Artilleriefeuer auf eigene Stellung gefordert
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Führer HQ (March 17, 1945)
Kommuniqué des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht
Der Druck der Bolschewisten und Bulgaren gegen unseren Drau-Brückenkopf südwestlich Siklós hielt an. Südlich des Plattensees nahmen unsere Truppen zäh verteidigte Stellungen durch umfassenden Angriff und zerschlugen Entlastungsvorstöße der Sowjets von Osten. Zwischen Sárvizkanal und Velencesee brachen Gegenangriffe der Bolschewisten vor unserer neuen Abwehrfront unter hohen Verlusten zusammen. Östlich und nördlich Stuhlweißenburg wurden starke sowjetische Angriffsgruppen durch wirkungsvolles Abwehrfeuer deutscher und ungarischer Verbände gefasst und ihre Spitzen nach geringem Geländegewinn aufgefangen.
In der mittleren Slowakei brachte der gestrige Kampftag bei nachlassender Kraft der feindlichen Angriffe keine wesentliche Veränderung des Frontverlaufs.
Die Schlacht in Oberschlesien hat durch erhöhten Kräfteeinsatz der Sowjets an Umfang zugenommen. Während sich ihr Angriff im Raum von Schwarzwasser nach den hohen Ausfällen der Vortage vor unserer Abriegelungsfront festlief, verhinderten unsere Verbände in schwerem Abwehrkampf durch Festhalten Ihrer Eckpfeiler eine größere Ausweitung der sowjetischen Einbrüche und brachten die Bolschewisten in der Tiefe des Stellungsraumes zum Stehen.
Schlachtflieger vernichteten neben zahlreichen Kraftfahrzeugen 34 sowjetische Panzer und schossen sechs weitere bewegungsunfähig. In den letzten zwei Tagen wurden in Schlesien 239 feindliche Panzer vernichtet.
Nach dem Scheitern der Durchbruchsversuche auf Stettin, die den Feind 102 Panzer kosteten, versuchte er gestern durch verstärkten Artillerieeinsatz einen Erfolg zu erzwingen. Seine erneuten Angriffe scheiterten vor den verkürzten Stellungen unserer zäh kämpfenden Brückenkopfbesatzung.
Die Verteidiger von Kolberg halten, von Seestreitkräften nachhaltig unterstützt, Stadtkern und Hafen in unbeugsamem Kampfwillen gegen starke feindliche Angriffe.,
In der Doppelschlacht beiderseits der Danziger Bucht scheiterten auch am gestrigen Großkampftag die Durchbruchsversuche der Bolschewisten an der Abwehrkraft unserer tapferen Infanterie. Die anhaltend starken Angriffe der sowjetischen 1. Garde-Panzerarmee in Richtung Gotenhafen und Zoppot wurden wiederum in schwerem Ringen bei Quassendorf und Zuckau ohne wesentlichen Bodengewinn aufgefangen. In die Kämpfe um Quassendorf griff unsere schwere Schiffsartillerie mit stärkstem Feuer ein.
Schwere Artillerieträger beschossen von See her mit gutem Erfolg sowjetische Bereitstellungen an der Nordküste der Halbinsel Heia.
Auch in Ostpreußen hielt unsere Abwehrfront den mit Schwerpunkt beiderseits Eisenberg und nordwestlich Zinten fortgesetzten Durchbruchsangriffen stand. In erfolgreichen Gegenstößen wurden Frontlücken geschlossen und feindliche Einbruchsstellen eingeengt.
Am Niederrhein haben unsere Truppen ihre Aufklärungstätigkeit verstärkt.
Aus dem Brückenkopf bei Remagen konnten die Amerikaner gestern unter Einsatz starker Panzerkräfte nach Norden vorstoßen und Königswinter nehmen. In hin und her wogenden Ortskämpfen verhinderten unsere Verbände ein weiteres Vordringen des Feindes südöstlich Honnefs, doch erzielte der Gegner im Kampfabschnitt von Linz am Rhein einige Einbrüche in unsere Front. Bei ihren Angriffen erlitten die Amerikaner beträchtliche Panzerverluste.
Die Schlacht zwischen Mosel, Saar und Rhein hat an Ausdehnung zugenommen. Feindliche Angriffe zwischen Koblenz und Boppard blieben in unserem Abwehrfeuer liegen. An der Nahe kam es zu schweren Begegnungsgefechten mit weit vorgestoßenen Panzerspitzen der Amerikaner, vor allem im Raum Münster am Stein und Kirn. Die Kämpfe, in die von beiden Seiten neue Kräfte geworfen werden, sind noch in vollem Gange.
An der Moselfront zwischen Kochern und Trier wurden feindliche Angriffe und Übersetzversuche zerschlagen und zahlreiche feindliche Panzer vernichtet.
Im Raum östlich Saarburg hält der Druck der Amerikaner hauptsächlich in südlicher Richtung an. An der Südfront des Kampfraumes zwischen Saarbrücken und Bischweiler verhinderten unsere Truppen die feindlichen Durchbruchsversuche, indem sie Einbrüche abriegelten und neue Angriffe zurückwiesen. Aus Hagenau angreifende Amerikaner blieben in unserem Abwehrfeuer liegen.
In Italien führte der Feind nur einzelne erfolglose Aufklärungsvorstöße am Serchio, in den Bergen westlich Imola und Bagnacavallo.
Amerikanische Kampfverbände warfen Bomben im süddeutschen Raum und auf Wien. In der Nacht waren Nürnberg und Würzburg das Ziel britischer Terrorangriffe. Ein schwächerer Verband flog die Reichshauptstadt an. Der Feind verlor in Luftkämpfen und durch Flakartillerie der Luftwaffe nach bisherigen Meldungen 63 Flugzeuge, darunter 59 viermotorige Bomber. An diesen Erfolgen hatten unsere Nachtjäger hervorragenden Anteil.
Supreme HQ Allied Expeditionary Force (March 17, 1945)
FROM
(A) SHAEF MAIN
ORIGINATOR
PRD, Communique Section
DATE-TIME OF ORIGIN
171100A March
TO FOR ACTION
(1) AGWAR
(2) NAVY DEPARTMENT
TO (W) FOR INFORMATION (INFO)
(3) TAC HQ 12 ARMY GP
(4) MAIN 12 ARMY GP
(5) AIR STAFF
(6) ANCXF
(7) EXFOR MAIN
(8) EXFOR REAR
(9) DEFENSOR, OTTAWA
(10) CANADIAN C/S, OTTAWA
(11) WAR OFFICE
(12) ADMIRALTY
(13) AIR MINISTRY
(14) UNITED KINGDOM BASE
(15) SACSEA
(16) CMHQ (Pass to RCAF & RCN)
(17) COM ZONE
(18) SHAEF REAR
(19) SHAEF MAIN
(20) PRO, ROME
(21) HQ SIXTH ARMY GP
(REF NO.)
NONE
(CLASSIFICATION)
IN THE CLEAR
Communiqué No. 343
UNCLASSIFIED: The Allied bridgehead across the Rhine is 13 miles long by seven miles deep. Our units in the northern part of the bridgehead are fighting in Königswinter after clearing Rhöndorf. The autobahn has been cut in two places northwest and southeast of Hövel. We are fighting in Hövel and Aegidienberg. A small enemy counterattack was repulsed just southeast of Aegidienberg. In the center of the bridgehead, stiff enemy resistance has been encountered in Kalenborn, and near Vettelschoss. To the south, we entered Bremscheid and reached the west bank of the Wied River to the east. Hönningen is virtually clear of the enemy. Communications in four towns east of the Remagen bridgehead, a rail bridge at Niederscheid and rail yards at Herdorf were attacked by medium and light bombers yesterday. Fighter bombers hit rail and road transport from Remagen east to Würzburg, and attacked airfields at Limburg, Schweinfurt, Würzburg and Frankfurt.
Our infantry crossed the Moselle River southwest of Koblenz and captured Waldesch. Other elements advanced to a point two miles south of Boppard and two miles west of the Rhine River. We repulsed a tank-supported counterattack near Herschwiesen, west of Boppard. In the Boppard sector, we cleared Ehr, Beltheim, Buch and Mörsdorf. Our armor made swift gains to the southeast. One column gained 11 miles to enter Rheinböllen and Ellern on the edge of the Soonwald Forest. To the west, another column advanced 12 miles to enter Simmern, captured a bridge intact, and pushed on to the southeast. Resistance to these advances was light.
Additional crossing of the Moselle were made by our infantry in the vicinity of Neef and Bullay. Southeast of Trier, we captured Reinsfeld, Hermeskeil, Gusenburg and Grünburg against decreasing enemy resistance. Farther to the southwest we captured Weiskircken and reached Losheim. we repulsed several tank-supported counterattacks in this area. Our infantry, advancing south along the east side of the Saar River, entered Saarhölzbach, where house-to-house fighting is in progress. Other elements are within three miles of Merzig. Enemy armored columns, and troops in the area east of Trier were attacked by fighter-bombers.
Our drive northward between the Saarbrücken area and the Rhine continued to make steady progress against spotty resistance. East of Saarbrücken we cleared Ensheim and pushed on more than two miles into the outer belt of the Siegfried Line. Ommersheim was taken in the northernmost advance in this area. Advances up to two miles were made farther southeast, and Medelsheim and several other villages were captured in this vicinity. Bitche, scene of heavy fighting in recent weeks, is being mopped up. Additional progress was made in the Hardt Mountain area over difficult terrain. Our troops entered Bärenthal and cut the Bärenthal-Zinswiller road. In the northern Alsace plain, advances of more than a mile at several points took our forces to the Zinsel River at Gumbrechtshoffen.
Haguenau has now been cleared and we have advanced northward into the Haguenau Forest.
Allied forces in the west captured 4,983 prisoners 15 March.
Fortified positions, mainly south of Zweibrücken, and communications in the areas of Neunkirchen, Kaiserslautern, Mannheim and east of Heidelberg were heavily attacked by medium and fighter-bombers. The railyards at Kaiserlautern were hit twice, and a large concentration of motor vehicles near Mannheim was bombed and strafed. Barracks, ordnance depots and rail and road targets at Landau were attacked by strong formations of medium and light bombers. In these operations 15 enemy aircraft were shot down. Seven were destroyed on the ground and others damaged. Eleven of our fighters are missing. Last night, heavy bombers were over Germany in strength with the important communications centers of Nuremberg and Würzburg as the main objectives. Targets in Berlin also were bombed.
COORDINATED WITH: G-2, G-3 to C/S
THIS MESSAGE MAY BE SENT IN CLEAR BY ANY MEANS
/s/
Precedence
“OP” - AGWAR
“P” - Others
ORIGINATING DIVISION
PRD, Communique Section
NAME AND RANK TYPED. TEL. NO.
D. R. JORDAN, Lt Col FA4655
AUTHENTICATING SIGNATURE
/s/
U.S. Navy Department (March 17, 1945)
CINCPOA Communiqué No. 302
The Marines on Iwo continued mopping-up operations on March 17 (East Longitude Date). About noon a group of 150 of the enemy were observed attempting to organize in the northern part of the Island. They were dispersed by mortar fire. A few enemy troops attempted to “booby trap” installations in our rear areas.
Surface units of the Pacific Fleet bombarded Matsuwa Island in the Kurils on March 16. Our gunfire caused a large explosion and several large fires. Shore-based batteries of the enemy answered our fire but caused no damage to our ships.
CINCPOA Press Release No. 39
For Immediate Release
March 17, 1945
For twenty‑six days on Iwo Island, the United States Marines fought under conditions which have had no parallel in the war against Japan. Our troops have now defeated the enemy despite every natural advantage of his defenses.
This accomplishment was made against concentrated fortifications which approached, as closely as it is possible to do so, impregnability against attack by mobile forces employing every useful weapon available in modern warfare.
From the opening day, when at H‑hour the pre‑invasion bombardment successfully beat down the island defenses long enough for the troops to gain a foothold which they were never to lose, our forces met and solved problems which could have been insuperable for men less resolute in mind, heart and purpose.
Volcanic ash which immobilized even tracked vehicles and made them motionless targets; artillery long since registered on every possible landing place; interlocking and mutually supporting pillboxes and strongpoints; underground labyrinths extending a total of many miles and the result of many years of military planning and construction; defenses whose depth was limited only by the coastlines of the island; a garrison which was made up of units of the enemy forces especially trained to utilize the defensive advantages of this island; a terrain that was characterized by a high volcanic cone, cliffs, deep gulleys, several commanding hills and a series of terraces rising from the beach to the prominences and plateaus which had to be taken these were the problems of Iwo Island.
That it was taken was the direct result of the fortitude of our officers and men who, by 14 March, had killed more than 21,000 of the enemy.
In achieving this victory, the forces involved lost 4,189 officers and men killed, according to reports from the frontline units at 1700 on 16 March.
The wounded, a very considerable number of whom suffered slight wounds or combat fatigue and have already been returned to action in the Iwo operation, numbered 15,308. Missing in action are 441 officers and men.
The majority of our seriously wounded have been evacuated from the island by hospital ship and by evacuation aircraft. Complete medical facilities are operating to provide the best possible care for those wounded on Iwo Island.
The Pittsburgh Press (March 17, 1945)
Third Army enters Coblenz – Germans outflanked in Saar
100,000 Nazi troops virtually trapped by drive up Rhine bank
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U.S. casualties in Iwo battle total 19,938
But victory speeds defeat of Japan
GUAM (UP) – The conquest of Iwo in the bloodiest battle of the Pacific was hailed officially today as having brought the war against Japan much closer to the end.
Pacific Fleet headquarters said casualties in the 26-day battle totaled 19,938 – 766 a day, or one every two minutes – among three Marine divisions, normally about 45,000 men.
The toll comprised 4,189 dead, 15,308 wounded and 441 missing in action against an estimated 21,000 Japs killed.
Still more Marines and Japs may die yet. The last organized enemy resistance was smashed at 6 p.m. yesterday, but scattered, disorganized Japs still remained to snipe and kill from caves.
Speeds end of war
All officers admitted the cost was high, but Adm. Chester W. Nimitz said the conquest of the eight-square-mile island 750 miles south of Tokyo brought the war “much closer to its inevitable end.”
Adm. Nimitz said in a communiqué:
The United States Marines by their individual and collective courage have conquered a base which is as necessary to us in our continuing forward movement toward final victory as it was vital to the enemy in staving off ultimate defeat.
By their victory the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Divisions and other units of the V Amphibious Corps have made an accounting to their country which only history will be able to value fully.
Lt. Gen. Holland M. “Howling Mad” Smith, commanding general of Fleet Marine forces, warned that “you can’t set the cost of lives that you will pay for an island.”
Gen. Smith said:
The United States and the United Nations overall tactical plan called for the seizure and occupation of Iwo Jima. Its capture was necessary to continued. vigorous prosecution of the offensive against the Japanese.
Iwo’s second airfield, on the central plateau, was placed in operation yesterday. The southern airfield was already in operation.
To aid B-29 raids
Both airfields will be used to refuel Superfortresses and perhaps for fighters to escort the giant raiders on their forays against the Jap homeland. A third, uncompleted airfield also was captured, but there was no immediate word whether this, too, would be made ready for operation.
Marines killed in the battle of Iwo totaled 1,000 more than the 3,100 who died in the 25-day battle to secure Saipan’s 71 square miles in the Marianas last summer. Total casualties in the Saipan campaign were 16,525, 3,413 fewer than on Iwo.
The average daily casualties on Iwo – 766 – were exceeded only on Tarawa, where some 980 were killed, wounded or counted missing for each of the three days of that short-lived but costly campaign.
2 fight to death against Jap horde
Colonel, sergeant win Medals of Honor
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Forrestal tells parents ‘there is no easy way’
Answering casualty protests, Navy Secretary says only valor of soldiers will win for U.S.
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