The Battle of Würzburg (31 March—6 April 1945) which ended up with the capture

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

by 42nd Infantry Division ("Rainbow").

Battle

The defense of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

, under the leadership of Otto Hellmuth and military leadership of the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

colonel Richard Wolf, represented the first serious resistance to the American division after crossing the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

due to Hitler's orders to put up fierce resistance. After Hettstadt to the northwest of Würzburg had fallen to American forces, the German forces were forced to fall back to the right bank of the

Main River The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, ...

since reinforcements did not arrive as they were expecting. US artillery pieces took positions on the heights of Nikolausberg and Katzenberg in order to bombard the city, while German artillery took position on the right bank of the Main River in Keesberg. On Monday at around 11:30 a.m., the Ludwigsbrücke was blown up, at around 4:45 p.m. the Alte Mainbrücke was blown up, and at around 5:15 p.m. the Luitpoldbrücke (now Friedensbrücke) was also blown up. This made all three of Würzburg's Main bridges impassable for American troops. On the night of Tuesday some GIs in the Ludwigsbrücke area crossed the Main River with some light boats, without any significant resistance, and on the following day the bridgehead was erected and expanded there. Though the troop movements eventually came under the fire of snipers posted in houses by Richard Wolf. Downstream (north) of the ''Old Main Bridge'' where one of the pioneers built a

pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...

on April 3 to transport light vehicles and infantry to the right bank of the Main River. The heaviest

urban warfare Urban warfare is warfare in urban areas such as towns and cities. Urban combat differs from combat in the open at both Military operation, operational and the Military tactics, tactical levels. Complicating factors in urban warfare include the p ...

took place on Wednesday and Thursday in the city center, which was in ruins due to Allied bombing raids over Würzburg. An attempted German counter-attack in the direction of the 3 main bridges failed due to the lack of armament and Würzburg fell to American forces. On Friday, 6 April 1945, the last German units fighting in the outer districts fell and resistance ceased, marking the end of the battle.

References

Literature

# # Battles of World War II involving Germany Battles of World War II involving the United States Western Allied invasion of Germany 1945 in Germany April 1945 in Europe March 1945 in Europe Würzburg in World War II Sniper warfare {{Germany-hist-stub