How Close is Too Close

The initial attack to cross the Moselle River at Pont-a-Mousson on the 5-6 of September had shown that the Germans were well organized for defense in that sector. After renewed planning and intelligence gathering the 80th Division prepared to try …

1944-09-13

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The initial attack to cross the Moselle River at Pont-a-Mousson on the 5-6 of September had shown that the Germans were well organized for defense in that sector. After renewed planning and intelligence gathering the 80th Division prepared to try and establish a bridgehead south of Pont-a-IVIousson near the town of Dieulouard. On the night of 11 September the 317th Infantry Regiment crossed the Moselle against light Resistance and captured its first objectives, Hill 382 and the village of St Genevieve. After consolidating their position the 317th prepared for the inevitable German counter assault. The early morning hours of September 13 saw one such assault by elements of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division who very nearly swept the 317th Infantry from Hill 382.

St. Genevieve, France

The German forces had been routed during the Allied break-out from Normandy. The Allies advanced rapidly against an enemy that put up little Resistance. But after the liberation of Paris in late August 1944, the Allies paused to re-group and organize before continuing their advance from Paris to the River Rhine. The pause allowed the Germans to solidify their lines—something they had been unable to do west of Paris. By the middle of September 1944, the three Western Allied army groups; the Anglo-Canadian 2ist Army Group (Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery) in the north, the United States U.S. 12th Army Group (Lieutenant General Omar Bradley) in the center, and the Franco-American 6th Army Group (Lieutenant General Jacob L. Devers) in the south, formed a broad front under the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his headquarters SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force).While Montgomery and Bradley each favored relatively direct thrusts into Germany (with Montgomery and Bradley each offering to be the spearhead of such an assault), General Eisenhower disagreed. Instead, he chose a "broad-front" strategy, which allowed the Allies to gain ground from the beaten Germans in all sectors, allowed the advancing Allied forces to support each other.

Wikipedia: Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine

German

Americans