🔗=======================> Key High-Level WWII Links <=====================🔗
Module: WWII Dead WWII Hub WWII US WWII Japan WWII Germany
Submodule: Roster Sources MTO ETO
🔗============================> The World War II Germany Module <===========================🔗
subpages: WWII Germany Overview Battle of the Atlantic The Eastern Front The MTO The ETO
subpages: WWII Germany Overview Battle of the Atlantic The Eastern Front The MTO The ETO
🔗=============>> The WWII Germany > European Theater of Operations, ETO Submodule <<==========🔗
1944 subpages: Background Overview Normandy Liberation War of Attrition The Bulge
1945 subpages: Siegfried Line Advance to the Rhine Central Europe Campaign
other subpages: Order of Battle Air War Sea War Communications Zone
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1944 subpages: Background Overview Normandy Liberation War of Attrition The Bulge
1945 subpages: Siegfried Line Advance to the Rhine Central Europe Campaign
other subpages: Order of Battle Air War Sea War Communications Zone
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bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 17 Jun 2025
Ground combat in the European Theater of Operations (the ETO) began in Normandy, France on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and ended in Germany on 8 May 1945.
Ground combat in the European Theater of Operations (the ETO) began in Normandy, France on D-Day, 6 June 1944, and ended in Germany on 8 May 1945.
Links to Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The ETO webareas:
Preliminary ETO webpages provide contextual material: Deadly fighting in Normandy through mid-August was followed by the quick liberation of most of France and Belgium:
Preliminary ETO webpages provide contextual material: Deadly fighting in Normandy through mid-August was followed by the quick liberation of most of France and Belgium:
- The Normandy Campaign (1), June–July 1944
- Liberation of France and Belgium (2 & 3), July–September 1944
- The War of Attrition (4a), Fall 1944
- The Netherlands, Fall 1944
- The German Rhineland, Fall 1944
- Lorraine and Alsace in northeastern France, Fall 1944
- Ardennes/The Bulge (5), December 1944–January 1945
- The Siegfried Line, 1945 (4b), January–February 1945
- The Advance to the Rhine, 1945 (4b), January–March 1945
- The Central Europe Campaign (6), March–May 1945
- Numbers after major webpages correspond with the following official list of ETO campaigns.
- WWII Hub contains a list of all subpages.
- Some webpages are still incomplete.
United States Army official list of ETO campaigns with official dates:
- Normandy Campaign, 6 June – 24 July 1944 -- Allies land by sea and air and subsequently expand beachhead.
- Northern France Campaign, 25 July – 14 September 1944 -- German lines are broken; Germany withdraws from most of France and Belgium.
- Southern France Campaign, 5 August – 14 September 1944 -- Germans withdraw from Southern France.
- Rhineland Campaign, 15 September 1944 – 21 March 1945 -- Allies advance to Rhine River. The Rhineland Campaign is in two phases, denoted by 4a and 4b, being interrupted by the German counteroffensives.
- Ardennes-Alsace Campaign, 16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945 -- German counteroffensives are driven back in the Ardennes and contained in Alsace.
- Central Europe Campaign 22 March – 11 (sic) May 1945 -- Allies cross Rhine and advance into Germany; war in Europe ends with Germany's surrender effective 8 May.
European Theater Executive Summary, June 1944 - May 1945
Beginning with D-Day, ground combat in the ETO raged over northern and eastern France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Luxembourg, and western Germany.
European Theater operations consisted of two periods of grinding combat, each followed by a breakout:
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The Allied Armies on D-Day, 6 June 1944
The initial Allied forces that landed in Normandy were elements of two armies, comprising the 21 Army Group, under the command of British General Bernard Montgomery.
- The US First Army commanded by General Omar Bradley.
- The British Second Army, with a large Canadian contingent, commanded by General Miles Dempsey.
The Allied Armies on VE-Day, 8 May 1945
This map locates the seven front-line armies of the Western Allies at the end of hostilities on Victory in Europe day. Counterclockwise from upper-middle:
British 21st Army Group (Montgomery)
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Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The ETO webpage:
Major Sources:
Major Sources:
- None at this time.
- Normandy American Cemetery, webpage header photo - C/O the American Battle Monuments Commission.
- European Theater Overview, map - C/O the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection at the University of Texas in Austin, TX.
- The Victory in Europe map appeared in the the third and final volume of Rick Aktinson's trilogy about United States land operations in the German War.
- https://history.army.mil/html/reference/campaigns.html lists the US Army campaigns in WWII.
- The United States Army official list of ETO campaigns data, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Army_campaigns_during_World_War_II.