.
.
by Anthony Tucker-Jones.
Hardback (6.3×9.5 inches). 304 pages. 2025.
Quite often, WWII in Europe seems to end after the Battle of the Bulge in January 1945 or thereabouts. I can assure you that was not the case, as my grandfather, drafted April Fool’s Day 1944, completed all his basic and advanced training and was sent to participate in the 1945 Rhineland campaign.
This particular book covers the German actions and responses to Allied maneuvers and attacks on the Western side of the Rhine, including short recaps of Hurtgen Forest and Colmar Pocket. Per usual, Hitler demanded every square inch of the Western side be held, long after its usefulness as a buffer to the Rhine had expired. Nice bit of analysis, supplemented with German commanders’ views, on that aspect.
Then comes the crossings of the Rhine — at Remagen, by Patton, by Montgomery, and even by the French. Interesting factoid about how good and how well equipped US forces were by March 1945: The US 5th Division ferried a regiment across the Rhine at Openheim between 2200 and midnight on March 22. By early afternoon, the entire 5th Division was across. In 24 hours, 15,000 men and 1,000 vehicles had been landed on the Eastern side of the Rhine. In 36 hours, a heavy pontoon bridge was across (p145 to p147).
I knew absolutely nothing about the French crossing and the book expands upon ground operations to include a bit about DeGaulle’s political motivations to grab territory as a bargaining chip at a post-war conference. Nicely summarized, that.
The book contains a full February 1945 OOB of German and Allied (US, UK, French) forces down to Division level. A Lower Rhine, March 1945 OOB of German and UK forces down to Division level is also included.
The book contains 33 black and white photos and eight black and white maps. With all the unfamiliar names, well, unfamiliar to me, I would’ve liked more maps, but that’s me.
I was quite interested in reading about this oft-overlooked campaign.
I knew about some operations — Remagen Bridge, Reichwald, and Operation Varsity — from previous books, which are also covered in this book. Yet so much I didn’t know. ATJ provided a considerable amount of information about US and British operations in and around the Rhine River. It’s a nice, smooth read, too. Excellent.
Enjoyed it.
— Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
