Operation Nordwind

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"Operation Nordwind" was also a joint German-Finnish naval operation in the Baltic ocean in 1941, see Operation Nordwind (1941)

Western Front (World War II)
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Operation Nordwind (North Wind) was the last major German offensive of the Second World War on the Western front. It began on January 1, 1945 in Alsace and Lorraine of north east France, and ended on January 25.

In Hitler's speech to his division commanders of December 28, 1944, three days prior to their launch of Operation Nordwind, he declared:

"This attack has a very clear objective, namely the destruction of the enemy forces. There is not a matter of prestige involved here. It is a matter of destroying and exterminating the enemy forces wherever we find them. The question of liberating all of Alsace at this time is not involved either. That would be very nice, the impression on the German people would be immeasurable, the impression on the world decisive, terrific psychologically, the impression on the French people would be depressing. But that is not important. It is more important, as I said before, to destroy his manpower."

The objective was simple. Break through the lines of the U.S. Seventh Army in the Upper Vosges mountains and the Alsatian Plain, and destroy it. This would leave the way open for Operation Zahnarzt, a major thrust into the rear of the U.S. Third Army, leading to its destruction.

On January 1, 1945, German Army Group G launched a major offensive against the thinly stretched, 110 km line of the Seventh U.S. Army. Operation Nordwind soon had the understrength Seventh U.S. Army, which, at Eisenhower's orders, had sent troops, equipment, and supplies north to reinforce the American armies in the Ardennes in the "Battle of the Bulge", in dire straits.

The initial attack was conducted by three Corps of the First German Army, and by January 9, the XXXIX Panzer Corps was heavily engaged as well. By January 15, at least 17 German divisions were engaged from Army Group G and Army Group Oberrhein, including the 10th SS Panzer, 7th Parachute, 21st Panzer, and 25th Panzer Grenadier divisions. VI Corps, which bore the brunt of the German attacks, was fighting on three sides by 13 January. With casualties mounting, and running severely short on replacements, tanks, ammunition, and supplies, Eisenhower, fearing the outright destruction of the Seventh Army, rushed already battered divisions hurriedly relieved from the Ardennes, southeast over 100 km, to reinforce the battered Seventh Army. Their arrival was delayed, and the Seventh was forced to withdraw to defensive positions on the south bank of the Moder River on 21 January. The German offensive finally drew to a close on January 25, the same day that the reinforcements began to arrive from the Ardennes.

In the bitter, desperate fighting of Operation Nordwind, VI Corps suffered a total of 14,716 casualties. The total casualties for the U.S. Seventh Army as a whole is unclear, but it included approximately 3,000 killed, 9,000 wounded, and 17,000 sick and injured. (Smith and Clark, "Riviera To The Rhine," p. 527.)