MEMBERS OF A CANNON COMPANY near Haguenau keep warm as best they can.
RHINELAND CAMPAIGN
26 January 1945–21 March 1945
RHINELAND
The Allied Advance during the Rhineland Campaign 15 September 1944 to 21 March 1945
SECTION VI
Rhineland Campaign
26 January–21 March 1945
At the successful conclusion of the Ardennes-Alsace Campaign the Allies again turned their attention to the Rhineland. Between 26 January and 21 March a major objective was achieved: the German troops which tried to halt the advance were cut off and destroyed, thus eliminating future enemy action west of the Rhine.
When the Rhineland Campaign ended the Allied Expeditionary Force numbered over 4,000,000 men organized into a well-balanced military machine, with combat elements ready to strike the final blow against the disintegrating enemy forces. On 21 March 1945 the First U. S. Army held a bridgehead across the Rhine about twenty miles wide and eight miles deep and had six divisions on the eastern bank of the river, while the remaining Allied troops were prepared to cross in their respective zones.
BELGIUM