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Bitburg, ~ Mar 1945

WWII Hub

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg, © 2025 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 10 Nov 2025  
Incomplete.

The February 1945 XII Corps attack towards Bitburg, coupled with the earlier VIII Corps attack towards Prum and the 1 March XX Corps seizure of Trier, put the Third Army past the Siegfried Line throughout most of the Eifel region.

This enabled

• the Third Army's dash across the Eifel towards Koblenz in early March as part of Operation Lumberjack.
• the Third Army's dashes across the Palatinate to the Rhine in mid-March as part of Operation Undertone.

The initial XII Corps attack, across the swollen Our and Sauer Rivers, led to the drowning deaths of numbers of American troops. The human cost of this initial attack is little-documented and little-known. I believe this is  one of the major stories of the ETO which deserves more attention from historians, whether scholarly, popular, or amateur.

Vianden Bulge & Bitburg, 6-28 Feb 2022

---

Scalable Vianden Bulge and Bitburg Map
(from MacDonald's The Last Offensive)

Sources for Big Pigeon's WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg webpage:

• The Last Offensive, Chapter VI, Bitburg and the Vianden Bulge (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-6.html.
• The webpage header photo Bitburg, ~ Mar 1945 is courtesy of https://dbs.bh.org.il, the Open Databases Project of the Museum of the Jewish People.
• Vianden Bulge & Bitburg - Map #IV, The Last Offensive - https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Last/maps/USA-E-Last-IV.jpg. 
• https://www.80thdivision.com/80th-OperationalHistory/80thOperHist-Feb45_Pt1.pdf

Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg:

• Access full individual records through bigpigeon.us > WWII Dead > Roster Records.

03-06 - WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg: (seven dead, updated 10 Nov 2025
† Armstrong, Kenneth Burton, SN 37-735-072, US Army, Harrison Co.

• Co. F, 319th Inf. Regt., 80th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 6 Feb 1945 Luxembourg at Sauer River near German Border, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg

† Lake, Robert Lee, SN 37-750-121, US Army, Carroll Co.​

• Co. F, 2nd Inf. Regt, 5th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 19 Feb 1945 approaching Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg
  

† Larson, Darwin Norville, SN 37-435-093, US Army, Montgomery Co.

• 737th Tank Bn., attached to 5th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 23 Feb 1945 approaching Bitburg, Rhineland-Palatine, Germany.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg

† Nelson, Leonard Mortensen, SN 17-043-992, US Army, Audubon Co.

• first overseas tour Jun-Dec 1943; departed US for second tour Nov 1944; 304th Inf. Regt., 76th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; WIA Feb 1944 near Irrel, north of Trier, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany; DOW 28 Feb 1945.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg

† Orr, Bertis Stanley, SN 37-118-280, US Army, Pott. Co. & Adams Co., IL

• Co. F, 319th Inf. Regt., 80th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 7 Feb 1945 Luxembourg, near German Border, at Sauer River NW of Wallendorf, Eifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg

† Starner, Russell Leroy, SN 37-734-909, US Army, Shelby Co.

• Co. K, 319th Inf. Regt., 80th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 13-15 Feb 1945 east of Sauer River, near Wallendorf, Eifel, Rhineland-Palatinate; Germany.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg

 † Winslow, Fred Lute John, SN 37-693-036, US Army, Mills Co.

• Co. K, 318th Inf. Regt., 80th Inf. Div., XII Corps, Third Army; KIA 11 Feb 1945 near Sauer and Our River junction, Luxembourg.
• WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line, 1945 > XII Corps to Bitburg