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Battle of the Rhineland

Siegfried Line Campaign
Part of the Western Front of World War II
Americans cross Siegfried Line.jpg
U.S. Army troops cross the Siegfried Line.
Date 25 August 1944 – 7 March 1945
(6 months, 1 week and 3 days)
Location Along and around the Siegfried Line, (France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands and Germany)
Result Allied victory
Belligerents
Western Allies
 United States
 United Kingdom
 Canada
France France
Poland Poland
and others
 Germany
Commanders and leaders
United States Dwight D. Eisenhower
(SHAEF)
United Kingdom Bernard Montgomery
(21st Army Group)
United States Omar Bradley
(12th Army Group)
United States Jacob L. Devers
(6th Army Group)
Nazi Germany Gerd von Rundstedt
(Oberbefehlshaber West)
Nazi Germany Walter Model
(Army Group B)
Strength
4.5 million troops (91 divisions) ~1,500,000 troops
Casualties and losses

U.S.:
240,082 casualties
(50,410 killed,
172,450 wounded,
24,374 captured or missing)
(15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945)
U.K.
~32,366
Total:
272,448+


400,000+ casualties

  • ~40,000 killed
  • ~80,000 wounded
  • 280,000+ captured

U.S.:
240,082 casualties
(50,410 killed,
172,450 wounded,
24,374 captured or missing)
(15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945)
U.K.
~32,366
Total:
272,448+


400,000+ casualties

The Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine was a phase in the Western European Campaign of World War II.

This phase spans from the end of the Battle of Normandy, or Operation Overlord, (25 August 1944) incorporating the German winter counter-offensive through the Ardennes (commonly known as the Battle of the Bulge) and Operation Nordwind (in Alsace and Lorraine) up to the Allies preparing to cross the Rhine in the early months of 1945. This roughly corresponds with the official United States military European Theater of Operations Rhineland and Ardennes-Alsace Campaigns.

German forces had been routed during the Allied break-out from Normandy. The Allies advanced rapidly against an enemy that put up little resistance. But after the liberation of Paris in late August 1944, the Allies paused to re-group and organise before continuing their advance from Paris to the River Rhine. The pause allowed the Germans to solidify their lines—something they had been unable to do west of Paris.

By the middle of September 1944, the three Western Allied army groups; the Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group (Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery) in the north, the United States U.S. 12th Army Group (Lieutenant General Omar Bradley) in the center, and the Franco-American 6th Army Group (Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers) in the south, formed a broad front under the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his headquarters SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force).


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Wikipedia

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