Eisenhower's Thorn on the Rhine: The Battles for the Colmar Pocket, 1944-45

by Nathan N. Prefer

Overview

“The difficult fighting in the Colmar Pocket is brought to vivid life” in this WWII chronicle of the Allied 6th Army Group (WWII History).
 
By the fall of 1944, the Western Allied forces appeared to be unstoppable. The summer’s Normandy invasion had driven the Germans out of northern France and most of the Low Countries. In September, they liberated France’s southern coast with little opposition. Then, Allied divisions began lining up along the Rhine.
 
While the Americans met a nasty surprise in the Ardennes, the Germans also held on to the province of Alsace, maintaining a hard pocket around the city of Colmar. On New Year’s Eve, they launched Operation Northwind, a counteroffensive that nearly put Allied forces back on their heels. On January 12, 1945, Eisenhower could only tell George Marshall that Colmar was “a very bad thorn in our side today.”
 
This is the story of the Sixth Army Group, a unit that combined US and French forces, and its unexpectedly bloody and protracted battle for the Colmar Pocket. Amidst a horrific winter and rough terrain, interspersed by demolished towns, the Allied Army Group traded blows with the German 19th in a ferocious campaign. This book informs us fully of the tremendous and costly struggle waged in an often-neglected sector of World War II’s European Theater.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612003238
Publisher:	Casemate Publishers
Publication date:	01/10/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	360
Sales rank:	367,378
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Nathan N. Prefer is retired with graduate degrees in Military History. His life-long study of the Second World War has resulted in three prior military studies including MacArthur's New Guinea Campaign, March-August 1944; Patton’s Ghost Corps, Cracking the Siegfried Line and Vinegar Joe's War, Stilwell's Campaigns in Burma. He resides in Fort Myers, Florida.

Table of Contents

1 The Sixth Army Group 9

2 The French October Offensive 21

3 Seventh Army's October Offensive 40

4 St Dié 57

5 Forming the Colmar Pocket 79

6 The Belfort Gap 104

7 Stalled on the Rhine 132

8 December 1944 151

9 Operation Nordwind 175

10 Strasbourg, Again 197

11 Operation Cheerful 219

12 Colmar 238

13 February 1945 257

14 Conclusion 280

Appendix A Allied Order of Battle 296

Appendix B Organization of German Military Units 303

Notes 305

Bibliography 324

Index 334

Maps

Dispositions of the Opposing Armies 6

The Colmar Pocket, 5 December 1944. (Source: Clarke & Smith) 78

Operations of December 1944. (Source: de Lattre) 152

The Battle North of Strasbourg. (Source: de Lattre) 198

The Battle South of Strasbourg. (Source: de Lattre) 220

The Colmar Pocket, 20 January to 5 February 1945. (Source: Clarke & Smith) 258

Editorial Reviews

"Nathan N. Prefer has a reputation for re-examining World War II battles that history, for whatever reason, has overlooked, and in Eisenhower's Thorn On The Rhine, he's uncovered a humdinger"

History of War

"A brutal winter, rugged terrain and devastated towns are the backdrop for the writer’s factual but dramatic chronicle of how Allied and Axis forces traded blows in this costly but relatively overlooked clash of arms."

Toy Solder & Model Figure

"The difficult fighting in the Colmar Pocket is brought to vivid life in this new work. Details of many small actions are woven into the overall narrative, enabling the reader to get a sense of the hardship and cost the fighting in this region brought for the soldiers of both sides. Clear maps and good appendices provide added detail."

WWII History

Prefer provides a compelling and lucid account of the combat operations of the 6th Army Group… Overall, Prefer provides a welcome addition to the history of the Allied campaign in Western Europe. This book is highly recommended because it fills a gap in the historiography of the Allied effort in the European theater and provides long overdue recognition to the noteworthy combat record of the 6th Army Group.

Army History

"...scrutinizes a lesser-known campaign from the closing days of World War II. After the success of the Normandy invasion, as well as the expulsion of German forces from northern France and most of the Low Countries, a fierce pocket of German resistance around the city of Colmar continued to frustrate Allied forces. This last-ditch holdout was so fierce that in January of 1945, President Eisenhower said to George Marshall, It is a very bad thorn in our side today." Eisenhower's Thorn on the Rhine examines this military juncture from all perspectives; chapters describe in detail the military strategies utilized and their repercussions, as well as the hardships and bravery of troops pressed to their limit on both sides. Extensive notes, a bibliography, and an index round out this scholarly military history, highly recommended especially for public and college library World War II collections."

Midwest Book Review

"A brutal winter, rugged terrain and devastated towns are the backdrop for the writer’s factual but dramatic chronicle of how Allied and Axis forces traded blows in this costly but relatively overlooked clash of arms."

Toy Soldier and Model Figure Magazine