Published:
February 13, 2021 at 8:36 am
By the middle of September 1944 the Allied drive east across France towards the German border had almost reached the end of its tether. The American XX Corps had as its objective the French city of Metz, 20 miles west of the border, but they were thinly stretched against a desperate enemy fighting to defend the Third Reich.
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Two US divisions were assigned to the assault on Metz, but the problem facing HQ was the lack of troops at their disposal to guard the 50 miles that lay between the city and the Luxembourg border to the north. This was needed to ensure that the Germans didn’t launch a sweeping counteroffensive.