Chapter XXXII
Towards the Heart of GermanyFootnotes
1. See Ltr, Eisenhower to Bradley, 29 Aug, 12th AGp File Mil Objs, I; 12th AGp Memo, Future Opns, 25 Aug, ML-205. The RAF Bomber Command alone had dropped 24,000 tons of bombs per month for the past two and a half months on the V-weapon launching sites in the Pas-de-Calais without decisive effect. Harris, Bomber Offensive, p. 236.
2. See Montgomery, Normandy to the Baltic, p. 200, and Guingand, Operation Victory, p. 414.
3. FUSA Weekly Intel Summary 4, 29 Aug.
4. Ibid. The name Siegfried Line originated in World War I, when the Germans applied the code name SIEGFRIEDSTELLUNG to a rear defensive position established in 1916 behind the central portion of the Western Front. Extending from St. Laurent, just east of Arras, through St. Quentin to Missy-sur-Aisne, four miles east of Soissons, the line played an important role as the battle front fluctuated during the last two years of the war. The Germans fell back on it in the early spring of 1917, and from there launched their last great offensive in France in March 1918. They withdrew to the same position in September and were finally dislodged from it by the Allied counter-offensive in October.
5. CI 361-A (XIX Corps); Charles B. MacDonald, The Siegfried Line Campaign, UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II (Washington, 1961); Cole, Lorraine Campaign, p. 194.
6. See Montgomery, Normandy to the Baltic, pp. 198-99.
7. 12th AGp Admin Instrs 13, 27 Aug; The Siegfried Line, TSFET Hist Sec MS, 1946, OCMH Files, Ch. 4. p. 1.
8. OB WEST, a Study in Command, pp. 160-61, 175.
9. Among the many personal documents see, for example, MS # B-236 (Sponheimer) and MS # B-596 (Gerber)
10. See Hitler Msg, 0530, 3 Sep, AGp Fuehrerbefehle; AGp B Tagesmeldungen, 1 Sep; First U.S. Array, Report of Operations, I, 31-32.
11. 30th Div G-2 Per Rpt 72, 30 Aug; 28th Div G-2 Rpt, 1 Sep; VII Corps G-2 Memo for VII Corps CofS, 31 Aug, VII Corps G-2 Jnl and File.
12. XIX Corps Mil Intel Team Rpt 101, 30 Aug, FUSA G-2 (Comd Echelon) Jnl and File.
13. VII Corps G-2 Rpt 87, 31 Aug; Telecon, FUSA G-2 Air and FUSA G-2, 2305, 31 Aug, FUSA G-2 (Comd Echelon) Jnl and File; Telecon, FUSA and V Corps, 0545, 1 Sep, and FUSA G-2 Air to V Corps G-2, 1915, 1 Sep, V Corps G-3 Jnl; Second Br Army G-2 to XIX Corps G-2, 1710, 1 Sep, XIX Corps G-2 Jnl.
14. XIX Corps G-2 Est, Possible Lines of Action Open to the Germans, 1200, 28 Aug; FUSA G-2 Est 23, 31 Aug; First U.S. Army, Report of Operations, I, 33ff; see Cole, Lorraine Campaign, p. 12.
16. Bradley, Soldier's Story, pp. 401-02; 12th AGp Memo for Rcd, 2 Sep, ML-205; Ltr, Bradley to OCMH, 7 Jan 55, OCMH Files.
18. Telecon, Corlett and Brooks, 2015, 31 Aug, XIX Corps G-3 Jnl and File; Wyche Diary.
19. XIX Corps and ad Armd, 79th, and 30th Divs AAR's, Aug and Sep.
20. Corlett to Hodges, 1645, 2 Sep, XIX Corps G-3 Jnl and File; First U.S. Army, Report of Operations, I; Ltr, Corlett to OCMH, 2 Sep 53.
21. Bradley, Soldier's Story, p. 403.
22. 12th AGp Memo for Rcd, 2 Sep, ML-205; Huston, Airborne Operations, Ch. VII, p. 19; SHAEF 24500/3/Ops (Airborne), Employment of Airborne Forces [26. Aug, SHAEF File 24533/Ops; 21 AGp Dir, M-522, 29 Aug, Pogue Files. "In the 40 days since the formation of the First Allied Airborne Army," General Brereton wrote on 16 September, "we have planned 18 different operations, some of which were scrubbed because our armies moved too fast and others because Troop Carriers were engaged in air supply." Brereton, Diaries, p. 343. See also AEAF Ltr, Airborne Opns to Further OVERLORD, 6 Jul, SGS SHAEF File 373/2, Employment of Airborne Forces in Opn OVERLORD; SHAEF Msg to AGWAR, FWD-12907, 16 Aug. SHAEF Msg File, Plans and Opns.
23. V Corps Ltr of Instrs, 31 Aug.
24. V Corps History of Operations in the ETO, pp. 216ff.; Gerow to Oliver, 2 Sep, V Corps G-3 Jnl and File; First U.S. Army, Report of Operations, I, 30ff.
25. CI 32 (4th Div); 3d Armored Division, Spearhead in the West, p. 78.
26. 12th AGp Immed Rpt 73, Cavalry as a Task Force, 8 Oct; Interv by author with General Collins, 2 Sep 55; VII Corps Opns Memos 79 and 81, 30 Aug and 1 Sep (confirming oral orders, 30 and 31 Aug); VII Corps G-3 Per Rpt 86, 1 Sep.
27. VII Corps Sitrep, 3 Sep; 3d Armd, 1st, and 9th Div AAR's, Aug and Sep; Sylvan Diary, 1 and 2 Sep.
29. Interv with 1st Lt. C. A. Wollmer, Hosp Intervs, IV, GL-93 (316).
30. Merli was awarded the Medal of Honor.
31. VII Corps G-3 Per Rpt 89, 4 Sep. S. Sgt. Edward A. Patyniski and Pfc. Roy V. Craft of the 18th Infantry and Pvt. Melvin V. Pardee of the 18th Field Artillery Battalion were awarded the DSC for distinguished action, the latter two posthumously.
32. MS # B-346 (Blauensteiner); First U.S. Army, Report of Operations, I, 30ff.; Pfc. Arnold J. Heidenheimer, Vanguard to Victory, History of the 18th Infantry, 1776-1954 (Aschaffenburg, Germany, 1954). pp. 24-25.
32. Bradley, Soldier's Story, p. 408; FUSA AAR, Sep; Interv by author with General Collins. General Montgomery later was under the impression that the pocket had centered on the Fôret de Compiègne. Montgomery, Normandy to the Baltic, p. 213.
34. A detailed account may be found in Pogue, Supreme Command, pp. 261ff. Montgomery was promoted to the rank of field marshal, effective 1 September.
35. See SHAEF Msg, FWD-13188, 24 Aug, in SHAEF G-3 Ops A 322.011/1. As the German air defense and "early warning system" seemed about to be "crumbled to pieces," increasing numbers of Allied Air Force ground stations began to be moved to the Continent. Harris, Bomber Offensive, pp. 229-30.
36. See 21 AGp Dirs, M-519 and M-520, 20 and 26 Aug, SGS SHAEF File 381, Post-OVERLORD Plng, I.
37. Butcher Diary, entry 19 Aug; see Eisenhower to Marshall, 24 Aug, Pogue Files, and Memo, Eisenhower for Bedell Smith, Comd Organization, 22 Aug, SGS SHAEF File 381, Post-OVERLORD Plng, I.
38. SHAEF Weekly Intel Summary 23, 2 Sep. SHAEF G-2 File; FUSA G-2 Est 24, 3 Sep; TUSA G-2 Est 9, 28 Aug; see Pogue, Supreme Command, pp. 244-45.
39. PS SHAEF (44) 11 (Final), Post-NEPTUNE Opns, 17 Aug, SHAEF File 18008, G-3 Plans.
40. See Robert Ross Smith, The Riviera to the Rhine, a volume in preparation for the series UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II.
41. See Ltr, Eisenhower to Bradley, 29 Aug, 12th AGp File Mil Objs, ML-205.
42. 12th AGp Memo for Rcd, 2 Sep, ML-205; see Eisenhower Msg, SHAEF FWD-13765, 4 Sep, 12th AGp File 371/3, Mil Objs, I. A detailed account of the high-level discussion is found in Pogue, Supreme Command, pp. 252-55.
43. The last flying bomb was launched from the Pas-de-Calais on 3 September. Harris, Bomber Offensive, p. 236. Between 13 June and 1 September the Germans had launched an average of 102 V-1 bombs daily, of which 2,340 reached London. Heifers, Employment of V-weapons by the Germans During World War II, p. 34.
44. Montgomery to Eisenhower, M-160, 4 Sep, Pogue Files.
45. Eisenhower to Montgomery, FWU-13889, 5 Sep, and Eisenhower Memo for Rcd, 5 Sep, Pogue Files. Wilmot, Struggle for Europe, pages 466 and 468 suggests that the Americans perhaps thought Montgomery too timid to direct pursuit operations.
46. Montgomery to Eisenhower, 7 Sep, Pogue Files.
47. Bradley, Soldier's Story, pp. 410-14; 12th AGp Ltr of Instrs 8, 10 Sep (confirming oral orders); see also the provocative discussion in Wilmot, Struggle for Europe, pp. 458ff. and 482ff.
49. See David Ryelandt, "The Resistance Movement," in Jan Albert Goris, ed. and translator, Belgium under Occupation (New York: Moretus Press for the Belgian Government Information Center, 1947), pp. 191ff.
50. CI 32 (4th Div); 4th Div AAR, Sep; First U.S. Army, Report of Operations, I, 35.
51. The following is taken from Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, I, 483ff., 499ff., 544ff., 553ff., 562-63, 572ff.
52. Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, I, 572.
53. See Leigh-Mallory, "Despatch," Fourth Supplement to the London Gazette of December 31, 1946, pp. 83-84.
54. For the port story, see Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, II, Chs. III and IV, and MacDonald, The Siegfried Line Campaign.
55. Hodges to the corps commanders, 3 Sep, FUSA G-2 (Comd Echelon) Jnl and File; VII Corps FO 10, 3 Sep; Hodges to Gerow, 1727, 3 Sep, V Corps G-3 Jnl and File; see Answers by Gen Kibler to Questions by Col Cole, 29 May 46.
56. V Corps FO 26, 1830, 8 Sep; V Corps Memo for Rcd, 10 Sep, V Corps G-3 Jnl and File.
57. V Corps Operations in the ETO, pp. 229ff.; TSFET, Siegfried Line.
58. 9th Div FO's 30 and 31, 0230, 3 Sep, and 2230. 4 Sep.
59. 9th Div AAR, Sep; TSFET, Siegfried Line; MS # P-164 (Meyer); MS # P-159 (Stueckler).
60. Interv with 1st Lt Robert A. Annin, Hosp Intervs, ML-2234. Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose, the 3d Armored Division commander, was awarded the DSC for his leadership 6-9 September.
61. 3d Armored Division, Spearhead in the West, p. 91.
62. Ibid, p. 93. Colonel Gibney, commander of the 60th Infantry, was awarded the DSC for heroic leadership on 9 September.
63. 3d Armd Div AAR, Sep; CI 259 (3d Armd Div); 9th Div AAR, Sep.
64. See Ltr, Corlett to OCMH, 2 Sep 53.
65. XIX Corps FO 22, 1730, 7 Sep; [Ferriss], Notes.
66. Quote from 3d Armd Div CCA AAR, Sep.
67. See Cole, The Lorraine Campaign, and MacDonald, The Siegfried Line Campaign.
71. Ruppenthal, Logistical Support, I, 583; Sylvan Diary, 6 and 10 Sep.
72. For an account of this operation, see MacDonald, The Siegfried Line Campaign.
73. OB WEST, a Study in Command, p. 166.
75. AGp B Lagebeurteilungen, Ia; MS # B-730 (Brandenberger); MS # B-623 (Keppler); MS # C-048 (Kraemer).
76. AGp B to Seventh Army, transmitting Hitler Order, 9 Sep, AGp B KTB, Op. Befehle; see Pogue, Supreme Command, p. 304.
79. AGp B to OB WEST, 0115, 5 Sep, AGp B Tagesmeldungen.
80. See Lucian Heichler, German Defense of the Gateway to Antwerp, OCMH MS R-22, and The Germans Opposite the XIX Corps, OCMH MS R-21.
81. MS # B-717 (Student); see MacDonald, The Siegfried Line Campaign.
82. OB WEST, a Study in Command, pp. 175ff., 188; see Charles V. P. von Luttichau, The Ardennes Offensive: Germany's Situation in the Fall of 1944, Pt. III, The Military Situation, OCMH MS R-19.
83. See Cole, Lorraine Campaign, pp. 29-43, for a detailed examination of German manpower and equipment losses.
84. OB WEST, a Study in Command,pp. 192ff.
85. SHAEF G-3 War Room Summary 99.
86. SHAEF G-3 War Room Summary 102.
87. OB WEST KTB, 11 Sep; AGp B Sitrep, 11 Sep, AGp B KTB.
88. SHAEF Weekly Intel Summary 25. 9 Sep SHAEF G-2 File; see Pogue, Supreme Command p. 283.
89. Hewitt, Story of the 30th Infantry Division p. 22.
90. 3d Armored Division, Spearhead in the West p. 81.
91. VII Corps Annex 2 to FO 9. 27 Aug.
94. Bradley to Eisenhower, 14 Sep, 12th AGp File Mil Objs, II.
95. See, for example, Eisenhower to Bradley. 15 Sep, SHAEF File GCT 370-31/Plans.
96. See Ray S. Cline, Washington Command Post: The Operations Division (Washington, 1951), pp. 330, 340, and Maurice Matloff, Strategic Planning for Coalition Warfare: 1943-1944 (Washington, 1959), Ch. XXIII, both volumes in the UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II series.
97. Marshall to Eisenhower, W-25528, 5 Sep. Pogue Files.
98. Quoted in B. H. Liddell Hart, A History of the World, War, 1914-1918 (London: Faber & Faber, 1934). p. 490.
99. 12th AGp Ltr of Instrs 8, 10 Sep; Answers by Gen Kibler to Questions by Col Cole, 29 May 46, ML-501.