed by a hedgerow,

preparing to fire on enemy positions near Marigny (top). M5 light tanks pass through
the streets of Coutances (bottom). The first attack was launched on a narrow front
across the Périers road west of Saint-Lô. This attack was supported by heavy artillery
and aerial bombardment. While the spearhead units advanced in the direction of
Coutances, the rest of the First U. S. Army was to exert strong pressure and harass
any attempted enemy withdrawal. Marigny was taken on 26 July and, though the
enemy resisted stubbornly while trying to keep a corridor open for the withdrawing
German forces, Coutances fell on 28 July.

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FRANCE 151

ENGINEERS WEARING CAMOUFLAGE SUITS clean out a street in Canisy (top).

Infantry troops set up a 57-mm. antitank gun M1 (bottom). Advances south from
Saint-Lô reached Tessy-sur-Vire on 28 July, while another attack farther east met
with severe resistance in the vicinity of Forêt de Cerisy. In the British-Canadian sec-
tor the advance had been halted by a strong enemy belt of antitank guns, dug-in
tanks, and mortars.

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152 FRANCE

MAIL CALL AT THE FRONT (top). The receiving of mail was always an important
morale factor and every effort was made to get it to the men as quickly as possible.
Infantrymen reading German propaganda leaflets during a rest period (bottom).
German planes dropped propaganda leaflets in an attempt to discourage the Allies in
their advances. These had little effect on the troops and the advances continued with
all possible speed.

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FRANCE 153

PRISONERS TAKEN BY THE ALLIES during the early part of August. Many of the
men of the enemy forces were non-Germanic, some were Russians or members of
Russian units who had been captured by the Germans on the eastern front and sent
to Normandy as part of the enemy defense units. As the enemy retreat began to
degenerate into a disorderly rout many prisoners were taken, and on 28 July 4,500
were captured.

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154 FRANCE

FRENCH WOMAN, returning to her home after the German withdrawal, passes a
knocked out self-propelled antitank gun (Pz. Jaeg. 38 with 7.5-cm. Pak. 40/3). Many
of the civilians left their homes and towns during the fighting and returned after-
wards, often to find that they had lost their homes during the artillery shelling and
aerial bombing. However, in some cases the civilian population stayed in the towns
during the fighting.

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FRANCE 155

MOTOR COLUMN ADVANCING ALONG A ROAD near Coutances. On 29 July

U. S. armored divisions trapped an enemy column about seven miles southeast of
Coutances. Fighter bombers came in and attacked the closely jammed columns of
vehicles destroying 137 tanks and over 500 other vehicles.

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156 FRANCE

AN ARMORED COLUMN led by a light armored car M8 stops for a few minutes
during its advance to Avranches (top). An M4 medium tank moving through a street
in Avranches (bottom). On 30 July an armored division closely followed by an
infantry division closed in on Cranville. Another armored division entered Avranches
and secured two bridges across the Sée River. The break-through was completed by
31 July, the area between Granville and Avranches was cleared of enemy pockets of
resistance, and the U. S. forces struck southward in the direction of Villedieu.

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FRANCE 157

ARMORED VEHICLES FIRING ON ENEMY TROOPS during the advance

southward (top). Tanks and trucks of a French armored division in the assembly
area after landing and before starting south to join the U. S. forces (bottom). On
1 August 1944, as the U. S. forces poured around the crumpled German flank at
Avranches, a major revision was effected in the organization of the Allied forces.
The Third U. S. Army became operational and at the same time the 12th Army
Group headquarters also became operational and assumed command of the First
and Third U. S. Armies. The 21 Army Group was at this time made up of the
British Second and the Canadian First Armies.

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158 FRANCE

SÉE RIVER

AVRANCHES AND THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY. After the fall of the city the
Allied drive gained momentum and the advancing troops swept out of Normandy.

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FRANCE 159

Turning toward the east and the west in two attacks, the Allies drove to the German
frontier and the tip of the Brittany Peninsula.

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160 FRANCE

AMMUNITION BEING UNLOADED at an Ordnance dump after it had been

brought inland from the beach (top). During the advance of the Allies south follow-
ing the breakout from Normandy a maximum effort was required to keep all the
using units supplied with ammunition. Tankers of an armored unit reloading their
.30-caliber ammunition belts during the drive southward (bottom).

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FRANCE 161

A BULLDOZER (tractor, earth moving crawler, diesel) pulling a jeep from a crater
(top). Engineers using a truck-mounted revolving crane swing a section of a tread-
way bridge into place over the Vire River near Pontfarcy (bottom).

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162 FRANCE

INFANTRYMEN TAKING A BREAK, their M1’s leaning against the wall of a

destroyed building. The Third U. S. Army drove southward from Avranches on 1
August with the mission of clearing the Brittany Peninsula and securing the ports.
The attacks were spearheaded by armored divisions against only scattered opposition
and by 3 August Loudéac was reached, infantrymen were closing in on the fortress
of Saint-Malo, armored units were striking toward Vannes and Nantes, and Rennes
had been captured. The 21st Army Group and First U. S. Army met dogged enemy
resistance, but Mortain was occupied by the latter.

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FRANCE 163

AN INFANTRYMAN USING HIS HELMET AS A BASIN while washing at a town

pump. The weather during this period was hot and dry; inland from the coast there
was little fog. The advancing men took every opportunity during the rapid advances
to stop for a quick wash.

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164 FRANCE

AN M4A1 MEDIUM TANK rolls through a battered French village. After the rapid
advances through the Brittany Peninsula, U. S. forces were left in front of the main
port cities to contain the enemy. The Third U. S. Army turned eastward driving with
strong armored forces on the general axis of Laval–Le Mans–Chartres. The terrain
that would be encountered in a drive to the Seine would be favorable for the use of
armor, and the weather was expected to be good. On 4 August Mayenne was captured
and contact with First U. S. Army units was established. During the next five days
the drive to the east continued for a distance of 85 miles and the cities of Angers and
Le Mans were taken.

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FRANCE 165

INFANTRYMEN FIGHTING IN HEDGEROWS near Mortain. Shortly after mid-

night on 7 August a German counterattack struck the U. S. infantry division in the
area of Mortain. By morning, when the enemy had penetrated the First Army line
some three or four miles, Allied aircraft equipped with rockets attacked the enemy.
Three U. S. divisions were quickly shifted to the area and for the next three days a
fierce battle raged as the Germans tried to cut the corridor through which the Third
Army was advancing onto the plains of western France. On 11 August, Mortain was
re-entered by the First Army.

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166 FRANCE

U. S. ARTILLERY OBSERVATION POST near Barenton, between Mortain and

Domfront. After the failure of the German counterattack in the vicinity of Mortain
the only alternative for the enemy was to retreat, and a gradual withdrawal was made
toward the Seine River. During this period two simultaneous battles were fought: one
by First Army troops and those of 21 Army Group around the Falaise–Argentan pock-
et, the other by the Third Army which was driving hard to the Seine River.

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FRANCE 167

INFANTRYMEN OF THE FIRST ARMY advancing in the vicinity of Sourdeval

against the withdrawing enemy forces. The Canadian First Army advancing south-
ward along the Caen–Falaise road was to join forces with the U. S. troops advancing
eastward. The Germans put up a strong defense against the Allied troops advancing
to encircle them.

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168 FRANCE

AN M4 MEDIUM TANK, rolling into Dreux, passes a German antitank gun (7.5-cm.
Pak. 40). On 14 August the Third Army was ordered to leave sufficient forces to hold
Argentan and to take advantage of the enemy’s disorganization by continuing the
main advance to the east. Advances were made against Dreux, Chartres, and Orléans.
On 15 August Dreux was captured and on 17 August the First Army took over at
Argentan. On 18 August the Third Army forces swung north to seize crossings of the
Seine River below Paris and to begin the deep encirclement of the German troops
south of the river.

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FRANCE 169

TWO TYPES OF U. S. TRACKED VEHICLES, each mounting a 105-mm.

howitzer. 105-mm. howitzer motor carriage M7 (top); medium tank M4A3 with
105-mm. howitzer (bottom).

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170 FRANCE

CONVOY CARRYING GASOLINE ALONG RED BALL HIGHWAY. These are

4–5-ton trucks (tractors) towing 2,000-gallon semitrailers (top). A 12-ton truck tow-
ing a 45-ton trailer loaded with ammunition, stops along Red Ball Highway (bottom).
With the resistance offered by the retreating enemy at a minimum during this period,
fuel was a more vital requisite than ammunition. Approximately a million gallons of
gasoline were needed at the front every day to enable the armored columns to main-
tain their headlong rate of advance.

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FRANCE 171

MILITARY POLICEMAN DIRECTS TRAFFIC ON RED BALL HIGHWAY. The

three essential supplies were food, ammunition, and gasoline, and to get these to the
armored spearheads as quickly as possible a system known as the Red Ball Express
was instituted. By this, a circular one-way traffic route was established across France
from the beachheads to the fighting zone and back again. All civilian and local mil-
itary traffic was prohibited the use of the Red Ball Highway, and along it the convoys
swept at high speed day and night.

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172 FRANCE

RAILROAD EQUIPMENT BEING UNLOADED FROM A SEATRAIN at Cher-

bourg. Motor convoys could not handle the vast quantities of supplies needed to
maintain the Allied fighting forces and it was necessary to supplement these convoys
with rail transportation. The first scheduled run was made between Cherbourg and
Carentan on 11 July 1944, using mostly salvaged French equipment. As soon as the
Cherbourg port facilities were sufficiently restored, equipment was brought over
from England and put into service.

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FRANCE 173

DESTROYED RAILROAD EQUIPMENT. So greatly had the French railroads

suffered that over 900 locomotives and a third of the rolling stock used had to be
supplied from Allied sources in England. In addition to replacing locomotives and
cars, bridges had to be constructed, wrecked trains had to be cleared, and tracks
had to be replaced. Damage by Allied bombings at every major junction and mar-
shalling yard had to be repaired. These tasks fell to men of the Corps of Engineers
and the Transportation Corps.

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174 FRANCE

AN INFANTRYMAN ARMED WITH AN Ml RIFLE looks at two German rocket

launchers left behind by the enemy (8.8-cm. Racketenpanzerbuchse). The German
weapon was of larger caliber and was heavier than the U. S. rocket launcher but sim-
ilar in appearance and operation.

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FRANCE 175

SIGNAL CORPS MAN OPERATING A SWITCHBOARD BD71. This small

switchboard weighed approximately fifty pounds, had six lines, and was used with
headset HS30, ear plugs, and chest set microphone. The set was generally used by
regiments and smaller units. When the break-through came at the end of July 1944
the speed of the advances imposed a heavy strain on the communications person-
nel. Spearhead units relied mostly on radio communications, but a line net of great
complexity was required in the rear areas to cope with the amount of traffic
involved. Civilian communications were of limited value because of the lack of
maintenance during the years of war destruction, and within four months of D Day
the Allies laid over 100,000 circuit miles of telephone line.

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176 FRANCE

A PORTION OF THE CITY OF FALAISE which was occupied on 17 August by

Canadian First Army troops who had pushed down the Caen–Falaise road. This city
on the northeast corner of the Falaise pocket was on the north corner of the encir-
clement in which the German troops were trapped.

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FRANCE 177

A PORTION OF THE CITY OF ARGENTAN, the southeast corner of the Falaise

pocket. On 12 August the Third Army armored divisions were at Argentan and
Ecouché with infantry divisions in support. The enemy struggled to escape from the
pocket through the gap between Falaise and Argentan and concentrated on removing
his armored units, leaving the infantry to hold off the Allies. A considerable part of
eight armored divisions managed to escape from the closing Allied pincers but left
behind a great proportion of their equipment. On 20 August the trap was closed on
more than seven infantry divisions and parts of two armored divisions. By 22 August
the enemy in the pocket had been eliminated.

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178 FRANCE

INFANTRYMEN PICKING THEIR WAY THROUGH DEBRIS and rubble in

Domfront in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. When the Falaise–Argentan pocket was
closed, Allied divisions inside the pocket pressed in on the remnants of the German
divisions.

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FRANCE 179

INFANTRYMEN FIRING ON THE ENEMY during the house-to-house fighting in

Saint-Malo (top). Infantrymen prepare to fire on enemy positions in Saint-Malo
with their .30-caliber Browning machine gun M1917A1 (bottom). During the rapid
advances to the east, the fighting on the Brittany Peninsula was still going on. On
17 August the last Germans in the citadel of Saint-Malo had been captured, and the
U. S. division taking the city was moved to the southeast to cover the Loire flank
west of Tours.

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180 FRANCE

LE PETIT BEY LE GRAND BEY CITADEL

THE HARBOR AT SAINT-MALO. In the strongly defended forts in and around

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FRANCE 181

FORT NATIONAL FORT DU NAYE

the harbor stubborn groups of Germans held out against the U. S. attacking forces.

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182 FRANCE

SWABBING OUT THE BARREL OF AN 81-MM. MORTAR Ml before firing.

During the battle of the Falaise–Argentan pocket U. S. artillery poured shells of all
calibers into the pocket, and Allied aircraft hammered the Germans relentlessly.

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FRANCE 183

PREPARING TO FIRE A 60-MM. MORTAR M2. The intense artillery f ire and
aerial bombing littered the countryside with all types of German vehicles and
equipment. German commanders were able to control only small groups of their
troops, so great was the confusion.

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184 FRANCE

INFANTRYMEN, ARMED WITH CARBINES M1 AND RIFLE M1, discuss the

action in which they have taken part (top). Engineers of an armored division relax in
a French town during the advance of the U. S. troops (bottom). In the battle of the
Falaise–Argentan pocket the Allies did not accomplish the utter destruction of the
German forces in Normandy, but the enemy troops were broken as an effective fight-
ing force and the way across France was open. During this period enemy losses
included 70,000 killed and captured.

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FRANCE 185

MEN AND VEHICLES ADVANCING TOWARD PARIS (3-inch gun motor carriage
M10). Mopping-up the Falaise–Argentan pocket was assigned to troops of the 21
Army Group, while the First Army forces moved eastward. The Third Army was
again moving eastward, and by the evening of 25 August the Allies held most of the
Seine River west of Paris. On 15 August the Seventh U. S. Army invaded southern
France and moved northward to join forces with the Allies in northern France.

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186 FRANCE

240-MM. HOWITZER M1 FIRING on one of the Brittany fortresses (top).

Cannoneers sight their 105-mm. howitzer M3, from a camouflaged position, during
the seige of Brest (bottom). By 25 August only the three fortresses of Brest, Lorient,
and Saint-Nazaire still offered resistance. A co-ordinated attack was launched on
Brest by three infantry divisions supported by artillery of all calibers.

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FRANCE 187

INFANTRYMEN AND AID MEN ADVANCE ON BREST. In this area the Germans
blew up pillboxes to avoid their capture and some of the U. S. attackers were killed
or wounded in the blasts.

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188 FRANCE

A PORTION OF THE HARBOR AT BREST. This city on the Atlantic Ocean, with
its good docks and harbors, was desirable as a supply port of entry. The enemy forces
held out here until 18 September 1944, at which time the Allies had moved so far to

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FRANCE 189

the east that the distance from Brest to the front lines was too great to make Brest an
important landing point. Also the port was so badly damaged during the fighting that
it became practically useless.

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190 FRANCE

MEMBERS OF THE FRENCH RESISTANCE FIGHTING in the streets of Paris.

The Allies had originally intended to bypass Paris so as to avoid its destruction in an
assault. On 19 August 1944 fighting between the Germans and the French Forces of
the Interior broke out in the city. The French were soon in need of relief, because of
the shortage of ammunition, and Allied forces were shifted to take the city. Meeting
with little resistance, a French armored division and a U. S. infantry division entered
the city and by noon on 25 August the German commander formally surrendered.

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FRANCE 191

PARISIANS SCATTER as a German sniper fires at them during the celebration of

the Allied entry into Paris (top). U. S. troops march down the Champs Elysées dur-
ing a victory parade in Paris (bottom). The last German resistance ceased in Paris on
27 August, and the next day the city was turned over to a French general who was to
be the military governor.

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192 FRANCE

AN 8-INCH GUN Ml BEING TOWED INTO POSITION by a high-speed 18-ton M4

tractor (top). The crew of an 8-inch howitzer fires on the enemy across the Seine
River (bottom). The Canadian First Army cleaned up the enemy pockets west of the
Seine by 31 August, and the U. S. forces regrouped to pursue the enemy east of the
river and begin their drive toward Germany.

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FRANCE 193

TOWED 155-MM. GUNS Ml CROSS A BAILEY BRIDGE over the Seine. U. S.

troops advanced northeast from the Seine River bridgeheads to take Reims and
Châlons-sur-Marne.

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194 FRANCE

3-INCH GUN AND .50-CALIBER MACHINE GUN of an M10 tank destroyer fire
on enemy troops trying to destroy a Marne River bridge. On 26 August Château-
Thierry was captured. On 28 August Châlons-sur-Marne was taken and the following
day Reims fell.

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FRANCE 195

AN M4A1 TANK passes a burning German vehicle. By 30 August Saint-Dizier was

reached and on 31 August the ground east of the Meuse River near Commercy was
seized while Verdun was captured and the meuse Rive crossed in that area. At the end
of August the drives of the First and Third U. S. Armies were slowed down by lack
of fuel.

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196 FRANCE

ENGINEERS LAYING A GASOLINE PIPELINE in France. In an effort to transport

fuel to the front-line units of the Allies, three fuel pipelines were laid across France.
This also relieved the road traffic which became more and more congested as the
number of Allied troops in France increased.

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FRANCE 197

MEDICAL AID MEN MOVE UP UNDER FIRE to give first aid to a wounded in-
fantryman (top). A wounded German is given medical aid by U. S. soldiers (bottom).
by 3 september first army troops had cleared most of the army’s zone south of the
Belgian border. On that day the remnants of twenty disorganized divisions were
trapped before they could reach the Belgian border and 25,000 men were quickly
liquidated. The British entered Brussels on 3 September and were also closing in on
Le Havre, one of the major port cities on the coast.

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198 BELGIUM

A LIGHT ARMORED CAR M8 ENTERING BELGIUM. On 1 September 1944,

Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), was established at
Versailles and assumed the active direction of the 12th and 21 Army Groups. During
this period the main problem was that of supplying the racing armored columns since
the only points of entry were the beaches and Cherbourg, a distance too far removed
from the Allied forces advancing to the German frontier. By early September supply
trucks were traveling 600 to 900 miles in round trips to carry fuel, ammunition, and
rations to the combat units.

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BELGIUM 199

75-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGES M8 in Belgium (top). 155-mm. gun

motor carriage M12 firing in Belgium (bottom). In spite of the shortage of supplies
the pursuit of the enemy continued between 4 and 14 September 1944, with the great-
est Allied gains being made on the northern front. On 4 September the British forces
captured the port city of Antwerp, one of the greatest prizes of the war. On 12
September the city of Le Havre surrendered. These two cities were of extreme impor-
tance because of their port facilities and their nearness to the battle front. In both
harbors the enemy had carried out measures to render the ports useless, but they were
not too badly damaged to prevent repair.

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200 FRANCE

LIGHT ARMORED CAR M8 of a reconnaissance unit stops during its drive through
Belgium toward the border of the Netherlands (top). Advancing infantrymen ride on
a 3-inch gun motor carriage M10 (bottom). By 14 September 1944 the sustained
drive of the First Army had stopped and the Germans were righting on their own soil
for the first time in many years.

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FRANCE 201

INFANTRYMEN MOVING AN ASSAULT BOAT down to the banks of the Moselle

River at Dornot (top); crossing the Moselle (bottom). Efforts to obtain enough gaso-
line were generally unavailing and most of the units of the Third Army were halted
at the Moselle. On 5 September a crossing was made north of Nancy while on 8
September another was made below Metz. The Germans made numerous counterat-
tacks and occupied the forts around Metz, determined to hold the line in this area.

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202 GERMANY

BOEING B–17 FLYING THROUGH HEAVY FLAK over Germany en route to a

target (top). The Heinkel aircraft factory during an air attack (bottom).

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GERMANY 203

MARTIN B–26’S RETURNING FROM A MISSION along the German border in

support of the Third Army’s ground attack. The medium bomber in the upper fore-
ground of the above picture had operated in the ETO for some time, as is shown by
the dark-painted fuselage. The plane in the lower foreground has an unpainted fuse-
lage which enabled it to attain higher speeds.

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204 FRANCE

INFANTRYMEN CROSS THE MOSELLE as a 1/4-ton truck carries wounded men to

the rear (top). M4A1 medium tank fording a canal (bottom). On 10 September an
attack was launched to secure bridgeheads over the Moselle below Epinal, which was
reached on 14 September. The city of Nancy fell on 15 September.

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FRANCE 205

INFANTRYMEN ADVANCING in the outskirts of Brest. While the Third Army was
battling a determined enemy on the Moselle, U. S. forces were still trying to reduce
the fortress of Brest. On 5 September the Ninth U. S. Army became operational in
France and assumed the task of eliminating the remaining fortresses on the Brittany
Peninsula.

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206 FRANCE

AN 8-INCH GUN M1 FIRING ON GERMAN INSTALLATIONS in Brest. Artillery

units attacking Brest were reinforced, mostly with medium and heavy caliber guns
and, after sufficient ammunition had been accumulated, a strong attack was launched
on 8 September by three infantry divisions.

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FRANCE 207

90-MM. GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M36 firing at an enemy pillbox in Brest (top).
76-mm. gun motor carriage M18 guarding a street intersection in Brest (bottom). On
14 September the fortress of Brest was still for the most part in German hands,
despite all efforts to reduce the strongly fortified positions.

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208 FRANCE

NEWLY CONSTRUCTED TREADWAY PONTON BRIDGE over the Moselle

River.

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 RHINELAND CAMPAIGN
15 September 1944–15 December 1944

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210 RHINELAND

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 SECTION IV

Rhineland Campaign
15 September–15 December 1944*
On 15 September 1944 the Allied forces that had invaded southern
France came under control of the Supreme Commander, Allied Ex-
peditionary Force. This added the 6th Army Group to the forces
opposing the enemy along the German frontier, making a total of forty-
eight Allied divisions in the European Theater of Operations. In a little
over three months, 6 June–15 September 1944, the Western Allies had
carried their offensives from the Normandy beaches to the western
borders of Germany. During the next three months little, if any,
progress was made. Several factors contributed to this general slow-
down. As fall and winter approached, rain, mud, and snow greatly
hindered operations and made living conditions extremely trying. The
terrain became more difficult since many rivers and streams had to be
crossed and rough, wooded, and hilly country was encountered. Enemy
resistance stiffened as the Allies reached the German border. But more
important than any other single factor was the problem of supplying
the large forces which had advanced so rapidly that they had outrun
their supplies.
During this period, as the Allies came to the West Wall and the
Rhine, severe fighting took place all along the front. Some of the most
difficult operations of the war in western Europe occurred during the
Rhineland Campaign as battles were fought in the Arnhem area, the
Schelde estuary, the Huertgen Forest, the Aachen sector, the Metz and
Saar regions, and the Belfort and Saverne Gaps. On 15 December the
efforts of the Allies in the Rhineland were interrupted when the enemy
broke through the lines in the Ardennes, causing a shift of troops to
the Ardennes to reinforce the lines there.
*See H. M. Cole, The Lorraine Campaign, Washington, D. C., 1950; and Gordon A. Harrison and
Forest C. Pogue, Jr., The Rhineland and Central Germany, now in preparation for the series U. S. ARMY IN
WORLD WAR II.

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www.MtMestas.com
FRANCE 213

ENLISTED MAN WALKING THROUGH MUD in his bivouac area. The Allied
advance was halted at the German border by poor weather conditions, difficult ter-
rain, stiffening German resistance, and, most of all, by lack of supplies. At this time
the decision was made to employ the greatest strength in the north to attain flanking
bridgeheads across the lower Rhine River beyond the main fortifications of the West
Wall. This area was chosen for the drive since the terrain to the south was considered
unsuitable for a rapid advance because of the mountainous and forested country.

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214 ENGLAND

PLANES TOWING GLIDERS take off for the invasion of the Netherlands, 17
September 1944. The First Allied Airborne Army launched its attack to secure a
bridgehead across the Rhine in the Arnhem area. Complete surprise was achieved
and the drops and glider landings were effective and in most cases were made in the
prescribed areas. During the following ten days the fighting was severe with repeat-
ed German counterattacks. However, the railroad bridge across the Waal River in the
Nijmegen area was captured on 20 September and remained in Allied hands. By the
end of September the corridor was widened somewhat and the operation was consid-
ered a success even though the Allies were forced to evacuate most of the attacking
troops after numerous casualties were suffered.

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THE NETHERLANDS AND GERMANY 215

PARATROOPERS ADVANCING UNDER ENEMY FIRE in the Arnhem area (top).

A captured German self-propelled assault gun (Sturmgeschuetz 7.5-cm. Stu. K. 40)
(bottom). During the entire operation in the Netherlands which lasted for thirty days,
from 17 September to 16 October 1944, over 5,500 planes and 2,500 gliders trans-
ported 34,000 men, and over 1,900 vehicles, 500 artillery pieces, and 5,000 tons of
supplies. The airborne army suffered more than 13,000 casualties in killed, wounded,
or missing.

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216 GERMANY

INFANTRYMEN FOLLOWING A TANK during the advance north of Aachen

(top). Infantrymen riding on an M4 medium tank-dozer through the West Wall,
while others follow on foot (bottom). The last two weeks in September were spent
by the First Army in probing the enemy’s defenses along the frontier. On 2
October an attack was launched across the German border about eight miles north
of Aachen. Progress during the next two weeks was slow as troops fought their
way through six miles of West Wall, or “Siegfried Line,” fortif ications.

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GERMANY 217

A 57-MM. ANTITANK GUN Ml being unlimbered from a half-track during the

street fighting in Aachen (top). A Browning .30-caliber machine gun M1919A4
being fired at the enemy in Aachen (bottom). The German troops in Aachen refused
a surrender ultimatum on 11 October 1944, and during the next three days the city
was subjected to intense aerial bombardment and artillery fire. Infantrymen entered
the city on 13 October and after fierce house-to-house fighting almost completely
occupied Aachen by 20 October. The following day the garrison surrendered, making
Aachen the first German city to fall to the Allies. The First U. S. Army then began
preparations for a drive to the Rhine as soon as supplies and reinforcements should
become available.

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218 GERMANY

WEST RAILROAD YARDS

A PORTION OF THE CITY OF AACHEN. During the bitter fighting the Allies
found it necessary to use all types of artillery weapons, from the 155-mm. gun to the

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GERMANY 219

LOUSBERG

smaller guns of tank destroyers, at point blank range to reduce the heavily fortified
buildings occupied by enemy troops.

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220 FRANCE

BRIDGEHEAD ACROSS THE MOSELLE south of Metz near Arnaville. While the
U. S. First Army was driving toward the Rhine in the vicinity of Bonn and Cologne,
the Third Army was holding its positions pending the improvement of the supply
situation. The Ninth Army moved up from Brittany and took its position between
the First and Third Armies in the Ardennes sector. The battle of Brest ended on 18
September 1944, and except for enemy resistance in the Atlantic coast port cities
of Lorient and Saint-Nazaire, the Brittany Peninsula was completely in Allied
hands.

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FRANCE 221

M4 MEDIUM TANKS on a street in Lunéville (top). U. S. troops firing a captured

German 88-mm. gun in the vicinity of Metz (bottom). The period from 25
September to 7 November 1944 was the most unproductive phase of the U. S. Third
Army’s operations on the Continent. Troops closed in on the Moselle north of
Thionville and consolidated their positions east of Nancy. On 18 September the
Germans launched a counterattack near Lunéville but were stopped in their tracks.
Two other attacks on 22 and 24 September were also stopped and the Germans
began to retreat on the night of 1–2 October.

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222 GERMANY

FIVE-GALLON WATER CANS loaded in a quarter-ton trailer being filled at an

Engineer water point. The Engineers were responsible for the purification of drink-
ing water and set up water points from which all units located in the area drew their
daily supply.

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BELGIUM 223

BREAD BEING PLACED ON COOLING RACKS in a Quartermaster bakery after

being removed from the ovens.

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224 FRANCE

INFANTRYMEN FIRING a .30-caliber Browning machine gun M1917A1 on the

outskirts of Metz (top). Infantry patrol entering Metz (bottom). For two months the
U. S. Third Army was stalled in the vicinity of Metz, the fortress which would have
to be captured before any substantial advance eastward could be made. Metz domi-
nated three invasion routes into Germany from France: the valley of the Moselle
through Trier and Coblenz; the Kaiserslautern Pass through Saarbruecken to Mainz
and Worms; and the route through the Saverne Gap from Sarrebourg to Strasbourg
and the Rhine. Only once in modern times had the fortress of Metz fallen to an
attacking army—in 1871 the defending French troops surrendered to the Prussians.

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FRANCE 225

90-MM. GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M36 in Metz. The capture of Metz was
hindered by rain and floods which canceled the heavy air support and made the
advance difficult for the ground forces. The attack started on 8 November with only
artillery support and it was not until 22 November that the city was finally clear of
all enemy pockets of resistance. The last of the forts which ringed the city was taken
on 13 December. The Third Army was then confronted by one of the strongest
sections of the West Wall, and since its reduction would require a vast amount of
artillery support, the attacks were suspended until the necessary ammunition could
be brought up.

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226 FRANCE

MOSELLE RIVER
CANAL FORT ST. JULIEN

THE CITY OF METZ showing the location of two of the forts which ringed the city.

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 FRANCE 227

ROUNDHOUSES FORT DE QUEULEU

These and other forts presented problems to the assaulting troops.

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228 GERMANY AND FRANCE

THANKSGIVING DINNER AT THE FRONT. During October and November 1944

the cold, rain, fog, and floods made living conditions of the front-line troops
miserable. The battle against the weather was as difficult as that against the enemy.

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FRANCE 229

ENGINEERS HAULING BRIDGING EQUIPMENT in flooded areas of the

Moselle River. The flooded rivers and smaller streams made the task of bridging
extremely difficult during this period of the fighting along the German frontier
since, in addition to the wider than normal spans necessary to cross the rivers, the
weather was cold and rainy, adding to the hardships of those employed in the task.

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230 GERMANY

TRACK EXTENSIONS being put on the track of a medium tank. The maneuver-
ability of tanks and other tracked vehicles was greatly hampered by mud along the
front lines. Confronted by a problem more serious than anticipated, Ordnance per-
sonnel quickly designed and started production of track extensions at the rate of 156
separate pieces for each tank. Civilian manufacturing facilities were utilized in
France and Belgium and before the program was completed 1,500,000 extensions
had been made and welded to the tank tracks.

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FRANCE 231

AN M4A3 MEDIUM TANK fitted with track extensions maneuvering through soupy
ground. Track extensions were so devised as to give better flotation and traction
through the November mud.

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232 GERMANY

105-MM. HOWITZER M3 shelling enemy positions. After the capture of Aachen

the First and Ninth Armies prepared for a new offensive. The initial objectives were
to capture bridgeheads over the Roer River in the vicinity of Dueren and make
advances toward Juelich. At the same time the defensive positions in the Ardennes
area were held. After a four-day delay the weather cleared and planes of the Allied
air forces began the attack. Several towns including Dueren and Juelich were
reduced to rubble.

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GERMANY 233

MEDIUM TANKS FIRING during the assault toward the Roer River (top). 155-mm.
gun motor carriage M12 firing on enemy held positions (bottom). In spite of the
elaborate preparations made for the attack and the great concentration of combat
power, progress was extremely slow. Each of the towns was woven into a network in
which each house had to be reduced, and each foot of the muddy ground was defend-
ed to the last by the enemy troops. The attack plowed on determinedly in the mud and
cold and on 3 December 1944 the Ninth Army came to the Roer. The First Army also
attacked until the river was reached. (Note the newer type track with cleats on the
treads to give better traction.)

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234 GERMANY

3-INCH GUN MOTOR CARRIAGES M10 move up in the Huertgen Forest area.
Troops of the First and Ninth Armies had been fighting their way toward Schmidt
since September in one of the most bitterly contested actions of the war. One of the
major obstacles in the advance was the Huertgen Forest which covered roughly the
triangle of Aachen–Dueren–Monschau. In the vicinity of Schmidt were dams which
controlled the level of the Roer River, and while these were still in enemy hands
water could be released flooding the valley of the Roer. It was therefore considered
necessary to take this area and the dams before the river was crossed by the attacking
U. S. forces.

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GERMANY 235

INFANTRYMEN pushing through the Huertgen Forest near Vossenack, Germany

(top). Vehicles moving up a muddy road through the forest (bottom). The Germans
had strengthened this natural barrier by the clever use of wire, pillboxes, and mines,
and the U. S. infantrymen, restricted by the rough wooded terrain, were forced to
fight for the most part without the aid of artillery or air support. On 13 December
the attack on the dams was renewed but the going was still slow. Casualties to the two
armies advancing in this area were high.

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236 GERMANY

KALL RIVER OUTSKIRTS OF VOSSENACK

KOMMERSCHEIDT AND THE SURROUNDING AREA. The terrain of the

Schmidt and Vossenack areas, like that of the Huertgen Forest, was hilly and wooded.

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GERMANY 237

KALL RIVER

The Roer River dams in this area were important objectives for the Allies during this
part of the campaign.

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238 GERMANY

TIRED, DIRTY, HUNGRY INFANTRYMEN eat their first hot meal after fifteen
days of siege of the town of Huertgen.

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GERMANY 239

BATTLE-WEARY GERMANS who were among the last to surrender after the battle
of the Huertgen Forest which lasted for several weeks.

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240 FRANCE

MINE EXPLODER T1E3 attached to a medium tank. This model was an improve-
ment over the earlier one because of its chain-driven exploder disks. On the first
models the exploder disks rolled freely and were not power driven. The new model
also had a higher degree of indestructibility and greater maneuverability and could
be driven in mud eighteen inches deep and across broken terrain. The T1E3 could be
driven across a Class 70 military bridge.

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GERMANY 241

FIRING ROCKETS during the fighting in the Huertgen Forest area. In the above
pictures 4.5-inch multiple rocket launchers T27 are mounted on 21/2-ton trucks and
consist of eight tubes in a single bank. Two banks are mounted on each of the trucks
with the rockets being fired at half-second intervals.

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242 FRANCE AND GERMANY

FOG OIL being used to produce a smoke screen to limit observation during river
crossings. This function of the Chemical Warfare companies was utilized in covering
the activities of troops at ports, airfields, docks, and harbors in addition to concealing
vital points from direct enemy air observation during advances and river crossings.
When the danger of aerial attack was practically eliminated it was still used against
ground observation. By means of a generator the fog oil was converted into a white
fog which was used effectively whenever the wind conditions were not strong enough
to disperse the screen too rapidly.

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BELGIUM 243

90-MM. ANTIAIRCRAFT GUN Ml being fired at a German flying bomb passing

over Belgium. Liege was subjected to an attack by these robot bombs and suffered
considerable damage. Because of the great speed of these weapons it was difficult to
combat them, but later with the utilization of the newly developed proximity fuse, the
seriousness of the threat of the flying bombs diminished.

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244 FRANCE

SEVENTH ARMY VEHICLES CROSSING THE MOSELLE. During the later half
of September the 6th Army Group’s positions were consolidated, boundaries were
adjusted, divisions were shifted into their proper zones, and plans were made for the
advance to the Rhine.

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FRANCE 245

4.2-INCH CHEMICAL MORTAR being fired during the advance of the Seventh
Army, October 1944.

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246 FRANCE

THREE INFANTRYMEN of the Seventh Army looking down on a village in France

from a hilltop which has been under heavy mortar and artillery fire.

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FRANCE 247

INFANTRYMEN CLIMB UPON AN M5 LIGHT TANK in preparation for an

advance. In November 1944 the Seventh Army was to make the main effort of the 6th
Army Group in an advance toward Sarrebourg and Strasbourg. In the south the
French First Army was to drive through the Belfort Gap.

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248 FRANCE

ARTILLERY LIAISON PLANES grounded in the Seventh Army area. In the Vosges
mountains snow drifted over the roads, the temperature dropped below freezing, and
streams overflowed their banks.

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FRANCE 249

INFANTRYMEN OF THE SEVENTH ARMY advance through snow and sleet. The
attack of 6th Army Group was to breach the Vosges mountains whereupon the two
armies would join in the Rhine plain to isolate the enemy’s Vosges positions. Short
of artillery ammunition, the troops slugged it out with the enemy over difficult
terrain and in increasingly bad weather, with the infantry carrying most of the burden.

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250 FRANCE

SEVENTH ARMY ARTILLERYMEN loading a 105-mm. howitzer M2A1. The

attack was launched, after an all-night artillery preparation, in a snow storm on the
morning of 13 November 1944. At noon on 14 November the French First Army
jumped off in its attack. On 16 November the French broke through the Belfort
defenses and on 20 November reached the Rhine. Mulhouse fell on 22 November
despite a quickly established enemy defensive line.

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FRANCE 251

A 105-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE M7 being fired on German positions

in the Rhine Valley (top). Infantrymen wait in a shallow zig-zag trench before
advancing (bottom). On 20 November Sarrebourg was captured and on 22 November
Saverne fell. By 27 November Strasbourg and its ring of defending forts had been
taken. After the collapse of the enemy positions in the Vosges, the Seventh Army
attacked northward and by the middle of December had crossed the German frontier
on a 22-mile front and penetrated the West Wall defenses northeast of Wissembourg.
In the meantime the German forces which had been driven from the Vosges main-
tained their bridgehead in the Colmar area, which became known as the Colmar
pocket before it was finally liquidated.

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252 GERMANY AND BELGIUM

REWARDS FOR STANDING IN LINE: men receiving typhus booster shots (top);
men exchanging their French and Belgium francs for German marks (bottom).

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BELGIUM AND GERMANY 253

WOUNDED SOLDIERS BEING EVACUATED in tracked vehicles during the

winter months. Cargo carrier M29 (top) ; half-track personnel carrier M3 (bottom).

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254 FRANCE

OPENING THE VALVE ON A GASOLINE PIPELINE. The critical fuel situation of

September, which had stalled the armored divisions at the West Wall, was materially
improved by December. At that time three main pipelines were constructed or under
construction: one for the northern armies, one for the central armies, and another for
the southern armies.

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FRANCE 255

FIVE-GALLON CANS BEING FILLED WITH GASOLINE at a distribution point.

On 15 December 1944 the armies had from a five- to nine-day supply of gasoline on
hand while the Ninth Air Force had over 600,000 gallons of aviation gasoline and oil
stored in the Namur area.

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256 BELGIUM

ARMY SUPPLIES BEING UNLOADED at Antwerp. The greatest single factor in

the improved supply situation was the port of Antwerp which became operational
on 27 November. Despite heavy attacks from the German “V” weapons the port
discharged cargo which was badly needed by the forces fighting along the German
frontier. utah and omaha Beaches ceased operations in November and then only the
larger port cities were used as supply ports of entry.

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FRANCE 257

AMPHIBIAN TRUCKS LOADING SUPPLIES into railroad cars after bringing them
ashore from ships in the harbor of Le Havre (top). In addition to Antwerp, the major
Allied ports were Le Havre, Ghent (opened in January 1945), Rouen, Cherbourg, and
Marseille. An enlisted man reading a directive, signed by the theater commander,
concerning the conservation of tires, an effort made to curtail the wasteful use of
equipment and supplies (bottom). While in general the supply situation was much
improved over that in September there were still critical shortages in a wide variety
of items including antifreeze, tires, post exchange rations, miscellaneous signal
equipment, and some winter clothing.

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258 BELGIUM

2 1/ 2-TON TRUCKS PICK UP RATIONS at a Belgian railhead (top). 10-ton

semitrailers loaded with rations at Antwerp, ready to be hauled to the forward
depots (bottom). The multiple-drive motor transport vehicles were continuously on
the move and made possible the supplying of troops during the rapid advances.

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 ARDENNES–ALSACE CAMPAIGN

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260 ARDENNES–ALSACE

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 SECTION V

Ardennes–Alsace Campaign
In mid-December 1944 the Allies stopped along the German
border, but continued to attack in the Saar and Roer regions, while they
concentrated the majority of their strength for an attack in the north.
The Germans, taking advantage of their continuous front along the
West Wall, planned a counterattack to strike the Allies in one of the
weakest portions of the line—the Ardennes sector. The ultimate goals
of this German operation were to capture the port city of Antwerp,
sever the major Allied supply lines emanating from that port, and
destroy the Allied forces north of the Antwerp–Brussels–Bastogne
line.
Early on the morning of 16 December the German armies struck the
Allied troops located in Belgium and Luxembourg. The Allies holding this
portion of the line were too thinly dispersed to offer any great resistance
against the powerful enemy attack and were forced to fall back. While the
defenders fought the Germans, Allied armies shifted their drives and
troops were rushed to the Ardennes to reinforce the hard hit units along the
front from Monschau to Echternach. After severe fighting during late
December 1944 and early January 1945 the Germans were defeated and
by 25 January the Allies were once more ready to move toward Germany
through the West Wall defenses. During the Ardennes–Alsace Campaign
winter set in and the cold weather and snow-covered terrain made opera-
tions and living conditions extremely difficult.
During this period the British forces in the north eliminated the
Germans in the Roermond triangle and captured the enemy bridgehead
west of the Roer River. The U. S. and French troops of the 6th Army
Group fought a determined enemy in Lorraine and Alsace and by 25
January had driven the attacking Germans back across the Moder
River.

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262 INTRODUCTION

The Ardennes–Alsace Campaign, which delayed the Rhineland

Campaign for six weeks, secured no major terrain objectives for either
side. The Germans, who had employed some of their best remaining
units, lost nearly 250,000 men, 600 tanks and assault guns, and about
1,600 airplanes. The Allies suffered 72,000 casualties.
On 6 January 1945 the Fifteenth U. S. Army became operational on
the Continent and was assigned to the 12th Army Group, taking over
many of that army group’s responsibilities in the rear areas.

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BELGIUM 263

GERMAN SOLDIER WITH AMMUNITION BELTS moves forward during the

enemy counterattack in the Ardennes. German morale was higher than at any time
since the Allies had landed, partly because the individual soldier had been propa-
gandized into believing that this was the opportunity to destroy the Allied troops in
the west. At 0530 on 16 December 1944 three German armies attacked on a 50-
mile front in eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. This battle was popular-
ly known as the Battle of the Bulge.

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264 BELGIUM

ENEMY TROOPS PASS BURNING U. S. EQUIPMENT. The initial German

attacks, following a heavy artillery preparation, were launched all along the front,
roughly from Monschau to Echternach. The first objective was to secure the high
ground of the Hohe Venn but the drive by the enemy met with stiff resistance and
he was forced to commit his armor before noon on 16 December. Further attacks
in the northern sector were no more successful and by night the Germans were still
fighting at the approaches to the Elsenborn Ridge.

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BELGIUM 265

A GERMAN SOLDIER waving members of his unit forward. Spurred on by ex-

pressions of the German commanders such as “Forward to and over the Meuse” and
“We gamble everything now—we cannot fail,” enemy troops drove forward in a
determined effort to defeat the Allies. South of the Elsenborn Ridge in the vicinity
of the Losheim Gap U. S. troops were overwhelmed and forced to withdraw. By
evening the enemy, though blocked in the north, had broken through the thinly held
American line and drove toward Stavelot and Huy, the first objective on the Meuse
River. Still further to the south in the Echternach area, the U. S. forces stopped the
enemy after he had made limited gains. The Allied situation along the front was
extremely grave.

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266 BELGIUM

TYPICAL ARDENNES TERRAIN. The rough, wooded tableland of the Ardennes in

eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg is broken by many small streams which
become serious obstacles during periods of heavy rain or thaw. The Ardennes contains

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BELGIUM 267

a fair primary but poor secondary road system. Because of the rough terrain the main
centers of the road net assumed great importance during the Battle of the Bulge.
Heavy snow made infantry maneuver difficult and seriously limited tank movement.

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268 BELGIUM

GERMAN “KING TIGER” OR “TIGER ROYAL” heavy tank passing a line of cap-
tured U. S. soldiers being marched to the rear (top). U. S. prisoners of the enemy
taken during the early fighting in the Battle of the Bulge (bottom). Two U. S. reg-
iments near Saint-Vith were surrounded and most of the men were taken prisoner
before U. S. reinforcements could arrive on the scene. The enemy attacks on
Elsenborn Ridge were stopped by these U. S. reinforcements on 17 December, but
this help came too late to save from capture the men shown above and those of an
artillery battery who were caught by an enemy armored column south of Malmédy.

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BELGIUM 269

AN INFANTRYMAN PAUSING IN HIS ADVANCE through the forest. During the

first ten days of the battle confusion reigned as hastily shifted troops arrived to
reinforce the efforts of the isolated units attempting to halt the enemy attack.

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270 BELGIUM

A BATTERY OF 155-MM. HOWITZERS Ml being emplaced (top). Members of an

airborne division moving up through the forest (bottom). On 18 December German
patrols passed through a gap between Malmédy and Saint-Vith and continued as far
west as Werbomont. Other enemy troops tried to push north through Stavelot but
were stopped by a blown bridge over the Ambleve River and by an improvised task
force consisting of U. S. infantrymen, engineers, and tank destroyers. Engineer
demolitions and effective use for the first time of the new proximity fuze by
artillery strengthened the north shoulder of the growing salient. During the first
week of the Battle of the Bulge most planes were grounded because of extremely
poor flying weather.

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BELGIUM 271

BATTLE-WEARY TROOPS being relieved of front-line duty as reinforcements

arrive to take over (top). Infantrymen batter down the door of a house where German
snipers are holding out in the town of Stavelot (bottom). On 19 December the north
and south flanks continued to hold, and road centers of Saint-Vith and Bastogne were
still occupied by U. S. troops though almost surrounded by the enemy. The enemy
captured Stoumont but the U. S. forces strengthened the line between Malmédy and
Stavelot and with additional reinforcements began to attack the enemy east of
Stoumont. To the south the enemy took up blocking positions south of the Sauer
River with some troops as far west as the Arlon–Bastogne highway.

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272 GERMANY

CREW OF A MULTIPLE GUN MOTOR CARRIAGE M16 waiting to fire on an

enemy plane as vapor trails fill the sky. On 20 December control of the First and
Ninth U. S. Armies passed to the 21 Army Group, while the Third U. S. Army and
a corps of the First Army remained under 12th Army Group control. On 23
December the weather cleared sufficiently for planes of the Eighth and Ninth U. S.
Air Forces and the British Bomber Command to begin a large-scale aerial assault
on German positions and installations. The German planes which were sent up in
greater strength than at any other time since the invasion were no match for the
Allies. On Christmas Day the First U. S. Army launched an attack and made con-
tact with the British forces in the northern section of the front. For the first time
since 16 December a continuous Allied front was established.

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BELGIUM 273

PART OF AN ARMORED DIVISION of the Third Army moving into the Ardennes.
At the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge Third Army was regrouping for an
attack on the West Wall in the Saar area. On 18 December an armored division was
turned north toward the Ardennes sector and was followed by an infantry division
the next day. The 6th Army Group was turned north to take over the area held by
Third Army, which during a period of six days broke off its general attack in the
Saar region, turned left, moved more than a 100 miles over unknown winter roads,
and mounted an attack with six divisions.

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274 BELGIUM

C–47’s CARRYING SUPPLIES to surrounded U. S. troops in Bastogne (top).

Infantrymen in Bastogne (bottom). While Third Army was advancing to relieve the
armored and airborne troops in Bastogne, the battle for the city was being waged.
The enemy surrounding the city numbered 45,000 while within Bastogne there
were about 18,000 U. S. troops. The commander of the troops in the city refused to
surrender to the Germans and continued to hold out against all attacks. The defend-
ers, cut off from their sources, were supplied by airdrops during this period. On 24
December over 100 tons of supplies were dropped.

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BELGIUM 275

INFANTRYMEN FIRE AT GERMAN TROOPS in the advance to relieve the

surrounded paratroopers in Bastogne. In foreground a platoon leader indicates the
target to a rifleman by actually firing on the target. In Bastogne the defenders were
badly in need of relief, they were attacked nightly by German aircraft, supplies were
critically low in spite of the airdrops, and the wounded could not be given proper
attention because of the shortage of medical supplies. After an advance which had
been slow, U. S. relief troops entered Bastogne at 1645 on 26 December 1944.

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276 BELGIUM

INFANTRYMEN ADVANCE ON BASTOGNE (top). Prisoners taken during the

advance on Bastogne being evacuated (bottom). With the arrival of U.S. relief
troops were forty truckoads of supplies which were delivered during the night of
26 December. 625 wounded men were evacuated from the area and the battle con-
tinued since the enemy had shifted a large portion of his attacking troops in this
area. On the night of 26 December when the German advance was halted the Third
Army, consisting of eight divisions and parts of two other battered divisions, faced
elements of eleven German divisions between the Meuse and the Moselle.

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BELGIUM 277

105-MM. HOWITZER MOTOR CARRIAGE M7 of an armored unit on the alert

near Bastogne. By 27 December more than thirty-five corps artillery battalions
were firing approximately 19,000 rounds of ammunition daily in support of the
Third Army. By the end of the year that army was supported by over 1,000 guns of
105-mm. caliber or larger. Christmas night the Third Army’s artillery began using
the new proximity fuze, which proved particularly effective in interdicting road
junctions and harassing enemy positions.

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278 BELGIUM

ENGINEERS UNLOADING BARBED WIRE which was used in defensive meas-

ures against counterattacks.

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BELGIUM 279

ENGINEER PLANTING AN ANTITANK MINE on the shoulder of a road as a

defensive measure during the fighting in the Ardennes.

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280 BELGIUM

BASTOGNE AND THE SURROUNDING AREA. Although the corridor which

had been opened to Bastogne remained in U. S. hands it was far from secure as it
was less than 300 yards wide in some places. The Germans were passing to the
defensive in other sectors and concentrating on their attacks in the Bastogne area.

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BELGIUM 281

BASTOGNE CREEK RAILROAD

The mission of the Third Army was to widen the corridor, push attacks on Saint-
Vith, and at the same time reinforce its attacking units. During this period of the
fighting in Europe adverse weather conditions added greatly to the problems, and
the snow-and sleet-covered roads hampered the movement of troops.

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282 BELGIUM

SOLDIER TAKES TIME OUT TO WASH HIS FEET and put on dry socks. The
cold weather combined with the snow and dampness caused many cases of trench
foot during this period. It was difficult when wearing the regular leather shoes to
keep one’s feet dry and warm, but frequent washing and changing of socks helped.

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LUXEMBOURG 283

AN ENLISTED MAN PUTS ON A NEW PAIR OF SHOEPACS. The shoepac,

which was supplied to as many of the troops as possible at this time, helped to
overcome the heavy incidence of trench foot among the U. S. troops fighting in
cold and extremely wet climates. This shoe was rubber-bottomed with a leather top
and was worn with a heavy ski sock and felt innersole.

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284 BELGIUM

INFANTRYMEN WEARING SNOW CAPES over their normal clothing. Snow

caught the U. S. troops without adequate camouflage, and strenuous efforts were
made to improvise white suits out of mattress covers and linen collected from the
civilians.

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LUXEMBOURG 285

CAMOUFLAGED LIGHT ARMORED GAR M8 and one that has not been paint-
ed white, showing the effectiveness of snow camouflaging (top). A crew member
of a 90-mm. gun motor carriage M36 throwing paint on the bogie wheels after
painting the vehicle (bottom). Tanks, vehicles, and guns were camouflaged with
white paint.

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286 LUXEMBOURG

KNOCKED-OUT U. S. MEDIUM TANKS. During the last few days of December

1944 the main effort in Third Army zone was concentrated in the vicinity of
Bastogne, while the situation in the rest of the army area remained static. Armored
and infantry attacks achieved small gains during which many German counterat-
tacks were made. Echternach was re-entered on 29 December and all enemy forces
south of the Sauer River were cleared. The armored divisions continued to advance.
One, in repulsing several counterattacks, suffered heavy casualties. On 3 January
1945 the last German attack was made on Bastogne. It was unsuccessful.

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FRANCE 287

MEN OF AN INFANTRY DIVISION climbing into box cars to move from the
Brittany Peninsula to the U. S. Third Army zone. On 9 January 1945 a new attack
was started after fresh troops had been brought into the battle area. The Germans
offered fierce resistance in order to keep open their escape route to the east. On 16
January elements of an armored division of Third Army contacted those from First
Army, closing the German salient just one month after the enemy had launched his
counteroffensive in the Ardennes.

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288 BELGIUM

INFANTRYMEN BIVOUACKING IN THE WOODS (top) ; f ield mess (bottom).

Living conditions during the best of times were not too pleasant for the combat
soldier, but during the winter the hardships were greatly increased.

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LUXEMBOURG 289

U. S. LIGHT TANKS which were captured by the enemy during the Battle of the
Bulge. Some of the more serious U. S. losses during this period were 1,284
machine guns, 542 mortars, 1,344 jeeps, and 237 tanks. Not all of these losses were
the result of units being overrun—there was some evidence of unnecessary aban-
donment of equipment, particularly among inexperienced troops.

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290 BELGIUM

MEMBERS OF AN ARMORED UNIT STAND GUARD beside their dug-in

medium tank near Manhay, Belgium. From 27 December 1944 to 2 January 1945 the
First U. S. Army was reorganizing and preparing to attack the Hotton–Houffalize
axis. Heavy fighting continued all along the First Army front and by 30 December
the important traffic centers of Marche, Hotton, and Manhay were secured.

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BELGIUM 291

AIRBORNE INFANTRYMEN on the alert man their .30-caliber machine gun (top).
A member of a cavalry reconnaissance squadron checks his .30-caliber machine
gun (bottom).

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292 BELGIUM

AIRBORNE TROOPS LOADING A SHELL into a 75-mm. pack howitzer M8.

Between 16 December and 27 December First army artillery units fired more
ammunition than at any other time during the war except during the Normandy
Campaign. An average of 800 weapons fired over 750,000 shells.

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GERMANY AND BELGIUM 293

LOADING A 105-MM. SHELL into the howitzer of a Priest (top); snow on the
camouflage net over a 155-mm. howitzer Ml helps conceal its position (bottom).

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294 BELGIUM

AN ARTILLERY PLANE with newly attached skis taking off (top) ; observation
planes grounded during the bad weather (bottom).

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GERMANY 295

MEN STRINGING BARBED WIRE DURING A BLIZZARD (top); tank crews

keeping warm as they eat their rations (bottom).

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296 BELGIUM

MANHAY, BELGIUM. On 3 January 1945 an attack was launched west of Man-

hay in the First Army zone. Visibility was reduced to 200 yards and the temperature
was near zero. The few roads were coated with ice and the snow off the roads was
waist deep making it extremely difficult to maneuver. During the first day advances
of almost 4,000 yards were made before a heavy snowfall halted the assault. On 5

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BELGIUM 297

January the attack was resumed and the La Roche–Vielsalm road was cut. La
Roche was captured by the British on 10 January. The British troops were then
withdrawn to regroup for the Rhineland Campaign. The Germans began to with-
draw from the tip of the salient after becoming convinced that they had lost in their
attempt to halt the Allies.

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298 BELGIUM

ELEMENTS OF THE FIRST AND THIRD ARMIES made contact at Houffalize on

16 January. While the U. S. units were still understrength, replacements to the the-
ater had increased. Despite heavy fighting and poor living conditions, morale was
high.

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BELGIUM 299

155-MM. GUN M1A1, with its barrel camouflaged by white cloth, firing in the
Ardennes. The junction of First and Third Armies at Houffalize marked the
achievement of tactical victory in the Ardennes. On 17 January the First Army
reverted to 12th Army Group, but the Ninth U. S. Army remained under 21 Army
Group. With the enemy withdrawing from the Ardennes the Allies resumed their
advance toward the Rhine.

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300 BELGIUM

TWO GERMAN PRISONERS BEING BROUGHT IN (top). Papers of a U. S.

vehicle driver being checked by a guard at a road intersection (bottom). During
the fighting in the Ardennes some German paratroopers were dropped behind the
U. S. lines. Others dressed in U. S. uniforms and driving U. S. vehicles were operat-
ing behind the American lines.

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GERMANY 301

“KING TIGER” OR “ROYAL TIGER” (Pz. Kpfw. VI (B) “Tiger” with 8.8-cm. Kw.
K. 43) (top). This tank, weighing 75 tons and designed for defensive warfare or for
penetrating strong lines of defense, made its appearance in combat in 1944. It had
heavy frontal armor and an 88-mm. gun which could traverse 360 degrees.
Germany heavy tank, the Panther (Pz. Kpfw. with 7.5-cm. Kw. K. 42-L/70) (bot-
tom). This tank, introduced in 1942, weighed 47 tons and had sloping frontal armor
and a 75-mm. high-velocity gun.

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302 FRANCE

BARBED WIRE BEING STRUNG as a defensive measure in the event of another

enemy counterattack. In mid-January the enemy was still able to maintain a cohe-
sive line, but the critical situation on the Russian front made necessary the shifting
of troops to the eastern front while withdrawing to the security of the West Wall all
committed troops facing the western Allies.

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FRANCE 303

A SIGNAL CORPS LINEMAN repairing damaged telephone lines.

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304 FRANCE

A TRUCK-MOUNTED CRANE swinging the barrel of an 8-inch gun from its

transport wagon (top), and placing it on its carriage (bottom). The gun and cradle
were transported on one vehicle and the carriage on another.

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FRANCE 305

A CAMOUFLAGED 8-INCH GUN M1 located in the southern portion of the Third

Army zone. This gun was capable of firing a 240-pound projectile a distance of 20
miles. The troops left in this area were placed on the defensive during the fighting
in the Ardennes sector. Heavy artillery in the area fired on enemy installations in
the triangle of the Moselle and Saar Rivers and West Wall fortifications.

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306 BELGIUM

A MEMBER OF A GLIDER REGIMENT, armed with a rifle and a rocket launch-

er, returning from a three-hour tour of guard duty.

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BELGIUM 307

A TANKER SEWS HIS CLOTHING on an old sewing machine in front of his

M4A3 medium tank.

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308 BELGIUM

SUPPLIES MOVING THROUGH BASTOGNE, 22 January 1945, on their way to the

front-line troops. By the first of the year materiel losses in the Battle of the Bulge
had been replaced and the combat units were again prepared to move forward.

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LUXEMBOURG 309

MEDICAL AID MEN dragging a boatload of medical supplies down a snow and
ice covered road to the banks of a stream they are to cross. From 17 to 24 January
the Third Army continued to attack through Houffalize and reached the northern tip
of Luxembourg on 24 January. In an advance to the east bridgeheads north of
Clervaux on the Clerf River were secured on 23 January. During this period most
of the area between the Sauer and the Our Rivers was cleared of enemy resistance.
In a hurried effort to withdraw as many vehicles as possible the enemy lost over
1,700 vehicles to planes of the U. S. XIX Tactical Air Command.

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310 BELGIUM

A MEMBER OF AN 81-MM. MORTAR CREW listening to firing orders from a

battalion command post.

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BELGIUM 311

INFANTRYMEN ADVANCING UNDER ENEMY SHELL FIRE. On 15 January

1945, on the left of the First Army zone, an attack was begun from the Butgenbach–
Malmédy positions. By 19 January First Army had secured the defiles southwest of
Butgenbach. The attack launched toward Saint-Vith continued to gain ground, and
on 23 January Saint-Vith was recaptured.

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312 BELGIUM

FIRST ARMY TROOPS, wearing snow camouflage capes, advance.

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BELGIUM 313

MEN OF AN AIRBORNE UNIT preparing to board trucks which will take them to
a rest area after being relieved at the front. On 24 January the First and Third
Armies’ boundary was shifted north in the general line Saint-Vith–Losheim–Ahr
River and attacks were to be renewed on the Saint-Vith–Bonn axis. First Army was
to breach the West Wall and secure the high ground in the vicinity of Blankenheim,
while Third Army was to attack with its left wing to cover the First Army.

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314 GERMANY

AN M5 LIGHT TANK guarding a road in the U. S. Ninth Army area, 22 January.

With the collapse of the German salient in the Ardennes, preparations were made
for the offensive to the Rhine by 21 Army Group. The Germans held the triangle
south of Roermond between the Meuse and Roer Rivers. This was a serious threat
to the left flank of the Ninth Army and had to be eliminated before the army could
advance across the Roer to the Rhine plain. The task of eliminating this salient was
assigned to the British Second Army and by 26 January was completed.

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FRANCE 315

SEVENTH ARMY TROOPS entering a fortress of the Maginot Line, near Bitche,
France, which had been taken in the December fighting. Reduction of the strongly
defended forts of the Maginot Line was halted when the Arsennes fighting began.
The new Seventh Army front included the three following areas: the Saare Valley
in Lorraine; the low Vosges mountains; and the northern Alsace plain between the
mountains and the Rhine.

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316 FRANCE

MEMBERS OF A SEVENTH ARMY ARTILLERY UNIT unloading powder

charges for their 240-mm. howitzer (top); 3-inch gun motor carriage firing on
enemy positions at night (bottom). On 20 December 1944 the 6th Army Group
abandoned its offensive and relieved the Third Army in the region westward to
Saarlautern to defend against any enemy penetration in Alsace–Lorraine. The
offensive was stopped even though many pillboxes in the West Wall had been taken,
and during the last ten days of December the Seventh Army regrouped its forces
and deployed its troops.

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FRANCE 317

CONVOY MOVING UP in the Seventh Army area during the fighting in Alsace
(top); vehicles moving over snow-covered roads through the Vosges mountains
(bottom).

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318 FRANCE

BITCHE, FRANCE. The Seventh Army prepared an alternate main line of resist-
ance along the old Maginot Line (Sarreguemines–Bitche–Lembach–Hatten–
Sessenheim) and a final defensive position along the eastern slope of the Vosges.
On 1 January 1945 the Germans attacked in the area between Sarre and Rohrbach
and drove ten miles into the U. S. lines, where the appearance of powerful armored

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FRANCE 319

reserves of the U. S. forces and Allied counterattacks caused the enemy to curtail
its operation. Another New Year’s Day attack by the Germans in the Bitche area was
a more serious threat. After stubborn fighting on the part of the Allied troops the
attack spent itself on 7 January. In the Bitche salient the fighting continued until
20 January before becoming stabilized.

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320 FRANCE

TANKS OF AN ARMORED UNIT moving along a slippery road during a heavy

snowstorm. In other 6th Army Group areas there was action along the front. As U.
S. troops withdrew to the Maginot Line so that French troops could take over this
portion of the front, the Germans followed closely. French troops in the Strasbourg
area contained an enemy attack from the Colmar pocket. There was heavy activity
in the U. S. zone near Hatten where the enemy, after suffering heavy losses, failed
to break through the U. S. troops.

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FRANCE 321

CAMOUFLAGED TANKS and infantrymen, wearing snow camouflage capes, mov-

ing over a snow-covered field. Toward the end of January a heavy snowfall slowed
operations and on 25 January the enemy struck his final blow near Haguenau,
France. On 26 January the Germans were driven back across the Moder River.

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322 FRANCE

MEMBERS OF A CANNON COMPANY near Haguenau keep warm as best

they can.

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 RHINELAND CAMPAIGN
26 January 1945–21 March 1945

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324 RHINELAND

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 SECTION VI

Rhineland Campaign
26 January–21 March 1945
At the successful conclusion of the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign the
Allies again turned their attention to the Rhineland. Between 26
January and 21 March a major objective was achieved: the German
troops which tried to halt the advance were cut off and destroyed, thus
eliminating future enemy action west of the Rhine.
When the Rhineland Campaign ended the Allied Expeditionary
Force numbered over 4,000,000 men organized into a well-balanced
military machine, with combat elements ready to strike the final blow
against the disintegrating enemy forces. On 21 March 1945 the First
U. S. Army held a bridgehead across the Rhine about twenty miles wide
and eight miles deep and had six divisions on the eastern bank of the
river, while the remaining Allied troops were prepared to cross in their
respective zones.

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326 BELGIUM

DEEP SNOW SLOWED MILITARY TRAFFIC. With the completion of the

Ardennes–Alsace Campaign the Allies again began their advance to the Rhine after
having been delayed for six weeks.

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GERMANY AND FRANCE 327

RIFLEMEN moving through snow-covered, wooded terrain (top). A 105-mm.

howitzer M3 firing in support of the infantry advance (bottom). On 24 January the
First U. S. Army was to begin an attack to breach the West Wall and secure the high
ground in the vicinity of Blankenheim, while part of the Third Army was to attack
with its left wing to cover the First Army. The rest of the Third Army front was to
begin an aggressive defense.

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328 BELGIUM AND GERMANY

ADVANCING THROUGH THE SNOW, men wearing camouflage suits blend in

with the snow-covered ground, while those without white suits stand out plainly (top).
Infantrymen waiting in their snow-covered foxhole for an artillery barrage which will
start an offensive (bottom). On 7 February 1945 the attack was halted with both
the First and Third Armies deep in the enemy’s fortified zone.

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BELGIUM 329

FRONT OF AN M24 LIGHT TANK showing its 75-mm. gun, newer type track,
and torsion bar suspension. When the offensive halted attention was given to attack-
ing the Roer dams. The enemy took advantage of the wooded country, deep valleys,
many streams, poor roads, and the fortifications of the West Wall in an effort to halt
the advance. Bitter fighting developed but by 2 February the U. S. forces had reached
a point within two miles of Schleiden. On 8 February the Canadian First Army struck
the German forces west of the Rhine, the first of a series of attacks that were to
destroy the enemy.

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330 FRANCE

SAAREBOURG SAARE RIVER

SAAREBOURG AND THE SARRE RIVER AREA. This picture is typical of the
rolling, wooded country, broken by river and deep valleys, through which Allied
troops advanced during the fighting along the German frontier. The area was im-

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 FRANCE 331

NIEDERLEUKEN BEURIG

portant during the Lorraine campaign since the enemy forces might join the German
troops striking northwest from the Colmar pocket, or at least threaten the rear of the
U. S. Seventh Army.

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332 FRANCE

AN M4 MEDIUM TANK-DOZER cleaning a street in Colmar (top). German pill-

boxes along a road leading to the Colmar plain (bottom).

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GERMANY 333

THE TOWN OF BREISACH, Germany, during a heavy artillery shelling.

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334 GERMANY

VAUBAN CANAL WIDENSOHLEN CANAL

NEUF BRISACH, FRANCE. On 20 January 1945 U. S. and French troops of the

6th Army Group began an offensive converging in the direction of Breisach, Ger-
many, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. This operation was aimed at the total reduc-

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GERMANY 335

RHONE-RHINE CANAL

tion of the Colmar pocket west of the Rhine. On 1 February the U. S. forces had
advanced to within three miles of Neuf Brisach while on the same day the French troops
closed up to the Rhine. By 9 February the Colmar pocket had been eliminated.

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336 GERMANY

CITADEL

THE ROER RIVER AT JUELICH, GERMANY. The U. S. Ninth Army’s assault

northeast from Juelich was to be the first of a series of U. S. drives to the Rhine.
This attack was to begin on 10 February 1945. On 9 February the Germans blew open
the discharge valves of the dams in the Schmidt area and although the area was

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GERMANY 337

ROER RIVER

cleared of enemy troops by the evening of 10 February, it was too late to stop the
flooding of the area. The Roer River attained a width of 400–1,200 yards, a high
water condition which was to last for two weeks, and prevented the scheduled U. S.
attack.

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338 FRANCE

LOADING .50-CALIBER AMMUNITION into the wing of a P–47 Thunderbolt

fighter plane. On 22 February one of the greatest aerial operations of the war was
carried out by nearly 9,000 aircraft taking off from bases in England, France, the
Netherlands, Belgium, and Italy. The targets, the German transportation facilities,
covered an area of over a quarter of a million square miles.

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GERMANY 339

DESTROYED RAILYARD AT RHEINE, Germany, on the main line leading from

Berlin and Hannover into the Netherlands. One of the most important targets of this
attack was the German railway system. The enemy’s attempts at defense were com-
pletely ineffective as the bombs hit control points, railroad yards, roundhouses, and
bridges. The attack so seriously crippled traffic that the railroad system did not
recover during the war.

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340 GERMANY

ROER RIVER TREADWAY PONTON BRIDGES. Early on the morning of 23

February the Ninth Army jumped off after a heavy artillery preparation. Covering the
right flank was a corps of the First Army. Because the enemy was surprised by this
attack only moderate opposition was encountered and by the end of the first day
bridgeheads two to four miles deep were held, infantry troops were east of the Roer
River, and seven bridges were being completed under a heavy screen of smoke.

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GERMANY 341

A PORTION OF MUENCHEN-GLADBACH. After crossing the Roer the U. S.

units advanced to within seven miles of the Rhine and closed in an Muenchen-Glad-
bach by 28 February. On 1 March one infantry regiment cleared the city which had a
population of 170,000 and was the largest German city captured up to that time.
Located twelve miles from the Rhine, it was one of the approaches to the Ruhr. On 3
March contact was made with the British and by 5 March the U. S. Ninth Army
had closed up along the Rhine on its entire front.

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342 GERMANY

MEDIUM TANK M26 WITH A 90-MM. GUN equipped with a muzzle brake,
introduced in combat early in 1945 (top). Both the light tank M24 and the medium
tank M26 used a torsion bar type suspension which replaced the volute spring suspen-
sion of earlier models. Troops of the U. S. First Army approaching the Rhine (bot-
tom). In the First Army area an attack was launched on 23 February simultaneously
with that of the Ninth Army in the north. By 5 March First Army troops had secured
all their initial objectives west of the Rhine.

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FRANCE AND GERMANY 343

A GERMAN ANTIAIRCRAFT GUN on medium tank chassis (Pz. Kpfw. IV with

2-cm. Flakvierling 38) (top). German 380-mm. rocket projector on Tiger E chassis
(Sturmmorser) (bottom). The German insistence on holding west of the Rhine cost
two enemy armies large quantities of material and heavy losses in manpower.

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344 GERMANY

155-MM. MOTOR GUN CARRIAGE M12 firing on enemy installations (top).

Infantrymen searching for snipers in Pruem, Germany (bottom). In the Third
Army area probing attacks toward the West Wall were resumed on 7 February 1945.
Self-propelled 155-mm. guns proved particularly effective in knocking out pillboxes,
and by 12 February Pruem was cleared.

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GERMANY AND BELGIUM 345

C–47’s DROPPING SUPPLIES TO INFANTRY TROOPS (top). 2?-ton truck

bogged down in the mud (bottom). Weather and terrain placed a heavy burden on
engineer troops maintaining the roads. As the ground began to thaw one of the
main supply lines became impassable for a time. Over 190 plane loads of rations,
gasoline, and ammunition were dropped to one division to maintain its attack.

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346 LUXEMBOURG

INFANTRYMEN MOVING PRISONERS to the rear across a river near Echter-

nach (top). Assault troops crossing the Our River (bottom). Bridgeheads were
secured over the Our and Vianden was cleared by 20 February. Between Vianden
and Echternach troops pushed into the West Wall.

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GERMANY 347

FRIED EGGS BEING SERVED FOR BREAKFAST, a special treat for the men
stationed near the West Wall (top). Troops moving through dragon’s teeth of the
West Wall fortifications (bottom). By 23 February two corps of the Third Army had
fought their way through the West Wall to the Pruem River.

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348 GERMANY

CAVALRY RECONNAISSANCE TROOPS passing a German 75-mm. antitank

gun in the outskirts of Saarburg, Germany (top). Firing a .30-caliber machine gun
M1917A1 (bottom). On 21 February Saarburg was cleared by one task force of the
Third Army, while a part of an armored division drove north and cleared the tip
of the Saar–Moselle triangle the next day.

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BELGIUM 349

A SIGNAL CORPS MOTION PICTURE CAMERAMAN wading through the

mud of the February thaws while photographing the activities of a military unit. By
the end of February the Third Army was advancing toward Trier and Bitburg. By 5
March 1945 Trier was captured and preparations were being made for the final
drive to the Rhine.

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350 GERMANY

TROOPS OF THIRD ARMY waiting for the order which would start a drive to
the Rhine. The two armored vehicles are German armored personnel carriers (top).
Tanks and infantry entering Andernach (bottom). The Rhine city of Andernach
was captured on 9 March and contact was made with U. S. First Army units the
next day.

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GERMANY 351

A MEDIUM TANK of an armored division of the U. S. First Army knocked out by

enemy artillery fire. During the first week of March the First Army advanced toward
the Rhine with parts of its forces while others launched a strong attack from Euskirchen
to converge on the Third Army area in the vicinity of Ahrweiler.

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352 GERMANY

HANDIE-TALKIE. An infantryman, armed with a carbine equipped with a grenade

launcher M8, using a handie-talkie radio SCR 536.

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GERMANY 353

AN ARTILLERYMAN DIRECTS FIRE, using an azimuth instrument M1 for

spotting and observing.

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354 GERMANY

THE CITY OF COLOGNE on the banks of the Rhine. U. S. First Army forces
took Cologne on 7 March. The enemy had withdrawn most of the veteran troops
who had defended the city and left its Volkssturm troops to be battered by the
advancing U. S. soldiers. By 9 March the First Army zone was cleared of enemy
troops west of the Rhine.

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GERMANY 355

FIRST ARMY MEN AND EQUIPMENT crossing the Ludendorf railroad bridge
which became known as the Remagen Bridge. This was the only bridge across the
Rhine which was left intact. The attention of the First Army was focused at Remagen
during the critical days of securing a bridgehead over the Rhine. The capture of this
bridge was an unexpected windfall, because the retreating enemy troops had placed
charges and were to blow the bridge at 1600 on 7 March. The first U. S. troops reached
the bridge at 1550 and as the first charges began to explode army engineers cut the
wires to the others. Thus the bridge, while damaged, was still intact and enabled
the U. S. forces to cross the river.

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356 GERMANY

THE LUDENDORF BRIDGE four hours before it collapsed (top). The bridge after
it fell into the Rhine (bottom). After capturing the bridge troops were rushed across
in pursuit of the retreating Germans while the engineers set to work to repair the
damage. Enemy planes made repeated attacks on the bridge and it was shelled by
long-range artillery. At 1430 on 17 March the bridge buckled and fell into the river
only a few hours before the repairs would have been completed.

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GERMANY 357

PONTON BOATS AND FLOATS being moved to the Rhine in the Remagen
area (top). Treadway bridge across the Rhine near Remagen (bottom). During the
period 11–16 March the bridgehead was expanded north and south and all attacks
gained ground despite the arrival of enemy reinforcements. Treadway and heavy
pontoon bridges were built across the river. As the Rhineland Campaign came to an
end, six divisions were east of the Rhine and six more were ready to cross in the
First Army zone.

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358 GERMANY

HONNEF AS BERG HILL 441

ROLLING, WOODED AREA EAST OF THE RHINE, typical of that encountered

by the Allied troops in their advance into Germany. A small portion of Honnef,

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GERMANY 359

BRODERKONS BERG

between Bonn and Remagen, may be seen in the extreme upper left portion of
picture.

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360 GERMANY

MEDICAL AID MAN dressing the wounds of an infantryman.

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GERMANY 361

WOUNDED SOLDIERS being evacuated by air to hospitals in Paris and London.

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362 GERMANY

SAAREBOURG BEURIG

AN ENLISTED MAN looking across the Saar River valley between Serrig and
Saarburg. The village of Serrig is in the foreground. In this area the forward edge
of the West Wall, over two miles deep, followed the eastern bank of the Saar River.
An antitank ditch skirting the southwestern side of the village of Serrig and a com-
munication trench in the lower right hand corner are visible. U. S. vehicles may
also be seen dispersed through the area.

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GERMANY 363

SPRING CLEAN-UP. An artilleryman takes time out for a bath during a warm
spring afternoon while other members of the 105-mm. howitzer crew remain near
their piece.

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364 GERMANY

A MEDIUM TANK being ferried across the Moselle River (top). Artillery shelling
Bingen (bottom). From 11 to 13 March the Third Army cleaned out the Germans who
remained north of the Moselle. The Third Army next regrouped its forces and started
an attack toward Bingen and Bad Kreuznach to prevent the enemy from retreating
across the Rhine. The attack was then to continue southeast to secure a crossing site
somewhere between Mainz and Worms. At the same time a drive to Kaiserslautern
was to begin and Coblenz was to be reduced.

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GERMANY 365

ENEMY EQUIPMENT destroyed during the U. S. advance (top). Infantrymen

moving on the double past a fire started by enemy shelling (bottom).

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366 GERMANY

A THREE-MAN ARTILLERY CREW preparing to fire a multipurpose 88-mm.

gun captured in Germany.

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FRANCE AND GERMANY 367

LIGHT TANK M24 firing (top); medium tank M26 crossing a muddy field (bottom).

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368 GERMANY

SOLDIERS WATCHING VAPOR TRAILS left by bombers on their way to bomb

Germany.

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FRANCE 369

INFANTRYMEN USING FOOTBRIDGES to cross a river while engineers com-

plete a Bailey bridge. On 15 March three corps of the Seventh Army began attacks,
one in the heart of the important Saar industrial area around Saarbruecken, the second
driving toward Zweibruecken and Bitche, and the third from the Moder River.

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370 GERMANY

75-MM. HOWITZER motor carriage M8 firing on enemy positions.

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FRANCE 371

TUBE AND RECOIL MECHANISM OF AN 8-INCH GUN Ml on the way to the

front.

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372 FRANCE

SEVENTH ARMY TROOPS ENTERING BITCHE (top). Infantrymen marching

cross-country on their way to Germany (bottom).

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GERMANY 373

DRAGON’S TEETH, part of the West Wall defenses (top). Infantrymen climbing
over obstacles as they advance through the West Wall into Germany (bottom). The
advance of the Seventh Army through the dense mine fields and fortification of the
West Wall was necessarily slow.

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374 GERMANY

155-MM. MOTOR GUN CARRIAGE M12 FIRING.

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FRANCE AND GERMANY 375

TWO TYPES OF MINE DETECTORS. At left, AN/PRS–1 type; at right, SCR

625 (top). Mine detectors were developed by the Signal Corps primarily for use by
Engineer troops. Signal Corps repairmen splicing wires of an underground cable
which was damaged by artillery fire (bottom).

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376 GERMANY AND FRANCE

INFANTRY PLATOON BEING BRIEFED before making an assault (top). Soldiers

taking a ten-minute break during a march to the front lines (bottom).

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 CENTRAL EUROPE CAMPAIGN

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378 CENTRAL EUROPE

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 SECTION VII

Central Europe Campaign

The Central Europe Campaign began on 22 March 1945 with units
of the First U. S. Army across the Rhine in the Remagen area. On the
night of 22–23 March elements of the Third U. S. Army crossed the
river at Oppenheim. As the First and Third Armies crossed the Rhine
the Fifteenth U. S. Army took over the area west of the river from Bonn
to Neuss. On 26 March the Seventh U. S. Army crossed the Rhine
north and south of Worms and, after meeting stiff resistance on the river
bank, broke through the enemy and quickly expanded the bridgehead.
The Ninth U. S. Army crossed the river south of Wesel while the
British Second Army crossed north of the city. Elements of the First
Allied Airborne Army dropped east of the Rhine and linked up with
the ground troops east of the river. In many respects this was the most
successful airborne operation that had been carried out up to this time.
After the Allies were firmly established east of the Rhine the great
German industrial area of the Ruhr was encircled and the defending
troops captured. The advance through Germany was rapid and met
with little opposition except in scattered areas. The Russians drove into
Germany from the east and enemy troops in trying to escape capture
by the Russians surrendered by the thousands to the western Allies.
As the U. S., British, and Canadian troops in the north reached the
line where it was expected they would meet the Russian forces, they
halted. The Third and Seventh U. S. Armies continued their drives
into Czechoslovakia and Austria where a junction was also made with
the Russians.
On 2 May 1945 the German forces in Italy surrendered. Two days
later elements of the Seventh U. S. Army met those of the Fifth U. S.
Army, coming from Italy, at the Brenner Pass. On 9 May 1945 the
surrender of all the German forces became effective, marking the end
of the war in Europe.

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380 GERMANY

TROOPS LOADING INTO AN LCVP to cross the Rhine (top). Engineers con-
structing a pontoon treadway bridge over the Rhine (bottom). A steel treadway bridge
was completed by 1800 on 23 March 1945, and the following day a heavy pontoon
bridge was completed. By noon on 25 March a second treadway bridge was completed.
The crossing of the Rhine in the Third Army area gained complete tactical surprise
and the enemy offered only scattered resistance. By the evening of 24 March three
divisions held a bridgehead ten miles wide and nine miles deep. These divisions were
closely followed by two more, making a total of five on the east bank of the Rhine.

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GERMANY 381

INFANTRYMEN BOARDING AN LCVP to cross the Rhine (top). An assault

boat raft ferrying a 90-mm. gun motor carriage M36 across the Rhine (bottom).
Troops of the Third U. S. Army f irst crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim on the night
of 22–23 March. Utilizing assault rafts and attacking without artillery or aerial
preparation, six battalions were across the river before daybreak with a loss of only
twenty-eight men killed and wounded. Following the assault boats were landing craft
and DUKW’s. The LCVP’s were manned by naval personnel who arrived at the
river an hour after the assault began.

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382 GERMANY

JEEPS AND TANKS CROSSING THE RHINE at Boppard, Germany. On 24

March 1945 a crossing in the rugged Rhine gorge north of Boppard was made and by
25 March a bridgehead eight miles wide and three miles deep was held. A treadway
bridge was constructed at Boppard.

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GERMANY 383

AN INFANTRYMAN COVERS A GERMAN as he surrenders. In the First Army

area an attack from the Remagen bridgehead was carried out, and preparations were
made to advance to the Kassel area.

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384 GERMANY

ARMORED TROOPS MOVING TO THE FRONT as prisoners are marched along

the autobahn to the rear (top). Infantrymen entering Frankfurt (bottom). The
bridgeheads along the Rhine were expanded and on 26 March Third Army troops
entered Frankfurt. The advance moved northward toward Kassel. The Fifteenth Army
was instructed to take over the west bank of the Rhine from Bonn to Neuss by 1 April,
to assume command of the division which was guarding the Brittany ports, and to be
prepared to occupy, organize, and govern the Rhine provinces as the 12th Army Group
attacks progressed eastward.

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GERMANY 385

FRANKFURT ON THE MAIN RIVER, showing the Frankfurt cathedral. By 28

March Frankfurt had been half cleared of enemy troops and Hanau completely
cleared. Part of a large enemy pocket west of Wiesbaden had been mopped up and
contact was made between the First and Third U. S. Army troops.

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386 GERMANY

CAPTURED FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD BOYS who were members of the “Air

Guard.” On 28 March First Army troops were closing up along the upper Lahn
River. Infantry divisions quickly followed the armored spearheads to mop up enemy
pockets of bypassed troops and to clear the areas which had been taken in the rapid
advances. In six days the shallow Remagen foothold had been expanded to a lodge-
ment area sixty-five miles deep. The advance to Kassel continued.

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GERMANY 387

CROSSING THE RHINE NEAR WORMS, GERMANY. U. S. Seventh Army

troops crossed the Rhine near Worms at 0230 on 26 March. These forces met small
arms and scattered mortar fire while crossing and, after landing on the east bank of
the river, met stiff enemy resistance north of Worms. South of Worms the troops
reached the far shore with little opposition but as they moved eastward the resistance
increased. Two panzer counterattacks were turned back during that morning. By
evening of 26 March the bridgehead had been expanded to an area of fifteen miles
wide and seven miles deep.

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388 GERMANY

A DUPLEX-DRIVE TANK (DD tank), with its flotation device raised, entering
the water (top); flotation device after being lowered (bottom). The canvas flotation
device made the tank vulnerable to mines and objects floating in the water.

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GERMANY 389

GERMAN PRISONERS being marched westward across the Rhine as troops of the
Ninth Army move eastward into Germany (top). Enlisted men at their .50-caliber
Browning machine gun HB M2, alert for enemy aircraft (bottom). The Ninth Army
was to attack south of Wesel with its main bridging area at Rheinberg.

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390 FRANCE

TOW ROPE BEING ATTACHED TO A GLIDER as the First Allied Airborne

Army prepares to take off for landings east of the Rhine in the 21 Army Group area.
The mission of this army was to break up the enemy defenses north of Wesel and
deepen the bridgehead to facilitate the link-up with the ground forces. The airborne
troops took off from bases in England and France and converged near Brussels. The
troops began landing on 24 March 1945 at 1000 and during the next three hours some
14,000 troops were transported to the battle area by over 1,700 aircraft and 1,300
gliders.

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FRANCE 391

PLANES AND GLIDERS loaded and waiting to take off for the landings east of
the Rhine (top). Aerial view of planes and gliders before the take-off (bottom).
Losses were comparatively light for an operation of this size. Under 4 percent of the
gliders were destroyed and fifty-five aircraft were lost.

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392 GERMANY

LIBERATORS OVER THE RHINE shortly before they dropped supplies to the
airborne troops which landed east of the Rhine. Immediately after the glider landings,
a resupply mission was flown in very low by 250 Liberators of the Eighth U. S. Air
Force. It met heavy flak and fourteen planes were shot down, but 85 percent of the
supplies were accurately dropped.

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GERMANY 393

MEMBERS OF FIRST ALLIED AIRBORNE ARMY after landing near Wesel.

On the ground the airborne forces met with varying resistance. Bridges over the Issel
were seized and 3,500 prisoners were taken. This airborne operation was the most
successful carried out to this time. The attack had achieved surprise and the airborne
troops reorganized quickly after landing. Ninth Army troops held a bridgehead nine
miles wide and three miles deep by the end of the day (24 March).

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394 GERMANY

A NINTH ARMY CONVOY on the highway leading to Muenster, Germany.

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GERMANY 395

SIGNALMEN ROLL A REEL ASHORE on the east bank of the Rhine after
laying a submarine cable on the bottom of the river from a DUKW (top). Destroyed
equipment left behind by the retreating enemy (bottom). On 25 March the First
Army broke out of their Remagen bridgehead, the Third Army reached the Main
River, and contact was made between the British Second Army and the Canadian
First Army.

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396 GERMANY

WHITE FLAGS OF SURRENDER hang from buildings in a deserted street of a

German town (top). As infantry troops march through a town, an old woman looks
at a demolished building (bottom). During the advance into Germany many towns
surrendered to the Allied troops and the biddings remained undamaged. However,
in some towns enemy troops offered resistance and fighting and shelling ensued.
In one week five Allied armies were on the east bank of the Rhine and twenty-four
bridges had been constructed to replace those which were knocked out. During this
period the Allied casualties were much lighter than had been expected. The last
German line of defense had been shattered.

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GERMANY 397

TWO KNOCKED-OUT GERMAN SELF-PROPELLED GUNS (Pz. Jaeg. Tiger

with 12.8-cm. PJK 44). This vehicle, called a Jaegdtiger, was the most formidable
self-propelled antitank gun used by the Germans during the war. It consisted of a
12.8-cm. PJK 44 (L/55) (less muzzle brake) mounted on a Tiger B chassis. The gun
could penetrate 6 to 8 inches of armor at 1,000 yards. Weight of the vehicle was
77 tons.

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398 GERMANY

MEDIUM TANKS M26 moving through Wesel on the way to the front.

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GERMANY 399

P–47 FORCED DOWN OVER GERMANY (top). B–24 which crash-landed in

Germany (bottom).

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400 GERMANY

GERMAN V-BOMB found by the U. S. troops as they overran Germany (top).

An enemy jetpropelled fighter plane (bottom).

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GERMANY 401

CIVILIANS WATCHING U. S. TROOPS as they advance through Duesseldorf

(top). A transportation corps train moving over a bridge which was constructed
across the Rhine at Wesel by the engineers (bottom). With all three Allied army
groups established on the east bank of the Rhine plans were made to encircle the
Ruhr. By 1 April 1945 a trap was closed which formed a 4,000-mile square pocket
and included the Ruhr industrial area.

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402 GERMANY

SEVENTH ARMY TROOPS ADVANCING after capturing the town of Mer-

gentheim (top). Engineers operating an assault ferry across the Neckar River in
Heilbronn (bottom). On 28 March the Seventh Army launched its attack out of
the Worms bridgehead. The assault was halted on 4 April when strong resistance was
encountered at Heilbronn. On 31 March the French First Army crossed the Rhine
at Speyer and Germersheim and on 4 April captured Karlsruhe.

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GERMANY 403

4.5-INCH MULTIPLE ROCKET LAUNCHER T34 mounted on a medium tank.

The Germans stubbornly defended the industrial area of the Ruhr even though an
army group was caught in the trap with little hope of escape. On the Allied flanks,
advances were made as the enemy began to disintegrate.

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404 GERMANY

C–47 TRANSPORT, carrying gasoline, lands on an airstrip in Germany (top).

Ten-ton semitrailers in Germany with four 750-gallon skid tanks loaded with gasoline
(bottom). The versatility of these tanks made it possible to use them on a number
of different types of vehicles. During the last months of the war the rapid advances
of all the Allied troops made fuel supply a difficult problem. Fuel was transported by
every available means to assure the troops an adequate supply.

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GERMANY 405

LINEMAN of a Signal Corps construction battalion fastening wire to an insulator

on the top of a telephone pole at Bingen on the Rhine (top). Liberated slave laborers
help themselves to food and supplies in a store in Hannover (bottom). With the
liberation of the slave laborers who had worked in German factories many problems
arose, and Allied Military Government offices were established as quickly as possible
to cope with them.

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406 GERMANY

INFANTRYMEN AND TANKERS take time out for a short rest during their rapid
advance. On 4 April the Ninth Army was to start an attack southward and the First
U. S. Army was to drive to the north. While these two armies were eliminating the
Ruhr pocket, the Fifteenth Army was to hold the line on the Rhine.

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GERMANY 407

MACHINE GUNNERS of a First Army division covering a road intersection (top).

Infantryman passes burning U. S. vehicles that were ambushed by enemy troops
(bottom). During the first fighting in the Ruhr the enemy showed spirit. On 4 April
ten counterattacks were launched in an attempt to break out of the pocket. Heavy
fighting continued in many towns with the civilians fighting alongside German soldiers.
Dug-in self-propelled guns supported the German infantry. The line was drawn
tighter by the Allies and on 10 April Essen, home of the great Krupp armament
works, was cleared by the U. S. assaulting troops. By 13 April the mopping-up stage
had been reached.

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408 GERMANY

PRISONER OF WAR ENCLOSURE. On 14 April the Ruhr pocket was split in two,
and prisoners arrived in such large numbers that Allied facilities were taxed to the
limit. On 16 April the eastern half of the pocket collapsed and two days later the
pocket ceased to exist. There were 325,000 prisoners, including 30 generals, count-
ed as they were taken. This represented twenty-one divisions as well as many non-
divisional units.

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GERMANY 409

INFANTRYMEN PASS A DEAD GERMAN as they cross a stream (top). Third

Army troops climbing a steep hill in the mountainous region (bottom). On 10 April
the Ninth, First, and Third Armies resumed the attack to the east with twenty-two
divisions. Only in the Harz Mountains was any serious organized resistance encount-
ered. The Germans had hurriedly assembled about 10,000 men to form an army
which was initially to break through into the Ruhr pocket. When that failed it was to
break through to the Thuringian pocket. This also failed and the small army which
represented the last of the German manpower was encircled by the U. S. forces.

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410 GERMANY

VEHICLES OF AN ARMORED DIVISION passing through a burning German

town. On 18 April the three armies were along the Elbe River–Mulde River–Chem-
nitz–Plauen–Bayreuth line which was a restraining line established because of the
probability of contact with the Russian troops advancing from the east. In the north
the 21 Army Group was advancing on Bremen and the Elbe between Wittenberge
and Hamburg.

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GERMANY 411

ENGINEERS, building a bridge across the Saale River, pull a tank across on one
of the ponton sections (top). Magdeburg, showing the results of bombing (bottom).

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412 GERMANY

TANK DESTROYERS moving through the destroyed town of Magdeburg. Scenes

such as this were found in many German cities by the advancing Allied forces. Most
of the buildings were reduced to rubble by aerial attacks and artillery shelling, and
many streets had to be cleared before the troops and vehicles could pass.

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GERMANY 413

TRAFFIC MOVING ACROSS THE MAIN RIVER at Wueraburg (top). A

medium tank climbing the bank of a small stream after breaking through the light
wooden bridge (bottom). There was little activity in the 6th Army Group between
4 and 18 April except on the northern portion of the army area where the Third
Army right flank was covered. On 5 April Wuerzburg was cleared after three days of
heavy fighting.

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414 GERMANY

AN ARMORED COMBAT COMMAND moving toward Nuernberg (top). A

German civilian, waving a white flag in surrender, comes toward a half-track which
is about to enter Geisselhardt after shelling buildings in that town (bottom).

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GERMANY 415

INFANTRYMEN MOVING DOWN A STREET in Waldenburg during the

Seventh Army advance. The French First Army cleared Baden-Baden and Pforzheim
and by 15 April Kehl was cleared and preparations for crossing the Rhine at Stras-
bourg were made.

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416 GERMANY

INFANTRYMEN CLIMBING OVER RUBBLE as they clear snipers out of Nuern-

berg. By 18 April part of the Seventh Army was in the battle for Nuernberg. Other
troops of that army were halted for nine days around Heilbronn and along the
Neckar and Jagst Rivers.

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GERMANY 417

ENGINEERS MOVING PONTONS TO THE DANUBE to start bridging oper-

ations (top). Infantrymen crossing the Danube over a footbridge (bottom). The
Third Army advanced down the Danube while the First and Ninth Armies held in
place, having reached the line where the meeting with the Russians was to take place.

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418 GERMANY

U. S. OFFICERS AND ENLISTED MEN MEET RUSSIAN TROOPS in Ger-

many. On 30 April a division of the Ninth U. S. Army made contact with the Rus-
sians at Apollensdorf. Troops of the First U. S. Army had met Russian troops earlier.

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GERMANY 419

MEN OF AN ARMORED DIVISION running through the smoke-filled streets of a

German town (top). Firing on an Austrian town across the German border (bottom).
Most of Czechoslovakia and a large portion of Austria was left for the Russians to
occupy, but the advancing troops of the Third U. S. Army entered both these coun-
tries during the last days of the war.

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420 GERMANY

GERMAN SOLDIERS. The First and Ninth Armies, during the latter part of April
and early May 1945, handled thousands of German soldiers and civilians who were
trying to escape the advancing Russians by crossing the Elbe River into the American
zone.

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GERMANY 421

CAPTURED U-BOATS in a submarine construction and repair yard in Bremen

harbor. Over forty submarines were found by the Allies in this yard.

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422 FRANCE

SUBMARINE PENS AT SAINT-NAZAIRE, on the Brittany peninsula. No attempt

was made to capture these U-boat pens as the Allies advanced through France and
Germany, but they were surrounded and contained until the end of the war.

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AUSTRIA 423

TANKS AND TRUCKS of a Third Army armored division fording a stream during
their advance into Austria. In the foreground is a medium tank M4A3 (76-mm. long-
barrel gun with muzzle brake) with horizontal volute spring suspension and an im-
proved, wider track measuring twenty-three inches.

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424 AUSTRIA

MOVING INTO AUSTRIA.

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GERMANY 425

GERMAN PRISONERS being marched to the prisoner of war enclosure by Third

Army military police. During the period from 22 April to 7 May the Third Army
took more than 200,000 prisoners while suffering less than 2,400 casualties.

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426 AUSTRIA

A GERMAN HORSE-DRAWN CONVOY moves along a winding mountain road

in Austria to surrender. From 1 April 1945 until the end of the war the three armies
of the U. S. 12th Army Group took over 1,800,000 prisoners.

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GERMANY 427

SOLDIERS CROSSING THE DANUBE (Seventh Army). The two armies of 6th
Army Group launched a drive into southern Germany, the area where the remain-
ing German forces supposedly were to make a determined stand.

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428 GERMANY

AN ASSAULT BOAT crossing the Danube. Seventh Army men met no opposition
here. In the Black Forest and the Schwaebische Alps troops of the Seventh Army met
some opposition and there was some fighting as two German armies were trapped and
destroyed.

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GERMANY 429

CAPTURING GUARDS AT DACHAU, ten miles northwest of Munich (top). A

few of the guards of the concentration camp remain standing with their arms raised
while the majority lie on the ground, waiting to be taken prisoner. An enlisted man
gives his cigarettes to inmates at Dachau (bottom). On 29 April troops of the U. S.
Seventh Army captured Dachau and released over 30,000 prisoners of many
nationalities.

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430 AUSTRIA

TROOPS TAKING COVER as members of a German officer candidate school fire

on them. These enemy troops offered the Seventh Army considerable resistance before
they were taken. In this area snow remained on the ground until late spring.

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AUSTRIA 431

SEVENTH AND FIFTH ARMY TROOPS MEET at Nauders, Austria. On 4 May,

Seventh U. S. Army troops captured the town of Brenner in the Brenner Pass, and a
few hours later contact was made with elements of the Fifth U. S. Army which had
fought its way up the Italian peninsula. On the same day Berchtesgaden was entered.

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432 GERMANY

A GERMAN CIVILIAN reading of the surrender of the German forces in a division

newspaper. On 7 May 1945 the Germans signed the surrender terms which were to
become effective at 0001, 9 May 1945; 8 May, however, was designated as V-E Day
(Victory in Europe). In some remote areas fighting continued until 11 May.

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GERMANY 433

MEMBERS OF THE STARS AND STRIPES STAFF grab copies of the extra edi-
tion as they come off the press, proclaiming V-E Day (top). U. S. sailor and soldier
celebrate V-E Day in London (bottom).

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434 FRANCE

MEN MARCHING TO THE DOCKS AT LE HAVRE to board a ship that will take
them home to be discharged under the new point system. Men with the highest num-
bers of points were sent home first for discharge. These numbers were determined by
the total number of months of service, total number of months overseas, number of
awards and decorations, and the number of dependents.

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FRANCE 435

U. S. LIBERATED PRISONERS OF WAR leave a plane at Reims on the first lap

of their journey back to the United States.

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436 ENGLAND

FLOODLIGHTS ILLUMINATE BIG BEN on the Houses of Parliament as the

lights go on again in London on V-E night after being blacked out during the war
years. Early in May 1945 there were approximately 4,500,000 troops under the com-
mand of the supreme commander in Europe. Casualties for the western Allies num-
bered over 800,000. At the end of the war there were nine Allied armies, totaling
ninety-three divisions, on the Continent.

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www.MtMestas.com
 Appendix A
List of Abbreviations
BAR Browning automatic rifle
cm. Centimeter
DD Duplex drive
DUKW 2 1/ 2-ton 6x6 amphibian truck
E-boat Small torpedo boat (German)
Flak Fliegerabwehrkanone (antiaircraft artillery gun)
Jaeg. Jaegdtiger (tank-destroyer)
K. Kanone (gun)
Kar. Karabiner (carbine)
Kw. Kraftwagen (motor vehicle)
Kw. K. Kampfwagenkanone (tank gun)
LBK Landing barge, kitchen
LBV Landing barge, vehicle
LCI Landing craft, infantry
LCR(S) Landing craft, rubber (small)
LCT Landing craft, tank
LCT (R) Landing craft, tank (rocket)
LCVP Landing craft, vehicle-personnel
LST Landing ship, tank
M. G. Maschinengewehr (machine gun)
mm. Millimeter
OCS Officer Candidate School
Pak. Panzer abwehrkanone (antitank gun)
Pz. Panzer
Pz. Kpfw. Panzerkampfwagen (tank)
SCR Signal Corps Radio
SHAEF Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary
Force
Stu. G. Sturmgeschuetz (self-propelled assault gun)
Stu. K. Sturmkanone (self-propelled assault gun)
U-boat Submarine
WAAC Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps
WAC Women’s Army Corps

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 Appendix B
Acknowledgments
Acknowledgment is made to the Keystone Press Agency, Ltd., Lon-
don, England, for the first photograph in this volume. All other
photographs came from the Department of Defense and were taken
from the U. S. Army files, except for those accredited below to the
U. S. Navy, U. S. Air Force, and U. S. Coast Guard. (At the time
these photographs were taken, the Coast Guard was operating as a
part of the Navy.)

U. S. Navy: pp. 24, 77, 94b, 96, 110b, 122

U. S. Air Force: pp. 8, 9, 12, 18, 19, 26, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 38, 39, 48, 49, 76, 78–79,
86–87, 94a, 95, 98, 99, 100–101, 104, 112–13, 116, 118, 126, 129a, 130–31,
140–41, 155, 158–59, 176, 177, 180–81, 188–89, 202, 203, 218–19, 226–27,
236–37, 266–67, 280–81, 296–97, 318–19, 330–31, 334–35, 336–37, 339, 341,
358–59
U. S. Coast Guard: pp. 80, 88a, 92

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 UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II
The following volumes have been published:
The War Department
Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and Preparations
Washington Command Post: The Operations Division
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1941–1942
Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1943–1944
Global Logistics and Strategy: 1940–1943
Global Logistics and Strategy: 1943–1945
The Army and Economic Mobilization
The Army and Industrial Manpower

The Army Ground Forces

The Organization of Ground Combat Troops
The Procurement and Training of Ground Combat Troops

The Army Service Forces

The Organization and Role of the Army Service Forces

The Western Hemisphere

The Framework of Hemisphere Defense
Guarding the United States and Its Outposts

The War in the Pacific

The Fall of the Philippines
Guadalcanal: The First Offensive
Victory in Papua
CARTWHEEL: The Reduction of Rabaul
Seizure of the Gilberts and Marshalls
Campaign in the Marianas
The Approach to the Philippines
Leyte: The Return to the Philippines
Triumph in the Philippines
Okinawa: The Last Battle
Strategy and Command: The First Two Years

The Mediterranean Theater of Operations

Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West
Sicily and the Surrender of Italy
Salerno to Cassino
Cassino to the Alps

The European Theater of Operations

Cross-Channel Attack
Breakout and Pursuit
The Lorraine Campaign
The Siegfried Line Campaign
The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge
The Last Offensive

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 The Supreme Command
Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume I
Logistical Support of the Armies, Volume II

The Middle East Theater

The Persian Corridor and Aid to Russia

The China-Burma-India Theater

Stilwell’s Mission to China
Stilwell’s Command Problems
Time Runs Out in CBI

The Technical Services

The Chemical Warfare Service: Organizing for War
The Chemical Warfare Service: From Laboratory to Field
The Chemical Warfare Service: Chemicals in Combat
The Corps of Engineers: Troops and Equipment
The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Japan
The Corps of Engineers: The War Against Germany
The Corps of Engineers: Military Construction in the United States
The Medical Department: Hospitalization and Evacuation; Zone of Interior
The Medical Department: Medical Service in the Mediterranean and Minor Theaters
The Ordnance Department: Planning Munitions for War
The Ordnance Department: Procurement and Supply
The Ordnance Department: On Beachhead and Battlefront
The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, and Services, Volume I
The Quartermaster Corps: Organization, Supply, and Services, Volume II
The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War Against Japan
The Quartermaster Corps: Operations in the War Against Germany
The Signal Corps: The Emergency
The Signal Corps: The Test
The Signal Corps: The Outcome
The Transportation Corps: Responsibilities, Organization, and Operations
The Transportation Corps: Movements, Training, and Supply
The Transportation Corps: Operations Overseas

Special Studies
Chronology: 1941–1945
Military Relations Between the United States and Canada: 1939-1945
Rearming the French
Three Battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo, and Schmidt
The Women’s Army Corps
Civil Affairs: Soldiers Become Governors
Buying Aircraft: Materiel Procurement for the Army Air Forces
The Employment of Negro Troops
Manhattan: The U.S. Army and the Atomic Bomb

Pictorial Record
The War Against Germany and Italy: Mediterranean and Adjacent Areas
The War Against Germany: Europe and Adjacent Areas
The War Against Japan

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 Index

Aachen, Germany, 217, 218–19 American Red Cross, 25 Artillery — Continued

Aerial bombardment. See Ammunition 105-mm. howitzers, 23, 42,
Bombardment, aerial. .30-caliber, 160 43, 114, 186, 232, 250, 327,
Air attacks .50-caliber, 338 363
Allied, 8, 24, 26, 33 240-mm. howitzer shells, 316 155-mm. guns, 42, 43, 193,
briefing for, 39 German, 263 299
German, 34 mortar shells, 182, 245, 310 155-mm. howitzers, 103, 125,
Air bases. See Airfields. Ammunition dump, 160 270, 293
Aircraft, Allied, 35 Amphibian trucks, DUKW’s, 240-mm. howitzer, 186
bombers, heavy, 8, 13, 19, 26, 68, 257 German, 366
32, 33, 59, 202, 399 Amphibious landings. See mortars. See Mortars.
bombers, light, 104, 116 Landing operations. observation planes, 42, 248,
bombers, medium, 76, 203 Andernach, Germany, 350 294
burning, 26 Antiaircraft guns Artillery barrage, 364
damaged, 399 40-mm., 60 Assault boats, 7, 428. See also
fighters, 9, 48, 49, 59, 105, 90-mm., 61, 102, 243 Landing craft.
338, 399 German, 343, 366 Assault guns, German, 215, 397
gliders, 29, 94, 95, 214, 390, Antitank guns Autobahn, 384
391, 393 3-inch, 102 Avranches, France, 156, 158–59
identification of, 76, 95 57-mm., 151, 217 Azimuth instrument, 353
liaison planes, 42, 248, 294 British, 6, 115
naval, 24 damaged, 154 Bailey bridges, 193, 369
on fire, 105 German, 154, 168, 348, 397 Ball-bearing factory, on fire, 31
transport planes, 94, 214, 345, Ardennes Forest, 269, 270, 284 Bangalore torpedo, 28
404, 435 Argentan, France, 177 Barbed wire, 28, 110, 191, 207,
wrecked, 393 Armored vehicles, 198, 200. See 278, 302
Aircraft, German, 400 also Vehicles. Barrage balloons, 77, 92, 97,
Airfields German, 350 107, 123
construction of, 18, 105 Army Post Office, England, 41 Bastogne, Belgium, 280–81, 308
France, 391 Artif icial harbor, O MAHA “Bazookas,” 53, 185. See also
Germany, 404 Beach, 118 Rocket launchers.
“Alligators.” 22 See also Artillery Beaches
Landing craft. 8-inch guns, 192, 206, 371 British sector, 76
Ambulances, 317 8-inch howitzer, 192 OMAHA, 78–79, 80, 81, 82,
converted jeep, 204 75-mm. howitzer (pack) , 292 84, 106, 118, 119

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444 INDEX

Beaches—Continued British troops, 4 Clothing

UTAH, 86–87, 88, 89, 97 Broderkons Berg, Germany, camouflaged, 151, 265, 284
Belfast, Northern Ireland, 3, 4 358–59 decontamination suits, 11
Beurig, Germany, 330–31 Bulldozers, 129, 161. See also German, 265
Big Ben, V-E night, 436 Tractors. paratroop, 16
Bingen, Germany, 364 pilot, 12
Bitche, France, 372, 318–19 Cameras repair of, 307
Bivouac area, 288 moving picture, 349 shoepacs, 283
Bois du Mont du Roc, France, still picture, 349 winter, 11, 284, 292
126 Camouflage, 103, 125, 314 Colmar, France, 332
Bomb, robot, 35 8-inch gun, 305 Cologne, Germany, 354
Bomb damage, 139, 151, 154, antiaircraft gun, 61 Communications, 40, 166
156, 217, 344. See also armored car, 285 equipment, 56
War damage. German, 91, 117, 124 hand generator GN 45, 85
fortifications, 127 gun motor carriage, 285 repair of, 375, 405
France, 125, 178 helmet, 108 SCR 284, 85
Germany, 339, 340, 354 howitzer, 277 SCR 536, 85, 352
railroad bridge, 98
suits, 151 short wave aerial kite, 27
Bomb strike, Schweinfurt, Ger-
tanks, 150, 204 Canals switchboard BD71, 175
many, 30
Rhône-Rhine, France, 334– telephone lines, repair of, 303
Bombardment. See also Air
35 Construction
attacks.
Vauban, France, 334–35 airfields, 18, 105
aerial, 8, 31, 33, 116, 202
Vire-Taute, France, 112–13 bridges, 369, 381
artillery, 333
Widensohlen, France, 334–35 pipeline, 196
Bombers
heavy, B–17, 8, 13, 19, 32, Carbine M1, 184. See also ponton bridge, 60
33, 59, 202 Small arms. Convoy, motor, 155, 170, 308,
heavy, B–24, 8, 26, 32, 399 Carentan, France, 112–13, 114, 317, 357, 394, 424
light, A–20, 104, 116 115 Crane, truck-mounted, 161
medium, B–26, 76, 203 Cargo planes. See Transport Cub plane, 42
Bombs, 1,000-pound, 21 planes.
Boppard, Germany, 382 Casualties, 83, 84, 108 Dachau, German, 429
Breisach, Germany, 333 evacuation of, 138, 204, 253 Danube River, 417
Bremen, Germany, 33 German, 409 Debarkation of troops, North-
Bremen harbor, Germany, 421 Causeway, floating, 119 ern Ireland, 3
Brest, France, 188–89, 207 damaged, 120 Depot
Bridges Celebration, V-E Day, 433 Engineer, 44
Bailey, 193, 369 Champs Elysées, 191 Ordnance, 20, 22, 43
damaged, 98, 355, 356, 402 Cherbourg, France, 128, 129, Distribution point, gasoline, 255
footbridges, 369, 417 130–31 Domfront, France, 178
ponton, construction of, 60 enemy fortifications, 127 Dreux, France, 168
ponton, heavy, 387 Civilians Duesseldorf, Germany, 401
railroad, 401 French, 191 DUKW’s, 68, 97
treadway, 161, 208, 240, 340, German, 396, 401, 405, 414,
357, 382 432 Enclosure, prisoner of war, 408

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INDEX 445

Evacuation Gun crews Huertgen Forest, Germany,

of casualties, 138, 204, 361 antiaircraft, 102 234, 235, 241
of pilots, 96 naval, 77
Exercise fabius, 66, 67. See Gun motor carriages, 200, 225, Infantrymen, 128, 129, 144,
also Training. 233, 234, 285, 344, 374 152, 162, 163, 165, 179,
Guns 182, 187, 201, 205, 228,
Falaise, France, 176 8-inch, 192, 206, 304, 305, 238, 269, 274, 282, 376
Ferry, Rhino, 122 371 aboard ship, 92
Fighter planes 155-mm., 193, 299 column of, 81, 89, 97, 167,
P–38, 9 antiaircraft, 90-mm., 102 216, 249, 312, 372
P–47, 9, 59, 338 antitank, 3-inch, 102 German, 197, 263, 264, 265
P–47, damaged, 399 antitank, British, 115 in glider, 29
P–47, on fire, 105 German, 91, 124, 221 wounded, 197
P–51, 9, 48, 49 Invasion. See Landing opera-
British, 35 Half-tracks, 65, 217, 253, 414 tions.
German, 400 on fire, 264 Invasion beaches. See Beaches.
Fire fighters, British, 34 Hand grenades, 6, 142, 274 Invasion operations, 96
First aid. See Medical opera- Invasion preparations, 70, 75.
Harbors
tions. See also Training.
artificial, 118, 120
Flak, 8, 202 Antwerp, 256
Flooded area, 229, 248 Jeeps, 29, 244, 326
Bremen, 421
Footbridges, 369, 417 with wire cutter, 143
Brest, 188-89
Fort de Queuleu, France, Juelich, Germany, 336-37
Cherbourg, 130–31, 132, 172
226–27 damaged, 120
Kommerscheidt, Germany,
Fort du Roule, France, 130–31 Saint-Malo, 180–81 236–37
Fort Saint Julien, France, Saint-Nazaire, 422 Landing craft
226–27 Headquarters, ETO, London, 45 assault boat, 7, 428
Fort Sebastian, France, 318–19 Hedgerow cutter, 133 converted to rocket launcher,
Fortifications, 216, 347 Hedgerows, 134, 144, 149, 150, 63
dragon’s teeth, 373 165 LBK, 77
German, 91, 315, 332 Helmets, 163 LBV, 77
German, damaged, 127 camouflaged, 108 LCI, 64, 92
Foxholes, 142, 228, 328 World War I, 4, 6 LCR, 82
Frankfurt, Germany, 384, 385 World War II, 16 LCT, 55, 64, 65, 77, 81, 96
French Forces of the Interior, Hill 441, Germany, 358–59 LGVP, 66, 69, 70, 80, 81,
190 Hospitals 380, 381
Fuel tank, 48 England, 50 LST, 55, 70, 121
evacuation, 109 LST, deck loaded, 67
Gas masks, wearing of, 4, 11 Howitzers. See also Artillery. LVT, 22
Glider pilots, evacuation of, 96 105-mm., 114, 232, 250, 327, Landing operations, 76, 78–79,
Gliders, 29, 94, 95, 214, 390, 363 80, 81, 86–87, 88. See also
391 155-mm., 103, 125, 270, 293 Beaches.
British, 29, 94 Howitzer motor carriages, 23, Liaison plane, 42
wrecked, 94, 393 251, 277, 370 equipped with skis, 294

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446 INDEX

Life preservers, 7, 12, 82 Mine detectors, 88, 93, 375 Paratroopers, 58, 306
Life raft, 27 Mine exploder, 240 Paris, 190
Living conditions, 228, 288, Mine field, German, 93 Pillbox, German, 332
322, 363 Mines Pipeline, gasoline, 132, 196, 254
London, 34, 45 antipersonnel, 93 Pistol, automatic, .45-caliber, 6
Lousberg, Germany, 218–19 antitank, 279 Plasma, administrating of, 19,
Ludendorf Bridge, 355, 356 Montebourg, France, 125 83
Lunéville, France, 221 Mortars “Priest,” 23
60-mm., 6, 53, 183 Prisoners of war
Machine guns 81-mm., 6, 65, 182, 310 Allied, 268, 435
.30-caliber Browning, 11, chemical, 4.2-inch, 245 German, 84, 110, 128, 153,
134, 179, 217 Moselle River, 201, 204, 208,
239, 276, 300, 346, 383,
.45-caliber, 6 220, 226–27, 244, 364
384, 386, 389, 408, 425, 429
.50-caliber Browning, 389 Motor carriages
Propaganda leaflets, German,
.50-caliber Browning, air- gun, 46, 64, 103, 135, 185,
152
craft, 13 194, 199, 207, 233, 234,
285, 344, 374, 412 Pruem, Germany, 344
German, 52
howitzer, 150, 169, 199, 251,
Magdeburg, Germany, 411, 412 Queen Elizabeth, 25
277, 370
Mail call, 152 Quonset huts, 50
Mud, 213, 222, 231, 234, 345
Main River, Germany, 30, 385
Muenchen-Gladbach, Ger-
Maneuvers, 29, 47, 64. See Railroad
many, 341
also Training. bridge, 98, 401
Manhay, Belgium; 296–97 destroyed, 173
Neckar River, 402
Map making equipment, 36, 37
Negro troops, 10, 103, 107 equipment, 44, 54, 172, 173
Maps Neuf Brisach, France, 334–35 French, 173
Ardennes–Alsace, 260 Niederleuken, Germany, 330– yards, 218–19, 405
Central Europe, 378 31 Railroads
Great Britain, xii Night firing, 316 Belgium, 256, 258
Normandy, 72 Nuernberg, Germany, 416 damaged, 339
Northern France, 146
France, 99, 112–13, 226–27
Rhineland, 210, 324 Observation posts, 166, 353, Germany, 339
Marshalling area, England, 69 362
Masks Recreation, 184
Obstacle, tank, 216, 373
gas, 11 Red Ball Highway, 170, 171.
Officer Candidates School, 11
oxygen, 12 See also Roads.
OMAHA Beach, 78-79, 118
Medical aid, administering of, Remagen Bridge, Germany,
Optical equipment, repair of, 14
19, 83, 108 Our River, 346 355, 356
Medical aid men, 19, 83, 108, Oxygen mask, 12 Repair shop, Ordnance, 14
138, 197, 204, 253, 309, 360 Oxygen tank, 13 Rescue launch, British, 27
Medical operations, 309, 360 Rescue operations, 82
immunization, 252 Pack howitzer, 292. See also Rheine, Germany, 339
surgery, 109 Artillery. Rhine River, 354, 356, 357, 380,
Mess, 129, 238, 288, 295, 347 Parachute jump suit, 16, 75 381, 382, 387
Metz, France, 224, 226–27 Parachutes, 58 Rhino ferry, 122
Military police, 171, 357 Parade, Paris, 191 Rhône-Rhine Canal, 334–35

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INDEX 447

Rifles. See also Small arms. Saint-Lô, France, 139, 140–41 Tanks — Continued
.30-caliber M1, 6, 7, 29, 144, Saint-Malo, France, 179, 180– medium, 15, 22, 47, 62, 137,
162 81 149, 156, 160, 164, 168,
.30-caliber M1903, 6 Saint-Nazaire harbor, France, 195, 204, 221, 230, 231,
.30-caliber M1903A3, 29 423 233, 244, 307, 332, 342,
.30-caliber M1918A2, 6, 29 Schweinfurt, Germany, 30, 31 351, 367, 388, 398, 403,
.30-caliber M1919A4, 6 Seatrain, 172 414, 419, 423
M1 with rifle grenade, 271 Seine River, 98 on fire, 351
German, 52 Serrig, Germany, 362 waterproofed, 62, 388
River crossings, 201, 244, 346, Shell fire, German, 90 with hedgerow cutter, 133,
364, 369, 380, 381, 387, Small arms, 6, 29 149
402, 409, 427 carbine, 184 with rocket launcher, 403
Rivers German, 52 with track extensions, 230,
France, 98, 140–41, 161, 201, machine guns, 134, 179, 217, 231
204, 208, 220, 226–27, 244 291 Tanks, containers
Germany, 30, 330–31, 336– rifles, 162, 271 fuel, 48
37, 340, 354, 356, 357, 364, rocket launcher, 2.36-inch, oxygen, 13
380, 381, 382, 385, 387, 53 water, 50
402, 411, 417 Thompson submachine gun, 10 Downing Street, London, 45
Luxembourg, 346 75 Tents, 50, 109
Road signs, 286, 424 Smoke screens, 68, 242 Terrain
Roads Street fighting, 205, 217, 224, Ardennes, 266–67
Ardennes, 266–67, 271 407 Austria, 426, 430, 431
Austria, 424, 426, 427 Cherbourg, 128 Belgium, 280–81, 296–97
Belgium, 198, 280-81, 296– Submachine guns, .45-caliber,
England, 35
97, 312 29, 75. See also Small
flooded, 229
France, 78-79, 86–87, 126, arms.
France, 78–79, 86–87, 95, 98,
136, 138, 150, 155, 157, Submarine pens, German, 422
100–101, 126, 140–41,
158–59, 167, 170, 185, 195, Submarines, German, 421
226–27, 229, 247, 320 158–59, 176, 177, 220, 226-
bombing of, 24
Germany, 216, 234, 235, 236– 27, 318–19, 330–31,
Supply operations, 122, 132,
37, 264, 394, 398, 425 334–35
170, 171, 256, 257, 258, 308,
Rocket launcher site, German, 404 Germany, 236–37, 336–37,
117 aerial, 95, 345 358–59, 362, 373, 409
Rocket launchers. See also German, 99 Thanksgiving Day dinner, 228
Small arms. Normandy, 123 The Stars and Stripes, V-E
2.36-inch, 29, 53, 185, 306 UTAH Beach, 97 edition, 433
4.5-inch, 241, 403 Tractors
German, 174 Tank destroyer, 412 diesel, 161
Rocket projector, German, 343 Tanks high-speed, 18-ton M4, 192
Roer River, 336–37, 340 damaged, 136, 137 Train, German, wrecked, 99
French, 157 Training
Saale River, 411 German, 136, 137, 268, 301 England, 6, 23, 28, 29, 42, 46,
Saare River, 330–31 light, 47, 133, 150, 247, 289, 53, 58, 60, 65, 66, 68, 69
Saarrbourg, Germany. 330–31 314, 367 Northern Ireland 5, 17, 52

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448 INDEX

Training — Continued Vehicles — Continued Vire River, France, 161

Officer Candidate School, 11 armored car, 156, 157, 198, Vire-Taute Canal, France,
Scotland, 7 200, 285 112–13
Transport planes, C-47, 94, bulldozers, 44, 129, 161
345, 404, 435 burning, 407 Waldenburg, Germany, 415
Transport ship, British, 25 cargo carrier, 253 War damage, 129, 155, 364,
Treadway bridges, 208, 240, damaged, 395 385, 389, 411, 412, 415,
340, 357, 382 French, 190 416
construction of, 161 German, 115, 195, 420, 426 Water tanks, 50
Trench, 251 “Weasel,” 253
gun motor carriages, 46, 103,
Trévières, France, 100-101
135, 185, 200, 207, 225 Weather conditions, 5, 228, 229,
Troops. See also Infantrymen.
half-tracks, 46, 65, 217, 414 249, 250, 253, 255, 266–67,
German, 420
horse-drawn, 420, 426 288, 295, 320, 326, 430
Russian, 418
20 Grosvenor Square, London, howitzer motor carriages, Weather forecasting equip-
45 150, 169, 199 ment, 38
jeeps, 29, 326 Widensohlen Canal, France,
UTAH Beach, 86-87, 88 on fire, 195 334–35
semitrailer, 258, 404 Women
Vauban Canal, France, 334-35 tank recovery, 65, 216 American Red Cross, 25
V-bomb, German, 400 tractor, 20, 21, 44, 192 Army Auxiliary Corps, 25
Vehicles trailer, 170 Army Corps, 40
ambulances, 19, 109, 317, 326 trucks, 18, 121, 123, 170 Army nurse, 51
amphibian trucks, 68, 97, 123 weapons carrier, 122 Wuerzburg, Germany, 413

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