bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 14 Jan 2024.
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The US Third Army fought in Lorraine in northeastern France from early September to mid-December 1944.
Lorraine Campaign Overview
The Lorraine area includes four departments, as shown on the accompanying map. The Moselle Department, including the city of  Metz, had been part of the German Empire from 1870 to 1918.

Historians use the term Lorraine Campaign to describe the activities of General George Patton's Third Army in the Lorraine area from the time of the Third Army's arrival until the bulk of the Third Army left Lorraine starting in mid December to participate in the Battle of the Bulge.

General Patton is remembered for skillful exploitation of armor to achieve rapid battlefield advances. This was not the case in Lorraine. Supply shortages, stiffening German resistance, and then rainy weather,  helped cause the Lorraine Campaign to drag on for over three months during the War of Attrition on the Western Front.
Lorraine in Northeastern France
Lorraine in Northeastern France
Fantasies Unrealized
In the euphoria that prevailed in the ETO during the pursuit of the retreating Germany Army across northern France in late August 1944, Allied commanders had different fantasies. One scenario imagined a Third Army dash across Lorraine, smash through the Siegfried Line to the north, and advance through the German Rhineland to the Rhine River zone shown on the upper right of the accompanying map.

In truth, the Third Army fought for three and a half months in northeastern France, suffered over 5,000 dead, and failed to significantly penetrate the Siegfried Line. 
The Third Army in Lorraine - Overview Map
The Third Army in Lorraine - Overview
Allied Forces Enter Northeast France
After dashing across northern France from Normandy, the Third Army entered Lorraine from the west in early September 1944, and crossed the Meuse River without difficulty, as shown on the accompanying map.

In early September, the Third Army comprised XX, XII, and XV Corps (V Corps at the top of the accompanying map was a First Army unit; XV Corps had no divisions assigned to it at the time).

The bottom of this map shows the movement northward of elements of the French First Army and the Seventh Army, having landed on the southern coast of France in mid-August 1944.

Note also that for the first time since the general German retreat from Normandy began on 12 August, German forces are presenting a coherent defense.
Northeast France, 5 Sep '44
German Front in Northeastern France, 5 September 1944
Scalable Map
Crossing the Moselle
The Moselle River generally runs northward through Lorraine, bending to the west to pass by Toul, then to the east meeting the Seille River downstream from Nancy, and then continuing north through Metz.

By September 5, the worst of the gasoline shortage that had stalled the Third Army for the first few days of September had abated.

Attempts to cross the Moselle between Metz and Nancy began on 5 September for XII Corps and 8 September for XX Corps. Neither of the first two bridgeheads could be held.

Nevertheless, by 25 September the Third Army had crossed the Moselle in multiple locations and Nancy and Luneville to Nancy's southeast were firmly in Third Army hands.

In WWII, divisions would often be moved between corps, corps moved between armies, and sometimes armies between army groups. 
  • On 29 September 1944, XV Corps was reassigned to the Seventh Army, which was heading for Alsace. This transfer made logistic sense as Seventh Army received its supplies through Marseille in the south; southern supply lines were less bottlenecked than lines from northern ETO ports.
  • On 10 October, III Corps was transferred from the Ninth Army to the Third Army. 
Third Army Front 25 Sep '44
The Third Army Front - Lorraine, 25 Sep 1944
Scalable Map
The Campaign for Metz
The salient event in the Third Army Lorraine Campaign was the capture of the complex of fortifications in the Metz area in northeastern Lorraine. The area around Metz, as well as Alsace to the east, had been part of the German Empire from 1870 to 1918; thus a degree of patriotic fervor entered into the stubborn German defense of Metz.

​ The battles for Metz occupied the Third Army for most of October and November 1944, although combat started in late September and the last fort did not surrender until December.
  • 16 Sep '44 - Beginning of attempts by XX Corps to capture the fortifications ringing Metz.
  • 22 Nov '44: Metz secured.
  • 13 Dec '44: final fort in the Metz area surrenders to III Corps.
Metz Fortifications
Metz Fortifications
The Third Army - Final Lorraine Operations
After the capture of Metz, the Third Army turned its attention to the border between Lorraine and the German Saarland to the northeast.

During the Saar Operation, with dates 8 November-21 December 1944, the Third Army advanced northwards through northern Lorraine.
  • On the right, where the upper Saar River turns south into France, XII Corps advanced towards the Siegfried Line.
  • On the left, XX Corps crossed the Saar River in two locations, Saarlautern (now Saarlouis) and Dillingen/Pachten, and advanced into the Siegfried Line just beyond the Saar River.
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3rd Army at the Saar River
Third Army, Last Phase of the Lorraine Operation, Advance to the Saar River, 3-19 December 1944
Scalable Map
The Third Army Shifts to the Ardennes
The 16 December German Ardennes counteroffensive to the north, known as the Battle of the Bulge, soon derailed the Third Army's Saar offensive.

Patton's Third Army contained three corps in December 1944. XX Corps and XII Corps were in combat along the line shown on the above map.
  •  Patton assigned to III Corps three divisions, the 4th Armored, 80th Infantry, and 26th Infantry, and sent III Corps north to the southern shoulder of the Bulge.
  • Patton's XII Corps soon followed northward to the southern flank of the Bulge, west of III Corps. Seventh Army units shifted left to cover the former XII Corps zone.
  • XX Corps remained in place, but had to assume a defensive posture. Sadly, the hard-fought Dillingen/Pachten bridgehead had to be abandoned.

​Patton followed the bulk of his army northward, moving his headquarters from Metz to Luxembourg City.
The Saar River
The Saar River in Germany and northeastern France
Scalable Map
 Sources for Big Pigeon's The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army webpage:
​Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army:
  • Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Dead module.
03-03 - The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army: (ten dead, updated 19 Mar 2024)
† Anderson, Leon Edward, SN 37-128-873, US Army, Cass Co.
  • Co. K, 378th Inf. Regt., 95th Inf. Div., XX Corps, Third Army; KIA 18 Nov 1944 Metz, Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France; Battle of Metz - The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.
† Ash, Mickiel Daniel, SN 37-196-388, US Army, Pott. & Polk Cos.
  • 347th Inf. Regt., 87th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 20 Dec 1944 near German border at Obergailbach, east of Sarreguemines, Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France; The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.
† Curtis, Alton B., SN 37-692-006, US Army, Audubon Co.
  • 328th Inf. Regt., 26th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 15 Nov 1944 NE of Nancy, near Wuisse, Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France; The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.
† Haberberger, Leonard Joseph, SN 37-490-431, US Army, Harrison & Shelby Cos.
  • Co. G, 10th Inf. Regt., 5th Inf. Div., XX Corps, Third Army; DNB 16 Dec 1944 near Saarlautern (now Saarlouis), W of Saarbrücken, Saarland, Germany; The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.
† Hull, Edwin George, SN 37-428-239, US Army, Monona & Shelby Cos.
  • Co. A, 326th Inf. Regt., 26th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 30 Nov 1944 near Honskirich, SW of Bitche, Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France; The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.
† Kirkland, Morris Alvin, SN 37-420-864, US Army, Harrison Co.
  • Co. C, 377th Inf. Regt., 95th Inf. Div., XX Corps, Third Army; KIA 9 Nov 1944 Maizières-lès-Metz, north of Metz, Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France; Battle of Metz - The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army; BNR.
† Kuehn, Russell Dale, SN 37-693-128, US Army, Cass Co.
  • Co. K, 137th Inf. Regt., 35th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 17 Dec 1944 near Bliesbruck, east of Sarreguemines, Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France; The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.
† Ronnfeldt, Roy Robert, SN 37-189-109, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Co. G, 358 Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div., XX Corps, Third Army; KIA 6 Dec 1944 Pachten, near Dillingen, on Saar River N of Saarlautern (now Saarlouis), Saarland, Germany; The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.
† Welch, Harold Arthur, SN 37-673-375, US Army, Audubon Co.
  • Co. C, 359th Inf. Regt., 90th Inf. Div., XX Corps, Third Army; KIA 28 Sep 1944 near Metz, Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France; Battle of Metz - The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.
† Williams, Jerry Jerome, SN 37-470-962, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • 101st Inf. Regt., 26th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 9 Nov 1944 east of Nancy, Hill 310, near Arracourt, Meurthe et Moselle Dept., Lorraine, France; The ETO > War of Attrition > Lorraine/Third Army.