bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO > ETO Overview, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 26 Dec 2022.
The 1944-45 Allied ETO operations in western Europe comprised one of the largest military campaigns in history.​
Links to Big Pigeon's The ETO > ETO Overview subpages:
The ETO - Context and Executive Summary
In 1944-45, during the latter part of the War with Germany, all military operations of the Western Allies were under control of SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force), commanded by US General Dwight Eisenhower and headquartered in Great Britain until late 1944.

As part of SHAEF, The ETO (European Theater of Operations) land campaign in western Europe began in June 1944 with a massive cross-channel invasion of German-occupied Europe on France's Normandy coast.
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The Normandy invasion was followed by eleven months of combat as ETO forces moved eastward liberating occupied countries and passing into Germany. Combat in the ETO ended in early May 1945 after the suicide of the German leader, Adolf Hitler, and the capture of most of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union.​
Western Europe before WWII
Western Europe before WWII
The ETO Ground Operations Summary
I conceptualize European Theater ground operations as consisting of four phases, as outlined below.
  • Phases 1 and 3 involved intense and often lengthy combat in relatively small areas, Phase 1 in a portion of Normandy and Phase 3 generally near the German border.
  • Phases 2 and 4 were shorter periods of rapid advance, generally met by feeble or disorganized resistance.

The United States Army recognizes six ground campaigns in the European Theater of Operations, which match my four phases thusly:
  • Normandy 6 June-24 July '44 (phase 1)
  • Northern France 25 July-14 September '44 (phase 2)
  • Southern France 15 August-14 September '44 (phase 2)
  • Rhineland 15 September '44-21 March '45 (phase 3)
  • Ardennes-Alsace 16 December '44-25 January '45 (phase 3)
  • Central Europe 22 March-11 May '45 (phase 4)
Notes:
  • An ETO veteran could receive a campaign ribbon for each of the six above campaigns he participated in.
  • There were campaigns within campaigns. For instance, the Rhineland Campaign included the Lorraine Campaign and the Alsace Campaign.
  • See below for a list of official US Army ETO histories. These histories tend to be campaign-based.

​Phase 1 - Normandy Operations, June - August 1944
  • 6 Jun - Operation Overlord, Allied invasion of Normandy  coastal areas between Cherbourg & Caen. Three Allied airborne divisions landed before dawn. US amphibious landings were at Utah and Omaha Beaches. British and Canadian landings were on beaches between Bayeux and Caen. 
  • 26 Jun - Cherbourg liberated. Port repairs subsequently took a month.
  • 25 Jul - Normandy Breakout begins with massive air bombardment just west of St. Lo, 40 miles west of Caen.
  • 7 Aug - German counterattack at Mortain towards Avranches begins; attack fails after several days.
  • 12 August - General German retreat from Normandy begins
  • 21 Aug - Falaise Pocket, NW of Argentan sealed trapping remaining German troops in Normandy.
France's Basse-Normandie Department
The Basse-Normandie Region of France

Phase 2 - Liberation of France and its neighbors, August - September 1944
On 25 August, Allied forward positions were near the Seine River. In the following few weeks, German forces withdrew from most of France, Belgium and Luxembourg.
In the south:
  • 15 August - Operation Dragoon, US and French invasion in southern France between Toulon & Cannes.
  • 23-28 August - Marseille liberated by French.
  • 3 September - Lyon liberated.
In the north:
  • 25 August - Paris liberated by French.
  • 30 August - Reims liberated by US Third Army.
  • 4 September - Brussels & Antwerp, Belgium liberated by British Second Army.
  • 10 September - Bastogne, Belgium & Luxembourg City liberated by US First Army.
  • 19 September - Nancy liberated by US Third Army.
Pursuit to the German Border
Pursuit to the German Border, 26 Aug - 11 Sep 1944

​Phase 3 - Border Operations, September 1944 - March 1945
Fighting a war of attrition near the German border, much of which is defended by the Siegfried Line.
  • 11 September - First Allied penetration into Germany by US First Army.
  • ~15 September - Operation Dragoon forces having advanced from the south, become ETO's right flank in NE France.
  • 17 September - Operation Market Garden begins, unsuccessful Allied land and air offensive north into the Netherlands through Eindhoven & Nijmegen to Arnhem.
  • 22 November - City of Metz in Lorraine captured by US Third Army after a long struggle.
  • 23 November - French forces occupy Strasbourg in Alsace.
  • 28 November - Opening of major port of Antwerp, at east end of Scheldt estuary.
  • 16 December - Beginning of German counteroffensive, known as the Battle of the Bulge, against US First Army in Ardennes in eastern Belgium between Malmedy and Bastogne.
  • 25 December German Ardennes counteroffensive stalls as first Third Army unit reaches Bastogne.
  • 1 January - Beginning of German counteroffensive, Operation Nordwind, north of Strasbourg in northern Alsace.
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The Border Operations Area
The Border Operations Area, September 1944 - March 1945

​Phase 4, Conquest, March - May 1945
Crossing the Rhine River and driving into the heart of Germany.
  • 7 March - First Allied Rhine crossing - the US First Army at Remagen on the middle Rhine between Bonn & Koblenz.
  • 22 March - Second Allied Rhine crossing - the US Third Army at Oppenheim on the upper Rhine between Mainz & Mannheim.
  • 23 March - Major Allied Rhine crossing - The British 21st Army Group at Wesel north of Duisburg.
  • 1 April - US Ninth and First Armies complete encirclement of Ruhr industrial area at Lippstadt near the Lippe River.
  • 16 April - Beginning of Soviet attack on Berlin.
  • 18 April - German resistance in the Ruhr industrial area ends.
  • 25 April - Soviet and US forces meet at Torgau on the Elbe River NW of Dresden.
  • 30 April - Adolf Hitler commits suicide in Berlin.
  • 7 May - Germany surrenders unconditionally at Reims, France effective 8 May.
The Rhine River
The Rhine River
Current Maps of the Countries That Saw ETO Combat
About the maps:
  • Don't forget to enlarge maps by clicking.
  • Scalable maps allow you to enlarge the area of interest. View scalable maps by clicking and mousing.
  • Germany's eastern borders extended further east during WWII. 
Physical Map of France
Physical Map of France
Map of Belgium
Map of Belgium
Map of The Netherlands
Map of The Netherlands
Map of Luxembourg
Map of Luxembourg
Map of Germany today
Map of Germany
Sources for Big Pigeon's The ETO > ETO Overview webpage: (incomplete; links not checked)
​Major Sources:
  • None at this time.
Webpage image Sources. (C/O = courtesy of.) ​          scalable https://www.orangesmile.com/common/img_country_maps/france-map-1.jpg.           scalable https://ian.macky.net/pat/map/be/be_blu.gif.              scalable https://ian.macky.net/pat/map/be/be_blu.gifhttps://www.orangesmile.com/common/img_country_maps/netherlands-map-0.jpg.           scalable https://ian.macky.net/pat/map/lu/lu_blu.gif.           scalable https://www.orangesmile.com/common/img_country_maps_physical/germany-map-physical-0.jpg.
About the sources for maps used here: