Evening star., 1948-06-06

Many factors 1orce0
landings must be made ,Dhen
before high tide. They mus
which, under the command Of Gen.
Courtney II. Hodges, liberated
Northern France and Eastern Bel
sium, first crashed through the
sieefried Line into Germany, beat
back the snemy's greatest counter
offensive. forced the flrst crossing
Of the Rhine, closed the Ruhr
pocket, and advanced to the first
meeting with Russian troops moving
from the east which ended the war
Organized In England during the
late fall and winter Of 1884, II
was intended from the beginning
as the American command which
would launch and carry out. the
killing assault on the forces Of the
Reich. 1t was planned and trained
as q combination hard-hitting, fast
moving army which would have the
chief part in the coming campaign
behind the iron curtain which Hitler
had lowered along the Atlantic
coast Of Europe.
Approximately 100000 men
served at some time in the 1st Army
during the 337 days Of combat, in
which it advanced S66 miles through
hostile territory from the beaches
OF Normandy to the Nude River in
Saxony. These soldiers made up
army and corps troops and the
personnel of 40 divisions.
Casualties Tell Story
Divisions passed in and out of
armies as exigencies required. Some
such as the 5th, Goth and 4th
Armored, were taken over by the
Sd Army when 1t was activated
nearly two months after the Nor
mandy landings. Others, such as
the I'd Armored, 10th and 30th
went to the newly organized 9th
Army But few-generally recog-
nized as the outstanding fighting
divisions Of Europe-always re-
manned with the 1st Army and its
operations from the start were
coiored by their personalities
Notable among these were the 1st
and 9Th Divisions, veterans Of Africa
ard Sicily, under the command OF
Gen. Bradley; the Sd Armored
which was the Army's spearhead
from st. Io to Leipzig, and the
redoubtable night-f1ghting '104th
Infantry Division.
Such equally outstanding infantry
divisions as the I'd and 4th were
under the 1st Army's command for
all except few days of their serv-
ice. Foreign divisions serving In
tnis army were the 51st British
Highlands and the I'd French Ar
mored, the desert veterans to whom
was given the honor of entering
Paris.
The extent and severity Of the
lst Army's fighting are witnessed
by its neutrality-suspicious.
400,000 killed and wounded during
the 10 months of its advance along
an average front of 102 miles,
There were. 2,76b decorations
awarded. For the entire campaign
deaths in combat averaged IS and
wounds $50 per 100000 men per day.
This was considerably better than
the preliminary estimate of 200
casualties per 100000 per day.
For weeks at time. of course,
there were almost no losses. Casual
ties were mostly concentrated in
four operations the Normandy
landings, the German counteroffen-
sive around Mortain, the Bulge and
the Remagen bridgehead. The 1st
Army's total losses equaled all those
suffered by American forces-Army,
Navy and Manufacturing the entire
war in the Pacific.
The magnitude of operations is
shown further by the fact that from
to end Of the 1st Army's
nearly a million vehicles
actually 99s ,207-ranging from jeeps
to tanks, were used A maximum of
nearly 600, 900 gallons of gasoline
per day was required.
Averaged 2.59 Miles a Day
For 2l4 days Of the European
campaign the Army was on the
offensive For 43 days it fought
defensively, chiefly at the time of
the German counterattack in the
Its average advance was
259 miles . day for the Army as q
whole.
The length Of the Ist Army's front
constantly increased from l9 miles
Of a thin strip Of Normandy coast
on the afternoon Of D day to 2s1
miles in Thuringia and Saxony on
April IA, 1e45.
The 1st Army was Withdrawn
from operations in Europe on May
.. 1s45. It's most advanced position
was then the little town Of Grimma
on the Nude River Just beyond
Leipzig. The reason is clear from
Gen. Hodges order on that day:
For the first time in II months
there is no contact with the enemy.
The victory which was won on
Omaha and Utah beaches ahas
reached its climax Today belongs
to the men Of this army who fought
and conquered the enemy from
Normandy. TO the Ebe. There is no
longer any enemy situation TO report
for there Is no longer m enemy to
defeat
Most ee tbs divisions which then
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