The Western Front Flashcards
Overview of the Phoney War: Limited Military Activity Despite Declarations of War
The Phoney War was an early phase of World War II marked by a few military operations in Continental Europe in the months following the German invasion of Poland and preceding the Battle of France. Although the great powers of Europe had declared war on one another, neither side had yet committed to launching a significant attack, and there was relatively little fighting on the ground. This was also the period in which the United Kingdom and France did not supply significant aid to Poland, despite their pledged alliance.
French Saar Offensive and Defensive Postures During the Phoney War
The French forces launched a small offensive, the Saar Offensive against Germany in the Saar region but halted their advance and returned. While most of the German Army was fighting against Poland, a much smaller German force manned the Siegfried Line, their fortified defensive line along the French border. At the Maginot Line on the other side of the border, French troops stood facing them, whilst the British Expeditionary Force and other elements of the French Army created a defensive line along the Belgian border. There were only some local, minor skirmishes. The British Royal Air Force dropped propaganda leaflets on Germany and the first Canadian troops stepped ashore in Britain, while Western Europe was in a strange calm for seven months.
Economic and Military Preparations by Britain and France: The Role of U.S. Suppliers and the Battle of the Atlantic
In their hurry to re-arm, Britain and France had both begun to buy large numbers of weapons from manufacturers in the United States at the outbreak of hostilities, supplementing their own production. The non-belligerent United States contributed to the Western Allies by discounted sales of military equipment and supplies. German efforts to interdict the Allies’ trans-Atlantic trade at sea ignited the Battle of the Atlantic.
Operation Weserübung
While the Western Front remained quiet in April 1940, the fighting between the Allies and the Germans began in earnest with the Norwegian Campaign when the Germans launched Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway. In doing so, the Germans beat the Allies to the punch; the Allies had been planning an amphibious landing in which they could begin to surround Germany, cutting off her supply of raw materials from Sweden. However, when the Allies made a counter-landing in Norway following the German invasion, the Germans repulsed them and defeated the Norwegian armed forces, driving the latter into exile. The Kriegsmarine, nonetheless, suffered very heavy losses during the two months of fighting required to seize all of mainland Norway.
The Battle of France: German Blitzkrieg and the Collapse of Western Allied Forces
In May 1940, the Germans launched the Battle of France. The Western Allies (primarily the French, Belgian, and British land forces) soon collapsed under the onslaught of the so-called “blitzkrieg” strategy. Following the German breakthrough at Sedan, the BEF, along with the best of the French and Belgian armies became trapped in Flanders. With the use of paratroopers and concentrated firepower, the Belgian and Dutch armies surrendered after several days. Luxembourg fell within the first day.
Dunkirk Evacuation and the German Advance
The majority of the British and elements of the French forces escaped at Dunkirk. This was due to the combined factors of poor weather, German mishaps, and the incredible number of British civilian ships assembled for the undertaking. Following the conclusion of events at Dunkirk on June 4, the Wehrmacht commenced Fall Rot, an offensive against the remaining French armies. With most of the French armies either destroyed or taken prisoner, the Germans quickly broke through the French lines, taking Paris on June 14. As France was falling, the British began the strategic withdrawal of all remaining British troops from France, via French ports still under Allied control.
Casualties and German Morale: The Impact of the Rapid Victory
In six weeks of fighting, the combined Allied armies suffered more than 375,000 killed or wounded, as well as 1,800,000 soldiers becoming prisoners of war. Meanwhile, Germany suffered a more modest 43,110 killed and 111,000 wounded. Hitler had expected a million men to die in the conquest of France. Remarkably low casualties and France’s quick defeat led to a massive rise in morale among the German people. With the fighting ended, the Germans began to consider ways of resolving the question of how to deal with Britain. If the British refused to agree to a peace treaty, one option was to invade. However, Nazi Germany’s Kriegsmarine had suffered serious losses in Norway, and in order to even consider an amphibious landing, Germany’s Air Force (the Luftwaffe) had to first gain air superiority or air supremacy.
The Second Armistice of Compiègne and the Division of France
With the war all but decided, Italy also declared war on the UK and France but made little progress. With the situation becoming dire, French Prime Minister Philippe Pétain signed the Second Armistice of Compiègne on June 22, 1940, with its terms taking effect on June 25. The terms of the armistice called for the occupation of Northern France, along with the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine into the German Reich. Italy was also allowed a small occupation zone in the southeast. France was allowed to continue its existence in the form of Vichy France, a rump state of the former French Republic, led by Philippe Pétain. The Vichy regime was allowed to keep their colonial empire and navy fleet, as some of Hitler’s few concessions.
The Atlantic Wall and the Dieppe Raid: German Defenses and Allied Operations
With the Luftwaffe unable to defeat the RAF in the Battle of Britain, the invasion of Great Britain could no longer be considered a viable option. As the majority of the German army was being mustered for the invasion of the Soviet Union, construction began on the Atlantic Wall – a series of defensive fortifications along the French coast of the English Channel. These were built in anticipation of an Allied invasion of France.
The Dieppe Raid: Allied Testing and German Lessons
Because of the massive logistical obstacles a cross-channel invasion would face, the Allied high command decided to conduct a practice attack against the French coast. On August 19, 1942, the Allies began the Dieppe Raid, an attack on Dieppe, France. Most of the troops were Canadian, with some British contingents and a small American and Free French presence, along with British and Polish naval support. The raid was a disaster, with almost two-thirds of the attacking force becoming casualties. However, much was learned as a result of the operation – these lessons would be put to good use in the subsequent invasion.
Western Front During the War: Strategic Bombing and Allied Raids
For almost two years, there was no land fighting on the Western Front, with the exception of commando raids and the guerrilla actions of the resistance aided by the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and Office of Strategic Services (OSS). During this period, the Allies took the war to Germany through a strategic bombing campaign, with the US Eighth Air Force bombing Germany by day and RAF Bomber Command bombing by night. The bulk of the Allied armies were occupied in the Mediterranean, seeking to clear the sea lanes to the Indian Ocean and capture the Foggia Airfield Complex.
British Raids and Commando Operations: Key Actions and Their Impact
Two early British raids for which battle honors were awarded were Operation Collar in Boulogne (June 24, 1940) and Operation Ambassador in Guernsey (July 14–15, 1940). The raids for which the British awarded the “North-West Europe Campaign of 1942” battle honor included Operation Biting – Bruneval (February 27–28, 1942), St Nazaire (March 27–28, 1942), Operation Myrmidon – Bayonne (April 5, 1942), Operation Abercrombie – Hardelot (April 21–22, 1942), Dieppe (August 19, 1942), and Operation Frankton – Gironde (December 7–12, 1942). A notable raid on Sark on October 3/4, 1942, led to the issuance of the Commando Order by Hitler, instructing that all captured Commandos or Commando-type personnel were to be executed as a matter of procedure.
German Defenses and Troop Disposition: Preparing for an Invasion
By the summer of 1944, when an expectation of an Allied invasion was openly acknowledged by German commanders, the disposition of troops facing it came under the command of OB West (HQ in Paris). This command oversaw three groups: the Wehrmacht Netherlands Command (Wehrmachtbefehlshaber Niederlande or WBN), covering the Dutch and Belgian coasts; Army Group B, covering the coast of northern France with the German 15th Army (HQ in Tourcoing) in the area north of the Seine; the 7th Army (HQ in Le Mans), between the Seine and the Loire, defending the English Channel and the Atlantic coast; and Army Group G, responsible for the Bay of Biscay coast and Vichy France, with its 1st Army (HQ in Bordeaux) responsible for the Atlantic coast between the Loire and the Spanish border, and the 19th Army (HQ in Avignon) responsible for the Mediterranean coast.
Allied landing in Normandy
On 6 June 1944, the Allies began Operation Overlord (also known as “D-Day”) – the long-awaited liberation of France. The deception plans, Operation Fortitude and Operation Bodyguard, had the Germans convinced that the invasion would occur in the Pas-de-Calais, while the real target was Normandy. Following two months of slow fighting in hedgerow country, Operation Cobra allowed the Americans to break out at the western end of the lodgement. Soon after, the Allies were racing across France. They encircled around 200,000 Germans in the Falaise Pocket. As had so often happened on the Eastern Front Hitler refused to allow a strategic withdrawal until it was too late. Approximately 150,000 Germans were able to escape from the Falaise pocket, but they left behind most of their irreplaceable equipment and 50,000 Germans were killed or taken prisoner.
The Allies had been arguing about whether to advance on a broad-front or a narrow-front from before D-Day.[34] If the British had broken out of the Normandy bridgehead (or beachhead) around Caen when they launched Operation Goodwood and pushed along the coast, facts on the ground might have turned the argument in favour of a narrow front. However, as the breakout took place during Operation Cobra at the western end of the bridge-head, the 21st Army Group that included the British and Canadian forces swung east and headed for Belgium, the Netherlands and Northern Germany, while the U.S. Twelfth Army Group advanced to their south via eastern France, Luxembourg and the Ruhr Area, rapidly fanning out into a broad front. As this was the strategy favoured by the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and most of the American high command, it was soon adopted.
Allocation of Mobile Reserves: Dispersal and Strategic Planning
The chance of an amphibious landing necessitated the substantial dispersal of German mobile reserves, which included the majority of their panzer troops. Each army group was allocated its mobile reserves: Army Group B had the 2nd Panzer Division in northern France, the 116th Panzer Division in the Paris area, and the 21st Panzer Division in Normandy. Army Group G had dispersed its mobile reserves, with the 11th Panzer Division in Gironde, the 2nd SS Panzer Division Das Reich refitting around Montauban, and the 9th Panzer Division stationed in the Rhone delta area.
The OKW retained a substantial reserve of mobile divisions dispersed over a large area: the 1st SS Panzer Division Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler in the Netherlands, the 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend and the Panzer-Lehr Division in the Paris–Orleans area, and the 17th SS Panzergrenadier Division Götz von Berlichingen located south of the Loire in the vicinity of Tours.
Operation Dragoon: The Invasion of Southern France and Rapid Advance
On 15 August the Allies launched Operation Dragoon – the invasion of Southern France between Toulon and Cannes. The US Seventh Army and the French First Army, making up the US 6th Army Group, rapidly consolidated this beachhead and liberated Southern France in two weeks; they then moved north up the Rhone valley. Their advance only slowed down as they encountered regrouped and entrenched German troops in the Vosges Mountains.
Consolidation of Allied Command and German Retreat: World War II in France
The Germans in France were now faced by three powerful Allied army groups: in the north the British 21st Army Group commanded by Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery, in the center the American 12th Army Group, commanded by General Omar Bradley and to the south the US 6th Army Group commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers. By mid-September, the 6th Army Group, advancing from the south, came into contact with Bradley’s formations advancing from the west and overall control of Devers’ force passed from AFHQ in the Mediterranean so that all three army groups came under Eisenhower’s central command at SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Forces).
Liberation of Paris and Impact on German Reprisal Weapon Launch Sites during World War II
Under the onslaught in both the north and south of France, the German Army fell back. On 19 August, the French Resistance (FFI) organised a general uprising and the liberation of Paris took place on 25 August when general Dietrich von Choltitz accepted the French ultimatum and surrendered to general Philippe Leclerc de Hauteclocque, commander of the Free French 2nd Armored Division, ignoring orders from Hitler that Paris should be held to the last and destroyed.
Logistical Challenges and German Withdrawal in World War II
The liberation of Northern France and the Benelux countries was of special significance for the inhabitants of London and the southeast of England because it denied the Germans launch sites for their mobile V-1 and V-2 Vergeltungswaffen (reprisal weapons). As the Allies advanced across France, their supply lines stretched to breaking point. The Red Ball Express, the Allied trucking effort, was simply unable to transport enough supplies from the port facilities in Normandy all the way to the front line, which by September, was close to the German border.
German Withdrawal and Port Denial: World War II Western Front
Major German units in the French southwest that had not been committed in Normandy withdrew, either eastwards towards Alsace (sometimes directly across the US 6th Army Group’s advance) or into the ports with the intention of denying them to the Allies. These latter groups were not thought worth much effort and were left “to rot”, with the exception of Bordeaux, which was liberated in May 1945 by French forces under General Edgard de Larminat (Operation Venerable).
Stabilization of the Western Front and American Fighting through the Hurtgen Forest during World War II
Fighting on the Western front seemed to stabilize, and the Allied advance stalled in front of the Siegfried Line (Westwall) and the southern reaches of the Rhine. Starting in early September, the Americans began slow and bloody fighting through the Hurtgen Forest (“Passchendaele with tree bursts”—Hemingway) to breach the Line.
Liberation of Antwerp and the Battle of the Scheldt in World War II
The port of Antwerp was liberated on 4 September by the British 11th Armoured Division. However, it lay at the end of the long Scheldt Estuary, and so it could not be used until its approaches were clear of heavily fortified German positions. The Breskens pocket on the southern bank of the Scheldt was cleared with heavy casualties by allied forces in Operation Switchback, during the Battle of the Scheldt. This was followed by a tedious campaign to clear a peninsula dominating the estuary, and finally, the amphibious assault on Walcheren Island in November. The campaign to clear the Scheldt Estuary along with Operation Pheasant was a decisive victory for the Allies, as it allowed a greatly improved delivery of supplies directly from Antwerp, which was far closer to the front than the Normandy beaches.
Battle of Aachen and the American Offensive in World War II
In October the Americans decided that they could not just invest Aachen and let it fall in a slow siege, because it threatened the flanks of the U.S. Ninth Army. As it was the first major German city to face capture, Hitler ordered that the city be held at all costs. In the resulting battle, the city was taken, at a cost of 5,000 casualties on both sides, with an additional 5,600 German prisoners.
Campaigns in Lorraine and the Vosges Mountains: World War II Allied Advances and German Resistance
South of the Ardennes, American forces fought from September until mid-December to push the Germans out of Lorraine and from behind the Siegfried Line. The crossing of the Moselle River and the capture of the fortress of Metz proved difficult for the American troops in the face of German reinforcements, supply shortages, and unfavorable weather. During September and October, the Allied 6th Army Group (U.S. Seventh Army and French First Army) fought a difficult campaign through the Vosges Mountains that was marked by dogged German resistance and slow advances. In November, however, the German front snapped under the pressure, resulting in sudden Allied advances that liberated Belfort, Mulhouse, and Strasbourg, and placed Allied forces along the Rhine River. The Germans managed to hold a large bridgehead (the Colmar Pocket), on the western bank of the Rhine and centered around the city of Colmar. On 16 November the Allies started a large scale autumn offensive called Operation Queen. With its main thrust again through the Hürtgen Forest, the offensive drove the Allies to the Rur River, but failed in its core objectives to capture the Rur dams and pave the way towards the Rhine. The Allied operations were then succeeded by the German Ardennes offensive.