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Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Following the Liberation of cities in Southern Germany and France (Colmar, Haguenau, Saverne, Strassbourg, Forbach, Stuttgart, Sigmaringen, Ravensburg) by the 1st and 2nd French Armor Divisions, several German stamps have been overprinted.
Those overprints, though not officiallty recognised by French postal authorities, have sometimes been used on mail by soldiers and cvilians and are seeked for by collectors.
Below is the history of that period per city, expanded with map material and of course the stamps.
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Liberation Haguenau 11-12-1944
Haguenau was founded by German dukes and has swapped back and forth several times between Germany and France over the centuries, with its spelling altering between "Hagenau" and "Haguenau" by the turn.
After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Haguenau was ceded to the new German Empire.
It was part of the German Empire for 48 years from 1871 to 1918, when at the end of World War I it was returned to France.
This transfer was officially ratified in 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles.
In the Second World War, Germany retook the town in 1940.
In November 1944 the area surrounding Haguenau was under the control of the 256th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of General Gerhard Franz.
On 1 December 1944, the 314th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division, XV Corps, 7th U.S. Army, moved into the area near Haguenau, and on 7 December the regiment was given the assignment to take it and the town forest just north that included German ammunition dumps.
The attack began at 0645, 9 December, and sometime during the night of 10 December and the early morning of 11 December the Germans withdrew under the cover of darkness, leaving the town proper largely under American control.
Before they withdrew, the Germans demolished bridges, useful buildings, and even the town park.
However, as experienced by Haguenau throughout its history, the Germans came back and retook the town in late January.
Most of the inhabitants fled with the assistance of the U.S. Army.
The Americans launched an immediate counterattack to retake the town.
The 313th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division was relieved by the 101st Airborne Division on 5 February 1945.
The 36th Infantry Division would relieve the 101st on 23 February 1945.
On March 15 the Allied Operation Undertone, a combined effort of the U.S. Seventh and French 1st Armies of the U.S. Sixth Army Group was launched to drive the Germans back along a 75 km line from Saarbrücken to Haguenau.
The last German soldier was not cleared out of the town until 19 March 1945, after house-to-house fighting.
Much of the town had been destroyed despite the Allied reluctance to use artillery to clear out the Germans.
Technical Sergeant Morris E. Crain, Company E, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for providing covering fire for his men on 13 March 1945.
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The liberation of Strasbourg
November 1944 – January 1945
After rounding out its forces by incorporating FFI fighters, the 2nd Armoured Division, as part of the American 15th Army Corps (3rd and then 7th US Armies), were given the objective of taking Epinal. Starting on 12 September, a detachment from the division worked in liaison with elements of the 1st Motorised Infantry Division (former DFL = 1re Division Francaise Libre). Leclerc pushed through to Vittel, Contrexéville and Dompaire. Baccarat was liberated on 30 October with the help of resistance fighters. Badonviller was liberated on 17 November.
Leclerc prepared to cross the Vosges Mountains across the Saverne Pass to reach the Alsace Plain and Strasbourg. American General Haislip authorised Leclerc to push through to Strasbourg and to try to take Kehl Bridge intact. On 22 November, General Leclerc gave the order to take Strasbourg and, if possible, Kehl, on the other side of the Rhine, while continuing to monitor and hold the Saverne Pass and to keep an eye on the enemy reactions to the south.
The Guillebon group had to push to the south of Strasbourg, while the Langlade group, notably including the 12th Chasseurs d’Afrique regiment, had to take the north side of the city. The Dio group was to continue clearing out the Saverne Pass and ensure the flank guard to the north of the division. On 23 November, at 6.45 am, the groups started out. At 10 am, the first elements of the Rouvillois group commanding the 12th cuirassier regiment entered the Alsatian capital. At the start of the afternoon, the Massu sub-group did the same.
In a proclamation, Leclerc reminded the people of Strasbourg that liberating the capital of Alsace had been his obsession for three years. The liberation of Strasbourg was doubly symbolic. It fulfilled the Oath of Kufra, and it liberated the capital of Alsace, which had been annexed by the 3rd Reich.
But Leclerc was unable to take advantage of the situation to the south, where de Lattre had liberated Mulhouse. Furthermore, the Germans wanted to defend what they considered as part of the Reich’s territory at all costs. They prepared a counterattack that was supposed to push the Allies far away from the German border. On 16 December, they launched a vast offensive in the Ardennes. The Americans were caught off guard. On 31 December, a new phase of the German offensive was launched in Alsace, between Bitche and Saverne. On 5 January, Strasbourg was threatened by a German bridgehead at Gambsheim. General de Gaulle managed to convince the Americans to let the 3rd Algerian Division defend the city while American troops retreated to the Haguenau-Wingen line. On 9 January, the 10th Infantry Division, made up of FFI (French Forces of the Interior) fighters, came to reinforce the forces.
Between the Ill River and the Rhine-Rhone canal, the German attack that began on 7 January pushed back the 1st Motorised Infantry Division, which suffered heavy losses. To the north, German tanks forced the Americans to pull back over the Moder, but on 22 January, an energetic intervention by the 2nd Armoured Division (under the orders of the 1st French Army) managed to stabilise the front some fifteen kilometres from the Alsatian capital, which nonetheless remained threatened by the Germans.
As far as I know, there are no stamps of the liberation of Strasbourg
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3-2-1945 – The liberation of Colmar
The liberation of Colmar was the final stage of the Alsace Campaign, launched by the French 1st Army in November 1944.
Victory therefore appeared to be within reach. But logistical problems, coupled with a stiffening of German resistance, forced the Allies to halt their advance.
The offensive was resumed in November. The Allied armies hoped to enter Germany as quickly as possible.
They now formed the Sixth Army Group, in the command of General Devers, comprised of the US Seventh Army, the French 2nd Armoured Division (2nd DB) and the French 1st Army.
The Americans and the 2nd DB liberated Strasbourg on 25 November.
The 1st Army reached the Rhine on 18 November, then liberated Mulhouse on the 20th.
The liberation of Colmar, situated at the centre of the pocket formed by the area still occupied by the Germans, therefore seemed close at hand.
Yet it would take another two and a half months of exceptionally bitter fighting for the 1st Army to overcome the German resistance.
The unexpected duration of the operations had partly to do with the fact that Alsace remained a secondary sector for the Americans, despite the importance to the French of liberating Alsace and Colmar.
Alsace was also of key importance to the Germans, who regarded it as an integral part of the territory of the Reich.
It was therefore out of the question to allow the French to recapture it.
In addition was the threat posed by a potential Allied presence in Alsace to the Rhineland, the vital artery of the German war economy.
Despite the reinforcements received by the Germans, the resources they had at their disposal were significantly inferior to those of the French; they did, however, have the terrain on their side.
The Vosges were a barely penetrable massif, especially in winter, while the plain of Alsace appeared to offer better opportunities for attacking the German force.
But it was ultimately an area ill-suited to manoeuvres, having many rivers and canals running through it, and being scattered with built-up areas and forests.
The first attempt to reduce the Colmar Pocket: 5 to 24 December 1944
The offensive got under way on 5 December but, because of German resistance, the 1st Army had to content itself with advancing along the edges of the pocket and liberating Thann to the south (10 December) and Sélestat to the north.
Himmler was in command of the German forces in Alsace and the Rhineland.
On 12 December, General de Lattre was forced to fall back on a more modest plan, consisting of launching attacks on Colmar and Cernay from the ridges of the Vosges, then, if successful, advancing as far as the River Ill, before pushing on to the Rhine.
However, a lack of ammunition coupled with German resistance prevented them from achieving these objectives.
The advance halted on 18 December, five miles from Colmar, with considerable losses being recorded.
These results irritated General Devers, who pressured de Lattre to finish things off.
He took away the 2nd DB, which had been assigned to de Lattre, and incorporated it back into the US Seventh Army.
Against German resistance whose intensity appeared to have increased tenfold following the initial successes in the Ardennes, where they went on the offensive on 16 December, General de Lattre was forced to halt his offensive on 24 December.
On 1 January, the new offensive launched by the Germans between Bitche and Sarreguemines led Eisenhower to consider withdrawing to the Vosges ridges, as the whole of liberated Alsatian soil risked being lost.
General de Gaulle’s intervention made the Americans abandon this idea.
However, it was not until mid-January, as a result of the Soviet offensive, that the German pressure slackened and General de Lattre could once again consider resuming operations in the Colmar sector.
The second phase of the Battle of the Colmar Pocket: 20 January to 9 February 1945
General de Lattre relaunched the offensive after assembling the resources to give him a markedly superior fighting force.
The eight divisions of the 1st Army (which had been rejoined by the 2nd DB) were reinforced by a large number of FFI units, so that he now had 350 000 men against the 100 000 Germans of the 19th Army.
General de Lattre’s plan consisted once again of taking the German defences in a pincer movement, pushing up the Ill valley in the south and coming down from the hills to the north of Colmar.
The offensive got under way on 20 January in extreme weather conditions.
Snow reduced visibility and left the infantry without tank support.
The temperature soon dropped to -20°C, making tanks and artillery unusable, and preventing ammunition and supplies from getting through.
To the north, the 2nd Army Corps, which had been reinforced by two American divisions, succeeded in establishing a bridgehead on the Ill on the 22nd, but in this area crossed by waterways and dotted with mines, progress for the Combat Commands of the 2nd and 5th DB was extremely difficult.
The Colmar canal was not reached until 28 January.
In view of the difficulties they faced, de Lattre asked General Devers for reinforcements and, on 25 January, he was assigned the US 21st Army Corps.
It was the first time that an American unit of this level was placed under the orders of the French 1st Army’s commander.
This show of trust from the Americans contributed to raising the morale of the troops and enabled the action against the north of the pocket to be resumed.
To the south, the 1st Army was unable to break through the defences of the Cernay sector, forcing it to shift its focus to Ensisheim.
Making no headway with his encircling manoeuvre, de Lattre decided to give priority to the liberation of Colmar.
Conducted with care so as to limit the destruction caused, the fighting culminated in the liberation of the city.
The French tanks of General Schlesser were the first to enter the city, where the enemy put up stiff resistance.
Colmar’s astonished inhabitants forgot the fighting and came out of their homes to give a jubilant welcome to the liberators.
On 3 February, the shock battalions and paratroopers of the 1st Chasseurs Parachute Regiment secured the city.
On General de Lattre’s orders, the 152nd Infantry Regiment returned to Colmar, its garrison town between 1919 and 1939.
On 8 February, the liberators made their formal entrance into the city, with a big military parade on Place Rapp.
The fighting for the Colmar Pocket and the city had been extremely bitter.
It had cost the 1st Army 4 800 lives and 18 000 wounded, disappeared or captured.
Despite the difficulties encountered, the campaign enabled the French to hold their own with their Allies, by themselves liberating the last important bit of French soil that was still occupied by the Germans.
By February 1945, the only parts of France still held by the enemy were the Atlantic and North Sea pockets and a small area of the Alps.
By attaching a number of US divisions and an army corps to the French 1st Army, the Allies signalled their recognition of the French army’s revival.
Sources : DPMA
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liberation Forbach 14-03-1945
After the liberation of Oeting, the immediate objective of the 276th Infantry was Forbach, a well defended French mining center near Saarbrucken, Germany.
To reach Forbach, the Trailblazers had to overcome three imposing terrain barriers; the high ground of the Kleinwald covered by thick woods, the ancient Schlossberg Castle towering above a steep hill overlooking Forbach, and to the left of the high ground a well protected narrow valley which the GIs had to traverse.
The four-hundred year old tower of Schlossberg served the enemy as an observation post from which their observers directed artillery and mortar fire against the advancing Trailblazers.
Automatic weapons covered the valley nearly the entire distance between Oeting and Forbach.
On 18 February, under 88 mm artillery fire, intense machine gun fire and terrible cold rain, Companies A and C captured two hills of the Kleinwald and Companies I and L fought to positions where they would attack the castle and nearby barracks the next morning.
In the late afternoon of 19 February, after suffering many casualties, Company I had surrounded the castle, Company L had cleared the barracks and Company A gained a foothold in Forbach by capturing the Marie Madelaine Hospital.
The regiment then moved into position to enter Forbach.
The 1st Battalion rifle companies plus Company F were on the right, and the 3rd Battalion rifle companies plus Company E were on the left.
Heavy weapons companies were in support. That night the Germans intensified their efforts to defend the city by continuous mortar and artillery bombardment of all 276th Infantry positions, including Schlossberg Castle.
Small arms, mortars, potato masher grenades and panzerfausts were used against the GIs in the hospital without letup.
That determined resistance, which continued all day of 20 February and into the night, held Company A at the hospital and was the Germans' last desperate attempt to drive the Trailblazers back from Forbach.
Each attempt to penetrate the German defenses resulted in more wounded and dead GIs but that afternoon General Barnett ordered the Bloody Axe Regiment to attack at once and capture Forbach. "Cut, Slash and Drive!"
At 0800, 21 February, in face of intense machine gun and mortar fire, the GIs attacked, pierced the enemy defenses and broke out into the city. Slowly and methodically, they took house after house in the southeast section of town. It was a costly, bloody ordeal and the number of casualties was astounding. City fighting was a novel experience for the Trailblazers. Heretofore, their combat was in small villages, forests, and mountains. The multi-storied buildings presented much different obstacles to overcome than did the small houses such as in Wingen and Oeting. Each building was in effect a huge bunker, with small basement windows that opened at street level like pillbox embrasures. The solid stone walls varied from several inches to more than three feet thick and many could withstand the impact of 105mm artillery. The Germans knew every building, street, alley, and neighborhood square. They positioned themselves at strategic locations throughout the city where they established strong points; and with minimum manpower, they skillfully defended their lines with rifles, light mortars, burp guns and other automatic weapons. Their forward observers directed mortar and artillery fire on the advancing GIs with unbelievable accuracy.
When the men could no longer see what they were attacking, the companies made preparations to hold up for the night and defend the real estate for which they paid so dearly. The men were physically exhausted from the grueling day of storming buildings, running through and climbing over rubble, and from being on the attack for more than a week without letup. Their meager meals were K and C rations often eaten on the run. Nightfall did not present an opportunity to rest. They cleaned their weapons, changed their socks, posted sentries, and some went on patrols to locate enemy positions. The walking wounded made their way back to aid stations and the more seriously wounded were assisted by their buddies. The attack resumed at dawn 22 February when the enemy resistance increased substantially as a result of their bringing up several hundred reinforcements during the night. The line companies continued their painful building-to-building advance to the downtown area. Casualties remained high and speedy evacuation of the wounded became more difficult. In the early afternoon Company A reached the center town square where several streets, including the highway to Oeting, converged on Rue Nationale, the main east-west artery. There the enemy was well established in cellars commanding clear fields of fire down all the intersecting streets. As the GIs approached the square, they were met with a rain of machine gun bullets, sniper fire and mortar shells. The closer they got to Rue Nationale, the more intense and fierce the fighting became. The CO called for artillery and a few minutes later, 105mm shells screeched over the mens' heads and crashed into the enemy occupied buildings across the square. The shells exploded so close to the GIs that they hardly heard them going over, but they felt the concussion and the pressure on their ears. When the shelling ceased, the GIs dashed across the square, threw grenades into the buildings, and burst in with rifles blazing. After crossing Rue Nationale both battalions continued north for a few blocks to the railroad which, with its adjacent yards, appeared to be an impassible barrier. The railroad station on the south side of the main line was deserted and except for a few disabled freight cars, the yards were void of activity, but whenever anyone attempted to get near the tracks all hell broke loose. They were there waiting in strength.
Meanwhile, the 274th Infantry's advance through the forests and mountain ridges east of Forbach met vicious enemy opposition and counterattacks, consequently orders were to hold at the railroad and establish a line of defense until both regiments were on line. For the next few days the men consolidated their positions and mopped-up the last pockets of resistance south of the railroad. The fighting evolved mainly in an exchange of rifle, machine gun and mortar fire. To keep abreast of enemy activities and troop movements, reconnaissance patrols were sent out every night. Likewise German patrolling was active. Heavy artillery shells and nebelwerfers (screaming-meemies), whose blasts were horrendous, hit Forbach day and night. By 2 March the 274th Infantry had captured the mountain ridges east of Forbach, and the right flank of the 276th Infantry was no longer exposed. 3 March at 0800, in a cold rain, the Regiment attacked across the railroad with the 1st Battalion on the right and the 3rd Battalion on the left. Riflemen of the assault companies entered and captured houses in their respective sectors less than ten minutes after crossing the line of departure. In an attempt to get through an underpass, Companies K and A met small arms and automatic weapons fire from straight up the road and land mines prevented the attached tank platoon from passing through the underpass. An engineer mine platoon was summoned to clear the way for the tanks and a concentration of 240mm artillery blasted the hell out of enemy fortified positions. The heavy artillery barrage enabled the GI's to continue the perilous business of running from street to gutter to doorway, throwing hand grenades in windows and cellar embrasures, climbing and stumbling over rubble, and bursting into buildings. They attacked from door to door, building to building, and block to block to the northern edge of Forbach and on into the Forbach Forest. By that time the combat infantrymen were totally exhausted, hungry and wet from many days of close combat in the miserable cold rain. They were bruised and cut from falling in rubble and broken glass that littered the pot-holed cobblestone streets, but they pushed on toward Germany.
Story by Frank Lowry
He personally was involved the battle of Forbach and Wingen.
He is deceased.
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Liberation of Stuttgart 21-04-1945
The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Stuttgart in April 1945.
Although the attack on the city was to be conducted by the US Seventh Army's 100th Infantry Division, French leader Charles de Gaulle found this to be unacceptable, as he felt the capture of the region by Free French forces would increase French influence in post-war decisions.
Independently, he directed General de Lattre to order the French 5th Armored Division, 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division and 3rd Algerian Infantry Division to begin their drive to Stuttgart on 18 April 1945.
Two days later, the French forces coordinated with the US Seventh Army and VI Corps heavy artillery, who began a barrage of the city.
The French 5th Armored Division then captured Stuttgart on 21 April 1945, encountering little resistance.
The city fared poorly under their direction; French troops forcefully quartered their troops in what housing remained in the city, rapes were frequent (there were at least 1389 recorded incidents of rape of civilians by French soldiers), and the city's surviving populace were poorly rationed.
The circumstances of what later became known as "The Stuttgart Crisis" provoked political repercussions that reached even the White House.
President Harry S. Truman was unable to get De Gaulle to withdraw troops from Stuttgart until after the final boundaries of the zones of occupation were established.
The French army remained in the city until they finally relented to American demands on 8 July 1945 and withdrew.
Stuttgart then became capital of Württemberg-Baden, one of the three areas of Allied occupation in Baden-Württemberg, from 1945 until 1952.
The 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division (French: 2e Division d'Infanterie Marocaine, 2e DIM) was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (French: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War II.
Created in Morocco following the liberation of French North Africa, the division fought in Italy, metropolitan France and in Germany.
It particularly distinguished itself in Italy in 1944 within the French Expeditionary Corps led by the General Alphonse Juin, and later in the Liberation of France as part of the French 1st Army under General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.
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Liberation of Sigmaringen 22-4-1945
The Sigmaringen enclave was the exiled remnant of France's Nazi-sympathizing Vichy government which fled to Germany during the Liberation of France near the end of World War II in order to avoid capture by the advancing Allied forces.
Installed in the requisitioned Sigmaringen Castle as seat of the government-in-exile, Vichy French leader Philippe Pétain and a number of other collaborators awaited the end of the war.
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Ravensburg 28-4-1945
text will be coming soon
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liberation of Saverne 23-11-1944
The Col de Saverne (Pass of Saverne or Saverne Pass, German: Zaberner Steige) is a natural pass in the north of the Vosges mountains, near Saverne, which permits travel between the départements of Bas-Rhin and Moselle, and therefore between Alsace and Lorraine.
Transport routes that traverse the Saverne Pass include national highway RN 4 and A4 autoroute A4, the Paris-Strasbourg railway, as well as the Marne-Rhine Canal.
The area is noted for its botanical gardens, especially the Jardin Botanique de Saverne and the Roseraie de Saverne.
The Saverne Gap (French: trouée de Saverne) is a gorge-like passage that cuts through the Vosges from Arzviller to Saverne, following the course of the Zorn River for most of its length.
The passage is barely 100 yards wide at some points.
It figured prominently into the advance of the U.S. XV Corps against German forces in the Second World War.
The rapid traversal of the Saverne Gap resulted in a breakthrough by the French 2nd Armored Division, which subsequently liberated Strasbourg on November 23, 1944.
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A very rare letter from Haguenau
Saverne Libre Overprint are in 2 versions
Type I
Type II
If you do not see the difference : Look at the drawing of the "V"
Type I has a small "V"
Type II has a widther "V"
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Introduction
Following the Liberation of cities in Southern Germany and France (Colmar, Haguenau, Saverne, Strassbourg, Forbach, Stuttgart, Sigmaringen, Ravensburg) by the 1st and 2nd French Armor Divisions, several German stamps have been overprinted.
Those overprints, though not officiallty recognised by French postal authorities, have sometimes been used on mail by soldiers and cvilians and are seeked for by collectors.
Below is the history of that period per city, expanded with map material and of course the stamps.
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
Liberation Haguenau 11-12-1944
Haguenau was founded by German dukes and has swapped back and forth several times between Germany and France over the centuries, with its spelling altering between "Hagenau" and "Haguenau" by the turn.
After the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War, Haguenau was ceded to the new German Empire.
It was part of the German Empire for 48 years from 1871 to 1918, when at the end of World War I it was returned to France.
This transfer was officially ratified in 1919 with the Treaty of Versailles.
In the Second World War, Germany retook the town in 1940.
In November 1944 the area surrounding Haguenau was under the control of the 256th Volksgrenadier Division under the command of General Gerhard Franz.
On 1 December 1944, the 314th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division, XV Corps, 7th U.S. Army, moved into the area near Haguenau, and on 7 December the regiment was given the assignment to take it and the town forest just north that included German ammunition dumps.
The attack began at 0645, 9 December, and sometime during the night of 10 December and the early morning of 11 December the Germans withdrew under the cover of darkness, leaving the town proper largely under American control.
Before they withdrew, the Germans demolished bridges, useful buildings, and even the town park.
However, as experienced by Haguenau throughout its history, the Germans came back and retook the town in late January.
Most of the inhabitants fled with the assistance of the U.S. Army.
The Americans launched an immediate counterattack to retake the town.
The 313th Infantry Regiment of the 79th Division was relieved by the 101st Airborne Division on 5 February 1945.
The 36th Infantry Division would relieve the 101st on 23 February 1945.
On March 15 the Allied Operation Undertone, a combined effort of the U.S. Seventh and French 1st Armies of the U.S. Sixth Army Group was launched to drive the Germans back along a 75 km line from Saarbrücken to Haguenau.
The last German soldier was not cleared out of the town until 19 March 1945, after house-to-house fighting.
Much of the town had been destroyed despite the Allied reluctance to use artillery to clear out the Germans.
Technical Sergeant Morris E. Crain, Company E, 141st Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for providing covering fire for his men on 13 March 1945.
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
The liberation of Strasbourg
November 1944 – January 1945
After rounding out its forces by incorporating FFI fighters, the 2nd Armoured Division, as part of the American 15th Army Corps (3rd and then 7th US Armies), were given the objective of taking Epinal. Starting on 12 September, a detachment from the division worked in liaison with elements of the 1st Motorised Infantry Division (former DFL = 1re Division Francaise Libre). Leclerc pushed through to Vittel, Contrexéville and Dompaire. Baccarat was liberated on 30 October with the help of resistance fighters. Badonviller was liberated on 17 November.
Leclerc prepared to cross the Vosges Mountains across the Saverne Pass to reach the Alsace Plain and Strasbourg. American General Haislip authorised Leclerc to push through to Strasbourg and to try to take Kehl Bridge intact. On 22 November, General Leclerc gave the order to take Strasbourg and, if possible, Kehl, on the other side of the Rhine, while continuing to monitor and hold the Saverne Pass and to keep an eye on the enemy reactions to the south.
The Guillebon group had to push to the south of Strasbourg, while the Langlade group, notably including the 12th Chasseurs d’Afrique regiment, had to take the north side of the city. The Dio group was to continue clearing out the Saverne Pass and ensure the flank guard to the north of the division. On 23 November, at 6.45 am, the groups started out. At 10 am, the first elements of the Rouvillois group commanding the 12th cuirassier regiment entered the Alsatian capital. At the start of the afternoon, the Massu sub-group did the same.
In a proclamation, Leclerc reminded the people of Strasbourg that liberating the capital of Alsace had been his obsession for three years. The liberation of Strasbourg was doubly symbolic. It fulfilled the Oath of Kufra, and it liberated the capital of Alsace, which had been annexed by the 3rd Reich.
But Leclerc was unable to take advantage of the situation to the south, where de Lattre had liberated Mulhouse. Furthermore, the Germans wanted to defend what they considered as part of the Reich’s territory at all costs. They prepared a counterattack that was supposed to push the Allies far away from the German border. On 16 December, they launched a vast offensive in the Ardennes. The Americans were caught off guard. On 31 December, a new phase of the German offensive was launched in Alsace, between Bitche and Saverne. On 5 January, Strasbourg was threatened by a German bridgehead at Gambsheim. General de Gaulle managed to convince the Americans to let the 3rd Algerian Division defend the city while American troops retreated to the Haguenau-Wingen line. On 9 January, the 10th Infantry Division, made up of FFI (French Forces of the Interior) fighters, came to reinforce the forces.
Between the Ill River and the Rhine-Rhone canal, the German attack that began on 7 January pushed back the 1st Motorised Infantry Division, which suffered heavy losses. To the north, German tanks forced the Americans to pull back over the Moder, but on 22 January, an energetic intervention by the 2nd Armoured Division (under the orders of the 1st French Army) managed to stabilise the front some fifteen kilometres from the Alsatian capital, which nonetheless remained threatened by the Germans.
As far as I know, there are no stamps of the liberation of Strasbourg
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
3-2-1945 – The liberation of Colmar
The liberation of Colmar was the final stage of the Alsace Campaign, launched by the French 1st Army in November 1944.
Victory therefore appeared to be within reach. But logistical problems, coupled with a stiffening of German resistance, forced the Allies to halt their advance.
The offensive was resumed in November. The Allied armies hoped to enter Germany as quickly as possible.
They now formed the Sixth Army Group, in the command of General Devers, comprised of the US Seventh Army, the French 2nd Armoured Division (2nd DB) and the French 1st Army.
The Americans and the 2nd DB liberated Strasbourg on 25 November.
The 1st Army reached the Rhine on 18 November, then liberated Mulhouse on the 20th.
The liberation of Colmar, situated at the centre of the pocket formed by the area still occupied by the Germans, therefore seemed close at hand.
Yet it would take another two and a half months of exceptionally bitter fighting for the 1st Army to overcome the German resistance.
The unexpected duration of the operations had partly to do with the fact that Alsace remained a secondary sector for the Americans, despite the importance to the French of liberating Alsace and Colmar.
Alsace was also of key importance to the Germans, who regarded it as an integral part of the territory of the Reich.
It was therefore out of the question to allow the French to recapture it.
In addition was the threat posed by a potential Allied presence in Alsace to the Rhineland, the vital artery of the German war economy.
Despite the reinforcements received by the Germans, the resources they had at their disposal were significantly inferior to those of the French; they did, however, have the terrain on their side.
The Vosges were a barely penetrable massif, especially in winter, while the plain of Alsace appeared to offer better opportunities for attacking the German force.
But it was ultimately an area ill-suited to manoeuvres, having many rivers and canals running through it, and being scattered with built-up areas and forests.
The first attempt to reduce the Colmar Pocket: 5 to 24 December 1944
The offensive got under way on 5 December but, because of German resistance, the 1st Army had to content itself with advancing along the edges of the pocket and liberating Thann to the south (10 December) and Sélestat to the north.
Himmler was in command of the German forces in Alsace and the Rhineland.
On 12 December, General de Lattre was forced to fall back on a more modest plan, consisting of launching attacks on Colmar and Cernay from the ridges of the Vosges, then, if successful, advancing as far as the River Ill, before pushing on to the Rhine.
However, a lack of ammunition coupled with German resistance prevented them from achieving these objectives.
The advance halted on 18 December, five miles from Colmar, with considerable losses being recorded.
These results irritated General Devers, who pressured de Lattre to finish things off.
He took away the 2nd DB, which had been assigned to de Lattre, and incorporated it back into the US Seventh Army.
Against German resistance whose intensity appeared to have increased tenfold following the initial successes in the Ardennes, where they went on the offensive on 16 December, General de Lattre was forced to halt his offensive on 24 December.
On 1 January, the new offensive launched by the Germans between Bitche and Sarreguemines led Eisenhower to consider withdrawing to the Vosges ridges, as the whole of liberated Alsatian soil risked being lost.
General de Gaulle’s intervention made the Americans abandon this idea.
However, it was not until mid-January, as a result of the Soviet offensive, that the German pressure slackened and General de Lattre could once again consider resuming operations in the Colmar sector.
The second phase of the Battle of the Colmar Pocket: 20 January to 9 February 1945
General de Lattre relaunched the offensive after assembling the resources to give him a markedly superior fighting force.
The eight divisions of the 1st Army (which had been rejoined by the 2nd DB) were reinforced by a large number of FFI units, so that he now had 350 000 men against the 100 000 Germans of the 19th Army.
General de Lattre’s plan consisted once again of taking the German defences in a pincer movement, pushing up the Ill valley in the south and coming down from the hills to the north of Colmar.
The offensive got under way on 20 January in extreme weather conditions.
Snow reduced visibility and left the infantry without tank support.
The temperature soon dropped to -20°C, making tanks and artillery unusable, and preventing ammunition and supplies from getting through.
To the north, the 2nd Army Corps, which had been reinforced by two American divisions, succeeded in establishing a bridgehead on the Ill on the 22nd, but in this area crossed by waterways and dotted with mines, progress for the Combat Commands of the 2nd and 5th DB was extremely difficult.
The Colmar canal was not reached until 28 January.
In view of the difficulties they faced, de Lattre asked General Devers for reinforcements and, on 25 January, he was assigned the US 21st Army Corps.
It was the first time that an American unit of this level was placed under the orders of the French 1st Army’s commander.
This show of trust from the Americans contributed to raising the morale of the troops and enabled the action against the north of the pocket to be resumed.
To the south, the 1st Army was unable to break through the defences of the Cernay sector, forcing it to shift its focus to Ensisheim.
Making no headway with his encircling manoeuvre, de Lattre decided to give priority to the liberation of Colmar.
Conducted with care so as to limit the destruction caused, the fighting culminated in the liberation of the city.
The French tanks of General Schlesser were the first to enter the city, where the enemy put up stiff resistance.
Colmar’s astonished inhabitants forgot the fighting and came out of their homes to give a jubilant welcome to the liberators.
On 3 February, the shock battalions and paratroopers of the 1st Chasseurs Parachute Regiment secured the city.
On General de Lattre’s orders, the 152nd Infantry Regiment returned to Colmar, its garrison town between 1919 and 1939.
On 8 February, the liberators made their formal entrance into the city, with a big military parade on Place Rapp.
The fighting for the Colmar Pocket and the city had been extremely bitter.
It had cost the 1st Army 4 800 lives and 18 000 wounded, disappeared or captured.
Despite the difficulties encountered, the campaign enabled the French to hold their own with their Allies, by themselves liberating the last important bit of French soil that was still occupied by the Germans.
By February 1945, the only parts of France still held by the enemy were the Atlantic and North Sea pockets and a small area of the Alps.
By attaching a number of US divisions and an army corps to the French 1st Army, the Allies signalled their recognition of the French army’s revival.
Sources : DPMA
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
liberation Forbach 14-03-1945
After the liberation of Oeting, the immediate objective of the 276th Infantry was Forbach, a well defended French mining center near Saarbrucken, Germany.
To reach Forbach, the Trailblazers had to overcome three imposing terrain barriers; the high ground of the Kleinwald covered by thick woods, the ancient Schlossberg Castle towering above a steep hill overlooking Forbach, and to the left of the high ground a well protected narrow valley which the GIs had to traverse.
The four-hundred year old tower of Schlossberg served the enemy as an observation post from which their observers directed artillery and mortar fire against the advancing Trailblazers.
Automatic weapons covered the valley nearly the entire distance between Oeting and Forbach.
On 18 February, under 88 mm artillery fire, intense machine gun fire and terrible cold rain, Companies A and C captured two hills of the Kleinwald and Companies I and L fought to positions where they would attack the castle and nearby barracks the next morning.
In the late afternoon of 19 February, after suffering many casualties, Company I had surrounded the castle, Company L had cleared the barracks and Company A gained a foothold in Forbach by capturing the Marie Madelaine Hospital.
The regiment then moved into position to enter Forbach.
The 1st Battalion rifle companies plus Company F were on the right, and the 3rd Battalion rifle companies plus Company E were on the left.
Heavy weapons companies were in support. That night the Germans intensified their efforts to defend the city by continuous mortar and artillery bombardment of all 276th Infantry positions, including Schlossberg Castle.
Small arms, mortars, potato masher grenades and panzerfausts were used against the GIs in the hospital without letup.
That determined resistance, which continued all day of 20 February and into the night, held Company A at the hospital and was the Germans' last desperate attempt to drive the Trailblazers back from Forbach.
Each attempt to penetrate the German defenses resulted in more wounded and dead GIs but that afternoon General Barnett ordered the Bloody Axe Regiment to attack at once and capture Forbach. "Cut, Slash and Drive!"
At 0800, 21 February, in face of intense machine gun and mortar fire, the GIs attacked, pierced the enemy defenses and broke out into the city. Slowly and methodically, they took house after house in the southeast section of town. It was a costly, bloody ordeal and the number of casualties was astounding. City fighting was a novel experience for the Trailblazers. Heretofore, their combat was in small villages, forests, and mountains. The multi-storied buildings presented much different obstacles to overcome than did the small houses such as in Wingen and Oeting. Each building was in effect a huge bunker, with small basement windows that opened at street level like pillbox embrasures. The solid stone walls varied from several inches to more than three feet thick and many could withstand the impact of 105mm artillery. The Germans knew every building, street, alley, and neighborhood square. They positioned themselves at strategic locations throughout the city where they established strong points; and with minimum manpower, they skillfully defended their lines with rifles, light mortars, burp guns and other automatic weapons. Their forward observers directed mortar and artillery fire on the advancing GIs with unbelievable accuracy.
When the men could no longer see what they were attacking, the companies made preparations to hold up for the night and defend the real estate for which they paid so dearly. The men were physically exhausted from the grueling day of storming buildings, running through and climbing over rubble, and from being on the attack for more than a week without letup. Their meager meals were K and C rations often eaten on the run. Nightfall did not present an opportunity to rest. They cleaned their weapons, changed their socks, posted sentries, and some went on patrols to locate enemy positions. The walking wounded made their way back to aid stations and the more seriously wounded were assisted by their buddies. The attack resumed at dawn 22 February when the enemy resistance increased substantially as a result of their bringing up several hundred reinforcements during the night. The line companies continued their painful building-to-building advance to the downtown area. Casualties remained high and speedy evacuation of the wounded became more difficult. In the early afternoon Company A reached the center town square where several streets, including the highway to Oeting, converged on Rue Nationale, the main east-west artery. There the enemy was well established in cellars commanding clear fields of fire down all the intersecting streets. As the GIs approached the square, they were met with a rain of machine gun bullets, sniper fire and mortar shells. The closer they got to Rue Nationale, the more intense and fierce the fighting became. The CO called for artillery and a few minutes later, 105mm shells screeched over the mens' heads and crashed into the enemy occupied buildings across the square. The shells exploded so close to the GIs that they hardly heard them going over, but they felt the concussion and the pressure on their ears. When the shelling ceased, the GIs dashed across the square, threw grenades into the buildings, and burst in with rifles blazing. After crossing Rue Nationale both battalions continued north for a few blocks to the railroad which, with its adjacent yards, appeared to be an impassible barrier. The railroad station on the south side of the main line was deserted and except for a few disabled freight cars, the yards were void of activity, but whenever anyone attempted to get near the tracks all hell broke loose. They were there waiting in strength.
Meanwhile, the 274th Infantry's advance through the forests and mountain ridges east of Forbach met vicious enemy opposition and counterattacks, consequently orders were to hold at the railroad and establish a line of defense until both regiments were on line. For the next few days the men consolidated their positions and mopped-up the last pockets of resistance south of the railroad. The fighting evolved mainly in an exchange of rifle, machine gun and mortar fire. To keep abreast of enemy activities and troop movements, reconnaissance patrols were sent out every night. Likewise German patrolling was active. Heavy artillery shells and nebelwerfers (screaming-meemies), whose blasts were horrendous, hit Forbach day and night. By 2 March the 274th Infantry had captured the mountain ridges east of Forbach, and the right flank of the 276th Infantry was no longer exposed. 3 March at 0800, in a cold rain, the Regiment attacked across the railroad with the 1st Battalion on the right and the 3rd Battalion on the left. Riflemen of the assault companies entered and captured houses in their respective sectors less than ten minutes after crossing the line of departure. In an attempt to get through an underpass, Companies K and A met small arms and automatic weapons fire from straight up the road and land mines prevented the attached tank platoon from passing through the underpass. An engineer mine platoon was summoned to clear the way for the tanks and a concentration of 240mm artillery blasted the hell out of enemy fortified positions. The heavy artillery barrage enabled the GI's to continue the perilous business of running from street to gutter to doorway, throwing hand grenades in windows and cellar embrasures, climbing and stumbling over rubble, and bursting into buildings. They attacked from door to door, building to building, and block to block to the northern edge of Forbach and on into the Forbach Forest. By that time the combat infantrymen were totally exhausted, hungry and wet from many days of close combat in the miserable cold rain. They were bruised and cut from falling in rubble and broken glass that littered the pot-holed cobblestone streets, but they pushed on toward Germany.
Story by Frank Lowry
He personally was involved the battle of Forbach and Wingen.
He is deceased.
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
Liberation of Stuttgart 21-04-1945
The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Stuttgart in April 1945.
Although the attack on the city was to be conducted by the US Seventh Army's 100th Infantry Division, French leader Charles de Gaulle found this to be unacceptable, as he felt the capture of the region by Free French forces would increase French influence in post-war decisions.
Independently, he directed General de Lattre to order the French 5th Armored Division, 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division and 3rd Algerian Infantry Division to begin their drive to Stuttgart on 18 April 1945.
Two days later, the French forces coordinated with the US Seventh Army and VI Corps heavy artillery, who began a barrage of the city.
The French 5th Armored Division then captured Stuttgart on 21 April 1945, encountering little resistance.
The city fared poorly under their direction; French troops forcefully quartered their troops in what housing remained in the city, rapes were frequent (there were at least 1389 recorded incidents of rape of civilians by French soldiers), and the city's surviving populace were poorly rationed.
The circumstances of what later became known as "The Stuttgart Crisis" provoked political repercussions that reached even the White House.
President Harry S. Truman was unable to get De Gaulle to withdraw troops from Stuttgart until after the final boundaries of the zones of occupation were established.
The French army remained in the city until they finally relented to American demands on 8 July 1945 and withdrew.
Stuttgart then became capital of Württemberg-Baden, one of the three areas of Allied occupation in Baden-Württemberg, from 1945 until 1952.
The 2nd Moroccan Infantry Division (French: 2e Division d'Infanterie Marocaine, 2e DIM) was an infantry division of the Army of Africa (French: Armée d'Afrique) which participated in World War II.
Created in Morocco following the liberation of French North Africa, the division fought in Italy, metropolitan France and in Germany.
It particularly distinguished itself in Italy in 1944 within the French Expeditionary Corps led by the General Alphonse Juin, and later in the Liberation of France as part of the French 1st Army under General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny.
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
Liberation of Sigmaringen 22-4-1945
The Sigmaringen enclave was the exiled remnant of France's Nazi-sympathizing Vichy government which fled to Germany during the Liberation of France near the end of World War II in order to avoid capture by the advancing Allied forces.
Installed in the requisitioned Sigmaringen Castle as seat of the government-in-exile, Vichy French leader Philippe Pétain and a number of other collaborators awaited the end of the war.
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
Ravensburg 28-4-1945
text will be coming soon
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
liberation of Saverne 23-11-1944
The Col de Saverne (Pass of Saverne or Saverne Pass, German: Zaberner Steige) is a natural pass in the north of the Vosges mountains, near Saverne, which permits travel between the départements of Bas-Rhin and Moselle, and therefore between Alsace and Lorraine.
Transport routes that traverse the Saverne Pass include national highway RN 4 and A4 autoroute A4, the Paris-Strasbourg railway, as well as the Marne-Rhine Canal.
The area is noted for its botanical gardens, especially the Jardin Botanique de Saverne and the Roseraie de Saverne.
The Saverne Gap (French: trouée de Saverne) is a gorge-like passage that cuts through the Vosges from Arzviller to Saverne, following the course of the Zorn River for most of its length.
The passage is barely 100 yards wide at some points.
It figured prominently into the advance of the U.S. XV Corps against German forces in the Second World War.
The rapid traversal of the Saverne Gap resulted in a breakthrough by the French 2nd Armored Division, which subsequently liberated Strasbourg on November 23, 1944.
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re: interesting facts and explanations PART 5
A very rare letter from Haguenau
Saverne Libre Overprint are in 2 versions
Type I
Type II
If you do not see the difference : Look at the drawing of the "V"
Type I has a small "V"
Type II has a widther "V"
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