After Operation Nordwin came to a halt the Germans were driven back from the Alsace region except for
their strongholds in a region around the French city of Colmar
This area became known as the Colmar Pocket and this pocket had to be
reduced by the Allied armies. In this video you're going to learn more
about the forgotten battle for the Colmar Pocket the liberation of Alsace, keep watching
Good to have you back on the channel, if you're new I'm Stefan. I'm a Dutch history teacher.
I'd like to cover history, preferably I do that on location like right now i'm here in the Alsatian
city of Colmar in front of a monument which is dedicated to a French general Jean de Lattre de Tassigny
and his forces took part in the liberation of Alsace and also reducing the Colmar Pocket and
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As the Germans launched Operation Wacht Am Rhein, also known as the Ardennes Offensive a.k.a. the Battle of the Bulge
they launched another operation further south: Operation Northwind. Here is what
American historian Robert Citino has to say about this operation:
Operation Northwind was a series of German
attacks to recapture the Alsace region. Initially the Americans couldn't bring in reinforcements
since these were fighting at the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. When the tide
turned the Germans were driven back except for a region located around the French city of Kolmar
that was basically west of the Rhine river. It was the last German stronghold of the Alsace region
and the Allies they decided that this pocket had to be reduced first before advancing into Germany.
The operation to reduce the Colmar Pocket was known as Operation Cheerful. From December 1944
American commander Dwight D. Eisenhower had urged General Jacob Devers's 6th Army Group
consisting of the US 7th, under the command of General Alexander M. Patch; and the French 1st, under
General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny) to clear the Colmar Pocket. Devers's army had landed in Southern
France during Operation Dragoon and advanced to the Rhine from the Late Summer onwards and
was the first to reach the Rhine. Supreme Commander Eisenhower forbade him to cross the Rhine
since the Germans of the 19th Army was still in charge of a pocket West of the river around the
city of Colmar. Furthermore Eisenhower requested division after disivion from him to reinforce
the American troops in the Ardennes, when the Germans launched an offensive there. It was then when Nordwind kicked off.
After the German offensives came to a halt Devers and Da Lattre started planning to elimate the pocket.
The Germans had a total strength was around 22,500 men (which may have
been 70,000 before Nordwind kicked off) and were led by Generalmajor Siegfried Rasp.
The German units were understrength, with relatively weak infantry companies, few anti-tank guns, and shortages of
artillery ammunition. There was limited armored support and totaled 189 tanks and assault guns.
Hitler declared Colmar a Festung (fortress city), to be defended to the end.
On 20 January Operation Cheerful started in the midst of a heavy snowstorm. This helped the French First Corps
to mask their attack near Mulhouse, but at the same time slowed them down. Rasp ordered his reserves to move south.
He believed this was a diversionary attack. On 22 January the French Second Corps
aimed at eliminating the Erstein bulge created by the German Nordwind operation.
Also General John W. O'Daniel's 3rd U.S. Infantry Division attacked to the southeast aiming to cross the Ill River.
The numerous north-south river and canal barriers formed a serious challange for the attackers.
The 30th Infantry of the 3rd Division managed to capture an intact wooden bridge which had to be reinforced
to let tanks make the crossing. On 23 January these were attacked
by elements of the 708. Volksgrenadier-Division. The Americans suffered heavy casualties since
they had no anti-tank weapons and the ground was too frozen to dig in. A second German attack nearly
overran the bridgehead, but the 15th Infantry managed to secure a river crossing farther north
and arrive at Maison Rouge with tank support, which broke up the German attacks. During the fighting
Second Lieutenant Audie Murphy won the Medal of Honor after beating back the German attackers.
After the war Murphy became an actor who played himself in the 1955 movie To Hell and Back.
The Colmar canal was reached on the night of 29/30 January. German high command realized
the Colmar Pocket was doomed to fall. Some units were withdrawn to bolster the defense
of the Black Forest in Germany. Hitler partially agreed and wanted the pocket to be held as long as possible.
On 2 February the US 28th Division began taking over the suburbs of Colmar.
French tanks also began moving into the city and managed to do this without much opposition.
On 5 February Neuf-Brisach on the Rhine was reached by the Americans and
that day the French and US forces linked up in Rouffach encircling the western half of the pocket,
trapping the remnants of four German divisions. Against orders from Berlin, German commander Rasp
continued moving his troops across the Rhine. By ferry or over the Neuenberg bridge and the bridge at Chalampe.
In the following days the French troops cleared te pocket of several German holdouts.
On 8 February Hitler gave permission to withdraw over the river. The following day the Germans blew the final Rhine
bridge at Chalampe. That marked the end of the Colmar Pocket.
The Germans lost over 25,000 troops of whom 16,438 were POWed.
Around 10,000 managed to escape east. With that the most of Alsace was liberated although there were
some areas around Hagenau, such as the villages of Hatten-Rittershoffen, were not retaken until the March offensive into the Saar.
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Don't forget to subscribe and aux revoir from Colmar, France.