to the Rhine

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII - Germany > The ETO > To the Rhine > Operation Lumberjack, updated by RAC 11 Sep 2022.

​During Operation Lumberjack, the US First and Third Armies advanced to the Rhine River in the mid-Rhineland area.​

Operation Lumberjack was a joint First-Third Army offensive that by March 10 had seized the entire west bank of the Rhine from Cologne south through Bonn to the mouth of the Moselle River at Coblenz. By the end of Lumberjack, remaining German forces in the mid-Rhineland were isolated. The most memorable Lumberjack event was the capture of the Ludendorff railroad bridge at Remagen on 7 March.

The First and Third Army corps participated thusly:
First Army:

• VII Corps advanced eastward and took the major city of Cologne (Køln) on the Rhine's west bank north of Bonn.
• III Corps advanced southeast, with the 9th Armored Division seizing the bridge at Remagen on 7 March.
• V Corps also advanced southeast.

Third Army:

• VIII Corps drove northeast from the Prüm area, spearheaded by the 11th Armored Division.
• XII Corps drove northeast, spearheaded by the 4th Armored Division.
• XX Corps, located south of Bitburg near Trier, did not participate.

Operation Lumberjack finale, 6-10 March 1945

Operation Lumberjack - Supplemental Information

For most of February, the First Army's primary responsibility had been to protect the Ninth Army's right flank as the Ninth Army crossed from the Roer River to the banks of the Rhine. By the end of February, Ninth Army's flank needed little attention and the First Army could move more freely through the Rhineland.

During February, the Third Army to the south had passed through the Siegfried Line and was positioned to advance eastward towards the Rhine. 

Operation Lumberjack, launched on 1 March was a short and wildly successful joint operation of the First and Third Armies. Two corps of the First Army moved southeast towards the Rhine on a broad front. After a slow start, elements of two corps of the Third Army moved quickly northeast towards the Rhine. The remaining German forces in the mid-Rhineland were cut off. 

Operation Lumberjack, 1-7 March 1945

Click here to zoom and pan.

Sources for Big Pigeon's To the Rhine > Operation Lumberjack webpage:
Major source:

• The Last Offensive, Chapter X, Operation Lumberjack (the United States Army in World War II, European Theater of Operations series, Charles B. MacDonald, 1973) - http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Last/USA-E-Last-10.html​.

Sources for webpage images:

• Operation Lumberjack finale, 6-10 Mar 1945 - Map excerpted from The War in Western Europe - The Rhineland Campaign - Operations, 8 February-5 March 1945 // The War in Western Europe - The Rhineland Campaign - Operations, 6-10 March 1945 by Krasnoborski, Edward J. 1959, found Jul 2022 at https://www.abebooks.com. These are Maps 76a and 76b of the United States Military Academy Department of History collection of WWII maps, https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/history/world-war-two-europe, and are also viewable at http://www.emersonkent.com/map_archive/rhineland_campaign.htm.
• Operation Lumberjack, 1-7 March 1945 - Map #VIII in The Last Offensive - https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Last/maps/USA-E-Last-VIII.jpg.

​Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - To the Rhine > Operation Lumberjack:

• Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.

03-06 - To the Rhine > Operation Lumberjack:  (one dead, updated 26 Jun 2022)
† Sanderson, Albert James “Beebee”, SN 37-071-522, US Army, Pott. & Woodbury Cos.

• Co. B, 42nd Tank Bn., 11th Armored Div., XII Corps, Third Army; tank commander; KIA 19 Mar 1945 near Simmern, S of Koblenz, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany; To The Rhine > Operation Lumberjack.