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WWII On This Day: February 10

What happened on February 10 during World War II? This date brings together 2 events from 1945, with period photographs and links to the full operations documented across WW2 Theatres.

1945
Churchill tanks of 107th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps moving through mud during the Reichswald battle, 9 February 1945.
Churchill tanks of 107th Regiment RAC in the Reichswald, 9 February 1945 · Sgt John Silverside, No. 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit · IWM B 14422 · public domain UK Government work · Source
The Rhineland Battles

Schwammenauel is secured after the outlet works are wrecked

U.S. troops secured the Schwammenauel dam on 10 February and found the dam structure standing with its discharge valves and outlet controls destroyed by German engineers. The damage released water steadily downstream, producing a prolonged flood across the Roer valley. Operation Grenade had been scheduled to begin that morning. The flooded Roer spread across the low ground and reached widths and currents that made assault bridging impracticable, so Ninth Army postponed the crossing while engineers watched the water level fall.

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Infantrymen of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division rest on a slope in the Hürtgen Forest on 18 November 1944.
U.S. Army Signal Corps / National Archives · 18 November 1944 · Public domain · Source
Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest

The dams are held, but the river is released

American engineers found the Schwammenauel power-room machinery and discharge controls damaged and the connected Urft penstock opened. The dam structures remained standing. The controlled release raised the Roer downstream and delayed the planned crossing until the flood subsided. American capture of the dam system ended the forest campaign's final operational objective.

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