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From D-Day to V-Day

April 1945

April 18, 1945 - D-Day + 246

The 5th Canadian Armored Division under the First Canadian Army’s I Canadian Corps advanced to the Zuiderzee and cut off German units located in the area. At the same time, the 4th Canadian Armored Division engaged in fighting in the area southwest of Oldenburg.

On the outskirts of Bremen, units from the British Second Army’s British XXX Corps prepared for a direct attack on the city, while the British XII Corps occupied Soltau and continued towards Harburg. The British 15th Infantry Division under the British VIII Corps conquered Uelzen, and the 11th Armoured Division took Lüneburg. Meanwhile, the British 5th Infantry Division took up positions east of Osnabrück.

The 5th Armored Division’s Combat Command A under the Ninth Army’s XIII Corps went through the Knesebeck Forest, stopping near Steimke. The 29th Infantry Division was attached to the XIII Corps. In Magdeburg, the enemy let down its organized defenses, and combat units from the 30th Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions under the XIX Corps made contact with one another and mopped up the city. The 83rd Infantry Division reinforced its positions on the east bank of the Elbe River and deflected an enemy attack against the bridge near Breitenhagen. The 35th Infantry Division’s 320th Infantry Regiment occupied Dornbock. Meanwhile, tank columns from the 8th Armored Division advanced through the forests south of Derenburg and occupied the main road between Langenstein and Heimburg.

In the US First Army’s zone in the Ruhr Pocket, organized enemy resistance came to an end. German Army Group B under the command of Field Marshall Walther Model suffered enormous losses of both men and materiel. In all, over 325,000 enemy soldiers were eventually taken prisoner. The 13th Armored Division’s Combat Command A under the XVIII Corps headed through Ratingen westward to the Rhine, while Combat Command B remained in Duisburg. The 97th Infantry Division’s 303rd Infantry Regiment went through Düsseldorf without encountering practically any resistance. The 78th Infantry Division secured the First Army’s rear for now, and the 8th Infantry searched for remaining surrounded enemy pockets. The 3rd Armored Division under the VII Corps continued to mop up its zone. Combat Command B withdrew from the bridgehead on the Mulde River at Torten, while Combat Command R, reinforced by the 83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion and a unit from Combat Command A, attacked the Jessnitz – Wolfen – Greppin line. CCR subsequently advanced to Reuden and Thalheim. The 104th Infantry Division’s Task Force Kelleher engaged in tough street fighting in the southern section of Halle. The 1st Infantry Division continued to advance through the Harz Mountains to the east and northeast. The 9th Infantry Division’s 60th Infantry Regiment occupied Mägdesprung and Friedrichsbrunn. Meanwhile, the division’s 47th Infantry Regiment mopped up Meisdorf and attacked Ballenstedt, and the 39th Infantry Regiment, working together with the 4th Cavalry Group (Mechanized), advanced to Quedlinburg. Combat units from the 2nd and 69th Infantry Divisions under the US V Corps launched a coordinated attack on Leipzig. Advancing to the city from the west, battalions from the 2nd Infantry Division’s 23rd and 38th Infantry Regiments mopped up the areas in the direction of the Weisse and Pliesse Rivers, while the division’s 9th Infantry Regiment conquered an anti-aircraft battery east of Lützen. The 69th Infantry Division’s 273rd Infantry Regiment attacked the city from the southeast. Its sister 271st Infantry Regiment was attached to the 2nd Infantry Division, and went on to continue its attack in the Zwenkau area and advance northwards towards Leipzig.

Forces from Patton’s Third Army regrouped to launch an offensive to the southeast along the Czechoslovak border and into Austria. The VIII Corps evened out the line and took over the XX Corps sector. The 76th Infantry Division relieved the 4th Armored Division from its positions. Battalions from the 89th Infantry Division’s 354th and 355th Infantry Regiments expanded the bridgehead on the Mulde River towards Ölsnitz, and occupied Zwickau and Wilkau-Hasslau. The 6th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) sent reconnaissance patrols from the 28th Cavalry Squadron out to the Czechoslovak border. The XII Corps, which had been detached from the First Army and reassigned to the Third Army, regrouped and prepared to launch an attack the next day to the southeast towards the Bavarian town of Cham. The 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron advanced to the Hof area after being relieved by 11th Armored Division units near Bayreuth. The 90th Infantry Division’s 357th Infantry Regiment advanced to the south and assembled in the Bad Berneck area. That same day, a reconnaissance unit commanded by 1st Lt Merril B. Rudes of the 3rd Battalion’s K Company, 90th Division’s 358th Infantry Regiment, headed out of Oberprex and, not far from the tri-border area, crossed the border of pre-1938 Czechoslovakia at 9:55 a.m. At around noon, the American patrol returned back behind the border with a wealth of intelligence and nearly forty prisoners. Not long afterwards, two more patrols headed into to Bohemia. The target was Rossbach, the German name for the town of Hranice. The American commander sent negotiators out to the center of town to persuade the locals that it would be better if they surrendered. When this did not happen, several shots were fired at the Hranice area and this compelled the local leaders to come to their senses. The path to the Bohemian interior was now open. While this significant event for Czechs occurred near Hranice, the 26th Infantry Division’s 104th Infantry Regiment advanced eastwards to Kirchenlamitz and Weissenstadt, and its sister 101st Infantry Regiment took up positions between Gefrees and Voitsumra. The 80th Infantry Division under the XX Corps advanced to Chemnitz for now.

Assault battalions from the 3rd and 45th Infantry Divisions under the XV Corps broke through to Nuremberg, where they later engaged in heavy fighting within the city. At that time, the 42nd Infantry Division under the XXI Corps had entered Fürth and, in coordination with XV Corps units, blocked the escape routes out of Nuremberg. The 12th Armored Division received an order to launch an attack along the Ansbach – Feuchtwangen – Lauchheim axis. Combat Command A carried out reconnaissance along the road between Ansbach and Feuchtwangen, while tank units from Combat Commands B and R occupied the northern section of Ansbach and the 101st Cavalry Group (Mechanized) secured the division’s southern flank. Together with men from the 100th Infantry Division’s 398th Infantry Regiment, the 10th Armored Division’s Combat Command A under the VI Corps conquered Mainhardt, Grab, and Oberrot. CCA subsequently continued through Hausen to the southeast. Meanwhile, Combat Command B supported the 63rd Infantry Division’s 254th Infantry Regiment in Schwäbisch Hall, and started to advance southwards along the Kocher River beyond Fichtenberg and towards Grossaltdorf. The 100th Infantry Division’s 397th Infantry Regiment advanced to Suzbach, located on the Murr River, and its sister 399th Infantry Regiment encountered strong resistance in the hills to the northwest of Beilstein. After mopping up Schwäbisch Hall, the 63rd Infantry Division’s 254th Infantry Regiment advanced to the Ruppertshofen – Cröffelbach line, as its sister 255th Infantry Regiment occupied the Eltershofen – Gelbingen area and the 253rd Infantry Regiment headed out towards the Sanzenbach – Uttenhofen line.

The French First Army’s French II Corps launched an advance on Stuttgart. Units from the French 5th Armored and 2nd Moroccan Infantry Divisions left Freudenstadt and headed to the northeast along the Neckar River to Rottenburg and Herrenberg. At the same time, the 3rd Algerian Infantry Division mopped up the forest south of Pforzheim. Forces from the French I Corps advancing through the Black Forest occupied Obertal, Oppenau, Gengebach, and Lahr.

In the course of April 18, Allied bombers appeared in the skies over the West Bohemian city of Pilsen once more. They appeared and disappeared again in a flash, leaving behind nearly 70 fatalities in the residential neighborhood of Slovany. To this day there are disputes as to the original target of the bombs – whether the classification yard in Koterov or the Škoda Works branch in Pilsen – Doudlevce. On April 18, the bombers also attacked the freight train station in Kolín. The Mighty Eighth brought in nearly 120 bombers, and the aircraft crews carried out precise work that day as the majority of the bombs fell on the designated target. In the course of the day, the Americans lost one P-51D fighter aircraft over Bohemia. Piloted by 1/Lt Oscar T. Ridley from the 357th Fighter Group, his fighter crashed in the Kladno district. Luckily the pilot was able to escape and he welcomed the end of the war in hiding with Czech partisans.

That day, Czechoslovak pilots from the No. 310, 312, and 313 Squadrons RAF participated in escorting an enormous bombing formation of 617 Lancasters and 332 Halifaxes in Operation Ramrod 1544. The bombers were headed over a naval base, airport and military buildings on the German island of Helgoland. The Czechoslovaks would travel here again the following day in their next last mission of this infinitely long war.