bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Germany > ETO > Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign, updated by RAC 22 Oct 2020.
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HIstorians use the term Lorraine Campaign to describe the activities of Patton's Third Army in the Lorraine area of northeastern France from the time the Northern France campaign began to peter out in early September 1944 until the Third Army moved north in mid December to participate in the Battle of the Bulge.
General George Patton is remembered for skillful expoitation of armor to achieve rapid battlefield advances. This was not the case in Lorraine. Supply shortages and rainy weather, combined with the early August commitment of his strongest corps to the Brittany Campaign far to the west, helped cause the Lorraine Campaign to drag on for three months. |
Lorraine in Northeastern France
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In August, the Third Army had swept east as the right flank of the Allied advance across northern France. Patton arrived in western Lorraine with only six divisions, his most-powerful corps having been diverted for the liberation of Brittany. Supply shortages, especially of fuel, restrained further advances.
Despite his weakened army and supply shortages, Patton for a time promoted an early attack northeast through a gap in German lines towards the Rhine, as shown on the accompanying map. I believe that if General Eddy's corps had proceeded with such an attack, the end result would have been the encirclement and capture of the attacking force. |
The Third Army in Lorraine - Overview Map
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The XV Corps
In the Allies' War with Germany, divisions would often be moved between corps and corps moved between armies (and sometimes armies between army groups). One of the more noted moves came in Lorraine on 29 September 1944 when the XV Corps, which had crossed northern France with Patton's Third Army, was reassigned to Patch's Seventh Army, which had landed in southern France in August and fought its way northward. The Seventh Army was receiving its supplies through Marseille in the south of France; southern supply lines were less bottlenecked than lines from the ports in the northern ETO. Two men from my WW II Dead roster, both members of XV Corps' 79th Infantry Division, died in Lorraine in the Forêt de Parroy east of Nancy and northeast of Luneville on 29 September. XV Corps was moving eastward towards Alsace with the goal of Strasbourg on the Rhine in mind. |
The 79th Infantry Division in the Forêt de Parroy
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The salient event in the Lorraine Campaign was the capture of the complex of fortifications in the Metz area in northeastern Lorraine. The shaded area around Metx in the first map, as well as Alsace to the east, had been part of the German Empire from 1871 to 1919; thus a degree of patriotism entered into the stubborn German defense of Metz.
The battles for Metz occupied Patton's Third Army for most of October and November 1944, although combat started in late September and the last fort did not surrender until December. |
Metz Fortifications
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After the capture of Metz, the Third Army turned its attention to the northeast. Thus began the Saar Operation, with dates 8 Nov - 21 Dec. The Third Army passed through the remainder of Lorraine and advanced to the Saar River. In December the Third Army began to cross the Saar River into Germany and penetrate the Siegfried Line in the Saarland. The 16 December German counteroffensive in the Ardennes Plateau to the north, known as the Battle of the Bulge, soon intervened. Much of the Third Army moved further northward to contain the southern part of the Bluge. The Third Army gave up their hard-fought gains, retreated back across the Saar River, and the remaining Third Army forces assumed defensive positions, with the Seventh Army taking over part of their sector.
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The Third Army Advance to the Saar River.
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Pottawattamie County, Iowa WW II Dead - Lorraine Campaign
(taken from the bigpigeon.us WW II Dead webarea)
(taken from the bigpigeon.us WW II Dead webarea)
Sources for the Lorraine Campaign webpage:
Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead - Lorraine Campaign:
† Ash, Mickiel Daniel, SN 37-196-388, US Army, Pott. & Polk Cos.
- The webpage header Metz Nov '44 photo is courtesy of wikipedia. It shows a typical house clearing activity when occupying a city.
- The Lorraine in Northeastern France map is courtesy of worldatlas.com. Note Epinal, south of Nancy, site of one of the two American cemeteries in northeastern France.
- The Third Army in Lorraine - Overview Map is courtesy of ibiblio.
- The 79th Infantry Division in the Forêt de Parroy map is taken from the book Riviera to the Rhine at https://history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-10-1/CMH_Pub_7-10-1.pdf.
- The Metz Fortifications map is courtesy of militaryhistoryblogspot.wordpress.com.
- You can view the entire 3rd Army at the Saar River map at https://warfarehistorynetwork.com/2018/12/19/pattons-saar-offensive-breaking-through-the-western-wall/. Note St.. Avold, east of Metz, site of one of the two American cemeteries in northeastern France.
Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead - Lorraine Campaign:
- Taken from the bigpigeon.us WW II Dead webarea.
† Ash, Mickiel Daniel, SN 37-196-388, US Army, Pott. & Polk Cos.
- 347th Inf. Regt., 87th Inf. Div.; KIA 20 Dec 1944 near German border at Obergailbach, E of Sarreguemines, Moselle Dept., France; Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign.
- Co. G, 10th Inf. Regt., 5th Inf. Div.; DNB 16 Dec 1944 near Saarlautern (now Saarlouis), W of Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany; Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign.
- Co. A, 326th Inf. Regt., 26th Inf. Div., Third Army; KIA 30 Nov 1944 near Honskirich, SW of Bitche, NE France; Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign.
- Co. C, 377th Inf. Regt., 95th Inf. Div., Third Army; KIA 9 Nov 1944 S of Metz, Lorraine, France; Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign; BNR.
- 313th Inf. Regt., 79th Inf. Div.; KIA 29 Sep 1944, Forêt de Parroy, E of Nancy, Lorraine, France; Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign.
- Co. G, 358 Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div.; KIA 6 Dec 1944 Pachten, near Dillingen, on Saar River, N of Saarlouis, Saarland, Germany; Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign.
- 315th Inf. Regt., 79th Inf. Div.; KIA 29 Sep 1944 Foret de Parroy, near Lunéville, SE of Nancy, Lorraine, France; Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign.
- 101st Inf. Regt., 26th Inf. Div.; KIA 9 Nov 1944 S of Metz, Lorraine, France; Lorraine & Alsace > Lorraine Campaign.