Southern Germany capitulates

As Christmas 1944 approached it seemed that the allies in Czechoslovakia were facing a long hard slog north to Berlin as the Wehrmacht withdrew division after division from other areas to block the road north to the German capital. Once again however, General Alexander out-thought and out fought his German opponents.

In a daring and co-ordinated move, British force started advancing north on the 17th of December, making slow progress against solid German resistance. then however, on the 19th, Alexander suddenly shifted course, swinging a large contingent west, led by British and German armoured units. Within five days these units had swept across the plains of central southern Germany, capturing Nurenberg and Wurzburg.

Too late the Germans realised what was going on and tried to redeploy, but these troop movements were easily spotted by the RAF and only hastened their demise from the air. Unable to respond with speed, the German army, stuck defending Berlin, was helpless to prevent the Anglo-American advance. By the end of the year the allies had reached the Rhine, from the East at Strasbourg, trapping some five German divisions in southern Germany and taking almost a third of Hitler's Germany in one fell swoop.