WWII, Breaking the Siegfried Line:  German Defense of the "West Wall"

After defeat in Normandy and the rapid retreat from France in Aug-Sep 1944, the German Army fell back into the prepared West Wall defensive positions on the German border also known as the "Siegfreid Line".  After Allied failures to break the West Wall in Operations Market Garden, The Battle of Aachen and the Hurtgen Forest, the Allied Command selected a new sector of the West Wall, near the German town of Geilenkirchen, to launch a massive breakthrough attempt in November 1944.  To secure the flank of the major attack, a critical supporting operation was conceived to destroy the dangerous salient at the fortified town of Geilenkirchen.  This Allied operation was a rare, combined US and British attack.  Two divisions were tasked to surround and capture the town and move quickly up the river valley.   We will use the Battle of Geilenkirchen as an example of the Allied military operations to break the West Wall, and the unforeseen, extraordinary long-term consequences of the determined German defense that seriously delayed the Allied advance in the West.

Tuesday, November 7^th
2:00 pm to 3:30 pm
$10 per person

Min of 7 required
Complimentary (reservations required)

Please register on www.thecommonsclub.com or call 239-949-3800P