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From D-Day to V-Day

April 1945

April 22, 1945 - D-Day + 250

Units from the 29th Infantry and 5th Armored Divisions under the Ninth Army’s XIII Corps continued their rapid deployment to the Elbe. The 5th Armored Division’s Combat Command A advanced to the main road between Lüneburg and Dannenberg. One column broke through Metzingen to Pussade, and the other to Goehrde and Weitzetze. Combat Command R headed towards Lüchow. The 84th Infantry Division finished mopping up the northern section along the Elbe northwest of Wittenberge. The 113th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) under the XIX Corps took over screening the 83rd Infantry Division’s left flank in the sector west of the Elbe, while the 2nd Armored mopped up the rest of the forest by Königslutter. The Corps also took over managing the occupation of its area. Units from the 30th and 83rd Infantry Divisions would remain in their current positions along the Elbe, and the 2nd and 8th Armored Divisions would take over responsibility for the rear. The XVI Corps expanded its operational area all the way to the borders of Westphalia.

The 3rd Armored Division under the US First Army’s VII Corps continued to attack Dessau, and subsequently mopped up the entire city except for a small area in the northeast. The 104th Infantry Division took up positions along the Mulde River and started to regroup. The 8th Armored Division under the Ninth Army took over the zone in the Harz Mountains from the 1st Infantry Division. The 9th Infantry Division was assigned to the VII Corps. The 9th Armored Division’s Combat Command B under the US V Corps moved to within reach of Rotha, where it secured administrative buildings and the industrial park. In the course of the day, units from the 2nd Infantry Division deflected an enemy attack near Grimma in the area east of the Mulde River and mopped up the nearby forests. With artillery support, the 69th Infantry Division continued to conquer Eilenburg. To secure its southern flank, the US First Army took over the VIII Corps in its current positions; it was detached from Patton’s Third Army.

The 11th Armored Division under the US Third Army’s XII Corps launched an advance out of Grafenwöhr to the south. Combat Command A Quickly conquered Weiden and continued on Nabburg, while Combat Command B advanced to the Black Forest, where it built a bridgehead over the Naab River. Combat Command R reached the same river at Wernberg-Köblitz. Units from the 26th Infantry Division advanced behind the armored units. The 90th Infantry Division’s 358th Infantry Regiment occupied Plössberg and Floss, while battalions from its sister 357th Infantry Regiment mopped up the woods and several villages east of Weiden. Meanwhile, the 2nd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron secured the Aš – Arzberg area, and the 42nd Squadron expanded its zone to the small towns of Hranice (Rossbach) and Studánce (Thonbrunn). The 97th Infantry Division, which started to take over the operational zone of the 2nd Cavalry Group (Mechanized), was attached to the Corps. The 3rd Cavalry Group (Mechanized) commanded by Col James H. Polk under the XX Corps attacked to the southeast in the direction of the Danube River for now, moving through the positions of the 65th and 71st Infantry Divisions. The 3rd Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron took control of a bridge over the Naab River in Burglengenfeld. The 43rd Squadron was also successful, liberating a concentration camp north of Hohenfels, but it was unable to occupy the bridge over the Naab in Duggendorf which the Germans had managed to destroy in time. The 71st Infantry Division’s 5th Infantry Regiment conquered Sulzbach-Rosenberg, while the 14th Infantry Regiment, currently reinforced by a tank unit, occupied Amberg. At the same time, the division’s 66th Infantry Regiment mopped up the area on the division’s right flank. Battalions from the 65th Infantry Division’s 259th and 260th Infantry Regiments advanced to the Kastl – Engelsberg – Oberwiesenacker – Oberbuchfeld line. Assembled in the Eschenau area, the 13th Armored Division was attached to the Corps. A division from the III Corps temporarily held off a planned attack until XV Corps units would take over its sector.

The 12th Armored Division’s Combat Command A under the Seventh Army’s XXI Corps reached the Danube in Lauingen and Dillingen, and in a swift attack took over a bridge that had been prepared for demotion. Meanwhile, Combat Command B advanced to the river in Höchstädt an der Donau, where the enemy had enough time to destroy the bridge, while Combat Command R launched mopping up operations in the Bopfingen – Lauchheim area. Part of the 101st Cavalry Group (Mechanized) reached the river near Lauingen. The 4th Infantry Division’s Task Force Rodwell broke through to the outskirts of Aalen. The 4th Infantry Division’s 8th Infantry Regiment reached Ellwangen, but was unable to mop up the town. Meanwhile, its sister 22nd Infantry Regiment advanced to the Adelmannsfelden area. The 63rd Infantry Division mopped up the major part of its zone north of the Rems River between Schwäbisch Gmünd and Aalen that day, and in Böbingen even conquered the bridge over the Rems River. The 10th Armored Division’s Combat Command B under the VI Corps reached the Danube in Ehingen.

The French First Army’s French II Corps reinforced its positions in the Stuttgart area, and started to mop up the area south of Tübingen. The French 1st Armored Division under the French I Corps rotated to the east and quickly advanced along the Danube to Ulm. Meanwhile, Task Force Le Bel headed to the northwest bank of Lake Constance near Stockach, and the 9th Colonial Infantry Division advanced to Mühlheim an der Donau.

That day, American fighter bombers went hunting for opportune targets over the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. On the Pilsen – České Budějovice railroad, fighter bombers hit the locomotive of a freight train at Nezvěstice train station. A couple of miles closer to Pilsen, they were able to take out more locomotives standing at the Starý Plzenec train station. Due to the incessant air attacks, the Rail Authority in Pilsen prohibited trains from travelling during the day. The ban was respected by the operations authorities and train stations, but it meant little to the occupying powers. Commanders of the German Wehrmacht transports and evacuation trains, often threatening to use violence, forced the trains to be dispatched during the daytime – often with tragic consequences.