The Fulda Gap is a section of territory between the former East German border and Frankfurt, (West) Germany. Named for the nearby town of Fulda, the Fulda Gap was of immense strategic importance during the Cold War. "Gap" refers to lower-lying land (between the mountainous regions of the Hohe Rhön and Knüllgebirge, and between the Spessart and the Vogelsberg) which is suitable for armored troop movement on a large scale. It was one of two obvious routes for a hypothesized Soviet attack on West Germany from its bases in Eastern Europe, especially East Germany. (The other obvious route was via the North German Plain; a third, less likely route, involved an attack through Austria up the Danube River valley.)
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Strategic location
Frankfurt, relatively close to the Gap, was at the heart of West German industrial and financial power, and its loss would have been a serious blow for West Germany and NATO. It was also a civil and military air hub that was important to the defence of West Germany.
Perhaps more importantly, the terrain between the Gap and the river Rhine was less rugged than adjacent regions, offering a favorable pathway for an invading force from Warsaw Pact territory to reach and cross the formidable Rhine before NATO was in a position to prevent it. This route was not as favorable for mechanized movement as the North German Plain, but offered an avenue of advance that struck at the heart of the U.S. military presence in West Germany. Interestingly, it is roughly the same route Napoleon had chosen to withdraw his hard pressed armies after his defeat at Leipzig. Napoleon succeeded in beating a Bavarian-Austrian army under Wrede in the Battle of Hanau close to Frankfurt and he thus made his way safely home to France.
The Fulda Gap in the Cold War
Strategic planners on both sides of the Iron Curtain understood its importance and forces were allocated accordingly. Defence of the Fulda Gap was tasked primarily to the US V Corps. More specifically, the actual East/West border in the general area of the Fulda Gap (See top "External link" below) was screened by the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) from 1972 to 1994. Prior to 1972, the 14th ACR had screened the Fulda Gap for twenty-four years, and before that the duties had been performed by the 3rd Constabulary Regiment and 1st Constabulary Brigade. The armored cavalry's (heavy, mechanized reconnaissance units equipped with tanks and armored personnel carriers) mission during peace was primarily to monitor the border for signs of possible Soviet troop movements which might presage a buildup for invasion. In time of war, the cavalry's mission would have been to provide what was known as a screening force, a thin line spread across the operational area that was to keep contact with opposing forces and report on their size, composition, and movements. This screening force was also expected to delay a Warsaw Pact advance long enough for U.S. divisions headquartered at Frankfurt, 3rd Armored Division [3rd AD], and west of the Rhine at Bad Kreuznach, 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) [8th ID], to assemble and move to the Fulda Gap.
The 11th ACR's principal adversary was the Soviet 8th Guards Army. The Soviet 8th Guards Army was to be followed by a number of additional armies and the Fulda Gap would have been a key Soviet axis of advance in any (hypothetical) major military confrontation in Cold War Europe. The opponents on both sides were lavishly equipped and generally received a high priority on new equipment.
In the event of a Soviet invasion, actual defense of the Fulda Gap the MLR (Main Line of Resistance) would have been provided by the two divisions of the US V Corps, the 3rd AD and the 8th ID. The mission of these divisions, along with 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division (from 1976 to 1984), would have been not to delay a Soviet advance, but to engage it head-on and attempt to halt it. From 1979 on, the first V Corps unit to deploy in the Fulda Gap under the invasion scenario would have been the 8th ID's First Battalion of the 68th Armor Regiment (called 1-68 Armor), stationed at the training base of Wildflecken, in the Rhoen area south of the Gap. Their mission was to set up a defense line across the Fulda Gap, and provide a shield behind which elements of the 3rd AD and 4th Brigade, 4th ID, and other elements of the 8th ID could advance and set up prepared defenses. With the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989, the reunification of Germany in 1990, and the subsequent withdrawal of Soviet forces, the Fulda Gap lost its former strategic importance but is still recognized as a powerful symbol of the confrontation that was the Cold War.
See also
- Observation Post Alpha - a Cold war observation post that overlooked the Fulda Gap, now the site of a Cold War memorial.
Further reading
- Faringdon, Hugh. Strategic Geography: NATO, the Warsaw Pact, and the Superpowers. Routledge (1989). ISBN 0-415-00980-4.
- Fulda Gap: The First Battle of the Next War. Designed by James F. Dunnigan , Simulations Publications, Inc., 1977. Board Game
External links
- 11th Armored Cav IGB patrol areas
- US Army Border Operations 1948-83
- 1st Bn 68th Armor at Wildflecken was a Fulda Gap screening force
- Wildflecken - Home Station of a two combat battalion contingent of the Fulda Gap screening force
- Wildflecken based units (373rd Armd Inf Bn & later, 3rd Armd Rifle Bn, 50th Inf) assigned to 4th Armor Group
- 3rd ARB 50th Inf was a Fulda Gap screening force until July, 1962. It was assigned to Wildflecken as part of 4th Armor Group, V Corps, 7th Army
- 2nd Bn 15th Inf was a Fulda Gap screening force AFTER July, 1962. It was assigned to Wildflecken as part of 3ID, VII Corps, 7th Army
- 3rd ARB 50th Inf & 2nd Bn 15th Inf at Wildflecken
- V Corps & VII Corps units 30 June 1958 (Partial listings)
- V Corps & VII Corps units 1 AUG 1964 (Partial listings)
- OPLAN 33001 V Corps GDP Sector, 1982 - One Screen Down
- See last sentence at page bottom for 8ID deployment issues.
The 14th Cavalry Association
- Fulda Gap unofficial definition
- 14th ARMD CAV 1948-1972 History overview
- 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment based in part at Fulda and Bad Hersfeld
- Example of 14th ARMD CAV photos at the Fulda Gap
- Another example - there are several more at page bottom
