Battle of Paderborn (1945) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Paderborn
Part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany in the Western Front of the European theatre of World War II
Date 30–31 March 1945 Location Paderborn, Germany Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Maurice Rose  † Doyle Hickey Terry de la Mesa Allen Sr.	Hans Stern Wolf Koltermann  †
Units involved
3rd Armored Division 104th Infantry Division	Heavy Tank Battalion 507th Heavy Panzer Battalion
Strength
3 Combat Commands	60 tanks
Casualties and losses
17 M4 tanks destroyed 1 M-36 destroyed 17 half-tracks destroyed	3 Tiger II tanks destroyed

The Battle of Paderborn occurred during the Western Allied invasion of Germany. Most notably the commander of the 3rd Armored Division Major General Maurice Rose was killed in an ambush outside of Paderborn on March 30. He was the highest ranking US General to be killed in action on the Western Front of World War II.

Prelude

During the final weeks of March, American forces were racing into Germany, with George Patton's 3rd Army crossing the Rhine river and the 1st Army fighting for the Remagen bridgehead. Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery's 21st Army Group was also crossing the last natural barrier into the Ruhr Area.