🔗=============>> The WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 Submodule <<=​============​🔗
​prior ETO sections:  War of Attrition     Rhineland, 1944                      next ETO section:  Ardennes/The Bulge
Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 subpages: Third Army in Lorraine     Seventh Army in Lorraine     Seventh Army in Alsace    ​
     ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– Seventh Army in Lorraine  –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944  > Lorraine/Seventh Army, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated 19 Jun 2025

The US Seventh Army combat in Lorraine in northeastern France from late September through 12 November 1944
The Vosges Mountains
​Alsace, east of Lorraine, shares a long border with Germany along the Rhine River. To reach this border required Allied forces to cross from Lorraine through the Vosges Mountains into Alsace, as shown on the accompanying maps.

Securing the foothills territory to the west was necessary before crossing the  Vosges Mountains. This required two months of arduous operations by the Seventh Army in southeastern Lorraine in the fall of 1944.
The Vosges Mountains
The Vosges Mountains
The High Vosges Area
The High Vosges Area
Scalable Map
Seventh Army in Lorraine - September 1944
The US Seventh Army, along with the First French Army, landed in southern France in mid-August 1944. Together they comprised the Sixth Army Group, which fought its way northward into northeastern France during the following month.

Initially the Seventh Army contained only one corps, the VI Corps, which contained three infantry divisions, the 45th, 36th, and 3rd, all veterans of the Italian Campaign.

The accompanying map shows the first concerted VI Corps attacks in northeastern France, the attacks across the Moselle River in the vicinity of Epinal. For the next six weeks, VI Corps would fight in the area shown on this map.
VI Corps Crosses the Moselle River
VI Corps crosses the Moselle River, 20-25 Sep 1944
On 29 September, XV Corps was transferred from the Third to the Seventh Army. At the time, XV Corps consisted of only two divisions, the 79th Infantry and the French 2nd Armored Division.

Just before the transfer to Seventh Army control, XV Corps had secured Luneville, east of Nancy and the nearby Forest of Mondon. By the 29th, it was heavily involved in clearing the Forest of Parroy.
Picture
The 79th Infantry Division in the Forêt de Parroy
Picture
The XV Corps Zone, 25 Sep 1944
Seventh Army in Lorraine - October 1944
The accompanying map shows the positions of VI Corps' three divisions in mid-October. Note that VI Corps still has to penetrate wooded broken highlands before reaching the German Vosges foothills positions on the east side of the Meurthe River.

I have been unable to find a map showing XV Corps positions in October 1944.
VI Corps, Mid-October 1944
The VI Corps Zone - 14 Oct 1944
The Allied Attack into Alsace - November 1944
On 13 November 1944, US and French troops in the four corps of the 6th Army Group began their attack east into Alsace. Subsequent 1944 Seventh Army combat in Lorraine is the purview of the sister Alsace/Seventh Army webpage. 
Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army webpage:
Major Sources: Sources for webpage images: (C/O = courtesy of)​
Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army webpage: 03-03 - WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army  (11 dead, updated 30 Jun 2025)
  • XV Corps, initially part of Third Army, was subordinated to Seventh Army 29 Sep 1944.
  • VI Corps, transferred from Italy, had landed in southern France in mid August. It came under ETO control in mid September.
† Christensen, Jack Newton, SN O-516-204, US Army, Lancaster Co., NE & Pott. Co.
  • 397th Inf. Regt., 100th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 12 Nov 1944 near Raon l'Etape, SE of Baccarat, Vosges Dept., Lorraine, France.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Holshuh, Charles Lewis, SN 37-126-901, US Army, Cass Co.
  • 314th Inf. Regt., 79th Inf. Div., XV Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 22 Oct 1944 by shrapnel near Embermenil, SE of Nancy, Meurthe et Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
​† Kennedy, Clair Eugene, SN 37-447-783, US Army, Cass Co.
  • Co. A, 142nd Inf. Regt., 36th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Seventh Army; WIA 30 Sep 1944 by shrapnel near Tendon, SE of Epinal, Vosges Dept., Lorraine, France; DOW 1 Oct 1944.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Lynch, Archie Dale, SN 37-693-884, US Army, Cass Co.
  • ​315th Inf. Regt., 79th Inf. Div., XV Corps, Seventh Army; DOW 24 Oct 1944 near Embermenil, SE of Nancy, Meurthe et Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France, shrapnel wounds.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Orstad, Melvin T., SN 37-447-884, US Army, Adams & Scott Cos.
  • ​10th Inf. Regt., 3rd Inf. Div., VI Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 10 Oct 1944 near Le Tholy, SE of Epinal, Vosges Dept., Lorraine, France.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Pagh, Amos Christian, SN 0-1-325-790, US Army, Douglas Co., NE
  • 397th Inf. Regt., 100th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 14 Nov 1944, near Raon L’Etape, SE of Baccarat, Vosges Dept., Lorraine, France.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Pedersen, Silas Clyde, SN 0-1-019-087, US Army, Audubon & Shelby Cos.
  • 191st Tank Bn., attached to 45th Inf. Div., XV Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 5 Oct 1944 probably NE of Epinal near Rambervillers, Vosges Dept., Lorraine, France during Seventh Army's advance eastward into the Vosges foothills.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Points, Leslie Ronald, SN 32-300-054, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • 313th Inf. Regt., 79th Inf. Div., XV Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 29 Sep 1944, Forêt de Parroy, east of Nancy, Meurthe et Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Snyder, Kenneth Harvey, SN 37-484-885, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • 315th Inf. Regt., 79th Inf. Div., XV Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 29 Sep 1944 Forêt de Parroy, near Lunéville, SE of Nancy, Meurthe et Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Tinkham, Darl Morgan, SN 37-472-715, US Army, Montgomery Co.​
  • Co. C, 143rd Inf. Regt., 36th Inf. Div., VI Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 17 Oct 1944 east of Epinal, Vosges Dept.,
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army
† Vernon, Glenn Oren, SN 37-483-550, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • 7th Inf. Regt., 3rd Inf. Div., VI Corps, Seventh Army; KIA 3 Nov 1944 St.-Die-des-Vosges, Vosges Dept., Lorraine, France.
  • WWII Germany > The ETO > Lorraine & Alsace, 1944 > Lorraine/Seventh Army