Germany 1945
On April 15, 1st Army Corps was given the mission of crossing the Rhine, traversing the Black Forest, and sweeping south Baden of German troops. The 4e DMM drove directly on Freudenstadt, an important Black Forest road junction, capturing it on April 17, 1945. The 9e DIC, crossing the Rhine north of Karlsruhe, raced south along the east bank of the Rhine and then swung east, paralleling the course of the Swiss frontier. From Freudenstadt, the 4e DMM turned south and met the 9e DIC near Döggingen on April 29, cutting off the German XVIII. SS-Armeekorps in the Black Forest. Frantic attempts at escape by the encircled German troops came to naught among French roadblocks and the formidable terrain of the forest, and they were left no options save death or surrender.
From Freudenstadt, elements of the 1re DB pushed east and south, capturing Ulm on April 24, and then pushed south again with elements of the 2e DIM into the Alps, crossing into Austria and marching into Sankt-Anton on May 7, 1945. Elements of the 5e DB and the 4e DMM drove southeast along the north shore of Lake Constance, capturing Bregenz and then turning east toward Sankt-Anton. The following day was VE Day, ending Allied military operations in Europe.
During the course of its operations in France and Germany in 1944 - 1945, the 1st Army Corps lost 3,518 men killed, 13,339 wounded, and 1,449 missing, for a total of 18,306 casualties. Although not all casualties inflicted on the Germans by 1st Army Corps are known, the corps is credited with taking 101,556 Germans prisoner during the campaigns to liberate France and invade Germany.
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“We are fighting in the quarrel of civilization against barbarism, of liberty against tyranny. Germany has become a menace to the whole world. She is the most dangerous enemy of liberty now existing.”
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919)