Re: WWII: European Theater daily - 1944 (was Normandy Daily)
February 11, 1945: Canadian First Army continues to advance despite increasingly strong resistance and flooded terrain, with elements reaching the Cleve-Rhine Canal and capturing Cleve. Other elements of Canadian First Army position themselvess south west of Cleve and take Materborn, Hau, Hekkens, and Gennep while others continue to clear the Reichswald. Farther south, elements of the US 8th Corps (part of Patton’s US 3rd Army) capture the important road junction at Prum while other elements are attacking around Watzrath, Weinsfeld, Dillingen, Bollendorf, and Echternacherbruck. French 1st Army regroups along the Rhine, and US 7th Army continues house-to-house fighting in Oberhoffen.
Sergeant Edward Carl Dahlgren, serving in Company E, 142nd Infantry Regiment, 36th Infantry Division, repeatedly attacks German positions alone and captures many prisoners while fighting in Oberhoffen, France. He is subsequently promoted to second lieutenant and, on September 10, 1945, awarded the Medal of Honor. His Medal of Honor citation reads:
“He led the 3d Platoon to the rescue of a similar unit which had been surrounded in an enemy counterattack at Oberhoffen, France. As he advanced along a street, he observed several Germans crossing a field about 100 yards away. Running into a barn, he took up a position in a window and swept the hostile troops with submachine gun fire, killing 6, wounding others, and completely disorganizing the group. His platoon then moved forward through intermittent sniper fire and made contact with the besieged Americans. When the 2 platoons had been reorganized, Sgt. Dahlgren continued to advance along the street until he drew fire from an enemy-held house. In the face of machine pistol and rifle fire, he ran toward the building, hurled a grenade through the door, and blasted his way inside with his gun. This aggressive attack so rattled the Germans that all 8 men who held the strongpoint immediately surrendered. As Sgt. Dahlgren started toward the next house, hostile machinegun fire drove him to cover. He secured rifle grenades, stepped to an exposed position, and calmly launched his missiles from a difficult angle until he had destroyed the machinegun and killed its 2 operators. He moved to the rear of the house and suddenly came under the fire of a machinegun emplaced in a barn. Throwing a grenade into the structure, he rushed the position, firing his weapon as he ran; within, he overwhelmed 5 Germans. After reorganizing his unit he advanced to clear hostile riflemen from the building where he had destroyed the machinegun. He entered the house by a window and trapped the Germans in the cellar, where he tossed grenades into their midst, wounding several and forcing 10 more to surrender. While reconnoitering another street with a comrade, he heard German voices in a house. An attack with rifle grenades drove the hostile troops to the cellar. Sgt. Dahlgren entered the building, kicked open the cellar door, and, firing several bursts down the stairway, called for the trapped enemy to surrender. Sixteen soldiers filed out with their hands in the air. The bold leadership and magnificent courage displayed by Sgt. Dahlgren in his heroic attacks were in a large measure responsible for repulsing an enemy counterattack and saving an American platoon from great danger.”
With objectives achieved around Schwammenauel dam and Roer River, US 1st Army begins regrouping for new offensive.
US 8th Air Force attacks Dulmen with 124 bombers.
All remaining German gold reserves, amounting to about 100 tons, are moved from Berlin to salt mine near Eisenach.
On the eastern front, Soviet troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front begin to break out of their bridgehead over the Oder River, near Steinau, and attack west and north, encircling Glogau. Other units turn south to help surround Breslau. Leignitz is also attacked. 48th Army of Soviet 2nd Byelorussian Front captures Wormditt. There is heavy fighting in Buda as remnants of the German garrison attempt to break out.
The Yalta Conference ends: Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin and their senior military and political advisors met to discuss the postwar order and the war with Japan. It is agreed that the USSR will join the war against Japan within two months of the end of the war in Europe. In return, the Soviet Union will be granted the Japanese part of Sakhalin Island and the Kurile Islands. Also, the postwar borders of Poland are established, as is the division of Germany into occupation zones. There are vague Soviet assurances concerning "free" and "democratic" elections in eastern European countries liberated by the USSR. In addition, there is discussion of a United Nations Organization and there is agreement on a preliminary meeting to create the institution, in April in San Francisco.
In Italy, US 5th Army concludes its localized actions in the Serchio valley and along Cinquale canal with little success. US 12th Air Force bombers remain grounded by poor weather conditions but fighters attack transportation lines and supply depots in northern Italy. US Navy destroyer McLanahan bombards German positions near French border, but suffers damage from German shore battery.
Pictured: Infantry of the 2nd Gordon Highlanders searching German prisoners in Kleve, February 11, 1945
American soldiers from B/68th Armored Infantry Battalion engage German snipers entrenched in the Church spire at Oberhoffen, while the tank in the foreground provides supporting fire, February 1945
Medal of honor recipient Edward Carl Dahlgren in 2007
The Battle (or Siege) of Buda was characterized by urban warfare similar to that which the combatants had experienced in the protracted Battle of Stalin.grad
