O'Keeffe, Timothy Battle Yet Unsung

The Fighting Men of the 14th Armored Division in World War II

While headlines in the ETO naturally focused on events in Normandy and the Ardennes offensive in the north, equally fierce fighting took place in southern France and Germany in 1944-45, which is now finally receiving the recognition it deserves. The American 14th Armoured Division, which arrived late in the war zone, was involved in fierce fighting almost immediately after its arrival in Europe, as the Germans were determined to defend their southern flank. Like other US units, the 14th Armoured Division was forced to halt at the Siegfried Line in the autumn of 1944 after its advance through France, which was accompanied by intermittent counterattacks. Nevertheless, it had gained experience, and when the Germans attempted to turn the tide with Operation Nordwind, they faced a hardened formation. This book examines in detail what happened in January 1945 in the snow-covered Vosges Mountains when the Wehrmacht's attempt to destroy the 6th Army Group failed. Nordwind began in the mountains but was extended to the plains of Alsace near the Rhine. A strategic retreat after ten days of hellish fighting allowed the Allies to hold their position until the spring offensive. The terrible cold and the firestorms of battle took their toll on both sides, but by now the 14th and other American divisions felt the heat of battle in their hearts and knew what had to be done to defeat the enemy.But the Siegfried Line still loomed before the American forces, and in the 14th Division's sector, the divisions literally blew their way through at Steinfeld in March and began to drive the Wehrmacht into a retreat from which it would never recover. Tank columns, with artillery and air support, fought their way through roadblock after roadblock, town after town, without giving the German soldiers a chance to react. As a result of the rapid advance of the 7th Army and the 14th Division, German prisoner-of-war camps such as those in Hammelburg and Moosburg were liberated from over 100,000 prisoners, an achievement that earned the division the nickname The Liberators.