| In October 1944, the Allied advance slowed. Operation Market-Garden, an airborne-led attack in the Netherlands failed to bring the Allies across the Rhine River into Germany. In the dark and foreboding Huertgen Forest, Allied units struggled against the terrain and a determined enemy and could not reach Germany’s Ruhr Valley. In Italy, Allied troops stalled north of Florence as the Germans dug into the mountains. German resistance and the looming winter showed that the war would not be over by Christmas. On September 27, General Patton’s Third Army moved on the fortress city of Metz, long a point of contention between the French and Germans. Hitler’s orders forbidding a retreat and the formidable fortresses around the city led to a protracted struggle that lasted through the end of November. |
