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From D-Day to V-Day

February 1945

February 1, 1945 - D-Day + 240

It was the start of February, 1945. The end of the war in Europe was still three months plus a few days away – but none of the participants knew that yet. It was clear to everyone, though, that conquering Germany would not be a simple task. Everything was at stake for the enemy now. They were on the retreat, even though every once in a while they were able to break out and carry out a local counterattack. It was just one month ago that the Germans threatened the Allies with its “steel fist”, but after two weeks of fighting it was more than clear that Operation Wacht am Rhein did not bring the expected result, only destruction on both sides of the line. At the same time, the operation exhausted all the reserves that Hitler would have been able to deploy for the war effort in the west.

In the course of the day, the US Ninth Army prepared for the upcoming huge offensive that aimed to cross the Rur River. The operation was code-named Grenade. The 5th Armored Division was assigned to the XIII Corps and the division's Combat Command A, temporarily assigned to the 78th Infantry Division, was returned to its home division. In the meantime, the 78th Infantry Division continued with mopping up operations in the Imgenbroich – Kesternich area.

Protecting the northern flank and maintaining contact with units from the Ninth Army, the 102nd Cavalry Group (Mechanized) under the US First Army's V Corps relieved the 9th Infantry Division in Rohren and Widdau. Assault battalions from the 9th, 99th and 2nd Infantry Division, deployed in the front from north to south, continued in their offensive that aimed to conquer the dams on the Rur and Urft Rivers. The 9th Infantry Division advanced eastwards and finally took the Hofen – Harperscheid intersection located about in the middle of the Monschau forest. While advancing through the forest, the 99th Infantry Division was relieved by units from the 9th and 2nd Infantry Divisions, and soon afterwards was entirely placed in reserve. The men from the Indianhead Division advanced to the northeast out of Rocherath, crossed the German border and joined up with the 9th Infantry Division. The 1st Infantry Division under the XVIII Corps continued to advance thought the northern part of the Buchholz forest. Assault battalions under the division's 26th and 18th Infantry Regiments advanced about a mile eastwards. The enemy put up just minor resistance. The 13th Airborne Division's 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment under Col Rupert D. Graves was attached to the 82nd Airborne Division, which continued to reinforce its positions and send out patrols together with the Big Red One to secure as much intelligence as possible about the enemy's defense of the Siegfried Line.

Forces from the VIII Corps under Patton's Third Army continued to attack in and effort to break through the fortified defense of the Siegfried Line along the Schnee Eifel ridge. On the northern flank, the 87th Infantry Division's 347th Infantry Regiment under Col Sevier R. Tupper took Manderfeld and Auw. Attacking in the Corps' central sector, units from the 4th Infantry Division advanced about three and a half miles forward and took up positions near Bleialf. The division's 8th Infantry Regiment under Col Richard G. McKee conquered Urb and Muetzenich while Col Robert H. Chance's 12th Infantry Regiment occupied Ihlren, Schweiler, and Winterscheid. Under the command of Major General Lowell W. Rook, the 90th Infantry Division advanced on the southern flank. The 90th Infantry Division's 359th Infantry Regiment occupied Gros Langenfeld while its sister regiment, the 358th, conquered Heckuscheid. In the course of the day, the III Corps held and improved its defense positions in Luxembourg along the ridge between the Our and Clerve Rivers while sending reconnaissance patrols out across the Our River. The 35th Infantry Division's 134th Infantry Regiment, which had been temporarily attached to the 6th Armored Division, returned to its home unit. With the exception of limited local attacks carried out by the 94th Infantry Division in an attempt to improve its current position, not much was happening on the XX Corps' front. The 1st Battalion under the 94th Infantry Division's 302nd Infantry Regiment mopped up about half of the Campholz forest in the area southeast of Tettingen that day.

The US Seventh Army's XV Corps maintained and improved its defense positions. The 63rd Infantry Division's Task Force Harris was dissolved, and with the exception of its 253rd Infantry Regiment, the 63rd Blood & Fire Division was brought under the command of the Corps. The 36th Infantry Division under Major General John E. Dahlquist from the VI Corps continued to advance towards the Rhine River. The 2nd Battalion under the 36th Infantry Division's 142nd Infantry Regiment crossed the Moder River and entered Oberhoffen, where it engaged in battle with the enemy's determined troops. Attached to the 36th Infantry Division, Combat Command B launched a feint attack east of Oberhoffen that day to divert the enemy's attention. After dark the command withdrew to its original position. The 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron under Col Harold J. Samsel mopped up the Stainwald forest in the area north of Gambsheim. The remaining part of the front where the Corps operated would remain in its current position for all of February. Activity would be very limited, focused solely on occasional assaults across the Moder River, but this allowed for more time to train new troops.

The French First Army continued to fight to reduce the Colmar Pocket. Despite the enemy's chaotic resistance, the French II Corps finished mopping up the Rhine plain from Erstein to Artzenheim. With support from French tank units, assault battalions from the 3rd Infantry Division's 15th and 30th Infantry Regiments under the XXI Corps advanced along the Rhine – Rhône canal towards Neuf-Brisach. In the end, they advanced to positions north of the town. Two regiments from the 75th Infantry Division advanced southwards towards Andolsheim. Operating on the Corps' western flank, the 28th Infantry Division launched an advance on Colmar at 2100 hrs, while the French I Corps continued mopping up operations in the area south of the Thur River in the area between Cernay and Ensisheim. For now the enemy was still able to hold on to the two towns.

On February 1, 1945, fighters from the Czechoslovak RAF fighter squadrons accompanies 160 Lancasters from the No. 3 Group that attacked the German city of Mönchengladbach as part of Operation Ramrod 1448. The aim of the attack was the city itself, which was blanketed in thick clouds at the time of the attack. As the cloud cover made it difficult to locate the designated area to be bombed, the Allies carried out the raid using smoke signals dropped by Pathfinder Force aircraft. Using radars, they framed the city with bright smoke signals floating in the sky, making it possible for the main formation to drop their deadly payloads. The results of the attack were not known; one of the four-engine Lancasters sent out of the mission, though, crashed in France.

The Czechoslovaks took off on the raid against Mönchengladbach shortly after 3 pm. A total of 36 Spitfires flew in the mission, with all three Czechoslovak fighter squadrons participating. As usual, flack was very heavy over the target, claiming the life of one of the British pilots. F/Lt John A. H. Pinn, a British member of the No. 313 Squadron, took a hit directly above the German city. Pinn was able to get his Spitfire over the Netherlands, but was apparently killed while attempting an emergency landing in the Eidhoven area. The aircraft piloted by P/O Karel Stojan, also from the No. 313 Squadron, also took a hit – after flak destroyed his engine, he was able to make an emergency landing in Belgium. The No. 312 Squadron also chalked up one lost, with 2/Lt Albert C. Gaydos landing his aircraft on its belly at the home base in Bradwell Bay after running out of fuel. Although the pilot was able to land his aircraft on the ground, the landing was hard enough to cause serious damage to the aircraft and injure 2/Lt Gaydos.

Death was also reported at Dunkirk. In the eastern section of the perimeter, the enemy and a patrol from the 2nd Tank Battalion exchanged fire. The close-range fire claimed the life of Private Petr Meloko. Another member of the patrol, Private Josef Garšicm, also suffered injuries. In the end, tank-supported reinforcements chased the enemy back. Petr Meloko (b. 1925), nicknamed Pepe, was born in Orlová, a city in the district of Karvina. He was laid to rest at the cemetery in De Panne, Belgium.