Driving Back the Nazis by Martin King

Author:Martin King [King, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History
ISBN: 9781398808393
Publisher: Arcturus Digital Limited
Published: 2020-12-09T14:12:58+00:00

A tank from the 10th Armored ‘Tiger’ Division on the move after the Battle of Metz. They would be the first American unit to reach Bastogne a few weeks later after the ‘Battle of the Bulge’ erupted.

Efforts to take Driant quickly assumed the characteristics of famous counter-mining battles such as the one fought at Messines in World War I. Attempts to eject the German defenders by aerial bombardment and shellfire met with little success due to the density of the fort’s reinforced concrete.

Around 30,000 German troops defended the city of Metz. To the north, the 416th Infantry Division, with a strength estimated at 8,300 men, held the sector that extended from Koenigsmacker to the northern boundary of XX Corps. The 19th Infantry Division, which exceeded 5,000 troops, held the Moselle from Koenigsmacker south, 8 km (5 miles) shy of the city. South of Metz was the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division, numbering approximately 6,000 men. Other General Headquarters units, such as flak and artillery battalions, totalling 2,000 men, were liberally distributed throughout the area.

General Lieutenant Kittel, an expert in fortress defence, was transferred from the Eastern Front to take command of the 462nd Volksgrenadier Division. However, he didn’t arrive in Metz until the operation had begun, and could only then position his units to meet the attack and issue orders to defend at all costs, echoing Hitler’s standard ‘last man, last cartridge’ instructions.

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