The second prong, Operation Grenade, would funnel the Ninth Army north across the
Roer River to link up with the Canadians and cut off German forces west of the Rhine.
By mid-December, American armies had reached the
Roer River inside Germany and the West Wall (Siegfried Line) in eastern France.
The division moved through the Hurtgen Forest, passed through the Siegfried Line, and was on the
Roer River in February.
Arriving in France on Thanksgiving Day, 1944, my outfit was scheduled to join the 9th Army in Holland for an assault crossing of the
Roer River (Operation Grenade).
Lo breakthrough, battle of Germany, German counteroffensive and the drive to the
Roer River, crossing the Roer, crossing the Rhine, the exploitation of the Remagen bridgehead; and conclude with final operations in April and May of 1945.
The 86th supported V Corps in the final assault on the
Roer River and the advance to the Rhine River.
We crossed the
Roer River, and the Rhine at Remagen, before engaging again in battle in the Harz Mountains.
In Europe, units of XIII and XIX Corps cross the
Roer River, Feb.
"We were on the banks of the
Roer River. There were valleys about six miles wide on both sides," he said.
Div., he saw action in the drive on the
Roer River and in the Battle of the Bulge.
Bill Jackson's dad, Private First Class William Jackson, volunteered in 1944 and was killed in Germany on February 23, 1945, while taking fire during the
Roer River crossings.
The
Roer River Battles: Germany's Stand at the Westwall, 1944-45, by David R.