The Rhineland 1945: The Last Killing Ground in the West
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- Create Date：2021-04-28 11:58:25
- Update Date：2025-09-06
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- Author：Ken Ford
- ISBN：1855329999
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Summary
Known as the last great 'stand-up fight' of the Second World War the battle for the Rhineland was brutal in the extreme。 Eisenhower's 'broad front' policy called for the whole of the Rhineland to be taken before pushing his troops across the Rhine and into Germany itself。 The Germans opened the Roer dams in a vain bid to temper this massive Allied offensive and this called for a drastic change in tactics。 The ensuing battle was characterised by amphibious assaults on the fortified villages of the flooded Rhine lowlands， frontal assaults on the much vaunted Siegfried Line and the grim fighting for the Reichswald Forest。 It was to be 'the last great killing ground in the west'。
Reviews
Sean Chick
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Dry and one-sided。
Richard
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This volume shares the attention to detail present in all Osprey books。 Usually comprising less than a hundred pages， the books are chock full of well-researched photographs portraying the exact circumstances of the corresponding text， backed up by accurate artwork and battlefield schematics， and all tied together by a story told by an expert on the subject。 In this case， the excellent art is provided by Tony Bryan to illustrate important aspects of Ken Ford's in-depth descriptions of the moveme This volume shares the attention to detail present in all Osprey books。 Usually comprising less than a hundred pages， the books are chock full of well-researched photographs portraying the exact circumstances of the corresponding text， backed up by accurate artwork and battlefield schematics， and all tied together by a story told by an expert on the subject。 In this case， the excellent art is provided by Tony Bryan to illustrate important aspects of Ken Ford's in-depth descriptions of the movements of numerous units in the opposing armies。An underlying aspect of the Rhineland Campaign of early 1945 in Germany is the utter waste of rapidly-diminishing numbers of German army units。 By February， the allied armies had fought eastward through France and into the edge of Germany， and had concluded the troublesome German Ardennes offensive of December-January。 The Battle of the Bulge was a huge gamble for Hitler， throwing all of his reserves against the Americans in Belgium in a well-executed surprise attack that， if successful， would have completely stopped the advances of the allies in their tracks。 Following the collapse of the offensive， a prudent reaction to the irreplaceable German losses would have the Germans retreating wholesale across the Rhine river to consolidate their remaining forces defensively， especially since the Russian Army had initiated a huge offensive against the Germans on the Eastern Front in January。 Hitler， instead， ordered his army to stay emplaced on the western bank of the Rhine。 The job of the Allies would be to defeat the German forces in this area， the Rhineland， lying between the borders of France， Belgium， Luxmbourg and the Netherlands， and the Rhine。 The Supreme Commander， General Eisenhower， decided on using a "broad front" policy of ranging all his various armies all along the German front， and only trying to force Rhine crossings after all of the German forces along the western bank of the river were eliminated。 The bulk of the book's subject matter concerns how those actions unfolded， starting with the beginning of "Operation Veritable" on February 8th by Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group， consisting of British， Canadian and U。S。 Armies。 The Canadians were heavily engaged in the first days of the action， as they met heavy opposition trying to move around the Reichswald Forest， while British divisions fought to take possession of important towns， such as Goch。 A simultaneous movement of the US 9th Army， attached to Montgomery， "Operation Grenade"， was delayed in starting by the flooding of the lower Rhine valley by the Germans， who blew dykes and opened dams。 By March 8th， when the Germans were being pushed out of the Rhineland with the remnants of their defeated units starting to blow bridges behind them， this action alone accounted for over 90，000 German casualties， added to almost 23，000 suffered by the British， Canadians and Americans of the British 21st Army。The American drive to the Rhine was executed primarily by General Omar Bradley's 12th US Army Group。 Operation Lumberjack started supporting the 9th Army's "Operation Grenade"， then made its own move toward the Rhine。 Severe winter weather had challenged General George Patton's Third Army but as the weather cleared， all American armies were moving through the Germans' Westwall and converging to annihilate German major army units。 General Courtney Hodges' 1st US Army， the other part of Bradley's powerful strike force， joined the Third Army in breaking through the southern Eifel and smashing two German armies， including German General Manteuffel's 5th Panzer Army that Patton had faced earlier in Lorraine and Belgium。 Patton then drove down into the Moselle valley to threaten the German hold on the Saar industrial region， before unleashing his forces to slash their way to the Rhine while disorganized German units tried to beat them to the safety of the other side of the river， blowing up bridges before the Americans could use them。 Patton then turned south， outmaneuvering German units facing General Alexander Patch's 7th US Army Group along the Westwall。 By March 12th， Patton， Patch and French General De Lattre's forces almost completely enveloped the forces of the German 1st Army Commanded by General Foertsch， until GenObst Paul Hauser， commander of Army Group G was able to give permission to seek safety of his units across the Rhine。By March 23rd， all German units had been given belated approval to fall back across the Rhine， after most of the survivors had already done so。 As Ford states， on page 80， by that time the Rhine River was now the Allied front line from the North Sea to Switzerland。 An American bridgehead had already been established by taking advantage of the ten-day use of the one bridge the Germans had failed to blow up， at Remagen， and Field Marshal Montgomery's forces， now in possession of Xanten， were preparing to push off on a huge set-piece battle to cross the Rhine in force at Wesel。 。。。more
Cort Ockfen
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