1942 - US Army Center Of Military History

[ 15 MARCH 1945 ]
in NW Europe, having transferred gradually from
Italy.
12th Army Group: In U.S. First Army’s VII
Corps area, RCT 26 of 1st Div, the first unit of VII
Corps across the Rhine, crosses in III Corps zone
in preparation for attack through 78th Div. In III
Corps area, 78th Div pushes a little closer to the
autobahn with 311th and 39th Regts while 309th
reorganizes. 311th gains up to 2,000 yards and 39th
clears Schweifeld. 9th Div completes capture of
Lorscheid and takes Notscheid. With elements of
3 regts in assault, 99th Div expands bridgehead some
2,500 yards to SE and E, taking several terrain features
and villages. Air attacks on bridges decrease
during day. In V Corps area, 102d Cav Gp ( — ) is
detached from corps and attached to VI Corps,
Seventh Army.
In U.S. Third Army’s VIII Corps area, 87th Div
prepares for assault across the Moselle to clear
Koblenz and region to S between the Moselle and
Rhine Rivers. In XII Corps area 2d Cav Gp ( — 2d
Sq), upon crossing the Moselle at Hatzenport, relieves
left flank elements of 90th Div. 90th Div commits
elements of 1st Bn, 358th Inf, on left to assist
357th Inf and drives SE with 3d Bn of 358th to
gain Dieler, Ney, Halsenbach, and Kratzenburg; on
right, 359th Inf completes capture of Morshausen
and clears Beulich, Mermuth, and Ober and Nieder
Gondershausen. 5th Div expands bridgehead SE,
taking Lieg, Dommershausen, and Dorweiler. 4th
Armd Div is committed in bridgehead and attacks
toward Nahe R at Bad Kreuznach: CCA advances
through 90th Div’s bridgehead, clearing Liesenfeld
and Schwall; CCB, driving through 5th Div, clears
Beltheim, Goedenroth, Laubach, and Simmern and
takes bridge over Simmer R. Enemy columns withdrawing
in disorder before armor suffer heavily from
combined action of troops, tanks, arty, and aircraft.
89th and 76th Divs improve positions along the
Moselle and patrol actively; former begins limited
attacks to clear Moselle loop near Alf. In XX
Corps area, elements of 16th Cav Gp clear
Waldrach. 94th Div drives about 10,000 yards E as
resistance slackens: 302d Inf takes Hill 708 and
Reinsfeld; 301st clears Schillingen, Kell, and Gusenburg;
376th starts toward Schillingen. In 80th Div
zone, 318th Inf ( — ) mops up and prepares for drive
on Weis-kirchen to relieve trapped 2d Bn; 317th
clears Waldholzbach and Scheiden and reaches
Mitlesheim area; 319th takes Bergen and clears toward
Britten and Losheim. 26th Div pushes slowly
forward to positions near Saarholzbach, passing
101st Inf through 328th.
6th Army Group: U.S. Seventh Army Opens
UNDERTONE—offensive to break through West Wall
and, in conjunction with Third Army to N, clear
the Saar–Palatinate triangle, within the confines of
[ 439 ]
the rivers Rhine, Moselle, and Lauter–Sarre. Three
corps attack abreast, XV in center making main
effort. Elements jump off at 0100 to achieve tactical
surprise. In XXI Corps area, 63d Div attacks on
right flank of corps SE of Saarbruecken to develop
West Wall positions and clears Fechingen, Eschringen,
and Ensheim. On left flank of corps, 101st Cav
Gp and 10th Div mop up S of the Sarre; 70th Div
attacks toward Saarbruecken in afternoon but gains
little ground before breaking off attack to patrol
vigorously. In XV Corps area 45th and 3d Divs,
passing through 44th Div, drive N into Germany.
180th Inf, 45th, crosses the Blies to advance along
W side while 157th pushes northward along E
side of the river. From Rimling area, 3d Div drives
N toward West Wall and Zweibrucken. 100th Div attacks
toward Bitche on E flank of corps, clearing
Schorbach and 2 Maginot forts and reaching heights
in Reyersviller area. VI Corps attacks across the Rothbach
and Moder Rivers with 4 inf divs abreast, assisted
by armor of 14th Armd Div. On left, 42d Div
reaches positions commanding Baerenthal and cuts
Baerenthal-Mouterhouse road. 103d Div drives to
positions near Zinswiller. 36th Div takes Bitschhoffen
and penetrates enemy line along the Moder.
On right flank of corps, 3d Algerian Div, reinf by
elements of Fr 5th Armd Div, drives toward Lauterbourg
from Oberhoffen area but is soon stopped by
heavy fire.
E ASTERN EUROPE—German pocket in East
Prussia is split as troops of Third White Russian
Front break through to the coast SW of Koenigsberg.
I TALY—15th Army Group: In U.S. Fifth
Army’s II Corps area, elements of 1st Armd Div
try in vain to establish outpost in Salvaro, on left
flank of corps.
BURMA—In Br Fourteenth Army’s 4 Corps
area, Ind 17th Div continues to hold out in Meiktila
although still isolated and dependent upon air
supply. To assist in this area, 9th Brig of Ind 5th
Div is being flown to Meiktila. Two mechanized
brigs of Ind 5th Div are moving overland from
Jorhat to aid Ind 7th Div on W flank of corps.
LUZON—In U.S. Sixth Army’s I Corps area,
127th Inf of 32d Div continues hard fighting on
Villa Verde Trail; 2d Bn of 128th Inf gets to within
500 yards of Imugan; where it is brought to a halt
by enemy. On Highway 5, 1st Bn of 161st Inf, 25th
Div, begins assault on Norton’s Knob, where entrenched
Japanese throw back repeated attacks for
next 10 days. 35th Inf is ordered to relieve 1st Bn
of 27th so 27th Inf may apply its full force against
Mt Myoko. XI Corps, with new mission of attacking
vigorously against center of Shimbu line, takes
over XIV Corps zone E and NE of Manila and the
divs (6th and 43d, less RCT 169) operating there.