Western Front

1944–1945: The liberation of Western Europe

June 1944 – May 1945 · 12 battles

On 6 June 1944 American, British and Canadian troops landed in Normandy in the largest amphibious operation in history. After two months of heavy fighting in the Norman hedgerows and around Caen the German front broke: in August the Allies closed the Falaise pocket, and a second landing, in Provence, opened a route from the south. Paris was liberated on 25 August; in September the Allies entered Belgium and reached the borders of the Reich. An attempt to force a quick crossing of the Rhine at Arnhem failed, and in the winter the Germans struck for the last time, in the Ardennes. In the spring of 1945 the Allies crossed the Rhine, encircled the Ruhr and met the Red Army on the Elbe; the war in Europe ended with Germany’s surrender on 8 May 1945.

6 June – 30 August 1944Key battleBattle of NormandyFrom 6 June to 30 August 1944 the Allies fought in Normandy: from the landings, Caen and the Cobra breakout to the Falaise Pocket and the Seine.
15 August – 14 September 1944Operation Dragoon15 August – 14 September 1944. The Allies landed in Provence, took Toulon and Marseille, pursued the Germans up the Rhône and met the Normandy armies.
17–25 September 1944Key battleOperation Market Garden17–25 September 1944: Allied airborne troops and XXX Corps tried to seize the Dutch bridges up to the Rhine. They took Nijmegen but were defeated at Arnhem.
19 September 1944 – 10 February 1945Battle of Hürtgen Forest19 September 1944 – 10 February 1945: US troops fought in the Hürtgen Forest near Aachen, losing some 33,000 men for a few villages and the Roer dams.
27 September – 13 December 1944Battle of MetzFrom 27 September to 13 December 1944 the US Third Army fought for the fortress of Metz. The city fell on 22 November; the last fort held out until 13 December.
2–21 October 1944Key battleBattle of AachenFrom 2 to 21 October 1944 the US First Army encircled and took Aachen. Colonel Gerhard Wilck's surrender gave the Allies the first large city of the Reich.
2 October – 8 November 1944Battle of the Scheldt2 October – 8 November 1944. The First Canadian Army, with British and Polish troops, cleared the Scheldt estuary, opening the port of Antwerp to the Allies.
16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945Key battleBattle of the Bulge16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945. Germany tried to reach Antwerp via the Ardennes; resistance at Elsenborn, St. Vith and Bastogne halted it before the Meuse.
31 December 1944 – 25 January 1945Operation NordwindFrom 31 December 1944 to 25 January 1945 Germany attacked in northern Alsace to relieve the Ardennes and retake Strasbourg. The Allies fell back but held.
20 January – 9 February 1945Colmar PocketFrom 20 January to 9 February 1945 the French First Army and US XXI Corps eliminated the Colmar Pocket. The 19th Army's remnants crossed the Rhine at Chalampé.
7–31 March 1945Key battleThe Rhine crossingsOn 7–31 March 1945 the Allies crossed the Rhine at Remagen, Oppenheim, Wesel and Speyer. German defence in the west collapsed, opening the way into the Reich.
1–18 April 1945The Ruhr PocketFrom 1 to 18 April 1945 two American armies encircled and destroyed Model's Army Group B in the Ruhr. Some 317,000 German soldiers were taken prisoner.