Part 1 - The Plan
7th February 1945 – 25th February 1945
Audie Murphy described the Colmar Pocket as an ‘iron fist’ poking into the Western Front. He said that this iron fist was being fed with men, tanks, gasoline, and artillery, brought across the three Rhine bridges here at the time.
As well as being the last big bridgehead the Germans had into the Western Front, Audie also described the Colmar Pocket as being a ‘dangerous platform’ from which the enemy could launch a serious counter-offensive against the Allies. He was exactly right! The Colmar Pocket ended up becoming the site of the last big German effort against the Allies on the Western Front.
Known as Operation ‘Sonnenwende’, (‘Winter Solstice’), the plan was to re-take Strasbourg city, as well as co-ordinate with German attacks from north of the city attempting to break through the southern part of the Western Front, where the Allied troops were stretched thin.
Hitler thought that if he re-took Strasbourg, he could achieve three results. Firstly, he could split the American and French alliance in the southern part of the front. He thought this would weaken the Allies and assist the other German attacks to break through the front from north of the city. Secondly, he wanted to deliver the French a massive psychological blow, as Strasbourg, (and Alsace-Lorraine), had been bitterly fought over by the two countries. Strasbourg was also the city, where the French national anthem was written. Thirdly, he wanted to give the Germans a morale boost, for the reasons stated above by re-taking Strasbourg.
