1942 - US Army Center Of Military History

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to clear S part of island and patrols to S tip. Kuba I.
and Amuro I. are taken without opposition by Co G
of RCT 307 and Co B of RCT 305, respectively.
Japanese suicide planes continue to attack surface
vessels.
JAPAN—As preparations for invasion of Japan
continue, Tinian-based B–29’s of 313th Bombardment
Wing inaugurate a strategic night mining
program to complete the blockade of the islands.
This, combined with further intensive day and night
aerial bombardment by other aircraft and submarine
action in waters about Japan, yields excellent results.
By midsummer Japan’s merchant fleet is fatally
crippled.
28 March
WESTERN EUROPE—Gen Eisenhower alters
direction and plan of final Allied drive. Objective is
changed from Berlin, toward which Soviet forces are
moving rapidly, to Leipzig. 12th rather than 21 Army
Group is to make main effort.
21 Army Group: Br Second Army, on right, breaks
out of bridgehead and begins drive to the Elbe. In
Cdn 2 Corps area, Cdn 3d Div, attacking toward
Emmerich, reverts to corps from attachment to Br
30 Corps in current positions. Br 30 Corps reaches
general line Haldern–Isselburg–Anholt. In 12 Corps
area, 53d Div overruns Shede and begins assault on
Bocholt. 7th Armd Div thrusts past Heiden to
Borken. In XVIII Corps (A/B) area, 6th A/B Div
speeds from Erle to Lembeck; is transferred to Br 8
Corps control at 2400. U.S. 17th A/B Div’s 507th
Para Inf overruns Wulfen and starts motorized column
to Haltern, night 28–29, to relieve 6th Gds
Armd Brig. 6th Gds Armd Brig, reinf, reaches Dorsten
early in day and drives rapidly NE to Haltern.
1st Cdo Brig passes to Br 8 Corps control.
In U.S. Ninth Army’s XVI Corps area, 8th Armd
Div attacks through 30th Div with CCA and CCR,
pushing toward Dorsten. CCA reaches SW approaches,
where lively fighting ensues. 30th Div improves
N flank positions in limited attack. 35th Div’s
3-regt attack in Kirchhellen region makes limited
progress. 79th Div, pressing S against the Ruhr, makes
little headway on left but on right overruns a number
of towns and villages, among them Hamborn and
Neumuhl.
12th Army Group: U.S. Fifteenth Army, with XXII
and XXIII Corps under its command, is assigned
twofold mission of containing bypassed pockets at
Lorient and St Nazaire in coastal sector of France
and occupying, organizing, and governing the Rhine
sector in Germany. As U.S. advance continues E of
the Rhine, Fifteenth Army will move forward to provide
security for rear areas. U.S. First and Third
Armies effect junction N of Idstein.
[ 28 MARCH 1945 ]
In U.S. First Army’s VII Corps area CC Boudinot
of 3d Armd Div, attacking through CC Hickey,
drives E practically unopposed, TF Lovelady reaching
Lahn R and seizing Marburg and TF Welborn
halting at Runzhausen; CC Howze advances to Dill
R and secures Dillenburg. Div, ordered to swing N
toward Paderborn to complete encirclement of the
Ruhr in conjunction with Ninth Army, passes 83d
Armd Rcn Bn through CC Howze at Dillenburg
to secure turning line Dillenburg–Marburg; the
armd rcn bn seizes Bottenhorn and Holzhausen. 1st
Div clears Breitscheidt and drives enemy E of Biersdorf
and Daaden, while 104th Div ( — ) advances E
10 miles behind armor. 4th Cav Gp begins progressive
relief of 1st Div on successive objectives along
the Sieg to E of 78th Div. Myth Div begins relief
of 8th Div in defensive positions along W bank of
the Rhine. In III Corps area, 7th Armd Div, jumping
off shortly after midnight 27–28 from Dill R
line, drives NE to Lahn R and secures crossings between
Marburg and Giessen and communications
centers E of the Lahn. CCR’s TF Griffin crosses S
of Marburg to gain objectives in Schroeck–Beltershausen
region and makes contact with 3d Armd Div
(VII Corps) at Marburg. TF Brown crosses in
Roth–Bellnhausen area and continues to Ebsdorf.
CCA meets determined resistance as it approaches
Giessen but succeeds in entering and clearing the
city; since bridge there is damaged, treadway bridge
is constructed over the Lahn. CCB, having displaced
eastward, is committed between CCR and CCA and
secures crossings of the Lahn N of Giessen and road
centers E of the Lahn. Bypassing resistance near
Rodheim, CCB advances to Wissmar, which it is
obliged to capture before continuing; TF Erlenbusch
clears Wissmar, crosses the Lahn, and captures
Wieseck and Grossen Buseck; from Wissmar, TF
Chappuis turns N, taking Ruttershausen and crossing
the Latin to clear Staufenberg, Mainzlar, Daubringen,
Lollar, and Alten Buseck. 7th Armd Div
thus gains all of its objectives and is directed to
assemble in Marburg area to continue attack to N.
9th Div speeds E to W bank of Lahn R in Niederwalgern–Odenhausen
region. 99th Div’s 393d Inf
clears to Dill R line NW of Wetzlar, relieving armor
of crossings in Asslar–Hermannstein region; 395th
is pinched out S of Merenberg; 394th motors to Giessen
area. 14th Cav Gp displaces to vicinity of Lahr,
W of Weilburg, and its 18th Sq is attached
to 99th Div. 28th Div ( — ) is transferred to III Corps
from V Corps. In V Corps area, 9th Armd Div assembles
along the Lahn. CCR makes contact with
Third Army on Cologne–Frankfurt Autobahn N of
Idstein and withdraws to the Lahn. 2d Div relieves
CCB at Hadamar and Limburg. 69th Div finishes
crossing the Rhine and takes over sector cleared by
RCT 272.