Discussion on 'Why was the battle of Colmar France known as the Colmar ...?'

(1) On January 14, 2008 at 10:14 pm Jdautumn [0] said:

My father fought in this battle with the 28th Infantry regiment under General Coda. He was far less complimentary to the French. According to my father, the operation was supposed to be prosecuted by the so-called "free French" only. The 28th Infantry had just taken heavy losses in the Battle of the Bulge. However, the Germans offered heavier resistance then was expected at Colmar and the French forces refused to mount the attack at the appointed time. General Eisenhower then called in the 28th to do the job that the French had failed to do. 50,000.00 Germans escaped because the French forces were slow to the attack. My father's opinion was influenced because his unit was recuperating from the Battle of the Bulge when it was called into unexpected action. He couldn't understand how the French could fail to run the Germans out of their country. He didn't know, however, that the French forces were mostly Arabs. This would explain why they weren't anxious to take more losses. I'm sure my father didn't know that the French forces had suffered significant casualties. That may have changed his opinion.

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