The American Operations in WW2: Rhineland

World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind. Highly relevant today, World War II has much to teach us, not only about the profession of arms, but also about military preparedness, global strategy, and combined operations in the coalition war against fascism. This book follows military operations of the US Army in Germany from 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945.
In September 1944, the long-awaited final victory over Nazi Germany seemed close at hand for the Allies. In the East, the Red Army moved inexorably toward the German frontier. In the skies over the Third Reich and the occupied countries, Allied air power wreaked havoc on the Wehrmacht, German industry, and lines of communications. In the West, three Allied army groups stretched from the North Sea to Switzerland-poised for the final assault against the Nazi homeland.
The mood in General Dwight D. Eisenhower's Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF), was almost euphoric. General Eisenhower's intelligence officer predicted that victory in Europe was "within sight, almost within reach." The First Army chief of intelligence was even more optimistic, declaring that it was unlikely that organized German resistance would continue beyond 1 December 1944. Others, however, believed that the Germans remained unbeaten. Col. Oscar W. Koch, the Third Army intelligence officer, was convinced that the German Army, far from being routed, was playing for time and preparing for a "last-ditch struggle in the field at all costs."
Instead of a quick dash into the heart of Germany, what awaited General Eisenhower's armies was an exhausting campaign in horrid weather against a foe whose determination was steeled by the belief that he was fighting for the very survival of his homeland. The Rhineland Campaign was about to begin...

Ted Ballard is a historian with the U.S. Army Center of Military History since 1980 and a part of the Center's staff ride program since 1986.