Ruhr Pocket
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The Ruhr Pocket was a battle that took place at the end of World War II in the Ruhr Area, Germany.
In March 1945, Allied Forces crossed the Rhine river. South of the Ruhr, General Omar Bradley's U.S. 12th Army Group's pursuit of the disintegrating German army resulted in the capture of the Ludendorff Bridge across the Rhine at Remagen by the U.S. First Army. Bradley and his subordinates quickly exploited the crossing made on March 7, 1945 and expanded the bridge head. North of the Ruhr on March 23, 1945 Field Marshal Montgomery's British 21st Army Group launched Operation Plunder and crossed the Rhine at Rees and Wesel.
Having crossed the Rhine, both Army Groups fanned out. In the south the First Army headed north east forming the southern pincer of the Ruhr envelopment, while in the north the U.S. Ninth Army, which since the Battle of the Bulge had been assigned to Montgomery's 21st Army Group, headed south east, forming the northern pincer.
Facing the allied armies were the remnants of a shattered Wehrmacht, a few SS training units, and large numbers Volkssturm (militia units for aging men, including some World War I veterans) and Hitlerjugend (Hitler Youth) units, composed of boys as young as twelve years old.
Lead elements of the two allied pincers met on April 1, 1945 near Lippstadt. By April 4 the encirclement was completed and the Ninth Army reverted to the command of Bradley's 12th Army Group. Within the Ruhr pocket about 430,000 German soldiers of Army Group B which was 21 divisions of the Wehrmacht as well as millions of civilians were trapped in cities heavily damaged by numerous bombings.
While the main operations headed further towards middle- and northern Germany, US forces concentrated on the pocket, taking it section by section. On April 12, 1945 the 1st and 9th US Army divided the area coming from the south; the smaller, eastern part surrendered the next day. The western part continued to resist until April 18, 1945 and April 21, 1945. The commander Field Marshal Walther Model committed suicide in a forest south of the city of Duisburg.
The surviving 325,000 German soldiers from the Ruhr Pocket and some civilians were imprisoned in the Rheinwiesenlager.
[edit] External links
- "North to the Ruhr Pocket and On East to Peace", 10th Infantry Regiment official history.
- Ruhr Pocket End of war in Rhineland and Westphalia in April 1945.
