I knew very little about Colmar in France until we visited the town.

This was our second visit to Colmar as we stopped here overnight 2 years ago on our way back to England from Italy.

Something kept niggling me about Colmar from our first visit.
It bugged me to know what?

During the Battle of the Colmar Pocket, a total of ten Medals of Honor were awarded for acts of valor. This battle was significant in World War II, taking place from January 20 to February 9, 1945, in Alsace, France.

Source

Today we will look at just one recipient and one aspect of the Battlefront. Not to glorify war but to reflect on what one person can do.

Digging a little deeper what emerged was an incredible story of courage against overwhelming odds.

Courage is not about being fearless.
Courage is about being fearful and doing whatever it is in spite of the fear.

We all face challenges and things can seem impossible to change but sometimes we can overcome the most difficult times when there is no alternative.

Head down dig in and get on with it.

Audei Murphy

Image Source Wikipedia

Below is a still image from the movie "To Hell And Back"
Murphy played himself in the movie of his actions in the battle of the Colmar Pocket.

Murphy suffered from what they euphemistically called 'battle fatigue' more commonly known today as Post Traumatic Strees Disorder (PTSD).

He said that making this movie helped him with his PTSD but the film itself was a "powder puff".

The movie is filmed in bright sunny dry conditions. The battle itself was fought in blistering freezing cold winter conditions.

Image Source Wikipedia

Most people of a certain age may have heard of the Battle of the Bulge in France in World War II. This is where German forces counterattacked the allies through the Ardennes Forest.

The Battle of the Colmar Pocket

Colmar Tank Memorial

What many may not know is that at the same time as the Battle of the Bulge was taking place, one of the fiercest battles since the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy was also taking place in Colmar.

Colmar was the core of what became known as the Colmar Pocket: the Germans held a bridgehead in central Alsace around Colmar (on the west bank of the Rhine in France) after the Allies had liberated most of the surrounding Alsace region by late 1944.

In the German plan 'Operation Nordwind', Hitler was trying to use Colmar under the command of Heinrich Himmler to attack toward Strasbourg and pressure the Allies in Alsace.

Hitler's objective was to divide the Allied forces and march on to retake Antwerp a port on the North Sea.

Utter lunacy but history was playing a role here in Hitler's head.

Hitler had attacked successfully through the Ardennes at the beginning of the war and probably thought in his demented mind that he could do it again.

Except this time the allies were better prepared, equipped and in charge of the Battlefront and they had air superiority.(weather permitting)

When Nordwind’s attacks (launched from the Colmar Pocket) failed to retake Strasbourg, the Allies then began the assault from 3 sides. North, South and West of the Colmar Pocket. From the Vosges Mountains in the West the allies first dislodged the Germans.

The German-held bridgehead that Himmler controlled and from which German forces attacked during Nordwind was doomed from the start.

Himmler had never held command of soldiers in a battle. Himmler was used to pushing around unarmed prisoners.

Himmler abandoned the German troops and left while the fighting continued.

A Soldiers View.

The memoir and maps below were hand drawn & annotated by Staff Sergeant Albert S Brown. They give a good overview of the two Battlefronts. Very confusing to read but show troop deployment in the pocket.

As the allies advanced the pocket shrank but not without many casualties.

These low res pictures are the best images that I have found of this event. Made by a serving soldier.

The German pincer movement (below) trying to encircle allied forces.

Source: http://www.dogfacesoldier.org/info/memoirs/brown/colmar.htm

It's winter the ground is frozen and US troops were not equipped with winter clothing.

They had been fighting since June 6th 1944 D-Day and all through Normandy and were exhausted and logistics hadn't caught up with the front lines.

Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy was and still is the most highly decorated soldier in American military history and his contribution to the successful defensive action near Colmar is largely forgotten or misunderstood.

The (Colmar pocket) was a tactical battle where Murphy snatched victory from defeat in a fight that led to halting the German advance on the allies flank and contributed to winning on the larger Battle.

Quick refresher. The Battle of the Bulge was the last attempt by the German army to break out from the encircling allied forces.

The German army had been fighting a defensive withdrawal from the moment the allies landed on 6th June 1946 D Day.

Why was the Colmar battle so fierce?

Hitler had ordered Himmler to not surrender one inch of the Alsace region even to the last man and last bullet.

At this stage of the war Hitler was ordering everyone to fight till the death.

The Alsace region had been changing hands between Germany and France for literally centuries.

On May 10th 1940 Hitler saw Alsace as a part of Germany and that's why it was one of the first places he annexed when he came to power in Germany. By June 1940 Hitler had full control of the region.

In the opening stages of WWII the Germans had attacked through the Ardennes Forest bypassing the French defensive Maginot line.

A move not considered possible for tanks by allied commander's. To do it again second time was unthinkable but Hitler did it anyway.

History doesn't always repeat but it sure does rhyme in the mind of a psychopath like Hitler.

These latter stage battles were at close quarters often hand to hand fighting with whatever they could use as weapons including trenching shovels.

The Colmar Pocket was the last major German-held area in France its liberation marked the final major battle fought on French soil during World War II.

The Allied victory here opened a key route across the Rhine into Germany, enabling the final push toward Berlin.

Source Tourism office Colmar

Colmar Tank Memorial

Colmar Tank Memorial plaque.

It reads.

"French troops and infantry entered the city of Colmar.

BATTLE

February 1945 – de Lattre de Tassigny – First French Army

The 5th Armored Division comprised three Combat Commands (CC4, CC5, CC6) that distinguished themselves during the fierce fighting north and east of Colmar, in coordination with the 3rd, 28th, and 75th Divisions. Following these operations, the city was liberated on February 2, 1945."

Audie Murphy's role is as bizarre as it was critical to the overall victory.

The Colmar Pocket, 850 square miles (2,200 km2) from the Vosges Mountains to the west bank of the Rhine had been held by German troops since November 1944.

There were two bridge's across the Rhine near Colmar that the Germans controlled for resupply.

The Vosges Mountains are a 25 minute drive or a 10 hour march from Colmar.
This whole area was covered in freezing snow before, during and after the battle.

On the left of the map below you can see the Vosges Mountains. The centre red pin is Colmar and on the right is the west bank of the Rhine river.

This whole area or Pocket was held by German troops. Estimates suggest the pocket was 40 miles wide and 30 miles deep.

Having traversed the region myself I think the area covered is an underestimate.

The actual area covered by the German army was about 25% larger in my estimation.

Vosges Mountains

Lac Blanc Vosges Mountains

On 14 January 1945, Murphy rejoined his platoon, which had been moved to the Colmar area in December. To a town called Holtzwihr north of Colmar.

Murphy's Battlefront

I wonder what the American troops thought on the road to Holtzwihr?

The replica statue of liberty wasn't there at the time.

It was erected in 2004 but it's proximity to Audie Murphy's stand is quite telling.

Audie's Battle

Audie moved with the 3rd Division on 24 January and they faced a strong German counterattack.

Murphy's troops were severely mauled by the German attack and had many casualties.(dead and wounded)
Murphy was wounded in both legs.

As the company awaited reinforcements on 26 January, he was made commander of Company B.

At about 2 pm that afternoon, German troops and tanks again attacked and Murphy ordered what was left of his company to withdraw into positions in the woods.

It was winter and the ground was frozen. They could not dig foxholes. They were low on ammunition and supplies and were exposed.

The Germans scored a direct hit on an M10 tank destroyer which was stationed near Murphy's company command post, setting it alight and forcing the crew to abandon it.

Murphy remained alone as his troops withdrew to the relative 'safety' of the woods, Murphy kept shooting his M1 carbine and directing artillery fire via his field radio, while the Germans aimed fire directly at his position although they couldn't see him directly due to the smoke from the burning vehicle.

Murphy actually called in artillery fire on his own position as the enemy was that close.

Both in the Ardennes forest and Colmar pocket conditions were brutal. Many soldiers had trenchfoot (frozen rotted feet) Many died from the cold.

Image Source Wikipedia

Murphy jumped up on the burning tank destroyer and began firing its .50 caliber machine gun at the advancing Germans, killing an entire squad crawling through a ditch towards him.

Murphy knew that the German tanks would not advance without Infantry support so he just killed or wounded as many Infantry as he could.

For an hour, Murphy stood on the flaming tank destroyer, returning German fire from foot soldiers and advancing tanks, and killing or wounding 50 Germans.

He sustained another leg wound during this firefight and only stopped when the .50 cal machine gun ran out of ammunition.

As he walked away from the still burning tank destroyer it exploded.

Murphy regrouped his men, ignored his own injuries and attacked the retreating Germans.

It appears that the Germans were confused by the .50 rounds decimating their troops as the smoke from the burning tank destroyer obscured their view of Murphy and where all the fire power was coming from.

The Germans withdrew from the battle.

Murphy's action blocked the Germans advance which would have allowed the Germans to flank the larger battle.

It was a decisive tactical battle.

For his actions Murphy was awarded the Medal of Honor.
The 3rd Infantry Division was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation.

Source Wikipedia

Curiously the American army did not liberate Colmar. This was left to the French army made up mostly of battle tested North African soldiers from Morocco and Algeria.

The US army had been rotating front line troops with overlapping reinforcements so units would move forward whilst other units would remain in place. Like a kind of relay race.

Imagee Source Wikipedia

In a bizarre twist the French high command thought that these brave North African soldiers needed to be 'whiteified' before entering Colmar and so they drafted into this combat effective group a bunch of raw French recruits (white) who had had little training.

Needless to say these white troops suffered heavy casualties.

But that's just politics in war.

Why was Colmar niggling me?

I'd seen the Audie Murphy film when I was a kid and visiting the actual places where the battle took place must have kicked my subconscious into investigate mode.

I'm happy it did as we learned something new about this pivotal battle.

Hitler like all tyrants days were numbered.

A small group of committed people can and do overcome seemingly impossible odds.

You have to get out there and get amongst it if you want to learn anything new.

It is not always possible to travel to these places but if you can that's great. Photos do not do it justice at all.