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From D-Day to V-Day

February 1945

February 9, 1945 - D-Day + 248

The Canadian 3rd Infantry Division under the First Canadian Army’s British XXX Corps occupied Mehr, Niel, Keeken, and Milligen, and division patrols carried out reconnaissance in the Rhine area. The British 15th Infantry Division surmounted the defense on the Siegfried Line and advanced to the hills near Materborn. In the meantime, the British 43rd Infantry Division headed out of Nijmegen and towards Goch, reaching Nuettergen, while the British 53rd Infantry Division advanced through the northern section of the Reichswald and mopped up Stuppelburg and the hills southwest of Materbornu. The British 51st Infantry Division was also on the move, going through the southern section of the forest, advancing towards Hekkens, and cutting off the main highway between Mook and Gennep.

The 9th Infantry Division under the US First Army’s V Corps advanced to the Schwammenauel Dam, and the division’s 60th Infantry Regiment occupied part of Hasenfeld. The 78th Infantry Division’s 310th Infantry Regiment was designated to protect the northern flank, mopping up the section north of the Schmidt – Hasenfeld highway while blocking the Harscheid – Nideggen highway. The division’s 311th Infantry Regiment advanced to the southeast and mopped up the northern bank of the Urft Dam. The 517th Parachute Infantry Regiment assembled near Huertgen while the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment under the 82nd Airborne Division headed towards the area west of Abendenu towards the Rur River. The 106th Infantry Division’s 424th Infantry Regiment took responsibility for the Corps’ southern flank.

The 3rd Battalion under the 87th Infantry Division’s 345th Infantry Regiment from the US Third Army’s VIII Corps occupied Neuendorf, but the division’s reconnaissance company was unable to make contact with 4th Infantry Division units in Willwerath. The 4th Division’s 8th Infantry Regiment conquered Gondenbrett and Hermespand, where it crossed the Prüm River, while its sister 22nd Infantry Regiment occupied Niedermehlen and battalions from the 12th Infantry Regiment mopped up Steinmehlen. The 90th Infantry Division fought its way through the Siegfried Line fortifications throughout the day. The 90th Division’s 358th Infantry Regiment occupied Hill 519 and advanced about a mile forward. Despite the Germans’ fierce defense, units from the 90th Infantry and 11th Armored Divisions were able to make contact with one another.

In the operational sector of the III Corps, the 6th Armored Division’s Combat Command R expanded and reinforced the bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Our River and made contact with 17th Airborne Division paratroopers who later took over CCR’s sector. The 3rd Battalion from the 80th Infantry Division’s 319th Infantry Regiment under the XII Corps was unable to cross the Our River at Wallendorf, but the remainder of the division’s 318th Infantry Regiment crossed the Sauer River near Sillingen. Late that afternoon, battalions from the 5th Infantry Division’s 10th and 11th Infantry Regiments and the 3rd Battalion under the 76th Infantry Division’s 417th Infantry Regiment started to cross the Sauer River between Weilerbach and Echternach. Units from the 94th Infantry Division’s 301st Infantry Regiment under the US XX Corps that were mopping up the Bannholz forest east of Sinz encountered fierce enemy resistance. Units from the 5th Rangers Battalion were moved from the 26th Infantry Division to the 94th Infantry Division and relieved the “Neuf Cats” Division’s 302nd Infantry Regiment on the division’s left flank. In the bridgehead area in Saarlautern, assault battalions from the 26th Infantry Division’s 104th Infantry Regiment conquered several fortified houses.

The 101st Cavalry Group (Mechanized) from the Seventh Army’s XV Corps started to take over the sector of the front originally held by units under the 106th Cavalry Group. The 10th Armored Division’s Combat Command B returned from the Corps back to its home division. The 63rd Infantry Division’s 254th Infantry Regiment was reassigned to the 100th Infantry Division and relieved the 70th Infantry Division’s 274th Infantry Regiment from their positions. The 1st Battalion from the 36th Infantry Division’s 142nd Infantry Regiment under the VI Corps was engaged in heavy house-to-house fighting during the day in Oberhofen.

The French First Army completely reduced the Colmar Pocket, in fact quashing the assault power of the German 19th Army. Fighter aircraft from the US XII Tactical Air Command and the 1st French Air Corps helped the land units succeed. Units from the French I Corps advanced to a small bridgehead in Chalampré, but the Germans were able to destroy the town’s bridge in time.

Although the Czechoslovak squadrons did not take part in any battle missions on February 9, 1945, death made its grim appearance once more. It was quarter past three in the afternoon when P/O Alois Záleský’s Spitfire blew up in midair during a training flight. Just 25 minutes later, the Spitfire piloted by F/Sgt Ondřej Šamberger, a native of the Pilsen suburb of Blovice, dropped like a brick into the sea. Just like Alois, Ondřej (b. 1916) served under the No. 312 Squadron, where he had arrived just two months earlier. The cause of his tragic death was most likely a broken inflow of oxygen and his resulting loss of consciousness.

Alois Záleský (b. 1916) came from Pilsen, where he completed the “One Thousand New Pilots for the Republic” program at the West Bohemian Flying Club. After Czechoslovakia was occupied by the Germans, he escaped to France via Poland. In June of 1940 he sailed for the British Isles, where he became a mechanic with the No. 312 Squadron RAF. He signed up for pilot school and was accepted, completing training in the UK and Canada before returning to the No. 312 Squadron as a pilot. In September of that year he most likely shot down a German two-engine Messerschmitt Bf 110 in a dogfight. Fate was not on his side on February 9, 1945, though. No explanation was ever found for the cause of the tragic accident.

Death also struck at Dunkirk, where an exploding mine killed Bratislava native Private Hugo Glaser (b. 1915) in the western sector of the perimeter. Hugo was interred at the cemetery in Bourbourg. Mines represented an enormous danger in Dunkirk. They were treacherous, invisible, and most importantly they lay just about everywhere where it would be possible to break through to the enemy’s positions. Both of the warring sides continuously enhanced their security, and mines were one of the main vehicles for achieving this. A British four-engine Halifax bomber crashed on the same side of the perimeter during the day. The crew jumped out, but all but one of the men landed on German-held soil. One of the crew members was killed in the jump.