Fri, 22 Oct 2010

Battle for the Ruhr

Battle for the Ruhris the title of my current read. The cover blurb:

With Allied armies poised on the banks of the Rhine, Nazi Germany tottered on the brink of collapse. The ensuing battles on German soil--especially those in the so-called Ruhr Pocket--were as fierce and hard-fought as any in the European theater. Going well beyond previous accounts, Derek Zumbro chronicles this key military campaign from a unique and fresh perspective-that of the defeated German soldiers and civilians caught in the final maelstrom of the war's western front.

I'll admit to a bit of fascination with WW2 military histories - this began as an effort to understand my Dad. He was a Technical Sergeant in the 3rd Armored Division. Here's a snip from his memoirs:

...we were attached to the 3rd Armored Division known as the Spearhead Division. We stayed attached to them for the duration of the War. The Allied Armies went on the offense to close Ruhr Pocket, later named the Rose Pocket in tribute to Maurice Rose, 3rd Armored Commander. He was killed near Padaborne on March 6, 1945, the same day four of us were strafed by an ME 109. We were strafed by fire in front of a stone barn. I dove inside the door. I knew I was hit. The first thing I did was unbutton the front of my clothes to see if shrapnel went through me. No. We piled into a jeep and went back to service battery. Dr. Decker dug the shrapnel and a lot of red tile out of my back and butt. They gave me the Purple Heart Medal and advised me to watch that none of the punctures festered.

We moved on to close the Rose Pocket at Padaborne and on the Rhine River. We crossed the river at Remagen on a pontoon bridge built by the engineers. We encountered no resistance from the Germans. We advanced on east and crossed the Elbe River. We were told after a couple of days that we were on the Russian's side of the river and were pulled back to the other side. The War was over and we were anxious to get back home.

So you can see why I'm interested... this book uncovered my Dad's somewhat faulty memory - General Rose was killed on March 30th, not the 6th. So I don't know if my Dad was shot on the 6th or the 30th! And like so much else about him, I probably never will...

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