Battle of Paderborn (1945)

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 tank destroyer 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

The final weeks of march American forces were racing in to Germany, george patton 3rd Army was crossing the Rhine river, the 1st Army was fighting for the Remagen bridgehead, Field Marshall Montgomery was also crossing the last natural barrier to reach Germany borders.

Further reading

• Makos, Adam (2019). Spearhead (1st ed.). New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 269–306, 271, 281, 296. ISBN 9780804176729. LCCN 2018039460. OL 27342118M.

External links

• The Death of Maj. Gen. Maurice Rose
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMf55PrCR1E Video documentary with battle map