Osprey Campaign 75 : Lorraine 1944 : Patton vs Manteuffel

In the wake of the defeat in Normandy in the summer of 1944, Hitler planned to blunt the Allied advance by encircling and destroying Patton's Third Army in the Lorraine with a great panzer offensive. Patton was planning his own offensive to exploit his gains in Lorainne. However, with the Allies concentrating on capturing the key port of Antwerp, he had to accomplish this with his own limited resources. Both sides were planning their offensives in the same place at the same time. The formations clashed head-to-head around the small town of Arracourt on 18-23 September in a classic meeting engagement. By the end of the month Patton's tank units had crushed the panzer attacks, but the German counter-attack exhausted Patton's limited resources, and his thrust into Germany was pre-empted. Text by Steven J Zaloga with illustrations by Tony Bryan.

Contents

• Origins of the Battle
• Opposing Commanders
• Opposing Armies
• Opposing Plans
• The Moselle Bridgeheads
• Defense or Counter-Attack in Lorraine?
• The Panzers Attack
• Stalemate
• The Battlefield Today
• Chronology
• Wargaming the Lorraine battles
• Select bibliography