4. Regarded by Eisenhower as one of the fiercest engagements of the Second World War, the Battle of the Reichswald saw fifty thousand Allied soldiers attempt to breach the German lines and ensure easy crossing over the Rhine and into Germany
Determining the best route into Germany would be across the relatively flat lands of northern Europe, encompassing the industrial heartlands of the Ruhr, Allied generals resolved the need to clear German presence west of the Rhine prior to attempting a crossing. Divided into a pincer movement, Operation Veritable – later known as the Battle of the Reichswald – served as the northern half of the campaign, with Allied soldiers seeking to gain command over the heavily forested and thawed flood plains of the Rhine. Engaging the entrenched German defenders on unfavorable ground in poor conditions on February 8, 1945, advance air raids of colossal proportions failed to dislodge the Axis positions.
Despite sending a combined force of fifty thousand Allied soldiers, mostly British and Canadian, the Germans, under orders to not give ground, held firm against the onslaught. Impeded by flooded ground, trees, and minefields, the Allies were forced to gradually pick apart the enemy defenses over the course of weeks. Eventually able to cross the Roer after waters subsided on February 23, the German lines were flanked and 230,000 captured. General Eisenhower would later remark the Battle of the Reichswald “was some of the fiercest fightings of the whole war”, with more than sixty thousand combined casualties across just one month and three days.