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Operation Northwind (German: Unternehmen Nordwind) was the last major German offensive of World War II on the Western Front.Northwind was launched to support the German Ardennes offensive campaign in the Battle of the Bulge, which by late December 1944 had decisively turned against the German forces.
Operation Nordwind was launched by German ground forces on 31 December 1944 against U.S. and French ground forces in the Rhineland-Palatinate and the Alsace and Lorraine regions of southwestern Germany and northeastern France as part of the European Theatre in World War II. It ended on 25 January 1945.
This offensive, known as Unternehmen Nordwind (Operation North Wind), and separate from the Ardennes Offensive, was the last major German offensive of the war on the Western Front. The weakened Seventh Army had, at Eisenhower's orders, sent troops, equipment, and supplies north to reinforce the American armies in the Ardennes, and the offensive ...
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 (reinforced by the U.S. XXI Corps) cleared the Pocket of German forces.
On 31 December, the Germans launched a major offensive in north-eastern France, called Operation Nordwind, and managed to gain ground against the Seventh United States Army, and the First French Army. In order to cut off the American held town of Haguenau, the Wehrmacht needed to encircle the position in a pincer move.
Its initial role was to supervise the planning of the combined French and American forces which invaded southern France in Operation Dragoon and provide liaison between these forces and AFHQ. [5] [6] Dragoon was the operational responsibility of the Seventh United States Army commanded by Lt. Gen. Alexander Patch. [5]
As a part of Simon's XIII SS Corps, the division participated in Operation Nordwind, the ill-fated last German offensive in the West. The Götz von Berlichingen, together with 36th Volksgrenadier Division, attacked the US 44th and 100th Infantry Divisions around the town of Rimling.
See: Clarke and Smith, From The Riviera To The Rhine Archived 27 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine and The Seventh Army Report of Operations in France and Germany, 1944–1945 for a definitive description of Operation Nordwind and the 14th Armored Division's actions. Cirillo, Roger. The Ardennes-Alsace. The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II.