Battle of Kassel ( 1945 ) The Battle of Kassel was a four - day struggle between the U . S . Army and the German Army in April 1945 for Kassel , a medium - sized city northeast of Frankfurt am Main . The battle resulted as the U . S . Third Army pushed northeast from the region of Frankfurt and Mainz . The battle opened on April 1 , 1945 and ended with an American victory three days later . Opposing the Third Army ' s 80th Infantry Division were an infantry replacement battalion , some heavy tanks , and anti - aircraft gun s . Although the Germans gave battle at Kassel , their army was on the brink of collapse as the Western Allies and the Red Army made deep inroads into Germany . The defense of Kassel did not materially impede the Allied advance , and , one month after the battle ended , Germany was forced to capitulate . Background . After the Ardennes Offensive , the U . S . Third Army had pushed east and southeast into Germany , capturing Pruem and Trier . This advance brought General Patton ' s troops to the Rhine River , which they crossed at Oppenheim , near Mainz , on March 22 , 1945 . While the U . S . First Army was marching on Paderborn , the Third Army moved on a roughly parallel course further to the east to cover the First Army ' s right flank and prevent any German attempt to relieve their troops trapped in the Ruhr Pocket . Moving east from its bridgehead across the Rhine , the Third Army ' s XII Corps fought through scattered German opposition and reached Frankfurt on March 26 . After Frankfurt , Kassel was the largest city in Hessen , having had a population of 200 , 000 in 1939 . Another corps of the Third Army , the XX , was directed to capture it . By March 30 , elements of the Third Army were nearing Kassel , having moved some in eight days . Much of Kassel ' s center lay in ruins as the city had been bombed 40 times by the Allied air forces . Among the bombing targets in the city was the Henschel factory complex , which produced Tiger II tanks . As the Americans approached , the Henschel Works finished work on thirteen Tiger II tanks , which were taken over by two companies of the German 510th and 511th Heavy Tank Battalions . Deployed on a military training ground south of the city was a battery of 88 mm anti - aircraft guns manned by Reichsarbeitdienst ( RAD ) members , a paramilitary labor service of the Nazi Party . Besides the tanks and AA - guns , the Germans had several hundred men of the 15th Armored Infantry Replacement and Training Battalion with which to defend the city . The German high command had designated Kassel a " Festung " ( fortress ) with dire orders to " resist to the last round " . In the event , however , the designation of the city as " Festung " had little impact on the outcome of the battle . In command of the city ' s defense was " Generalmajor " Johannes Erxleben , a communications officer with little battle experience . Battle . On March 30 , 1945 , seven German Tiger II tanks rolled south , heading for Fritzlar . northeast of Fritzlar , the Tigers fought a meeting engagement with an armored spearhead of the U . S . Third Army , resulting in damage or destruction to six U . S . tank destroyers . The German tankers , however , were forced to retreat when their unit was subjected to heavy artillery fire . On April 1 , leading elements of the Major General Horace L . McBride ' s U . S . 80th Infantry Division approached Kassel from the south , but were forced to halt by fire from the RAD anti - aircraft battery positioned on the Dönche training ground ( ) , a relatively flat area that allowed the 88mm guns to engage in long range fire . On April 2 , the Americans again responded with heavy artillery fire , destroying the RAD AA battery . The U . S . 318th Infantry Regiment moved a battalion into the wooded high ground ( " Habichtswald " ) west of Kassel , while the U . S . 319th Infantry Regiment crossed the Fulda River and moved north along its east bank . The 80th Division ' s third regiment , the 317th Infantry , was in divisional reserve . By the end of the day , western and southern suburbs of Kassel had been occupied by the Americans . In the south , German infantry of the 15th Battalion mounted 15 half - tracks and , supported by about 12 tanks , moved south and surprised elements of the 1st Battalion , 318th Infantry . The subsequent exchange of fire saw six U . S . tank destroyers knocked out and one Tiger II damaged . The German infantry was separated from their tanks by enfilading fire from U . S . troops who had pulled back from the road . The German tanks continued south until they were struck by an American 155 - mm artillery barrage that destroyed two tanks with direct hits . A second and similar German assault was less successful and also repelled by artillery fire . Having reorganized , 80th Division troops , with the support of M16 half - tracks that mounted four heavy machine guns , closed on the German " Kaserne " from which the attack the previous day had originated . M16 ' s of the 633rd Anti - Aircraft Artillery ( Heavy Weapons ) Battalion subjected the German base and its defenders to blistering fire and forced the capitulation of the base ' s garrison . The U . S . 318th Infantry ' s advance north into Kassel was blocked by a 15 - meter high railway embankment under which a street ran . The underpass was blocked by a German self - propelled gun whose fire commanded the approach to the underpass . After American attempts to take the embankment were repelled by Germans dug in on the other side , the regiment ' s 1st Battalion managed to cross the embankment to the northwest and approached the German positions from the flank . Early on the morning of April 3 , the battalion took the surrender of some 500 German troops who believed their defensive position compromised . Fighting in Kassel was house - to - house from April 2 , but the German defenders were too few to defend effectively and the U . S . forces pushed into the city ' s center , fending off local counter - attacks by infantry and tanks . American tanks and the U . S . 319th Infantry were meanwhile approaching Kassel from the east bank of the Fulda River . The U . S . 317th Infantry was guarding the Americans ' flank in the west and the U . S . 318th Infantry pushed through the city , arriving in the vicinity of the command bunker of General Erxleben at 0900 on April 4 , 1945 . Faced with the collapse of his defenses , Erxleben dispatched a captain early on April 4 to discuss surrender terms with the Americans . The American reply was that the Germans had to cease resistance with no cease - fire to evacuate wounded or civilians , or that the fighting would continue . Around 1100 on April 4 , U . S . tanks crossed the Fulda River from the east and moved toward the center of Kassel . At 1200 , General Erxleben capitulated and was taken prisoner along with 1 , 325 others , effectively ending the Battle of Kassel .