Hatten & Rittershoffen

Unternehmen Nordwind (Northwind), the drive to Strasbourg, was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. Launched on January 1, 1945, it was initially successful as the Axis forces broke through the thinly stretched U.S. 7th Army line and …

1945-01-16

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Unternehmen Nordwind (Northwind), the drive to Strasbourg, was the last major German offensive on the Western Front. Launched on January 1, 1945, it was initially successful as the Axis forces broke through the thinly stretched U.S. 7th Army line and drove toward Strasbourg. Elements of the 79th Infantry Division, however, were able to stall the German 1st Army and 39th Panzer Corps at the villages of Hatten and Rittershoffen, two small Alsatian towns just north of the Haguenau forest and a mile or so apart. Surrounded by German forces on three sides, the 42nd US Infantry Division was rushed forward to relieve them. The battle raged for almost a month, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides.

Rittershoffen, Germany

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. 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 had promised would be captured by 30 January. This would leave the way open for Operation Dentist (Unternehmen Zahnarzt), a planned major thrust into the rear of the U.S. Third Army which would lead to the destruction of that army.

Wikipedia: Operation Nordwind

German

American

Game Type: Standard

Board Type: Winter

Website Access: Available