Atlas of Battles

battle, major, interwar and Second World War

Operation Nordwind

Operation Nordwind was a battle fought in 1944 at Alsace, in what is now France; it ran into the following year. Its exact site is not recorded; the atlas places it at Alsace. It was part of the Western Front, which ran from 1939 to 1945. The recorded result: Allied victory.

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Fought1944ran into the following year
WhereAlsace, France48.500N, 7.500E, placed at the location, approximate
OutcomeAllied victory
Part ofWestern Front1939 to 1945

Where it sits in the Western Front

Siege of Fort Hegra, 1940Battle of France, 1940German invasion of Belgium, 1940Battle of Maastricht, 1940Battle of Sedan, 1940Battle of Boulogne, 1940Battle of Dunkirk, 1940Battle of the Ypres-Comines Canal, 1940Siege of Lille, 1940Dunkirk evacuation, 1940Battle of Pont-de-l'Arche, 1940Battle of Lanzerath Ridge, 1944Operation Madelaine, 1944Battle of Moerbrugge, 1944Siege of Dunkirk, 1944Battle of Metz, 1944Battle of Opheusden, 1944Battle of Vianden, 1944Battle of Broekhuizen, 1944Losheim Gap, 1944Battle of Clervaux, 1944Siege of Bastogne, 1944Battle of St. Vith, 1944Operation Nordwind, 1944Operation Bodenplatte, 1945Battle of Bure, 1945Battle for the Kapelsche Veer, 1945Operation Blockbuster, 1945Battle of Würzburg, 1945Ruhr Pocket, 1945Battle of Hamburg, 194519401945Operation Nordwind, 1944
31 placed engagements of the Western Front in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date1944 (year precision)
to 1945
PlaceAlsace, France
48.500N, 7.500E
KindBattle, interwar and Second World War
Operation NordwindOperation NordwindBattle of EntzheimBattle of StrasbourgBattle of WœrthBattle of HausbergenLiberation of StrasbourgBattle of WœrthBattle of HausbergenZürichStuttgartLuxembourgMannheimBaselSaarbrückenMetzNancy100 km48.500N, 7.500E
Placed at Alsace; the exact site is not recorded. with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Operation Nordwind
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Operation Nordwind today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2025-08-11. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2025.

The recorded site stands at about 171 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 150 to 387 m, 237 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 50% cropland, 23% grassland, 16% built-up.

cropland: 50%grassland: 23%built-up: 16%tree cover: 11%cropland 50%grassland 23%built-up 16%tree cover 11%
west to east, 10.0 km157 to 354 mnorth to south, 10.0 km167 to 190 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1944

Operation Nordwind is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 1,383 in present-day France.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q327044, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Operation Northwind (1944), revision 1376837722, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.