Operation Flashpoint

Allied Forces

• 21st Army Group
• British Second Army
  • XII Corps
    • 15^th (Scottish) Infantry Division
    • 52^nd (Lowland) Airlanding Infantry Division
    • 8^th Army Group Royal Artillery (AGRA)
  • XXX Corps
    • 51^st (Highland) Infantry Division
    • 1^st Commando Brigade
    • 79^th Armoured Division (specialized armored vehicles)
    • 8^th Armoured Brigade
  • II Canadian Corps
    • 9^th Canadian Infantry Brigade
• U.S. Ninth Army
  • XVI Corps
    • 30^th Infantry Division
    • 79^th Infantry Division
    • 8^th Armored Division (in reserve)
  • XIII and XIX Corps (in reserve)
  • XVIII Airborne Corps
    • 6^th Airborne Divison (British)
    • 17^th Airborne Division (U.S.)
    • Office of Strategic Services Teams

Axis Forces

• Heeresgruppe H
  • 1. Fallschirm-Armee
    • II. Fallschirm-Korps
      • 6. Fallschirmjäger-Division
      • 7. Fallschirmjäger-Division
      • 8. Fallschirmjäger-Division
    • LXXXVI. Armeekorps:
      • 180. Infanterie-Division
      • 190. Infanterie-Division
    • XLVII. Panzerkorps:
      • 116. Panzer-Division “Widhund”
      • 15. Panzergrenadier-Division

Operation

Operation Flashpoint is the codename for the U.S. Ninth Army’s component of the wider Allied offensive across the Rhine, conducted under the umbrella of Operation Plunder. The primary aim is to establish a secure bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Rhine between Wesel and Walsum, in the industrially vital Ruhr region.

The immediate tactical objective is to ferry two infantry divisions across the river in assault boats, secure villages and high ground on the far bank, and create a continuous lodgement by linking the American and British bridgeheads. Strategically, the operation is part of Field Marshal Montgomery’s broader plan to encircle and neutralise the German forces entrenched in the Ruhr, Germany’s industrial heartland and the last significant defensive bastion in the West.

While British Second Army units are tasked with expanding the northern flank and pushing across the North German Plain, the U.S. Ninth Army is assigned a thrust to the east and southeast. Once the bridgeheads are secured, Ninth Army is to drive behind the Ruhr from the north, where it will meet the advancing U.S. First Army from the south. This pincer movement aims to trap Armee Gruppe B, Field Marshal Walter Model’s command, in a pocket, thereby isolating over 300,000 German troops and severing Germany’s industrial war-making capacity.

Operation Flashpoint, therefore, is not only a tactical river crossing but a key manoeuvre intended to shatter Germany’s final line of organised resistance in the west. Its success would enable the liberation of the Ruhr, open the route for a rapid Allied advance deep into northern Germany, and hasten the end of the war in Europe.

Operation Flashpoint is executed under the command of Lieutenant General William H. Simpson, commander of the U.S. Ninth Army. His army operates within Field Marshal Montgomery’s 21^st Army Group, which oversees all operations in the Plunder offensive. Within the Ninth Army, Major General John B. Anderson’s XVI Corps is designated to carry out the initial assault.

The lead elements for the crossing are the 30^th Infantry Division, “Old Hickory” and the 79^th Infantry Division, “Cross of Lorraine”. These veteran formations are supported by an immense artillery concentration, over 2,000 guns are massed for the preparatory bombardment. Behind them stand the 75^th Infantry Division and the 35^th Infantry Division, and the U.S. 8^th Armored Division, all of which are poised to reinforce and exploit the bridgehead as soon as crossings are secured.

Specialist engineering units, including the 17^th Armored Engineer Battalion, are tasked with constructing bridges across the Rhine to support the rapid expansion of the lodgement. A wide range of amphibious and specialist vehicles are employed, Duplex Drive Sherman tanks and Landing Vehicle Tracked “Buffalo” tracked landing vehicles ferry infantry and light equipment across the river under fire. Many of these are provided by the British 79^th Armoured Division, commanded by Major General Percy Hobart, whose units are instrumental across the Plunder front.

Air support is extensive. The crossing is preceded by sustained aerial bombardments of German rear areas and airfields. On-call fighter-bomber support is available throughout the operation. In addition, Operation Varsity, the largest single-day airborne drop of the war, delivers the U.S. 17^th Airborne Division and British 6^th Airborne Division into landing zones just beyond the Rhine. These troops are tasked with capturing key terrain and preventing German counterattacks from disrupting the crossings.

Defending the Rhine crossings is the German 1. Fallschirm-Armee, commanded initially by General Alfred Schlemm. However, Schlemm is wounded in an Allied air raid on March 21^st, 1945, and command passes to General Günther Blumentritt on March 27^th, 1945.

Despite its formidable designation, the 1. Fallschirm-Armee is a severely depleted force, composed of exhausted units recovering from the failed defence of the Reichswald and the retreat to the Rhine. Field fortifications and deliberate flooding of low ground offer some defensive advantage, but the army lacks the manpower, firepower, and air support required to halt a major river assault.

In the Flashpoint sector, the LXXXVI Army Corps under General Erich Straube defends Wesel and the approaches opposite the U.S. 30^th Infantry Division. Its primary formation is the understrength 180. Infantrie-Division. To the south, the LXIII Army Corps under General Erich Abraham faces the 79th U.S. Infantry Division. It comprises remnants of the II. Fallschirm-Korps and a hastily assembled “Hamburg Division,” composed of reserve troops and ad hoc formations.

German forces here are chronically short of heavy weapons and anti-tank capabilities. Morale is poor, and many units are manned by conscripts, older soldiers, and Volkssturm militia. The only armoured reserve in the area is the 116. Panzer-Division (“Windhund”), held near the Ruhr. It is committed in a counterattack on March 25th, 1945, but lacking coordination, its thrusts are quickly repulsed by concentrated Allied firepower.

The Luftwaffe is all but absent. German artillery, though still dangerous, is limited in number and range. Communications are disjointed, and command and control deteriorate further as the Allied bombardment and airborne operations disrupt all attempts at cohesion.

In the days preceding the assault, Allied forces quietly mass along the west bank of the Rhine, carefully concealed beneath smoke screens.

March 24th, 1945

By nightfall, final preparations are in place. At 01:00, the assault begins with a colossal artillery barrage. Along a 40-kilometre front between Wesel and Rheinberg, over 2,000 guns from the U.S. Ninth Army open fire in unison. In just one hour, more than 65,000 shells fall on German defences.

Simultaneously, approximately 1,500 Allied heavy bombers strike German rear positions and airfields to disrupt movement and isolate the battlefield. The bombardment, reinforced by British artillery to the north, devastates the enemy’s forward lines. German trench networks, barbed wire obstacles, and dike positions are obliterated or left in disarray.

Under cover of darkness, U.S. Army engineers drag storm boats and rafts to the river’s edge. A thick smoke screen and searchlight-reflected “artificial moonlight” mask the movement of troops and vehicles. The stage is set for the assault crossings.

At 02:00, the U.S. 30^th Infantry Division commences its assault crossing. Units of the 117^th Infantry Regiment, the 119^th Infantry Regiment, and the 120^th Infantry Regiment launch in near unison along the division’s front, including crossing sites at Büderich, Wallach, and Rheinberg. Propelled by storm boats and guided by tracer fire, waves of U.S. infantry race across the 275–365-metre-wide river.

The preliminary artillery bombardment has stunned the defenders. German return fire is minimal—only sporadic mortar and machine-gun bursts. Two boats from the 119^th Infantry Regiment are lost to shellfire, resulting in one killed and three wounded, but the vast majority of the assaulting troops reach the eastern bank unscathed. Within minutes, they scale the dikes and begin clearing enemy trenches.

Resistance collapses rapidly in this sector. By 04:00, the 30^th Infantry Division has secured its first objectives: several villages beyond the river and a foothold strong enough to support armoured reinforcement. A platoon of Sherman DD (Duplex Drive) tanks even swims across to support the infantry. Casualties are astonishingly light. One post-operation report notes that all three regiments of the 30^th Infantry Division suffer fewer losses combined than a single regiment had endured in the smaller Oppenheim crossing days earlier.

Around 03:00, the U.S. 79^th Infantry Division launches its crossing slightly downstream. Owing to a bend in the river, a one-hour delay prevents fratricidal crossfire between the sectors. This also affords the 79^th Infantry Division’s sector an extended artillery preparation of two full hours.

Major-General Ira Wyche sends two regiments, the 313^th Infantry Regiment and 315^th Infantry Regiment, across side by side, each committing a battalion forward. Smoke and fog cause confusion in some waves; in one case, a boatload of troops circles back to the west bank by mistake and disembarks believing they have reached enemy territory, only to find themselves beside friendly troops preparing to embark.

Despite minor confusion, German resistance is negligible. Enemy fire is sparse, and surviving defenders are stunned by the bombardment. By 03:45, both assault battalions of the 79^th Infantry Division are fully deployed on the far bank and advancing inland. Captured German soldiers later describe the shelling as having “completely stunned, scared, and shook them”. By dawn, the U.S. Ninth Army has two full divisions across the Rhine with total casualties for the initial crossing reported at just 31 killed or wounded, an extraordinarily low figure for such a major river assault.

At approximately 10:00, as infantry battles continue near the river, the skies above the Rhine fill with Allied aircraft. Operation Varsity, the largest single-day airborne assault of the war, commences. Over 3,500 transport aircraft and gliders carry approximately 16,000 troops from the U.S. 17^th Airborne Division and British 6^th Airborne Division. Their landing zones are situated around Hamminkeln and the Diersfordter Forest, several kilometres beyond the established bridgeheads.

Although the airborne troops suffer significant casualties during the drop, they succeed in securing key terrain, including road junctions, bridges, and villages. Their actions prevent German forces from mounting coherent counterattacks on the river crossings. By afternoon, airborne elements link up with forward Allied ground units. British armour famously picks up paratroopers en route, with some riding tanks deeper into German-held territory.

Operation Varsity ensures the flanks of the bridgehead are secure and that any remaining artillery threats are neutralised.

Throughout the day, the 30^th Infantry Division and the 79^th Infantry Division expand their positions on the east bank, capturing towns such as Mehrum, Orsoy, and the outskirts of Dinslaken. Their advance reaches a railway embankment that the Germans had hoped to use as a secondary defensive line, now firmly in Allied hands.

In the northern sector, British forces from the 51^st (Highland) Infantry Division and the 15^th (Scottish) Infantry Divisions clear Wesel, Rees, and Mehr, successfully linking the American and British crossings into a single, continuous Allied front.

Engineers immediately begin bridging operations. At Wallach–Spellen, the U.S. 17^th Armored Engineer Battalion starts constructing a 350-metre steel treadway pontoon bridge. Working under intermittent shellfire, they complete the bridge in just over six hours. By late afternoon, tanks and lorries begin crossing the Rhine on a floating road.

Additional Bailey bridges and pontoon ferries follow in the coming days, significantly increasing the flow of men and materiel. By the evening, the bridgehead is firmly held by two infantry divisions, forward elements of an armoured division, and multiple support units. While, the U.S. 75^th Infantry Division start crossing the river Rhine.

German efforts to counterattack are ineffective and disorganised. Communications are severed, and morale is low. Thousands of German troops surrender.

March 25th, 1945

Field Marshal Model, commanding Armee Gruppe B, orders a desperate counterattack. Elements of the 116. Panzer-Division “Windhund” engage American forces south of Wesel, clashing with Task Force Hogan of the U.S. 8^th Armored Division and infantry from the 30^th Infantry Division. These efforts are swiftly defeated by concentrated anti-tank fire and Allied fighter-bomber sorties.

By the end of the day, the Allies have extended their depth of control to nearly 10 kilometres, capturing Dinslaken in the south and fully securing Wesel in the north. The Lippe River is reached, marking a critical milestone in the expansion of the bridgehead. Meanwhile, the 35^th Infantry Division Starts crossing the river Rhine.

March 26th, 1945 – March 28th, 1945

In the days following the crossing, Ninth Army pours additional forces into the bridgehead to build up for a breakout. With heavy bridges now in place, the U.S. 8^th Armored Division also begins moving into position.

By 28 March, General Simpson’s Ninth Army has five divisions in the bridgehead: the 30^th Infantry Division, the 79^th Infantry Division, the 35^th Infantry Division, the 75^th Infantry Division, and 8^th Armored. XIII and XIX Corps stand ready to exploit success further.

On the same day, the British Second Army breaks out on the northern flank. The Guards Armoured Division pushes forward 27 kilometres, accompanied by U.S. paratroopers riding on the tanks. Coordination between Montgomery and Simpson allows the Ninth Army to manoeuvre out of the congested crossing area and pivot northeast along British-cleared corridors north of the Lippe.

By the evening, the primary objective of Operation Flashpoint, a secure Rhine bridgehead, is fully achieved. The operation now transitions into a broader breakout and exploitation phase.

April 1st, 1945

The U.S. Ninth Army forces advancing east and south from the Rhine bridgehead link up with the U.S. First Army, advancing from the Remagen sector. The rendezvous takes place near Lippstadt in western Germany. The junction seals the encirclement of the Ruhr Pocket, trapping over 300,000 German troops under Field Marshal Model’s command.

This decisive link-up marks the strategic completion of Operation Flashpoint. In the following weeks, the Ruhr Pocket is steadily reduced and its defenders forced to surrender. Allied forces press deeper into Germany, advancing rapidly towards the Elbe and final victory in Europe.

Aftermath

Operation Flashpoint achieves all of its immediate objectives with remarkable speed and efficiency. By 28 March 1945, the U.S. Ninth Army has established a secure and expansive bridgehead on the eastern bank of the Rhine, marking a decisive breakthrough in the Allied campaign to penetrate Germany’s western defences.

Casualty figures overwhelmingly favour the Allies. Losses during the initial river crossing are astonishingly low, fewer than 100 personnel are killed, wounded, or reported missing during the assault itself. In the days that follow, as the Allies expand the bridgehead and encounter stiffer pockets of resistance, casualties do rise, but remain relatively modest considering the scale and complexity of the operation.

Across the broader framework of Operation Plunder, including all British and American ground forces as well as airborne troops, Allied casualties total approximately 6,781. Of these, 3,968 are British and 2,813 American. The majority of these losses occur during the intense airborne landings of Operation Varsity. Ground forces involved in Flashpoint suffer a significantly smaller portion of the overall total.

In return, Allied forces inflict catastrophic losses on German defenders. The German 1. Fallschirm-Armee, once considered a formidable formation, is effectively dismantled. Within the first week of operations, the Allies capture approximately 30,000 German prisoners in the sector north of the Ruhr, a figure that continues to rise as the Ruhr Pocket is progressively sealed. Individual American divisions report mass surrenders. On the first day of operation Flashpoint, the U.S. 30^th Infantry Division alone captures more than 1,500 prisoners, while the 79^th Infantry Division takes approximately 700 prisoners.

German losses in personnel are compounded by severe material attrition. Hundreds of enemy dead lie in destroyed trench networks and ruined villages along the Rhine. German artillery, anti-tank weapons, and several tanks committed to counter-attacks, including those of the 116. Panzer-Division “Windhund”, are destroyed or abandoned. The rapid Allied advance compels German forces to relinquish supply depots, vehicles, bridging equipment, and ammunition dumps, all of which fall into Allied hands or are rendered useless.

Territorially, Operation Flashpoint delivers a substantial gain. By the end of March, the bridgehead extends approximately 56 kilometres along the Rhine, from Rees in the north to the Ruhr River in the south, and reaches a depth of between 8 and 16 kilometres in certain sectors. Key objectives are firmly in Allied control. The British capture Wesel, securing vital road and rail infrastructure, while the Americans seize Rheinberg, Orsoy, Dinslaken, and other towns along the southern sector. The southern flank reaches the line of the Lippe River and canal, establishing a strong natural boundary.

Allied engineers play a pivotal role in consolidating success. U.S. Army engineers famously complete a 350-metre pontoon bridge in under seven hours on March 24^th, 1945, setting a wartime record. British engineering units, likewise, deploy Bailey and treadway bridges at multiple points. These feats ensure that the bridgehead is not merely an infantry-held outpost but a robust logistical base. Within hours, tanks, tank destroyers, and lorry convoys begin streaming across the Rhine, giving the Allies the ability to sustain continuous offensive momentum.

Equally significant is the collapse of German command and control in the region. Despite the transfer of command to General Blumentritt on March 27^th, 1945, the 1. Fallschirm-Armee ceases to exist as a cohesive force. By March 27^th, 1945, German field commanders acknowledge the futility of further defence. Communications are so disrupted that at least one corps headquarters fails to maintain any contact with its subordinate divisions during the fighting.

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