Overview

Recovering rapidly from the shock of German counteroffensives in the Ardennes and Alsace, Allied armies early in January 1945 began an offensive that gradually spread all along the line from the North Sea to Switzerland and continued until the German armies and the German nation were prostrate in defeat. This volume tells the story of that offensive, one which eventually involved more than four and a half million troops, including ninety-one divisions, sixty-one of which were American. The focus of the volume is on the role of the American armies -First, Third, Seventh, Ninth, and, to a lesser extent, Fifteenth- which comprised the largest and most powerful military force the United States has ever put in the field. The role of Allied armies -First Canadian, First French, and Second British- is recounted in sufficient detail to put the role of American armies in perspective, as is the story of tactical air forces in support of the ground troops.