Operation Nordwind 1945 by Steven Zaloga

Author:Steven Zaloga
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Operation Nordwind 1945: Hitler’s Last Offensive in the West
ISBN: 9781782002383
Publisher: Osprey Publishing

THE CAMPAIGN

OPERATION NORDWIND

“German offensive began on Seventh Army front about 0030am. Krauts were howling drunk. Murdered them.” So wrote the Seventh Army chief of staff, Brigadier-General Arthur White in his diary.

The Nordwind offensive began on New Year’s Eve, a half-hour before midnight. With the ground covered in most areas with a foot of snow, it took the German units some time to move up to the front lines, and so most attacks did not begin until midnight. More often than not, American accounts recall that the German soldiers attacked drunk, screaming and shouting as they advanced into their fire.

The main assault by Sturmgruppe 1, Simon’s 13. SS-AK with the 17. SS-Panzergrenadier-Division and the 36. Volksgrenadier-Division, ran into the deep defenses of the 44th and 100th Infantry Divisions in the Saar Valley. A narrow penetration was made towards Rimling and Achen, but in general, the attack in this sector was stopped dead in its tracks with heavy casualties. Sturmgruppe 1 had very little success in bringing up its armored support due to the poor road conditions and the weather. On the night of January 3 the offensive in this sector was halted.

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