SHAEF Communiques (ETO) January 1945

Communique Number 291 – 24 January 1945

Allied forces extended their hold on the Meuse River north of Stevensweet, and occupied Maasbracht. Farther south, we have cleared Sint-Joost and are fighting on the outskirts of Montfort. Northeast of Sittard our forces continue to press forward against stong opposition. We have taken obspringen, about two miles northeast of Waldfeucht, and to the southeast, the villages of Laffeld and Waldenrath. Fighters and fighter bombers hit railway lines and bridges in the Leiden-Utrecht-Dordrecht area, attacked railway lines and enemy troops moving by road between Amersfoort and Apeldoorn and struck at rail and road transport north of the Ruhr. Rocket-firing fighters attacked targets in the area south of Arnhem. Escorted medium and light bombers attacked communication centers at Niederkrüchten and Wegberg east of Roermond.

Fighter bombers bombed enemy gun positions in the fortified village of Uetterath, east of Waldenrath. Our forces have taken St Vith. Southwest of St Vith we have reached the edge of Weisten and cleared the enemy from Commanster and Beho. In the Beho area our units made gains up to one mile northeast of the town against slight opposition, while other elements moved one mile to the southeast meeting artillery, small arms and mortar fire. North of Clervaux, we have cleared the enemy from Boxhorn and have taken high ground in the vicinity of Eselborn. Eschweiler, two and one-half miles north of Wiltz, is in our hands, and we have reached the south edge of Wilwerwiltz on the Clerf River.

In the area north of Diekirch, our troops have gained approximately two miles north of Landscheid. Walsdorf, one and one-half miles southwest of Vianden, has been cleared of the enemy, and fighting is in progress in Fouhren, where a small enemy counter-attack has been repulsed. Fighting continues in the area of Nennig, southeast of Remich. Light and fighter bombers continued the attack on enemy motor transport in the Ardennes Area and southwest of Euskirchen. Nearly 1000 vehicles and 39 tanks and armored vehicles were destroyed. near Bitche approximately half of an enemy column of 30 vehicles was destroyed by our artillery.

Groups of hostile infantry and tank were dispersed by artillery fire east of the Bitsche Salient. In northern Alsace we have made a limited withdrawal to more advantageous positions in the general area east and north of Haguenau. The movement was carried out according to plan and without enemy interference. No large towns were yielded. Four hundred prisoners were taken by our forces in the repulding enemy attacks sunday night and monday at Kilstett near the Rhine River north of Strasbourg. North of Colmar our forces launched a surprise attack. Further limited progress against stiff resistance was made in our attack which continues along the southern edge of the Colmar Sector in the Mulhouse area.

A number of enemy tanks have been knocked out or captured in these engagements. Fighter bombers struck at enemy transport east of Bitsche, railway yards at Germersheim, a fuel dump at Zell, northeast of Strasbourg and targets at Ohnenheim, Elsenheim and Mackenheim, northeast of Colmar. Railway yards at Neuss were attacked by escorted heavy bombers. During the day 32 enemy aircraft were destroyed in the air and three on the ground. Two other enemy aircraft were shot down last night by night fighters. Six of our heavy bombers, four light bombers and 18 fighters are missing, but five of the fighters pilots are safe.

Communique Number 292 – 25 January 1945

Allied forces in southern Holland have occupied Montfort against moderate resistance. Across the German border to the southeast our units have entered Heinsberg where they are mopping up enemy pockets in the face of artillery and mortar fire. Fighter bombers attacked gun positions northeast of Roermond, enemy occupied factory buildings east of Heinsberg and German troops in Uetterath. Our units, advancing in deep snow against moderate resistance, have cut the Büllingen-St Vith road about one mile southwest of Büllingen. We have repulsed several enemy counter-attacks near St Vith. southwest of the town, we have made gains against moderate opposition to take Neundorf, Crombach, Weisten, and Maldingen, and are fighting in Aldringen.

We have taken the town of Ourthe, on the upper Ourthe River, southwest of Aldringen. North of Clervaux, our forces are in the vicinity of Wilwerdange, on the Bastogne-St Vith road, and have pushed beyond Binsfeld. farther south, we have taken high ground overlooking the Clerf River two miles north of Clervaux, and Eselborn is in our hands. At a point three miles east of Wiltz we have reached the Clerf River. Northwest of Vianden, we have made gains to the vicinity of Putscheid. South of Vianden, fighting continues at Fouhren, where an enemy counter-attack was repulsed. In the Ardennes Sector enemy transport, armored vehicles and tanks continuing their withdrawal were attacked by fighter bombers which operated from northwest of Euskirchen southward to Prüm and over a rectangular area formed by Clervaux, Prüm, Bitburg and Vianden. Troop concentrations, gun positions, fortified buildings and communications were also struck at while a small number of medium and light bombers hit targets at Schleiden and Stadtkyll.

In the northern Alsace Plain, small enemy attacks were repulsed northeast of Ingweiler in the Buchholz area. Hostile groups were dispersed by our artillery northwest and southeast of Haguenau. north of Colmar our forces have crossed the Ill River and have made progress on the eastern side against moderate resistance. Limited gains have been made in the Mulhouse-Cernay sector against stiff resistance. Communications and enemy transport in the Rhine River Valley from Darmstadt to Mulhouse were attacked by fighter bombers striking along the Rhine River Valley.

Road bridges at Karlsruhe and near Freiburg were hit, the rail line between Landau and Wissembourg was cut, and targets at Winden were attacked. Railway targets and communications in northern and eastern Holland were attacked by fighter bombers. Between Leeuwarden and Groningen the rail track was cut in several places, and at Barneveld, road and rail bridges were hit. Other fighter bombers bombed a Pier at Hellevoetsluis, Sheds at Maassluis and enemy troop billets near Nijmegen. Flying eastward into Germany as far as Göttingen, fighter bombers struck at rail and road transport in the areas of Münster and Osnabrück and elsewhere.

Communique Number 293 – 26 January 1945

Allied forces have wiped out an enemy party which crossed the Meuse River near Boxmeer, south of Nijmegen. Farther south, our forces have occupied Linne, north of Montfort. The wooded area south of Montfort has been cleared of the enemy. Across the German border, mopping up operations in Heinsberg have been completed and the town is in our hands. A cross roads at the German town of Birgelen, southeast of Roermond was attacked by rocket-firing fighters. Our forces between Büllingen and St Vith have gained a half a mile southeast of Möderscheid and have taken high ground approximately two miles east of Born.

Deep snow continued to hamper our operations in this area. we have made small gains just southeast of St Vith. Southwest of St Vith, we have cleared Aldringen and Wathermal. To the southeast, Wildwerdange has been taken despite strong resistance from the enemy and we have occupied Breidfeld, one mile east of Binsfeld. We have crossed the Clerf River north and south of Clervaux. North of the town, our troops have taken Hupperdange and are in the vicinity of Urspelt. One and one-half miles south of Clervaux, our units have gained high ground across the river. Farther to the south we have cleared the enemy from Alscheid, three miles east of Wiltz. We have captured Hoscheid, four miles west of Vianden, after a battle in which three enemy tanks were knocked out. Four other enemy tanks were destroyed when we repulsed a counter-attack at Putscheid, two miles northwest of Vianden. house-to-house fighting is in progress in Wasserbillig at the junction of the Sauer and the Moselle Rivers.

In the Ardennes Sector fighter bombers continued their attacks on withdrawing enemy transport and armored vehicles, destroying 679 motor vehicles and 52 armored vehicles and damaging many others. In addition, a number of gun positions were knocked out and rail cars destroyed or damaged. Medium and light nombers attacked roads at Kall, Stadtkyll and Hillesheim and rail bridges at Euskirchen, Sinzig, and Eller. Elsewhere, weather restricted air operations.

East of Sarreguemines, one of our ground patrols destroyed five enemy held bunkers and inflicted personnel losses. In the northern Alsace Plain the reinforced enemy launched a series of attacks against our new positions and scored initial gains, but by the end of the day these were largely offset by our counter-attacks. Hostile forces penetrated more than a mile to Schillersdorf and occupied nearby Mulhouse. They were halted in hard fighting which was continued in Schillersdorf. West of Haguenau, our counter-attacks resulted in retaking sections of wooded areas which the enemy entered after crossing the Moder River. East of haguenau, 80 of an enemy company which crossed the river were captured and the rest forced back. Stiff fighting continued north of Colmar and along the southern edge of the Colmar sector with little change in the situation.

Communique Number 294 – 27 January 1945

Allied forces continued their advance between Linne and Heinsberg. Southeast of Heinsberg, our units have occupied the villages of Grebben, Dremmen, Horst and Nirm on the west bank of the Würm River. East of the Würm, our attack has been extended and our units have occupied Brachelen and advanced beyond it to the north. Northeast of St Vith we have made gains up to 2000 yards against light resistance and have taken Mirfeld, Amel, and Meyerode. The town of Wallerode, two miles northeast of St Vith, is in our hands after our units overcame determined opposition, and we have taken high ground between Wallerode and Meyerode.

In the area north and northeast of Clervaux, our forces are clearing the wooded area east of Wilwerdange, near the northern border of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg, and have entered Weiswampach. Farther south we have reached Heinerscheid, on the St Vith-Diekirch road, and are in the vicinity of Fischbach. South of Clervaux, we are in the vicinity of Bockholtz and have cleared Pintsch, after having repulsed a counter-attack near the town. Farther southeast our troops are fighting at Hoscheid-Dickt. Southeast of Remich, we are meeting resistance from small arms and mortar fire in the area of Nennig. Bad weather somewhat restricted air operations yesterday, however fighter bombers continued the destruction of enemy armor and vehicles in the Ardennes mainly in the area around Prüm.

In nothern Aslace, enemy forces which penetrated to Schillersdorf and crossed the Moder River farther east, were driven back at all points. Our positions were restored and heavy losses inflicted on the enemy. We have reoccupied Muhlhausen and Bischolz. Northeast of Colmar we have made a slight gain and have entered Riedwihr. Further local gains have been made northwest of Mulhouse where our forces are clearing two enemy from the Potash Mining area. Fighter bombers destroyed a railway bridge over the Moselle River, 16 miles mortheast of Trier, attacked a railway yard northeast of Kaiserslautern, and road and rail transport in the Bitche and Colmar areas, bombed and strafed a convoy west of Karlsruhe and struck at targets northwest of Haguenau. Other fighter bombers and rocket-firing fighters hit road and rail transport north of the Ruhr and between Osnabrück and Bremen and attacked railway yards at Rheydt, Mönchengladbach and Grevenbroich. Medium bombers hit a railway bridge crossing the Erft River at Euskirchen.

Communique Number 295 – 28 January 1945