The German offensive began with a sudden barrage at 5:30 a.m. on 16 December, and initially made significant progress. Model planned to lead with his infantry, as he had at Kursk, and then release his panzers through breaches established in the American lines. [136] This tactic succeeded in most sectors, but gradually the attacking columns slowed, stymied by stiffening U.S. resistance, massive Allied reinforcements, and hopeless traffic jams. [137] Model considered the offensive doomed by its third day, and when the weather cleared the day after Christmas, Allied airpower utterly smashed the snarled German vehicle columns. [138] Model repeatedly urged Hitler to call off the operation, but the Fuhrer persisted until Allied counteroffensives from the northern and southern flanks of the German "bulge" forced the armys hasty withdrawal. By 6 January the Germans were back to their start-line, having suffered heavy casualties and the loss of the bulk of their remaining armored strength. THE WEST 1945 With the failure of the Ardennes offensive the morale of the German army in the West began to crack. Under steady Allied pressure, German units were pressed back to and beyond the Siegfried Line, losing thousands of prisoners and much of their remaining fighting power. It was evident that Hitler's repeated "stand-fast" orders to defend the West Wall no longer made any sense, and that the only hope for Army Group B was to fall back to the Rhine as quickly as possible and attempt to defend its east bank. Throughout January and February Model repeatedly remonstrated with the Fuhrer to permit such a withdrawal - when Hitler refused, Model conducted one anyway. [139] During this period of retreat OKW, in order to facilitate the escape of the retreating divisions, issued strict orders to all commands not to blow the Rhine bridges prematurely or without permission. As is well known, in the confusion the railroad bridge over the Rhine at Remagen was not destroyed, and fell intact into American hands on 7 March. [140] Model launched several vicious counterattacks to take it back, but all attempts to crush the American bridgehead failed. [141] Hitler had dismissed von Rundstedt in early March, exasperated by the latter's intellectual detachment from the increasingly hopeless situation, and appointed Field Marshal Kesselring to take over as Chief of OB West. [142] Kesselring had not worked with Model before, but knew him "as a veteran leader with the widest possible experience who had, in my opinion, the right to act independently and the duty not to wait for my advice." [143] Model concentrated his strength to the north of the Remagen bridgehead, expecting the Americans to strike for the Ruhr when they eventually broke out. Kesselring warned that the Americans would most likely drive east, and encircle the Ruhr from the south and east, but Model disagreed. [144] In the event, the American breakout from Remagen to the east on 25 March, and their near simultaneous crossing of the Rhine to the north of Germanys most important industrial area, caused Model and 320,000 men of Army Group B to become trapped in the Ruhr Festung on 1 April. Model had seen the envelopment coming in the last days of March, and had desperately asked OKW to rescind the Ruhr's Festung status and permit a breakout to the east. [145] This request, as usual, was adamantly refused. Model ordered an attempt anyway, but all efforts to do so on 30 and 31 March were in vain. [146] Further haphazard breakouts were attempted in early April, but were thwarted by lack of fuel and the local German commanders' natural reluctance to incur further casualties in a lost situation. Model ignored Hitler's orders to destroy everything, limiting the demolitions to points of military importance. [147] On 13 April, General Bayerlein surrendered the four divisions of his Corps to the Americans, and the Ruhr Pocket began to dissolve. [148] Model was torn between his desire to save his soldiers and the dictates of his duty to fight on. "Like all senior commanders he was faced with an insoluble dilemma; as a highly qualified officer he saw the hopelessness of further resistance, but on the other hand he was bound in duty and honor to his superiors and subordinates." [149] He continued to visit the front lines every day, rallying his men; it is said he actively sought death in combat. [150] The situation was irremediable, however, and on 17 April he disbanded his Army Group, discharging all soldiers under age 18 and over age 47, and giving the others the choice to surrender individually or attempt to fight their way out. During the next four days the Field Marshal and a small group of officers and men traveled aimlessly around the ruins of the Ruhr, evading capture but uncertain of what to do next. [151] Model had been told by his officers that the Russians had named him a war criminal, and he was certain the Americans would turn him over to the Soviets if he were captured. [152] It is not known whether a guilty conscience convinced him to commit suicide, or if he felt that taking his own life was his final act of duty as a German officer. [153] He wrestled with the decision for several days, but in the end chose death the traditional way, with a pistol shot to his temple. [154] He was buried under an enormous oak on the grounds of the von Spee estate, in an unmarked place. [155] Ten years later his intelligence officer, who was with him at the end, led Model's son and a group of helpers to the gravesite and disinterred him; he rests today with his soldiers in the Ehrenfriedhofat Vossenack, in the Huertgen Forest. The Fuhrer's Fireman Field Marshal Walther Model Introduction Pre-World War II WWII 1939-1943 The Fuhrer's Fireman and 1944 Battle of the Bulge into 1945 Conclusion Bibliography Footnotes Back to Table of Contents -- Against the Odds vol. 1 no. 4 Back to Against the Odds List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2003 by LPS. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com * Buy this back issue or subscribe to Against the Odds direct from LPS.