In January of 1945, a battle raged in Colmar, France, against a stronghold of the German 19th Army. This battle, known as the Battle of the Colmar Pocket, while not very well known, was a critical battle for the Allies to win. Defeating the Germans and driving them from this terrain would shorten the front, allowing fewer men to hold the line and units to rotate to the rear for rest and reconstitution. A victory here would put the Allies on the western bank of the Rhine in the race to Berlin.
Fighting the Germans in this battle was the French First Army supported by experienced Colonial and Moroccan troops, and the American 1st, 3rd, 28th, 44th Infantry Divisions along with the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions.
The winter that year was very cold, and up to 3 feet of snow lay on the ground. The terrain was flat, making the attack against a dug-in German enemy very treacherous, as the defenders had the advantage of long lines of sight. The battle raged on from January 22 to February 9, and after 20 days of brutal fighting in miserable conditions, the Germans finally were pushed east of the Rhine. An Allied success was hard won, with many individual stories of heroism.
Five Medals of Honor were awarded for actions during this battle. Of these five heroes, one, Lt. Audie Murphy, became a household name. As a recently appointed company commander, he’d been wounded in both legs on January 24 but remained at the company CP.
As German troops counter attacked, he ordered his men to fall back to prepared positions while he continued to direct fire missions, during which time the Germans scored a hit on a M10 tank destroyer nearby, setting it alight. Jumping onto its turret, he used its M2 Browning to hold off the attacking troops for over an hour, sustaining another leg wound in the process and only retreating on running out of ammunition.
In the village of Turckheim, France, a museum is dedicated to keeping the history of the battle of the Colmar Pocket alive. Part of the museum visit includes the actual location where Lt. Murphy made his stand, located in the vault (basement) of a medieval house. This vault was used as a shelter for the townspeople.
During my visit, storks, ubiquitous to the area, were visible in nests high on the top of buildings. Arriving at the village is like stepping back to medieval times, with the old original buildings made of stone and wood.
On entering the courtyard, visitors are greeted by an artillery piece, along with a small sign indicating the entrance to the museum. Walking downstairs, the museum consists of two wings filled with artifacts such as weapons, uniforms, helmets, newspapers, and life-sized dioramas. The Colmar Pocket Museum is a good example of the fact that a museum does not have to be grandiose to be impactful and informative. Instead, it offers an excellent experience, a tribute to a forgotten battle that turned the tide of the war.
On this trip to the museum, we drove by the French countryside, where much of the battlefield was now covered in vineyards, and in Colmar itself, we passed another site of note. It is a memorial to Colmar native,
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty that now sits in New York Harbor.
Anyone on a tour of World War II historic sites in Europe should plan to include this museum on their list of places to visit. While not as well-known as others, the battle was a significant step on the road to defeating Nazi Germany, and the facility is welcoming and authentic.
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