Operation Grenade

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title: "Operation Grenade" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["western-allied-invasion-of-germany", "rhine-province", "february-1945-in-europe", "1945-in-military-history", "1945-in-germany", "military-operations-involving-dams", "battles-of-world-war-ii-involving-the-united-states"] description: "1945 American operation into Germany" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Grenade" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1945 American operation into Germany ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox military conflict"]

Field	Value
conflict	Operation Grenade (Battle of the Roer)
partof	the Western Allied invasion of Germany in the Western Front of the European theatre of World War II
image	[[File:Veritable grenade.png
caption	Operations Veritable and Blockbuster (yellow) and Grenade (green)
date	23 February – 10 March 1945
()
place	Rhineland, Germany
result	American victory
combatant1	United States
combatant2	Nazi Germany
commander1	United States William H. Simpson
commander2	Germany Gustav-Adolf von Zangen
Germany Alfred Schlemm
strength1	380,000
1,400 tanks
2,070 guns
375 aircraft
strength2	54,000
180 tanks
casualties1	1,330 killed
Total:
7,478
casualties2	29,739 captured
16,000 other casualties (US estimate)
Total:
45,739
campaignbox
::

|conflict=Operation Grenade (Battle of the Roer) |partof= the Western Allied invasion of Germany in the Western Front of the European theatre of World War II |image=[[File:Veritable grenade.png|300 px]] |caption= Operations Veritable and Blockbuster (yellow) and Grenade (green) |date=23 February – 10 March 1945 () |place=Rhineland, Germany |result=American victory |combatant1=United States |combatant2=Nazi Germany |commander1=United States William H. Simpson |commander2=Germany Gustav-Adolf von Zangen Germany Alfred Schlemm |strength1=380,000 1,400 tanks 2,070 guns 375 aircraft |strength2=54,000 180 tanks |casualties1=1,330 killed Total: 7,478 |casualties2=29,739 captured 16,000 other casualties (US estimate) Total: 45,739 | campaignbox =

During World War II, Operation Grenade was the crossing of the Roer river between Roermond and Düren by the U.S. Ninth Army, commanded by Lieutenant General William Hood Simpson, in February 1945, which marked the beginning of the Allied invasion of Germany.

On 9 February, the U.S. Ninth Army—operating under Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group since the Battle of the Bulge—was to cross the Roer and link up with the Canadian First Army, under Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, coming from the Nijmegen area of the Netherlands in Operation Veritable, which had started at 05:00 on 8 February. However, once the Canadians had advanced, the Germans opened the sluice gates of upstream Roer dams. This stopped the Americans from crossing as planned. It had been anticipated that the Germans would try to do this, and that General Omar Bradley's U.S. 12th Army Group could capture them in time to stop the flooding.

During the two weeks that the river was flooded, Hitler would not allow Generalfeldmarschall Gerd von Rundstedt to withdraw behind the Rhine, arguing that it would only delay the inevitable fight. He ordered him to fight where his forces stood. Those forces comprised the 15th Army, commanded by Gustav-Adolf von Zangen, and the 1st Parachute Army, commanded by Alfred Schlemm.

The Ninth Army was finally able to cross the river on 23 February. By then, other Allied forces were also close to the Rhine. German forces west of the Rhine during operations Veritable, Blockbuster and Grenade lost 90,000 men, of which more than 50,000 became prisoners of war (POW). Allied casualties amounted to some 23,000 men.

Notes

Footnotes Citations

References

References

1. Stacey, p. 522

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