The Battle of Metz was a battle fought during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
at the city of
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
, France, from late September 1944 through mid-December as part of the
Lorraine Campaign between the
U.S. Third Army
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...
commanded by
Lieutenant General
Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on th ...
George Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
and the
German Army
The German Army (, "army") is the land component of the armed forces of Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German ''Bundeswehr'' together with the ''Marine'' (German Navy) and the ''Luftwaf ...
commanded by General
Otto von Knobelsdorff
Otto von Knobelsdorff (31 March 1886 – 21 October 1966) was a German general during World War II who led the 19th Panzer Division and then held a series of higher commands. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Le ...
. Strong German resistance resulted in heavy casualties for both sides. The city was captured by U.S. forces and hostilities formally ceased on 22 November; the last of the forts defending Metz surrendered on 13 December.
Background
Metz is located between the rivers
Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it joins at Koblenz. A ...
and
Seille. The
fortifications of Metz
The fortifications of Metz, a city in northeastern France, are extensive, due to the city's strategic position near the border of France and Germany. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the area was annexed by the newly created German Empire in ...
consisted of several forts and observation posts with connecting entrenchments and tunnels. The city had fallen to the German forces when France was defeated in 1940. Following the fall of France, the city was immediately annexed to the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
, as were most districts previously annexed to the Reich that had been lost in 1918. Most of the Nazi dignitaries assumed it was obvious that Metz, where so many German army officers were born,
[Admiral Hans Benda (1877–1951), General Arthur Kobus (1879†1945), General ]Günther Rüdel
Günther Rüdel (15 November 1883 – 22 April 1950) was a German general in the Luftwaffe during World War II.
Biography
Günther Rüdel was born in Metz, in Alsace-Lorraine, on 15 November 1883. Rüdel served as a captain during World War I, ...
(1883†1950), General Joachim Degener
Joachim Degener (28 November 1893 – 7 September 1953), was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. A lifelong professional soldier, he served his country as a junior officer in World War I, a staff officer in the inter-war pe ...
(1883†1953), General Wilhelm Baur (1883†1964), General Hermann Schaefer (1885†1962), General Bodo Zimmermann (1886†1963), General Walther Kittel
Walther Kittel (1887–1971) was a German general of medical services during World War II.Helmut Berthold: ''Die Lilien und den Wein: Gottfried Benns Frankreich'', Würzburg : Königshausen & Neumann, 1999, p.105.
Biography
Walther Kittel was ...
(1887†1971), General Hans von Salmuth
Hans Eberhard Kurt Freiherr von Salmuth (11 November 1888 – 1 January 1962) was a German general and war criminal during World War II. Salmuth commanded several armies on the Eastern Front, and the Fifteenth Army in France during the D-Day i ...
(1888†1962), General Karl Kriebel __NOTOC__
Karl Kriebel (26 February 1888 – 28 November 1961) was a general in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
At the beginning of World War II, Kriebel was appoin ...
(1888†1961), General Arthur von Briesen
Arthur von Briesen (26 September 1891 – 15 May 1981) was a Generalmajor in the Wehrmacht during World War II.
Biography
Arthur von Briesen was born in Metz, in Alsace-Lorraine, at the time part of the German Empire. He began his military ...
(1891†1981), General Eugen Müller
Eugen Müller (19 July 1891 – 24 April 1951) was a German general in the Wehrmacht during World War II. He is known for having drafted the criminal Commissar order in preparation for Operation Barbarossa, the 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union.
...
(1891†1951), General Ernst Schreder
Ernst Schreder (21 June 1892–6 December 1941) was a German general during the Second World War.
Biography
Ernst Schreder was born on 21 June 1892 in Metz, Alsace-Lorraine. He fought during the First World War. After the war, he pursued a c ...
(1892†1941), General Ludwig Bieringer
Ludwig Bieringer (12 August 1892–22 January 1975) was a German general during World War II. A lifelong professional soldier, he served his country as a junior officer in World War I, a staff officer in the inter-war period and a brigade-level ...
(1892†1975), General Edgar Feuchtinger
Edgar Feuchtinger (9 November 1894 – 21 January 1960) was a German General (Generalleutnant) during the Second World War. Feuchtinger was commander of the 21st Panzer Division during the Normandy Invasion. Later in 1944 he was tried and convic ...
(1894†1960), General Kurt Haseloff
__NOTOC__
Kurt Haseloff (1894–1978) was a German general during World War II.
Kurt Haseloff was born in Metz in Alsace-Lorraine. He served as a Lieutenant during World War I. He was retained in the Reichswehr, and then in the Wehrmacht of N ...
(1894†1978), General Hans-Albrecht Lehmann
Hans-Albrecht Lehmann (6 February 1894–27 November 1976) was a German general during the Second World War.
Biography
Lehmann was born on 6 February 1894 in Metz in Lorraine. Lehmann served in the First World War with the Imperial German Arm ...
(1894†1976), General Theodor Berkelmann (1894†1943), General Hans Leistikow
Hans Leistikow was a German general during the Second World War.
Biography
In August 1895, Hans Leistikow was born in Metz in Alsace-Lorraine. He fought during the First World War and made a military career in the German army. Senior Officer a ...
(1895†1967), General Rudolf Schmundt
Rudolf Schmundt (13 August 1896 – 1 October 1944) was a German officer and adjutant to Adolf Hitler. Between 1942 and 1944, he was chief of the German Army Personnel Office. Schmundt was injured during the 20 July 1944 assassination attempt o ...
(1896†1944), General Wilhelm Falley
__NOTOC__
Wilhelm Falley (25 September 1897 – 6 June 1944) was the first German general to be killed during the Normandy landings in France. He was commander of the 91st Infantry Division. Career
Promoted to major general in December 1943, and ...
(1897†1944), General Julius von Bernuth (1897†1942), General Johannes Hintz ( 1898 - 1944 ), General Herbert Gundelach
Herbert Gundelach (15 June 1899 – 4 November 1971) was a German general during the Second World War.
Biography
On 15 June 1899, Herbert Gundelach was born in Metz, Alsace-Lorraine. Gundelach joined the German Army straight from school. A ...
(1899†1971), General Joachim-Friedrich Lang
Joachim-Friedrich Lang was a German general during World War II.
Biography
Born on 14 September 1899 in Montigny-lès-Metz, Alsace-Lorraine, Joachim-Friedrich Lang joined the German Army before World War II. Following the outbreak of World W ...
(1899†1945), General Heinz Harmel
__NOTOC__
Heinz Harmel (29 June 1906 – 2 September 2000) was a German SS commander during the Nazi era. He commanded the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg during World War II. Harmel was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross ...
(1906†2000), Erich von Brückner (1896†1949), Helmuth Bode (1907†1985), Johannes Mühlenkamp (1910†1986), Peter-Erich Cremer (1911†1992), Joachim Pötter (1913†1992), Ludwig Weißmüller (1915†1943), Walter Bordellé (1918†1984) among others. was a German city. At that time, the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
did not consider it an important location and the city's defenses were reduced with many guns and equipment removed, although the fortifications were still heavily defended and well armed.
However, after the Allied "break out" from the lodgement established by the
Normandy landings
The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...
, the
U.S. Third Army
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...
raced 400 miles across France, with the German forces retreating in disorder. As Third Army supply lines became stretched, material (especially gasoline) became scarce, and Supreme Commander General
Dwight D. Eisenhower called a halt to the Third Army advance so that supplies could be stockpiled for
Operation Market Garden
Operation Market Garden was an Allied military operation during the Second World War fought in the Netherlands from 17 to 27 September 1944. Its objective was to create a salient into German territory with a bridgehead over the River Rhine, ...
, an attempt to break into the vital (and heavily industrialized) German Ruhr Valley in the north. This pause by Third Army gave the Germans time to reorganize and fortify Metz, in an attempt to contain the Allied advance.
By the end of August 1944, German forces in
Lorraine
Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...
had managed to reestablish a defensive line around Metz and
Nancy. According to an order issued by
Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
in March 1944, fortress commanders were to hold their positions at all costs, surrendering only with Hitler's approval, which he would never give. Metz was surrounded by forts built by the Germans between 1870 and 1919, then allowed to decay by the French, who possessed the Lorraine region until it was retaken by Germany in 1940. The German commanders of the Metz forts were required to follow Hitler's "hold at all costs" order when attacked, in September 1944, by the
U.S. Third Army
The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...
led by General
George S. Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
, who had reached
Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
before Eisenhower's order to halt the advance and conserve supplies. Hitler understood the pause was due to a supply shortage, and would not last, and he recognized that the Third Army posed a threat to the
Saar
Saar or SAAR has several meanings:
People Given name
* Saar Boubacar (born 1951), Senegalese professional football player
* Saar Ganor, Israeli archaeologist
* Saar Klein (born 1967), American film editor
Surname
* Ain Saar (born 1968), E ...
region of Germany.
Hitler ordered his commanders to hold the Allies "as far west as possible," to give time for the strengthening of the
West Wall
The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط ...
, which had been depleted to build up the Atlantic Wall.
The defense of Metz was undertaken by the
German First Army, commanded by
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Otto von Knobelsdorff. The number of German troops positioned in the vicinity of Metz was equivalent to four and a half
divisions.
Battle
Armored
Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...
elements of the United States
XX Corps, while on a reconnaissance operation in the direction of the Moselle, made contact with elements from the
17th SS Panzergrenadier Division on 6 September 1944. On 18 September, U.S. reconnaissance units encountered Wehrmacht Panzergrenadiers again. The U.S. forces had not expected the German forces to be in the area, and had to bring together their units that were spread out.
Several small scale attacks were made by the U.S. forces after this encounter.
The first U.S. attack was launched by the
95th Infantry Division, in which they attempted to capture a bridgehead to the north of Metz. This attack was repelled by the German forces, as was another attack on the city that followed. In another attack, the US forces captured a small bridgehead across the Moselle to the south of Metz.
By the end of September, German forces positioned to the north had moved to the southern area of Metz. Some troops were also withdrawn from Metz. After this development, the
XII Corps launched another attack but was countered by the German defenders. In the following two weeks, the U.S. forces limited themselves to small scale attacks and patrolling in the Metz area. During this time, the XX Corps underwent a training program, experimenting with methods of reducing the defenses of the fortress. By this time, the U.S. command had decided to attack Metz from its rear, coming from the east.
On 3 November a new attack was launched by the U.S. forces, which resulted in the capture of the outer defenses with the aid of the tactics developed during the training process. On 14 November
Generalleutnant
is the Germanic variant of lieutenant general, used in some German speaking countries.
Austria
Generalleutnant is the second highest general officer rank in the Austrian Armed Forces (''Bundesheer''), roughly equivalent to the NATO rank of ...
Heinrich Kittel was appointed as the new commander of the German forces. By 17 November, U.S. forces had managed to isolate most of the forts, and were attacking the city. German forces had been retreating since 17 November, and U.S. forces pursued them for the following two days. U.S. forces entered Metz on 18 November, and on 21 November Kittel was wounded and subsequently captured. Although the city itself was captured by U.S. forces and hostilities formally ceased on 22 November, the remaining isolated forts continued to hold out.
Direct assault was forbidden against the holdout forts in order to preserve artillery ammunition for the XX Corps' advance to the
Sarre River and the isolated forts subsequently surrendered one by one following the surrender of Fort Verdun on 26 November. By the end of November, several forts were still holding out. The last of the forts at Metz to surrender was
Fort Jeanne d'Arc, which capitulated to the
U.S. III Corps on 13 December.
Aftermath
Although the battle resulted in defeat for the German forces, it served the intended purpose of the German command of halting the advance of the U.S. Third Army for three months, enabling retreating German forces to make an organized withdrawal to the Sarre river and to organize their defenses. The level of casualties for both sides are unknown but high.
The Germans were surprised at the American approach on the battlefield. Generaloberst
Johannes Blaskowitz, C.O of Armeegruppe G, reviewed Patton's decision to launch a headlong attack straight into the fortifications of Metz by saying:
"A direct attack on Metz was unnecessary....in contrast a swerve northward in the direction of Luxemburg and Bitburg would have met with greater success and caused our 1st Army's right flank collapse followed by the breakdown of our 7th Army."
The military strategist and historian
Liddel Hart remarked:
"Patton's 3rd Army began to cross the Moselle as early as 5 September, yet was little farther forward 2 weeks later - or indeed two months later." [Christer Bergström, "The Ardennes - Hitler's Winter Offensive", p. 28]
Notes
;Footnotes
References
External links
Oral history interview with Frank Niedermayer, an infantryman during the Battle of Metzfrom the Veterans History Project at Central Connecticut State University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Metz
Western European Campaign (1944–1945)
History of Metz
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...