United States Army in World War II: European Theater of Operations
Riviera to the Rhine
by Jeffrey J. Clarke and Robert Ross Smith
. . . to Those Who Served
Table of Contents
The Authors
Part 1: Strategy and Operations
Chapter 1: The Debate Over Southern France
The Protagonists—TRIDENT, May 1943—Another Look at Southern France—The QUADRANT Conference—The Cairo and Tehran Conferences—ANVIL Canceled—ANVIL Restored—Churchill’s Last Stand
Chapter 2: Command and Organization
The High-Level Command Structure—The 6th Army Group and the First French Army—Force 163 and the Seventh Army
Chapter 3: Planning for Invasion
The Main Assault Force—Supporting Assault Forces—French Guerrillas—Organization for the Assault—Organization for Logistics—Supply and Shipping Problems—Logistics
Chapter 4: German Plans and Organization
German Organization and Operational Concepts—German Organization and Strength—The Effects of OVERLORD—OB Southwest—The German Nineteenth Army
Chapter 5: The Plan of Assault
Selecting the Landing Area—Operational Plans—Air and Naval Support Plans—Beyond D-day—Allied Intelligence—The Role of ULTRA—Final Assault Preparations
Part 2: The Campaign for Southern France
Chapter 6: Isolating the Target Area
The French Forces of the Interior—Air and Naval Operations—Rangers and Commandos—The 1st Airborne Task Force—The First German Reactions
Chapter 7: The ANVIL Beachhead
The 3rd Division Lands—The Assault in the Center—The 36th Division on the Right—Camel Red—The 1st Airborne Task Force—The Advance to the Blue Line—An Appraisal
Chapter 8: Breakout: 17–19 August
German Plans—Pressing Westward—The German Defense—Task Force Butler—Accelerating the Campaign—The German Withdrawal—Toulon and Marseille—West to the Rhone
Chapter 9: The Battle of Montelimar
Task Force Butler—The Battle Square—Initial Skirmishes—Reinforcing the Square—The German Reaction—In the Square—Both Sides Reinforce—The Battle of 25 August—More Reinforcements—Battles on the 26th—The German Withdrawal—End of the Battle—Montelimar: Anatomy of a Battle
Chapter 10: Pursuit to the North
Allied Plans—The German Situation—North to Lyon—A Change in Plans—Creation of the Dijon Salient—The Seventh Army Attacks—To the Belfort Gap—An Evaluation
Chapter 11: Supporting the Campaign
Logistical Problems—Base Development—Fuel and Transportation—Rations—Manpower—Medical Support—Signal Support—Air Support—Close Air Support—Civil Affairs—Civil Affairs Operations—Conclusions
Part 3: Ordeal in the Vosges
Chapter 12: Strategy and Operations
SHAEF’s Operational Concepts—SHAEF’s Operational Strategy—Patch and Truscott—Tactical Transition—German Plans and Deployment
Chapter 13: VI Corps at the Moselle
Allied Plans and Alignment—The High Vosges—The 45th Division at Epinal—The 36th Division in the Center—The German Reaction—The 3rd Division on the Moselle—Results
Chapter 14: Approaching the Gaps: Saverne
Allied Planning—A Change in Command—VI Corps Attacks—XV Corps Before the Saverne Gap—The German Situation in the Lunéville Sector—The Forest of Parroy—The Forest and the Fight—More Reorganizations
Chapter 15: The Road to St. Die
The VI Corps—The German Defenses—First Try for Bruyères and Brouvelieures—The 36th Division—The 3rd Division—Relief and Redeployment—The Vosges Fighting: Problems and Solutions
Chapter 16: Approaching the Gaps: Belfort
The Initial French Attacks—Logistical Problems—French Plans—The German Defense—The II French Corps’ October Offensive
Chapter 17: Into the High Vosges
Planning the Attack—German Deployments—The Preliminary Attacks—The 3rd Division Attacks
Chapter 18: The Forests of the Meurthe
DOGFACE Resumed—The German Response—The Attack Stalls—The Lost Battalion
Chapter 19: The Gates of the Vosges
Planning—The Attack in the North—German Reorganization—The Attack in the South—VI Corps Resumes the Attack—Operation DOGFACE Ends
Part 4: The November Offensive
Chapter 20: Planning the November Offensive
General Planning—The First French Army—German Prospects—The Final Allied Schedule
Chapter 21: Through the Saverne Gap
XV Corps Plans—XV Corps Attacks—The Exploitation Plan—Seizing the Gap—The German Response—Planning the Final Stage—Striking for Strasbourg—The Panzer Lehr Counterattack
Chapter 22: To the Plains of Alsace
VI Corps Plans—The German Defense—The Century (100th) Division—The Meurthe River Assault—The 100th and 3rd Divisions—The 103rd Division—The 36th Division
Chapter 23: Through the Belfort Gap
The First French Army’s Front—Defending the Gap—French Plans—The I Corps Assault—Breakthrough—The Battle of the Gap—The German Counterattacks—The Belfort Gap Secured
Chapter 24: Lost Opportunities
The Colmar Pocket—A Dubious Decision
Part 5: The Campaign for Alsace
Chapter 25: A Change in Direction
The XV Corps Sector—The VI Corps Sector—The VI Corps Advance—The XV Corps Moves North—An Evaluation
Chapter 26: On the Siegfried Line
The German Situation—The XV Corps Offensive North—The Fortresses of Bitche—The VI Corps Offensive North—VI Corps Attacks—Drive to the West Wall—Into Germany—Stalemate at Colmar—Epilogue
Planning Operation NORTHWIND—The Defense of Strasbourg—Preparations for the Attack—Preparations for the Defense—The New Year’s Eve Attacks—Command and Control
Chapter 28: The Battle of Alsace
The VI Corps—The French II Corps—The XXXIX Panzer Corps Attacks—The Panzer Assault—The Final Attack—An Analysis
Planning the Colmar Offensive—The German Defense—The Initial Attacks—The Bridge at Maison Rouge—Reorganization—The February Offensive—Tactics and Techniques—In Retrospect—Toward the Final Offensive
Chapter 30: Riviera to the Rhine: An Evaluation
The Campaigns—The Soldier—Allied Strategy and Operations
Basic military map symbols
Table
1. Tonnages Discharged at Continental Ports: June 1944–April 1945
Maps
1. Western and Central Europe, 1 September 1939
2. German Dispositions, Southern France, 15 August 1944
3. France
4. The Landing Area
5. The ANVIL Landing Plan
6. The Seventh Army Assault, 15–16 August 1944
7. Breakout From the Blue Line, 17–19 August 1944
8. Capture of Toulon and Marseille, French II Corps, 20–28 August 1944
9. Montelimar Battle Square
10. Pursuit to Lyon, 29 August-3 September 1944
11. Seventh Army Advance Toward Belfort, 4–14 September 1944
12. The Allied Front, 15 September 1944
13. Nineteenth Army Dispositions, 17 September 1944
14. The High Vosges Area
15. The VI Corps Crosses the Moselle River, 20–25 September 1944
16. The VI Corps Advance, 26–30 September 1944
17. The XV Corps Zone, 25 September 1944
18. 79th Infantry Division in the Parroy Forest, 25 September–9 October 1944
19. 45th Infantry Division Operations, 1–7 October 1944
20. 36th Infantry Division Operations, 1–14 October 1944
21. 3rd Infantry Division Operations, 30 September–14 October 1944
22. The French II Corps Zone, 4 October 1944
23. The VI Corps Zone, 14 October 1944
24. 6th Army Group Plan of Attack, November 1944
25. The Western Front, 8 November 1944
26. The XV Corps Capture of Strasbourg, 13–23 November 1944
27. Panzer Lehr Counterattack, 23–25 November 1944
28. VI Corps Advance, 12–26 November 1944
29. First French Army Advance Through the Belfort Gap, 14–25 November 1944
30. The 6th Army Group Front, 26 November 1944
31. Seventh Army Attack, 27 November-4 December 1944
32. Seventh Army Advance to the German Border, 5–20 December 1944
33. The Colmar Pocket, 5 December 1944
34. The Last German Offensive, 31 December 1944–25 January 1945
35. The Colmar Pocket, 20 January-5 February 1945
Illustrations
Members of U.S. and British Staff Conferring—Lt. Gen. Jacob L . Devers—Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker, Maj. Gen. John K. Cannon, General Devers, and Maj. Gen. Thomas B . Larkin—Lt. Gen. Alexander M. Patch—General Patch, Air Marshal Sir John C. Slessor, General Devers, General Sir Henry Maitland Wilson, and Maj. Gen. Lowell W. Rooks—Maj. Gen. Robert T. Frederick—FFI Partisan Group, August 1944—General Johannes Blaskowitz—General Friedrich Wiese—German Armor Passing Through Toulouse—Maj. Gen. Wend von Wietersheim—Defensive Emplacement of a 65-mm. Italian Howitzer—45th Infantry Division Troops Load Up at Bagnoli, Italy, August 1944—ANVIL Convoy En Route to Southern France, August 1944—Cape Negre—American and British Paratroopers Take a Short Break, D-day 1944—Pillbox Guards Bridge to St. Raphael—Maj. Gen. Ludwig Bieringer, A Prisoner of War—Troops of 45th Division Wade Ashore Near St. Maxime—Troops and Tank Destroyers Move Through Salernes—French Troops in Marseille, August 1944—American Armor Moves Inland—157th Infantry, 45th Division, Passes Through Bourg, September 1944—30th Infantry, 3rd Division, Crosses Doubs River at Besancon, September 1944—Tanks of 45th Division Advance in Vicinity of Baume-les-Dames—The Champagne Campaign Comes to a Close—French Civilians Restoring Railway in Seventh Army Area—“The Long and the Short and the Tall”—Lt. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott, General Patch, and General Devers, October 1944—Troops of 36th Infantry Division Cross the Moselle—Maj. Gen. Wade H. Haislip—General Leclerc and Staff at Rambouillet—Parroy Forest—83rd Chemical (Mortar) Battalion, 45th Division, Fires 4.2-Inch Mortars—4.2-Inch Mortars Hit Le Tholy—Artillery Munitions: Vital in the Vosges—Generals Marshall, de Lattre, and Devers Visit French First Army Headquarters—3rd Algerian Division Moves Up to the Rupt Area—Japanese-American Infantry (442nd RCT) in Hills Around Bruyères—Domaniale de Champ Forest—Men From the Lost Battalion—General Patch and Maj. Gen. Edward H. Brooks—Maj. Gen. Withers A. Burress—Company L, 142nd Regiment, 36th Division, Pulls Back to Rear in Snowfall—French North African Soldiers—Generals Spragins, Haislip, and Wyche at XV Corps Command Post—Saverne—French 2nd Armored Division Moves Through Strasbourg—398th Infantry, 100th Division, in Raon-l’Etape Area—411th Infantry, 103rd Division, in Vicinity of St. Michel—German Assault Gun Knocked Out by 76-mm. M4 Tank—French Light Tanks at Huningue—Infantry-Tank Team of French 5th Armored Division—French Troops Raise Tricolor Over Chateau de Belfort—Selestat—Soldier and Pack Mule Make Their Way in Heavy Snowfall—Brig. Gen. Albert C. Smith—Maj. Gen. Roderick R. Allen—Commanding Generals Contemplate the Next Move—71st Regiment, 44th Division, Fort Simserhof, November 1944—313th Regiment, 79th Division, in the Vicinity of Bischwiller—Troops of the 45th Division Make House-to-House Search—Brig. Gen. Henry H. Linden—Brig. Gen. Frederick M. Harris—Brig. Gen. Thomas W. Herren—Building Defensive Works in the Snow—Generals Devers and Patch Confer at Lunéville—Men of the 100th Division Maintain Heavy Machine-Gun Position—Gambsheim–Rhine River Area—714th Tank Battalion, 12th Armored Division, Near Bischwiller, France—riviera—Rifleman of 70th Division Searching for Snipers—48th Tank Battalion, 14th Armored Division, Outside of Rittershoffen—Herrlisheim—Railway Bridge at Neuf-Brisach Finally Destroyed—Neuf-Brisach (Old Fortress Town)—French Infantry Advances Into Colmar—American Infantrymen
All photographs are from the Department of Defense files except those appearing on pages 57, 58, and 67, which are the courtesy of the Militärgeschichtliches Forschungsamt.
Office of the Chief of Military History: Department of the Army
Washington, D.C.
United States Army in World War II
Advisory Committee (As of 6 August 1990)
Edward M. Coffman, University of Wisconsin
David B. Miller, Esq., Scranton, Pa.
Martin Blumenson, Washington, D.C.
Brig. Gen. John E. Miller, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Brig. Gen. William M. Boice, U.S. Army War College
Maj. Gen. James W. van Loben Sels, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
Brig. Gen. Gerald E. Galloway, Jr., U.S. Military Academy
William A. Walker, Archivist of the Army
Herman M. Hattaway, U.S. Military Academy
Russell F. Weigley, Temple University
James M. McPherson, Princeton University
Ernest R. May, Harvard University
U.S. Army Center of Military History
Brig. Gen. Harold W. Nelson, Chief of Military History
Chief Historian, Jeffrey J. Clarke
Chief, Histories Division, Col. Robert H. Sholly
Editor in Chief, John W. Elsberg