bigpigeon.us webpage WW II - Germany > ETO > Rhineland Campaign - 1945 > Ninth & First Armies, updated by RAC 20 Sep 2020

In the late winter of 1945, the Allies' Rhineland Campaign passed through the remaining Siegfried Line and cleared the left bank of the Rhine River, preliminary to crossing the Rhine and advancing eastward into central Germany. For this campaign:
  • The US Ninth Army, part of General Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group, had responsibilty for crossing the Roer River and advancing to the Rhine between the Wesel and Dusseldorf areas.
  • Montgomery's Canadian First and British Second Armies were responsible for the lower Rhine on the Ninth Army's left.
  • The US First Army, part of General Omar Bradley's xxx Army Group, was responsible for advancing to the Rhine between Dusseldorf and the Remagen area, while protecting the Ninth Army's right flank.
The Lower Rhineland, 8 February - 10 March 1945
​
Operation Veritable and Operation Grenade of Montgomery's 21st Army Group had as their mutual objective the clearing of the Rhine's west bank downstream from Dusseldorf. The accompanying map gives 5 March as the termination date, 10 March is generally used.
  • The Canadian First Army's Operation Veritable, began in the Nijmegen area and moved southeast. British forces had occupied Nijmegen in September 1944 as part of the failed Market Garden operation.
  • The US Ninth Army's Operation Grenade began by crossing the Roer River, and then proceeded northeast. US forces had occupied the left bank of the Roer in December 1944  just before Germany's Ardennes counteroffensive.
After Operation Veritable began, German engineers sabotaged the upstream Roer River dams, flooding the Roer Valley. Although Operation Grenade officially began on 9 February, the Ninth Army couldn't  begin crossing the Roer until 23 February, thus increasing the burden on the Canadian First Army.

​On 26 February, Montgomery added the British XXX Corps to Canadian forces, renaming Operation Veritable as Operation Blockbuster.

The first two days of the Ninth's Army's Operation Grenade were difficult, both because the Roer River was still in flood stage and Wehrmacht resistance from the east bank of the Roer. Bridges were soon built and soon the Ninth Army was able to exploit the use of armor to great advantage. Canadian and American forces linked up at Geldern on 3 March after a nine-day campaign.

During Operation Grenade, Hodge's First Army was charged with protecting the Ninth Army's right flank, and thus had advanced to the outskirts of Cologne by 5 March. Much of the Siegfried Line in the First Army's sector had been overrun during the Fall of 1944.
Operations Veritable and Grenadde
Operations Veritable and Grenade
Sources for the Rhineland Campaign > Ninth & First Armies webpage:
  • The webpage header photo Crossing the Roer is courtesy of the Warfare History Network.
  • The Rhineland Campaign Overview map is courtesy of the Canadian website tothosewhoserved.org.
  • The Sixteen German Federal States index map is courtesy of the Nations Online Project.
  • The North Rhine - Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Saarland maps are courtesy of freeworldmaps.net.
  • The Operations Veritable and Grenade map is courtesy of wikipedia.org.
  • The Siegfried Line Smashed, Eifel Plateau Overrun, and Palatine Cleared maps are courtesy of the United States Military Academy.
  • The Third Army's advance through the Siegfried Line in the western Palatinate is outlined in Chapters V, VI and VII of United States Army in World War II, European Theater of Operations, The Last Offensive at https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Last/index.html#index. Each chapter contains a detailed map.
  • The End of the Official Rhineland Campaign map is courtesy of the United States Military Academy.

Pottawattamie County, Iowa Area WW II Dead - Rhineland Campaign > Ninth & First Armies:03-07 - Rhineland Campaign 1945 > Ninth & First Armies: (four dead, updated 7 Oct 2020)
† Decker, Charles Earl, SN 37-750-378, US Army, Harrison & Mills Cos.
  • 39th Inf. Regt., 9th Inf. Div., DNB 28 Feb 1945 Udingen, S of Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany;  Rhineland 1945 > Ninth & First Armies.
† Lutz, Wilbur Leroy, SN 37-485-626, US Army, Harrison Co.
  • 67th Armored Regt., 2nd Armored Div.; KIA 3 Mar 1945 near Krefeld, W of Rhine River & NW of Düsseldorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Rhineland 1945 > Ninth & First Armies.
† Patton, John A., SN 37-463-856, US Army, Page Co. & Los Angeles Co., CA
  • Co. F, 504th Parachute Inf. Regt., 82nd Airborne Div., attached to First Army; KIA 2 Feb 1945, Siegfried Line, near Udenbreth SE of Monshau, North Rhineland-Westphalia, Germany; Rhineland 1945 > Ninth & First Armies.
† Rohrberg, Robert George, SN 37-490-420, US Army, Pott Co.
  • Co. F, 13th Inf. Regt., 8th Inf. Div.; KIA 23 Feb 1945 near Düren, North Rhine–Westphalia, Germany; Rhineland 1945 > Ninth & First Armies.