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RIVIERA TO THE RHINE ^^^J'S^ Ross Smith ert v <;> ^v:/ UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II The European Theater of Operations RIVIERA TO THE RHINE by feffrey I. Clarke '^**:?»/. Robert Ross Smith '^'^oBtLo.,. 1^ CENTER OFMILITARYHISTORY UNITED STA7ESARMY WASHINGTON, D.C., 1993 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Clarke,Jeffrey J. Riviera to the Rhine/JeffreyJohnstone Clarke, Robert Ross Smith. — p. cm. (United States Army in World War II) Includes bibliographical references and index. I. World War, 1939-1945—Campaigns—Western. 2. United States. Army—History—World War, 1939-1945. I. Smith, Robert Ross. II. Title. III. Series. D756.C53 1991 940.54'21—dc20 91-3180 CIP CMH First Printing— Pub 7-10 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 UNITED STATES ARMY IN WORLD WAR II Advisory Committee (As of6August 1990) Edward M. CofFman David B. Miller, Esq. University of Wisconsin Scranton, Pa. Martin Blumenson Brig. Gen. John E. Miller Washington, D.C. U.S. Army Command and General Brig. Gen. William M. Boice Staff College U.S. Army War College Maj. Gen. James W. van Loben Sels Brig. Gen. Gerald E. Galloway, Jr. U.S. Army Training and Doctrine U.S. Military Academy Command Herman M. Hattaway William A. Walker U.S. Military Academy Archivist of the Army James M. McPherson Russell F. Weigley Princeton University Temple University Ernest R. May Harvard University U.S. Army Center ofMilitary History Brig. Gen. Harold W. Nelson, Chief of Military History Chief Historian Jeffrey Clarke J. Chief, Histories Division Col. Robert H. ShoUy Editor in Chief John W. Elsberg 111 Who to Those Served ^i.-«,. May 1 l.f^'^r- Foreword With the pubhcation of Riviera to the Rhine, the Center of MiHtary History completes its series of operational histories treating the activi- ties of the U.S. Army's combat forces during World War II. This volume examines the least known of the major units in the European theater, General Jacob L. Devers' 6th Army Group. Under General Devers' leadership, two armies, the U.S. Seventh Army under General Alexander M. Patch and the First French Army led by General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny, landing on the Mediterranean coast near Marseille in August 1944, cleared the enemy out of southern France and then turned east and joined with army groups under Field Marshal Sir Ber- nard L. Montgomery and General Omar N. Bradley in the final assault on Germany. In detailing the campaign of these Riviera-based armies, the authors have concentrated on the operational level of war, paying special atten- tion to the problems ofjoint, combined, and special operations and to the significant roles of logistics, intelligence, and personnel policies in these endeavors. They have also examined in detail deception efforts at the tactical and operational levels, deep battle penetrations, river-cross- ing efforts, combat in built-up areas, and tactical innovations at the combined arms level. Such concepts are of course very familiar to today's military students, and the fact that this volume examines them in such detail makes this study especially valuable to younger officers and noncom- missioned officers. In truth, the challenges faced by military command- ers half a century ago were hardly unique. That is why I particularly urge today's military students, who might well face some of these same problems in future combat, to study this campaign so that they might learn from their illustrious predecessors in the profession ofarms. Washington, D.C. HAROLD W. NELSON Brigadier General, USA Chief of Military History Vll The Authors Dr. Jeffrey Clarke has been a historian at the U.S. Army Center of J. MiHtary History since 1971 and was named its Chief Historian in July 1990. He has also taught history at Rutgers University and the Univer- sity of Maryland-College Park and is currently adjunct associate profes- sor of history at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County. Dr. Clarke holds a Ph.D. in history from Duke University, is a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve, and served with the 1st Infantry Division and Advisory Team 95 during the Vietnam War. He is the author of Advice and Support: The Final Years, a volume in the U.S. Army in Viet- nam series, and has contributed many articles, papers, and essays on military history to a wide variety of professional publications and orga- nizations. Dr. Clarke is currently preparing a combat volume on the Vietnam War. Robert Ross Smith received his B.A. and M.A. from Duke University and later served for two years as a member of General Douglas MacAr- thur's historical staff during World War II. In 1947 he joined the Army's historical office, then known as the Office of the Chief of Mili- tary History, where he published The Approach to the Philippines (1953) and Triumph in the Philippines (1963) in the U.S. Army in World War II series as well as several other military studies. Later he served as historian for the United States Army, Pacific, during the Vietnam War. At the time of his retirement from the Center of Military History in 1983, Mr. Smith was chief of the General History Branch.