The Brittany peninsula is finally reduced by XIII Corps
Headquarters move to a bivouac area north of Marson, in the vicinity of Châlons-sur-Marne
VIII Corps passes to Ninth US Army (Lt. General William H. Simpson)
First crossing of the Moselle River
The 2d French Armored Division (2° DB) establishes contact with elements of the 1st French Infantry Division, attached to the Seventh US Army in the vicinity of Sombernon
Nancy is cleared . Headquarters Third US Army move to Braquis, south of Etain, and 11 miles east of Verdun
Headquarters now move to covered billets in Etain
Third US Army is ordered to assume aggressive defense, because of acute supply problems
XV Corps passes to control of Seventh US Army (Lt. General Alexander M. Patch)
Attack begins on Ft. Driant, one of the Metz fortresses
III Corps (Maj. General John Millikin) is assigned to Third US Army
Headquarters move to Nancy
Task Force Warnock (Brig. General Alan D. Warnock) withdraws from Ft. Driant
New alternate plans are created for the upcoming resumption of Third US Army’s offensive
Maizières-les-Metz is cleared
12th Army Group Headquarters orders Patton’s Third Army to envelop the Metz defensive works and destroy all enemy forces, and to advance northeast to seize the Mainz-Frankfurt-Darmstadt area
XII Corps attacks to the east
XX Corps opens its converging attack on Metz
Engineers start building the longest Bailey Bridge ever built in the E.T.O. to date (200-foot structure)
Approaches to Metz are gradually breached and eliminate German capabilities to continue to wage a fortress war
Metz is cleared, and all enemy resistance finally stops
St. Avold is taken, while further reduction of the remaining forts at Metz takes place
Third US Army elements are now well within German borders, already fighting in Buren, northeast of Saarlautern
Maj. General Hugh J. Gaffey leaves Third Army to assume command of the 4th Armored Division, and Brig. General Hobart R. Gay is appointed Chief of Staff, Third US Army
Ft. St. Quentin falls . III Corps opens a new CP near Metz
Ft. Driant is captured
A G-2 Report is sent by Third Army HQs to SHAEF indicating the probability of an upcoming possible Ardennes offensive by the Germans, it is ignored !
Sarreguemines is taken
The last fort resisting at Metz, Ft. Jeanne D’Arc is captured, all resistance around Metz now stops . Another G-2 Report is sent to SHAEF warning of a continuous buildup of German forces east of First Army’s VIII Corps …
German breakthrough in the Bulge, enemy offensive in First US Army sector
Third US Army is ordered to swing north toward the enemy breakthrough area
Advance Detachment, Headquarters Third US Army moves from Nancy to Luxembourg City
VIII Corps comes under control of Third US Army
Third US Army continues attacking northwards, with III and XII Corps converging on Bastogne and St. Vith, while VIII defended the area from Neufchâteau to Recogne and to Bastogne . Strength of the XIX TAC is increased from 4 to 9 Fighter-Bomber Groups in view of increased need for assistance against the enemy breakthrough
Contact is made by elements of 4th Armored Division (Maj. General Hugh J. Gaffey) at 1845, at Assenois with 101st Airborne troops, a corridor of only 300 yards wide is maintained open
Remainder of Forward Echelon, Headquarters Third US Army moves from Nancy to Luxembourg City
12th Army Group instructs Third Army to continue their attack to the northeast in order to seize Houffalize and bring about a junction with First Army in that area
St. Hubert is cleared
Contact made with British Forces on western end of enemy breakthrough area
Third Army makes contact with First US Army near Houffalize
Conferences are held with Lt. General Omar N. Bradley, and Lt. General Courtney H. Hodges, with staffs, to determine direction and coordination of the upcoming attacks by First and Third Armies against the Siegfried Line
Date regarded as the official ending of the Battle of the Bulge, since all of the ground lost to the Germans has now been regained !

SHAEF orders are to secure the Roer River dams and clear the enemy from the area west of the line from the Roer River to Gemund, Schleide and Frauenkorn
III Corps passes to First US Army
Prüm is cleared
The Moselle-Saar River triangle is finally cleared
Bitburg is captured
Trier is taken
Dash to the Rhine from the Kyll River . Third Army captured its 200,000th German PW
Rhine River is reached . The number of enemy PWs taken increases dramatically
Moselle is crossed as forces now drive into Saarland industrial region . Koblenz, Bad Kreuznacht, Bingen, Skt. Wendel, and Dillingen are cleared
Worms, and Kaiserslautern are captured
Mainz and Landau are captured
First assault crossing of the Rhine River . Speyer and Ludwigshafen are captured
Darmstadt is cleared . Third Army already captured its 300,000th enemy PW
Headquarters Third US Army move from Luxembourg to Idar-Oberstein . Hanau is also captured same day
Wiesbaden is secured
Frankfurt is cleared . Third Army now attacks to the north
Headquarters Third US Army move to Frankfurt
Kassel, Mühlhausen and Gotha are cleared
Eisenach and Meiningen are taken
Headquarters Third Army leave Frankfurt and now move to Hersfeld . Weimar is captured
Erfurt is cleared
Jena and Zeitz are captured
Bayreuth and Gera are taken
Hof, Glauchau, Crimmitschau and Plauen are captured . Third Army medical personnel and the 120th Evacuation Hospital move to Ettersburg to provide urgent medical care for inmates of the Buchenwald concentration camp
Forces now switch to attack south in new zone, purpose is to gain contact with Soviet Forces in the Danube valley
III Corps reverts to Third Army
VIII Corps passes to First US Army control
Last war campaign begins . Forward Echelon Headquarters move to Erlangen
The Danube River is crossed
Some Third Army patrol elements cross into Austria
Landshut and Moosburg are cleared . The Isar River is crossed
The Inn River is crossed . Third Army forces are now in Austria in strength, and some forward elements cross the Czechoslovakian border
Headquarters Third US Army are now installed in Regensburg
Linz is taken
Pilzen is captured (already controlled by Czech partisans)
V Corps passes to Third Army control . first scattered contacts with Soviet Forces in the vicinity of Amstettin
Surrender of all German Air, Sea, and Land Forces is announced . Surrender is to be effective at 0001, May 9, 1945

Lieutenant General George Smith Patton, Jr. , ASN O-2605, dies at Heidelberg, Germany, after an automobile accident which took place on December 9 . He was officially buried in the American Cemetery of Hamm, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, at 1000, December 24, 1945 – Honor Guard consisted of troops belonging to US 1st Inf + US 4th Armd + US 2d Cav Divs, French 146th + 151st Inf Regts, and Belgian + Luxembourg Pltns…

Third US Army now returns to the continental United States, upon arrival it reverts from being a Combat Army to its old job, being a Training Army - the Army was finally inactivated on October 1, 1973 …



Prisoners of War : 1,280,688, at May 13, 1945
Replacements : 258,924, at May 09, 1945
Army strength : 92,187 men at August 01, 1944
Peak strength : 437,860 assigned personnel, at May 08, 1945
Losses : 27,104 killed, 86,267 wounded, 18,975 injured, and 28,237 missing, at May 08, 1945
Days of fighting : 281
Major River crossings : 32
Number of Bridges built : 2,498
Miles of Roads built & maintained : 2,240
Number of Railway Miles laid : 2,092
Artillery Rounds expended : 5,870,843
Miles of Communication Wire installed : 16, 477
Number of Patients transferred to Third US Army Hospitals : 269,187
Number of Patients evacuated from Third US Army area : 164,810
Number of Decorations awarded : 34,840
Number of Promotions given : 9,129
Number of Chaplains : 320
Number of Moves by Fwd Echelon HQ Third US Army : 19 (traveling 1,225 Miles in total)
Assigned Corps : 6 Army Corps (III - V - VIII - XII - XV - XX)
Assigned Divisions : 26 Infantry Divisions (1 - 2 - 4 - 5 - 8 - 26 - 28 -29 - 35 - 42 - 65 - 69 - 70 - 71 - 76 - 79 - 80 - 83 - 86 - 87 - 89 - 90 - 94 - 95 - 97 - 99)
Assigned Divisions : 2 Airborne Divisions (17 - 101)
Assigned Divisions : 13 Armored Divisions (4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 16 - 20)
Assigned Allied Divisions : 1 French Armored Division (2)
Campaigns : Northern France (25 Jul 44 > 14 Sep 44) Rhineland (15 Sep 44 > 21 Mar 45) Ardennes-Alsace (16 Dec 44 > 25 Jan 45) Central Europe (22 Mar 45 > 11 May 45)
Radio Callsign : LUCKY