Siegfried Line

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO > Siegfried Line 1945 > XX Corps to Trier, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 11 Jul 2022.
​In late February 1945, Patton's XX Corps crossed the Saar River, penetrated the Siegfried Line, occupied Trier, and seized a bridge across the Moselle River.

​Part 1 - Clearing the Saar-Moselle Triangle

The Saar-Moselle Triangle, the region in Germany between the Saar and Moselle Rivers in the extreme southwestern Rhineland-Palatinate, is shown on the accompanying map. A timeline follows. 

• 14 Jan: XX Corps' 94th Infantry Division begins probing attacks on the Siegfried Switch, aka the Orscholz Switch, a fortified strip reaching from Nennig on the Moselle River to Orscholz at a bend in the Saar River. The Switch forms the base of the Saar-Moselle triangle, the other sides being the Moselle River and its major tributary, the Saar. The 94th Division continues its costly attacks intermittently for a month.
• 19 Feb: The 94th Infantry Division completes penetration of the western portion of the Switch.
• 20 & 21 Feb: The 10th Armored Division, supported by additional units, overruns the Saar-Moselle Triangle.

Clearing the Saar-Moselle Triangle

Part 2 - Crossing the Saar River and advancing to Zerf

​​A timeline:

• 22-23 Feb: 94th Infantry Division & 10th Armored Division establish bridgeheads across the Saar River near Saarburg.
• 22-25 Feb: 5th Ranger Battalion establishes blocking position west of Zerf on the Irsch-Zerf road.
• 22-25 Feb: XX Corps penetrates the Siegfried line, with elements advancing east to the road junction of Niederzerf.
• 27 Feb: Zerf area cleared.

The Advance to Zerf

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Part 3 - Capture of Trier

As shown on the right-hand side of the accompanying map, all three of the 10th Armored Division's combat commands headed north from the Niederzerf area on 27 February. On 1 March, two of the commands captured Trier and a bridge from Trier across the Moselle River to the north.

During the next two weeks, the 94th Infantry Division established screening positions in the area, some of which were subject to nighttime infiltration. 

Capture of Trier - 1 March 1945

.Sources for Big Pigeon's The ETO > Siegfried Line 1945 > XX Corps to Trier webpage:

• The Last Offensive, Chapter VII, The Saar-Moselle Triangle (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-7.html.​
• Clearing the Saar-Moselle Triangle -
• The Advance to Zerf - 
• The Capture of Trier - 1 March 1945 - Map #V from The Last Offensive - https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Last/maps/USA-E-Last-V.jpg.

Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - The ETO > Siegfried Line 1945 > XX Corps to Trier:

• Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Dead module.

03-06 - The ETO > Siegfried Line 1945 > XX Corps to Trier: (one dead, updated 29 Jun 2022)
† Barrett, Henry Joseph Jr., SN 37-699-275, US Army, Pott. Co.

• Co. I, 301st Inf. Regt., 94th Inf. Div., XX Corps, Third Army; KIA 6 Mar 1945 near Zerf, S of Trier, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany; The ETO > Siegfried Line 1945 > XX Corps to Trier.