Battle of Kassel (1945) - Battle

Battle

On March 30, 1945, seven German Tiger II tanks rolled south, heading for Fritzlar. 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) 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 (51°17′21″N 09°25′56″E / 51.28917°N 9.43222°E / 51.28917; 9.43222), 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.