The German Army in NW Europe - 1944/45

 The battle for Normandy and the subsequent liberation of Europe was perhaps the decisive campaign of WW2. Whilst the Soviet Red Army closed in on Germany from the east, the Allied nations fought their way forward on a largely broad front until the Germans’ unconditional Surrender, marked by VE Day on 8th May 1945. It had been a bloody and gruelling campaign – not least due to the tenacious defence conducted by the German Army.

Whilst Adolf Hitler and the Nazis were an abhorrent regime and orchestrated the greatest tyranny the world has ever seen, there can be no denying that the ordinary German Wehrmacht and Waffen SS soldiers facing the Allies displayed courage and determination, ensuring that ground had to be taken inch by inch and in the face of very heavy casualties.

As with all the British and Canadian forces fighting in NW Europe, the 4th Wiltshires, as part of 43 Wessex Infantry Division, were all too often facing the very best German troops on the field, namely the Waffen SS Panzer Divisions and German Parachute Troops – all of whom fought fanatically in the cause of National Socialism.

These troops were equipped with the best equipment, weapons, and tanks that German industry could provide. They were often situated in prepared positions and they knew the landscape they were fighting over very well – having spent years in occupation. Their weapons were ideally suited to the defence with automatic weapons firing at very high cyclic rates and tanks which were more heavily armoured and armed than their Allied counterparts. This was a critical aspect as the strategic onus of movement and advance lay with the Allies.

Not only that, but their fieldcraft was excellent and many were veterans of past campaigns in France, North Africa, and Russia.

They were a formidable enemy and their ultimate defeat is testament to the skill and bravery of the individual Allied Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen who achieved it.