Luxembourg The Netherlands Belgium France Britain 1941–1943 1944–1945 Germany Strategic campaigns The Colmar Pocket (French: Poche de Colmar; German: Brückenkopf Elsass) was the area held in central Alsace, France, by the German Nineteenth Army from November 1944 to February 1945, against the U.S. 6th Army Group (6th AG) during World War II.

In late January and early February 1945, the French First Army (reinforced by the U.S. XXI Corps) cleared the Pocket of German forces.

Restricted logistical support imposed limits on the usage of artillery ammunition and the number of divisions the Allies could effectively employ in the front lines.

[nb 1] Following the failure of Nordwind, 6th Army Group was ordered to collapse the Colmar Pocket as part of General Dwight D. Eisenhower's plan for all Allied forces to close on the Rhine prior to invading Germany.

Realizing the French would need the assistance of additional U.S. troops for the coming battle, General Jacob Devers, commander of 6th Army Group, arranged for the transfer of a U.S. division from another part of the front.

In his History of the French First Army, General de Lattre described the weather in Alsace as "Siberian" with temperatures of -20 °C (-4 °F), strong winds, and over three feet (1 m) of snow.

Dotting the plain are small villages made up of sturdy masonry houses whose multi-storey construction offered defending troops a commanding view of the surrounding fields.

Attacking in a snowstorm, the French I Corps initially achieved tactical surprise against its opponent, General Erich Abraham's LXIII.

The difficult weather and terrain coupled with a German defense in depth stymied the French I Corps advance and severely limited its success.

[15] However, even this limited success was not without significant cost: one brigade of the French 1st Armored Division, Combat Command 1 (CC1), lost 36 of some 50 medium tanks to land mines.

General John W. O'Daniel's 3rd U.S. Infantry Division attacked to the southeast on 22 January, aiming to cross the Ill River, bypass the city of Colmar to the north, and open a path for the tanks of the French 5th Armored Division to drive on the railway bridge supplying the Germans in the Colmar Pocket at Neuf-Brisach.

During the clearing operations of the 7th Infantry, Private First Class Jose F. Valdez sacrificed himself at a small railway station near Rosenkranz (48°07′49.22″N 07°21′22.32″E / 48.1303389°N 7.3562000°E / 48.1303389; 7.3562000 (Bennwihr Gare)) to cover the withdrawal of other members of his squad and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.

A German counterattack, again supported by heavy tank destroyers, overran an exposed rifle company of the 15th Infantry around 08:00 but was unable to drive on the bridge because of U.S. defensive fire.

Later in the day, U.S. engineers erected a bridge over the Ill north of Maison Rouge, and a battalion of the 15th Infantry supported by tanks attacked to the south, finally securing the bridgehead.

Murphy climbed onto a burning M10 tank destroyer and engaged the Germans with the vehicle's heavy machine gun while calling for artillery fire on his own position.

[21] Unable to determine where Murphy was firing from, the German force first became confused and then was bombed by U.S. fighter-bombers that had found a hole in the clouds over the battlefield.

The Germans mounted a defense in depth, using positions in the villages and forests to command the open ground to their front and liberally planting land mines[25] to slow and channelize the French advance.

[28] Against crumbling German resistance, the French surged forward, taking Elsenheim and Marckolsheim[d] on 31 January and reaching the Rhine River the following day.

[29] In the course of its operations in the Colmar Pocket, the French 1st Division suffered casualties of 220 killed, 1,240 wounded, 96 missing and 550 cases of trench foot.

[29] Noting the difficult progress of all Allied units against German resistance in the Colmar Pocket, de Lattre requested reinforcements from the U.S. 6th Army Group.

Finally, the French 5th Armored Division, 1st Parachute Regiment, and 1st Choc (commando) Battalion were placed under XXI Corps' command.

[33] German outposts in the Vosges Mountains were pulled back, but the confusion of the withdrawal and the pressures of the battlefield resulted in many units becoming mixed with one another.

Near Biesheim, Technician 5 Forrest E. Peden of 3rd Division artillery dashed through intense German fire on 3 February to summon help for an ambushed infantry unit.

Having been on the defense to this point in the battle, General Norman Cota's 28th Division was teamed with the French armored combat command CC4 and told to take the city of Colmar.

On 4 February, I Corps assaulted north across the Thur River and, encountering only limited German resistance, the 4th Moroccan Mountain Division was able to push to the southern outskirts of Rouffach.

During this period, the shrinking German presence on the west side of the Rhine was subjected to heavy artillery fire and airstrikes by U.S. and French aircraft.

In compliance with General Eisenhower's direction, the Colmar Pocket was eliminated, and the U.S. 6th Army Group stood on the Rhine, from the Swiss border to a region well north of Strasbourg.

The German 19th Army, although not completely destroyed, lost the bulk of its experienced combat troops (only the 708th Volksgrenadier Division escaped somewhat intact)[50] and was forced to reform in Baden, using large infusions of inexperienced Volkssturm to replace its grievous losses on the plains of Alsace.

[50] The elimination of the Colmar Pocket allowed the 6th Army Group to concentrate on Operation Undertone, its assault to penetrate the Siegfried Line and invade Germany, undertaken in March 1945.

[52] Today, numerous streets in Alsace are named after Allied commanders and units that fought in the battle, and there are French and U.S. military cemeteries in the area.