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Counter-attack at Holtzwihr

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Title
Counter-attack at Holtzwihr
Description
During the Battle for the Colmar Pocket, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Division, attached to the 1st French Army for the occasion, bravely inched through the snow-covered plains of Alsace despite the bitter cold. The 15th U.S. Infantry Regiment had just …
Subject
Publisher
Date
1945-01-26
Scenario#
5797
Scenario Description
During the Battle for the Colmar Pocket, the 3rd U.S. Infantry Division, attached to the 1st French Army for the occasion, bravely inched through the snow-covered plains of Alsace despite the bitter cold. The 15th U.S. Infantry Regiment had just seized the village of Riedwihr and the Holtzwihr woods when the Germans launched a counter-attack. Two battalions of the 136th Gebirgsjäger (mountain troops) Regiment, backed by a half-dozen "Jagdpanthers" of the 654th Panzerjäger Abteilung (heavy tank destroyers battalion), attacked from the villages of Holtzwihr and Wickerschwihr. During the fierce engagement that followed, Lt. Audie Murphy, a future Hollywood star in his own right, showed exemplary courage: left alone on the battle field, armed with a campaign phone in one hand, he directed American artillery fire onto the incoming waves of Germans while using his other hand to fire the turret's machine gun of a tank destroyer in flames onto the enemy infantry approaching his position. His heroic action allowed the GIs to contain the Germans and restore the situation and earned him the highest American Military decoration, the prestigious Medal of Honor.
Location
Holtzwihr, France
Battle Name
Battle Narrative
The Colmar Pocket was the area held in central Alsace, France, by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 to February 1945, against the U.S. 6th Army Group during World War II. It was formed when 6th AG liberated southern and northern Alsace and adjacent eastern Lorraine, but could not clear central Alsace. During Operation Nordwind in December 1944, the 19th Army attacked north out of the Pocket in support of other German forces attacking south from the Saar into northern Alsace. In late January and early February 1945, the French First Army cleared the Pocket of German forces.
Narrative Source
Wikipedia: Colmar Pocket
Combatants
German
American
Additional Information
Game Type: Standard
Board Type: Winter
Website Access: Available

Geolocation