Here is a general overview of what was going on during Janaury and February of 1945 as the allies were trying to make their way into Germany.

After the Battle of the Bulge, the first thing they had to do was cross the Roer River. This river was in western Germany, about 25 miles west of the Rhine.

As the Allies continued their campaign in the Ardennes and Alsace regions,(Battle of the Buldge) they also reached an agreement on a plan to drive into Germany. In January 1945, they had 71 divisions available and expected having 85 divisions by the spring: 61 U.S., 16 British, and 8 French. Eisenhower wanted to put these forces in a three-phased operation. First of all, the Allies would destroy the remaining German forces west of the Rhine and close along the river throughout its length. In the second phase, they would seize bridges over the Rhine. In the final phase, the Allies would advance from the lower Rhine into the plains of northern Germany.

Early in the morning of February 8, over 1,000 guns unleashed a barrage of more than 500,000 shells at Germans opposite Canadian First Army. Montgomery's Operation VERITABLE had begun. The plan called for the Canadians to destroy German forces west of the Rhine in the northern part.

  By February 9, the offensive had pushed into Cleves. Rain, floods, and tough German resistance slowed the attack, but by 23 February the Canadians had moved past enemy positions near Goch. He then attacked toward the enemy defenses that extended from Geldern to Rees.  

To Montgomery's south, Simpson's Ninth Army, under the operational control of the 21 Army Group, prepared to launch Operation GRENADE(This is where the Timberwoves helped to get across the Roer River). Simpson's forces would drive northeastward to link up with the attacking Canadians on the Rhine. H-hour for GRENADE was set for 5:30 on February 10. There was, however, a problem; the troublesome Roer River dams had not been taken. Simpson postponed the army's attack.

  Jumping off early in the morning of 5 February, American soldiers attacked into the Huertgen Forest for the final time. The ruins of Schmidt and Kommerscheidt fell on 7 February, opening the way for the advance that finally secured the dam on February 10th. Although the Germans had not blown the dam as the Allies feared, they had destroyed its discharge valves. Instead of the anticipated massive flood, a steady flow of water gradually inundated the Roer Valley. Nevertheless, with the threat posed by the dams ended, the First Army had finally finished its protracted ordeal in the Huertgen Forest.  

The flooding of the Roer delayed Simpson's attack until 23 February. At 2:30a.m. on that date the first assault forces slipped across the still flooded Roer, surprising the Germans. By the end of the day some twenty-eight battalions had crossed the river, firmly establishing a Ninth Army bridge. Simpson unleashed his armored forces on 27 February, and they rapidly advanced eastward toward Duesseldorf and northward toward Geldern and Wesel. On 3 March, Simpson's forces linked up with elements of the Canadian First Army at Geldern. By 5 March, the Ninth had driven fifty miles, uncovering the Rhine from Duesseldorf to Moers and killing or capturing some 36,000 Germans, all at a cost of less than 7,300 U.S. casualties. Together, Crerar and Simpson attacked the last German bastion west of the Rhine in their sector at the bridgehead at Wesel, forcing the enemy across the Rhine by the tenth. Unfortunately for the Allies, the Germans succeeded in systematically destroying the bridges across the Rhine wherever they retreated.

  South of Simpson, the 12th Army Group had been attacking since 18 January. Eisenhower, believing the Germans were off-balance in the aftermath of their failed Ardennes offensive, urged Bradley to attack with "all possible vigor" so long as he had a chance of achieving effective results. By the end of January, the 12th Army Group had forced the Germans in its sector back to the West Wall, but the drive lost momentum. Although Bradley wanted to continue through the Eifel to the Rhine, Eisenhower stopped the advance on 1 February in preparation for operationsVERITABLE and GRENADE.

  The Allies have suceeded. Germans have unsucessfuly attempted to destroy the allies' bridges over Rhine River. It was not long after this that the Russian army captured Berlin, and by April, the war in Europe was over.