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From D-Day to V-Day

April 1945

April 20, 1945 - D-Day + 248

Battalions from the 29th Infantry Division’s 115th and 116th Infantry Regiments under the XIII Corps advanced to the Elbe and reached the Esterholz – Schostorf – Wittigen line. The 8th Armored Division’s Combat Commands A and B mopped up the eastern edge of the Harz Mountains and occupied Heimburg and Blankenburg. The 30th Infantry Division took up defense positions along the Elbe River from Magdeburg to Schönebeck, where it relieved the 2nd Armored Division. The 2nd Armored moved on to the area south of Braunschweig to relieve the 8th Armored Division. The 8th Infantry took over the sector of the 97th Infantry Division, which went on to be attached to Patton’s Third Army. The 17th Airborne Division was assigned to the XVIII Corps and assembled around Duisberg with orders to maintain order in the area.

Forces from the US First Army’s XVIII Corps moved to the Ruhr and the sector of the Ninth and Fifteenth Armies. The 3rd Armored Division’s Combat Command R mopped up Bobbau-Steinfurth, Jessnitz, Wolfen, and Greppin, and sent part of its units to Kleinkühnau. The entire division later prepared to launch an attack on Dessau. The 104th Infantry Division’s 415th Infantry Regiment attacked Bitterfeld and occupied a third of the city, while its sister 413th Infantry Regiment advanced to Delitzsch and the 414th Infantry Regiment made its way beyond Rackwitz and Zwochau. Organized enemy defense ground to a halt in the Harz Mountains, and units from the 1st and 9th Infantry Divisions mopped up the last vestiges of resistance. Infantry regiments from the 2nd and 69th Infantry Divisions under the US V Corps started to take over the 9th Armored Division’s frontline.

The 11th Armored Division under the US Third Army’s XII Corps secured the area around Grafenwöhr, where it found huge stocks of ammunition and various military materiel at the local training grounds. For now, the 26th Infantry Division advanced to the Erbendorf – Pressath – Eschenbach line. Following artillery preparation, the 90th Infantry Division’s 358th Infantry Regiment conquered Selb and headed to the southeast through Arzberg. In the interim, the 357th Infantry Regiment went through Marktredwitz, Fuchsmühl, and Friedenfelds. The 42nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron conquered Aš, a town already located within the pre-1938 borders of Czechoslovakia, and secured the Corps’ left flank together with the 2nd Squadron. Preparations for a final fight had been underway in the town for several days already, but not all of the locals were enthused by the idea of losing the roofs over their heads or even their lives for the Führer. In the end the town, which was famous for its textile industry, was surrounded by American units that morning.

The Americans decided to repeat the same scenario that had proven successful for them many times before. “Surrender and nothing will happen to you,” was the message of the American commander. Otherwise, the town would be bombed by artillery units. The answer was clear for the civilian administration deputy – Aš was not allowed to be destroyed. But the military commander of the town did not share his opinion. They would fight to the very last man. The mayor managed to convince the Americans not to use artillery. After 1400 hrs, battle formations from the 42nd Reconnaissance Squadron went on the attack. A battle broke out for several footholds. The assault weapon used by about 800 Wehrmacht defenders of Aš was the feared anti-tank Panzerfaust. The fighting lasted nearly five hours. The resistance put up by the defenders was finally broken and Aš became the second major municipality in West Bohemia where the Stars and Stripes flew victoriously over the town. It was reported that the battle in the streets of the town cost the lives of at least one hundred of Col Weiner’s men.

Heading up an attack by the XX Corps, assault regiments from the 71st and 65th Infantry Divisions moved to the southeast towards Regensburg and to the Danube. The advance of the 71st Infantry Division was slowed by poor terrain and strong enemy resistance at Haag and in the forests south of Auerbach in der Oberpfalz, Neuhaus, and Velden. The 65th Infantry Division’s 260th Infantry Regiment advanced to the Lauterhofen – Trautmannshofen line, while the 259th Infantry Regiment entered Neumarkt and mopped up the northern section of the city. The 13th Armored Division started to deploy to the Eschenau area. At the same time, units from the 14th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) and the 99th and 86th Infantry Divisions under the III Corps received instructions to attack to the southeast on the US Third Army’s right flank.

In a coordinated attack by 42nd, 3rd and 45th Infantry Division infantry regiments under the Seventh Army’s XV Corps, Nuremberg – the bastion of National Socialism – was finally conquered. The 12th Armored Division’s Combat Commands B and R under the XXI Corps occupied Feuchtwangen. Meanwhile, the 4th Infantry Division’s 22nd Infantry Regiment advanced to Crailsheim, and the 63rd Infantry Division mopped up the area east and southeast of Schwäbisch Hall. The 10th Armored Division’s Combat Commands A and B under the VI Corps crossed the Fils River and conquered Kirchheim. The 44th Infantry Division’s 114th Infantry Regiment commanded by Col Robert R. Martin occupied Schäbisch Gmünd and headed towards Gaildorf. The 100th Infantry Division’s 398th Infantry Regiment fought its way through Althütte to Eselhalden, while its sister 397th Infantry Regiment conquered Sulzbach an der Murr and Backnang, and the 399th Infantry Regiment advanced to Winnenden.

Units from the French First Army’s French I Corps advanced southwards through the Black Forest and the Baden Basin. Meanwhile, the French 1st Armored Division advanced to Sigmaringen and Tuttlingen, and Task Force Le Bel attacked Donaueschingen.

On April 20, 1945, an American bombing formation appeared over the train station in Klatovy. Fifty B-24 Liberators from the “Mighty Eighth” Air Force literally wiped the Klatovy train station off the face of the earth. All of the raids against the railway had one single objective: the Americans on the way here did not intend to tolerate the enemy using the sizable rail network to transport materiel and men. That day, the US Air Force lost a Mustang fighter over Bohemia. 1/Lt F. J. O’Connell’s aircraft, flying under the 354th Fighter Group, caught fire in mid flight – apparently after being hit by a German fighter. The pilot bailed out over Prague. Unlike his compatriots murdered in Konopiště the previous day, he survived to see the end of the war.