Troops of the U.S. 100th Infantry Division attack in the devastated city of Heilbronn on the Neckar river, just north of Stuttgart, Germany; April, 1945.

Combat in the ruins

Two German women make their way over the rubble in the small municipality of Holsthum, between Bitburg and Trier, Germany, during mopping up operations, after the Americans captured the town. German soldiers in the background clasp hands over their head as they are rounded up by US troops, March, 4, 1945.

Town and troops are taken

In constant danger from falling walls, infantry from the 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, move through the smoke filled city of Crailsheim, Germany, (about half-way between Stuttgart and Nuremberg); April 21, 1945.
   Crailsheim's railroad and airfield were heavily defended by the Waffen-SS in 1945. Following an American Army assault in mid-April 1945 the town was occupied briefly by US forces before being lost to German counter-offensive. Intense US bombing and artillery shelling during a second US conquest destroyed much of the city, with subsequent fires consuming its historic inner city.