Operation Nordwind (Images of War)

Operation Nordwind was the last major German offensive of World  War II on the Western Front. It began on 31 December 1944 in  Rhineland-Palatinate, Alsace and Lorraine in southwestern Germany and  northeastern France, and ended on 25 January 1945. Normally overshadowed  by the Battle of the Bulge, Nordwind battles were just as intense and  the troops involved faced the same bitter weather conditions and battle  conditions their fellow units did to the north. The goal of the  offensive was to break through the lines of the U.S. Seventh Army and  French 1st Army in the Upper Vosges mountains and the Alsatian Plain,  and destroy them, as well as the seizure of Strasbourg, which Himmler,  who had been placed in charge, had promised would be captured by 30  January. The campaign also showcased the difficulties of inter-Allied  cooperation between the Americans and the French. The U.S. VI  Corps—which bore the brunt of the German attacks—was fighting on three  sides by 15 January. By 15 January at least 17 German divisions  (including units in the Colmar Pocket) from Army Group G and Army Group  Oberrhein, including the 6th SS Mountain, 17th SS Panzergrenadier, 21st  Panzer, and 25th Panzergrenadier Divisions were engaged in the fighting.  Another smaller attack was made against the French positions south of  Strasbourg, but it was finally stopped.

Vicious battles at Hatten  and Rittershoffen, Gambsheim and Herrlisheim took place and while the  Germans could not employ near the same amount as armor as they did in  the Ardennes, the armor engagements were nonetheless ruthless. The  American 12th Armored Division lost almost an entire tank battalion in  the battles in and around Herrlisheim. Action would engulf the entire  front and areas like Strasbourg, Wingen, the Colmar Pocket and Haguenau  would be ingrained in the minds of the troops that fought in these  battles.