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From D-Day to V-Day

January 1945

January 1, 1945 - D-Day + 209

With the first minutes of New Year's Day 1945, terrible World War II entered its the final year. Hitler first won over Austria, and subsequently forced the European powers to respect Germany's claim for “Lebensraum” in the areas of Czechoslovakia lying along the German border. On March 15, 1939, free and democratic Czechoslovakia ceased to exist. Poland fell five months later. France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands were subjugated in 1940. For four long years the citizens of these countries waited for “the day of days” to come in Normandy. From June 6, 1944 until January 1, 1945, the Allies had to embark on a long journey paved with the blood of tens of thousands of American, British, Canadian, French and other Allied soldiers on the Western front. The final victory in Europe on May 8, 1945 was slowly nearing, though.

In the early morning hours of the New Year, the Luftwaffe carried out Operation Bodenplatte – a massive aerial attack of around one thousand German aircraft against Allied airfields in the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. The element of surprise was perfect. In just under an hour, the Germans were able to destroy hundreds of single-engine and multi-engine aircraft on the ground, rendering the Allied air force in northwestern Europe inoperable for about a week. Hitler lost about 280 aircraft during the operation. Exerting all of their strength, the command of the American and British air forces were able to “pry” enough aircraft off the ground in order to at least partially provide aerial coverage to land units.

Major General Herman F. Kramer's 66th Infantry Division went through the positions of Major General Harry J. Malony's 94th Infantry Division and held back the enemy near Lorient and St. Nazaire.

The US Third Army continued in its counteroffensive in the Ardennes. The VIII Corps' 87th Infantry Division occupied Moircy and Jenneville. Combat Command A under Brigadier General Willard A. Holbrook from the 11th Armored Division launched an attack towards Hubermont and stopped east of Rechrival. In cooperation with Combat Command B under Col Wesley W. Yale, the division mopped up Chenogne and the forest located north of the village. The 9th Armored Division's Combat Command A under Col Thomas L. Harold advanced towards Senonchamps. The artillery of the 101st Airborne Division provided fire support to advancing units from the 11th Armored Division on its left flank and the 6th Armored Division on its right. The 17th Airborne Division under Major General William M. Miley relieved the 28th Infantry Division from its positions in the Neuchâteau area.

The III Corps attempted to surround German units in the salient to the southeast of Bastogne. The 4th Armored Division held the corridor leading to Bastogne and provided fire support to the 35th Infantry Division, which was able to partially mop up Lutrebois and advance to the intersection to the southeast of Marvie. In the Villers-la-Bonne-Eau and Harlange area, however, it did not make any progress. In the area east of Bastogne, tank groups from the 6th Armored Division occupied Neffe, Bizery and Mageret, but an enemy counterattack pushed them out of Mageret.

The Germans launched an offensive entitled Operation Nordwind against units from the 6th Army Group's Seventh Army. In the sector of the XV Corps, enemy forces used two wedges to attack the positions of the 106th Cavalry Group (Mechanized) and the 44th and 100th Infantry Divisions. The main force was focused on the right wing of the 44th Infantry Division, where the enemy was able to penetrate through its positions northwest of Rimling. The 100th Infantry Division, which stood in between attacking enemy columns, was forced to retract its right flank, exposed following the retreat of Task Force Hudelson. In the meantime, units of the right flank destroyed enemy groups that had been able to penetrate into Rimling.

To halt the enemy in the salient between the XV and VI Corps, the 36th Infantry Division's 141th Infantry Regiment under Col Charles H. Owens was deployed. In the area of the VI Corps, enemy units attacked the regiment's left flank in the zone south of Bitche, breaking through the weak defense of Col Daniel Hudelson's Task Force Hudelson, composed of units from the 62nd Armored Infantry Battalion, the 645th Anti-Tank Battalion's Company B, and the 117th and 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadrons. Hudelson's group later withdrew to the Lemberg – Mouterhouse area.

The 45th Infantry Division held the enemy on the Philippsbourg – Neuhoffe – Obersteinbach line, where its units pushed back the Germans who had broken through to Dambach. The 45th was reinforced by units from the 79th Infantry Division and the 70th Infantry Division's Task Force Herren under Brigadier General Thomas W. Herren. Col Francis J. Gillespie's Combat Command B from the 14th Armored Division moved towards Vosgésy, where its mission was to guard the access route. The 79th Infantry Division lengthened its right flank, its operational zone now extending from Schaffhouse-Prés-Seltz all the way to Gambsheim.

After weeks of relative quiet filled with daily flights over the endless waters of the North Sea, grief fell over the Czechoslovak No. 311 Squadron. Soon after takeoff, an aircraft piloted by W/O O. Bureš crashed on the island of Hoy in the Orkney Islands. No one from the eight-member crew survived the crash of the Liberator bearing call no. PP-Y. Five of W/O Bureš' crew were interred at St Duthus cemetery in Tain, Scotland, one week later. Their bodies were laid to rest in the country they had helped to protect, alongside their colleagues who had also met their fate in the North Sea. It was never successfully investigated why the crash had occurred.