User:Hungrydog55/sandbox/military/europeanfront/1945-02 RhinelandOffensive
1945 Allied operations in Germany during WWII / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Rhineland Offensive was a series of offensive operations by the Allied 21st Army Group commanded by Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery from 8 February 1945 to 10 March 1945 as part of the European Theatre of Operations during of the Second World War. The operations were aimed at occupying the Rhineland preparatory to securing a passage over the Rhine river.[1]
Rhineland Offensive | |||||||
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Part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany | |||||||
Churchill tanks at the onset of Operation Veritable, 9 February 1945 | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United Kingdom Canada United States Poland | Germany |
The offensive embodied theatre commander General Dwight D. Eisenhower's "broad front" strategy to clear the entire west bank of the Rhine of German forces before attempting a crossing.[2] He committed to this approach after an attempt to achieve a deep thrust by 21st Army Group in September 1944, Operation Market Garden, collapsed. Eisenhower's task was simplified by the vast wastage of German men and materiel in Hitler's ill-conceived Ardennes Counteroffensive of December 1944 – January 1945.[3]: 9–10
The Rhineland Offensive encompassed the following actions:
- Operation Veritable (9 Feb – 11 Mar): Canadian First Army carried out the northern portion of a vast pincer movement.
- Operation Grenade (23 Feb – 10 Mar): US Ninth Army was to step off on 9 Feb to provide the southern pincer in concert with Operation Veritable, but was delayed for two weeks by the deliberate German flooding of the Rhine.
- Operation Blockbuster (26 Feb – 3 Mar): Canadian First Army completed the northern pincer which had turned out to be more difficult than anticipated.
The offensive bore fruit during Operation Plunder beginning 23 March when the British Second Army and US Ninth Army crossed the Rhine.