Backs to the Saare WTO (id:#60390)

(ASLOK 2008 ID: Shellshock #4)   [next]   [previous]

Fraulatern, Germany 1944-12-10 (5 others)

Overview:

The Western Allies had been trying to penetrate and exploit beyond the Siegreid Line for four months, and by early December they looked like they just might succeed. The XX Corps established bridgeheads around Dillingen-Pachten, brushing aside the local Volksturmm units by December 6th. General Balck raced to plug the gap with several infantry and two panzer divisions, which allowed time to fortify the West Wall and conceal many pillboxes-including some concrete structures that were three stories deep and comprised up to seventeen separate rooms. With the banks of the Saare rising due to a recent thaw the, XX Corps was beginning to experience supply difficulties as well. With their bridgehead now being squeezed between the Germans and the rising river, the only way out of trouble for the 90th Infantry Division was to attack forward into the heavily fortified villages around Saarlautern. . . .The rising Saare was not the least of their troubles, as the GIs of the 377th Regiment fought through German pillboxes, 88mm guns and roving packs of tanks and assault guns. Fortunately, the GIs had an ace in the form of the 320th Combat Engineer battalion. Veterans of four month’s fighting on the Siegfried line, these specialists had perfected effective methods of dealing with heavy fortifications. The suburb of Fraulatern saw nasty house-to-house fighting, with a climatic hand-to-hand struggle in the ballroom of the resort town’s largest hotel.

Defender: German (36th Volksgrenadier Division and 21st Panzer Division)  

Errata (source)