Battle of the Mons pocket facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Battle of the Mons pocket |
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| Part of the Western Front of World War II | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States Belgium |
 Germany |
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| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Courtney Hodges J. Lawton Collins |
Erich Straube | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| First United States Army Belgian resistance |
Army Task Group Straube | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| ~70,000 | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| ~89 killed | 3,500 killed 25,000 captured |
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The Battle of the Mons Pocket was a fight between Allied and German armies. It happened in late August and early September 1944. This battle was part of the fast Allied push through France and Belgium.
During the battle, United States Army troops, helped by the Belgian Resistance, surrounded many retreating German soldiers. These German forces were near the town of Mons in Belgium. The German army was very disorganized and could not fight back well. About 3,500 German soldiers were killed, and 25,000 were taken as prisoners. The Allied forces had very few losses.
Contents
Why the Battle Happened
In the summer of 1944, Allied forces broke out of the Normandy beachhead. They quickly moved across France, freeing it from German control. The main goal for the Allies was to reach the Rhine river fast. They wanted to get there before the Germans could set up their defenses, called the Siegfried Line. This line was along the border between France and Germany.
On August 27, General Omar Bradley gave an order. He commanded the main US Army force in northern France. His armies were to "go as far as practicable" until their supplies ran out. The US Army was good at this fast kind of fighting. Their units had many vehicles and were trained for quick movements.
The German forces in France had lost many soldiers in Normandy. They tried to retreat from the fast Allied advance. But it was hard for them because of the speed of the Allies. Roads were jammed, bridges were destroyed, and Allied planes attacked them from above. German foot soldiers moved much slower than the Allies. They did not have enough vehicles.
German leader Adolf Hitler wanted his army to prepare defenses. These were along the Somme and Marne rivers in northern France. He hoped they could slow down the Allies there. But by the time German forces reached these rivers, they were too weak to fight well. A US Army history said the German units were "exhausted, disorganized, and demoralized." By late August, German forces in France and Belgium were retreating in a mess.
Getting Ready for Battle
Allied Push Forward
In late August, General Bradley decided something important. He wanted the First Army to first cut off retreating German units. This was more important than reaching the Rhine river right away. On August 31, the First Army's commander, Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges, was told to move north. His goal was to cut the main road between Lille and Brussels.
Hodges' main target was the town of Tournai in Belgium. He was ordered to free it by midnight on September 2. The XIX Corps was given this job. They were the northernmost part of the First Army. The XIX Corps reached Tournai at 10 p.m. on September 2. They captured 1,300 German soldiers during their advance.
The V Corps was in the middle of the First Army's line. They moved towards Landrecies at the same time. They took it on September 2. They met very few German units there.
German Retreat
The 5th Panzer Army was the main German unit facing the Allies in northern France. It was in charge of forces from the coast to Paris. But it could not stop the Allied attack. Its ability to command and control its units soon broke down. The Army's main office in Amiens was taken by British troops on August 31. However, its commander and his staff managed to escape.
In late August, many German soldiers were moving through the area southwest of Mons. They were mostly from three large groups: LVIII Panzer Corps, LXXIV Army Corps, and II SS Panzer Corps. These groups included what was left of ten badly damaged combat divisions. There were also smaller units and many support staff. All three group headquarters had lost contact with their higher commanders.
On August 31, the three German commanders decided to join their forces. They formed a temporary army led by General Erich Straube. This group was called Army Task Group Straube. Straube had no information about the bigger picture of the war. But he learned from Allied radio messages that his group was in danger of being surrounded. So, he decided to pull his forces back to an area near Mons. Canals and marshy land there would help them defend themselves. The next day, the German commanders decided to try to break out to the northeast. Their goal was to reach the Nivelles area in Belgium. This meant moving their forces almost 70 kilometres (43 mi) through the Mons area. They had to do this while the Allies were advancing quickly.
The Battle of Mons Pocket
The VII Corps was in charge of the eastern part of the First Army's area. Major General J. Lawton Collins commanded it. His corps included the 3rd Armored Division, 1st Infantry Division, and 9th Infantry Division.
On August 31, Collins was told to stop moving northeast. Instead, he was to turn north towards Avesnes-sur-Helpe, Maubeuge, and Mons. The 3rd Armored Division led this advance. The 1st Infantry Division was on its left, and the 9th Infantry Division was on its right. The 4th Cavalry Group kept in touch with the Third Army to the south.
At first, the corps only met German outposts. The 3rd Armored Division moved very fast. Collins did not get orders to stop before Mons to save fuel. This was because of communication problems. At this time, Collins did not know how many German soldiers were near Mons. The 3rd Armored Division freed Mons on the morning of September 3. At this time, the 1st Infantry Division was at Avesnes. The 9th Infantry Division was at Charleroi.
The advance of the VII Corps, and the other two corps of the First Army, trapped the German forces under Straube. The 3rd Armored Division set up roadblocks on the road between Mons and Avesnes. The 1st Infantry Division attacked the German forces from Avesnes to the northwest. The XIX Corps was to the west of the trapped Germans. The V Corps was to the south. British forces were quickly moving to block the Germans' escape to the north. The German forces were very disorganized. They also lacked fuel and ammunition. About 70,000 German soldiers were trapped in this "pocket."
There was some fighting between American and German forces on the night of September 2 and 3. A tank unit of the 3rd Armored Division destroyed a long line of German vehicles. American planes also attacked German forces in the Mons pocket. They caused many losses. Many German units with vehicles managed to escape the pocket by fighting through American lines. On September 3, many German troops surrendered to the Americans. The 1st Infantry and 3rd Armored Divisions took between 7,500 and 9,000 prisoners.
The 3rd Armored Division left the Mons pocket on September 4. It moved on to continue the VII Corps' advance to the east. The 1st Infantry Division kept clearing out German positions. They were helped by Belgian Resistance fighters. They took many prisoners. This continued on September 5. The 26th Infantry Regiment captured 3,000 Germans near Wasmes. The battle ended on the evening of September 5.
In total, about 25,000 Germans were captured in the Mons area. Around 3,500 German soldiers were killed. The rest of the German troops, including the leaders of the three corps, escaped. They got away before the trap was fully closed. The German units also lost a lot of equipment. This included 40 armored fighting vehicles, 100 half-tracks, 120 artillery guns, 100 anti-tank and anti-aircraft guns, and almost 2,000 other vehicles.
The VII Corps had very few losses. The 3rd Armored Division lost 57 men killed. The 1st Infantry Division had 32 killed and 93 wounded. They also lost little equipment. This included two tanks, a tank destroyer, and 20 other vehicles.
What Happened After
On September 3, the German High Commander in the West, Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model, made a decision. He decided it was impossible to hold positions in northern France and Belgium. He ordered his forces to retreat to the Siegfried Line. By this time, many German units were not fighting when they met Allied forces.
The number of Germans captured at the Mons pocket was the second highest in 1944. Only the capture of about 45,000 in the Falaise pocket in August was higher. If the Americans had moved faster, or if their commanders had known how many Germans were there, more could have been captured.
The victory at Mons created a 75-kilometer (47 mi)-wide gap in the German front line. This cleared the way for the First Army to advance to the Siegfried Line. It also helped the liberation of Belgium by British forces. On September 6, General Hodges told his staff that the war would be over in 10 days if the weather stayed good. But this was too hopeful. Problems with supplies, difficult land, and the German army getting stronger near their border slowed the Allied advance.
Even with the losses at Mons, most German forces in Northern France and Belgium reached Germany. By September 10, the German high command had set up a continuous front line. This line stretched from the North Sea to Switzerland. The Allies could not cross the Rhine river until March 1945.
The Mons pocket battle did not get much news coverage at the time. Few historians have written about it since. In 1961, US Army historian Martin Blumenson wrote about it. He said the battle was a surprise for both sides. Neither Americans nor Germans knew the other was coming. They just stumbled into a short, unplanned battle. In 1999, Peter Mansoor used the battle as an example. He showed how the US Army could "move fast and strike hard." He argued that this battle, along with others, proved the US Army could fight a fast, moving war in 1944. Robert M. Citino wrote in 2017 that the battle was part of "one of the greatest operational victories of all time." He added that Hodges had finished his plan with an impressive little "kesselschlacht" (a German word for a battle where forces are encircled).
See also
