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Video by Staff Sgt. Jarred Woods

France '44: The Wet Gap Crossings at Nancy

Army University Press

Dec. 4, 2019 | 54:34

Over a week-long period in September 1944, Lieutenant General George S. Patton’s Third Army attempted to cross an assault force at several points across the Moselle River to establish a bridgehead and then encircle three German Army divisions in the city of Nancy, France.
With a plan that closely followed U.S. river crossing doctrine, Third Army’s XII Corps executed a wet gap crossing south of the town of Nancy with the 35th Infantry Division as the bridgehead force and 4th Armored Division as the breakout force. As planned, the successful wet-gap crossing opened the southern route to Nancy and allowed the 80th Infantry Division to initiate a similar crossing north of the city. The establishment of multiple bridgeheads enabled Patton’s Third Army to return to what had made it successful during its advance across France—mobility. At 52 minutes, this film is full of historical footage and photographs, digitally-enhanced maps, and current wet gap crossing doctrine.

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France '44: The Wet Gap Crossings at Nancy

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