OPERATION NORDWIND: Images of War series

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Another volume in the photo-heavy series covers Operation Nordwind -- the last major WWII German offensive on the Western Front -- from Dec 31, 1944 to Jan 25, 1945. Although overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge, Nordwind battles in Rhineland-Palatinate, Alsace, and Lorraine were just as intense and the troops involved faced the same bitter weather conditions and battle conditions their fellow units did to the north.

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 seize Strasbourg, which Himmler, who had been placed in charge, had promised would be captured by 30 January. The campaign also showcased the difficulties of inter-Allied cooperation between the Americans and the French.

The U.S. VI Corps-which bore the brunt of the German attacks-was fighting on three sides by 15 January. At least 17 German divisions (including units in the Colmar Pocket) from Army Group G and Army Group Oberrhein, including the 6th SS Mountain, 17th SS Panzergrenadier, 21st Panzer, and 25th Panzergrenadier Divisions were engaged in the fighting. Another smaller attack was made against the French positions south of Strasbourg.