Figure 1.--This press photo was captioned, "Food from wrecked cars: France--Braving treacherous footing of this NAZI-destroyed railroad span over the Moselle River, these French boys, who are now providers for their families, rescued food from the wrecked cars of the train, which plunged to the river when the bridge was blasted by the NAZIs. Scene ofd the Third Army front in France." The phtograph was taken December 5, 1944.

The American First Army was the first to reach Germany. A few German cities were located west of the Rhine River. The First Army crossed the German frontier near Eupen, and American armored forces entered Germany north of Trier (September 12). German resistance stiffened as the Americans entered the Fatherland. A major obstacle was the Moselle River. The Moselle rises in the Voges mountains of northern France and then flows through Germany and Luxembourg before joining the Rhine at Koblenz. The Moselle is the princioal river in Loraine. The NAZIs annexed the area after their stumming victory (1940). As a result of the German annexation, anti-German sentiment continued in Loraine well after it had abated in other areas of France. As the American armor units approached the Moselle, the Germany blew the bridges. This stopped the advance for a while, especially because fuel ran out. The supply was at the time limited and Eisenhower made the decession to give priority to Mobntgomery because of the V-1 and V-2 sites along the Channel coast and the chance to cross the Rhine--Operation Market Garden. Even so, The U.S. Army's 8th Tank Battalion managed to cross the Moselle (September 11) and had a functional bridge in place (September 12). This set in motion the campaign for the Rhineland.

Created: 8:43 PM 2/18/2008
Last updated: 3:42 AM 10/21/2012