The FReeper Foxhole Remembers The Hurtgen Forest (Nov - Dec 1944) - Sep. 16th, 2003

Army Historical Foundation ^ | Robert S. Rush

[SAMWolf]

Lord,

Keep our Troops forever in Your care

Give them victory over the enemy...

Grant them a safe and swift return...

Bless those who mourn the lost.
.

FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer
for all those serving their country at this time.

God Bless America
...................................................................................... ...........................................

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Hell in the Forest:

The 22d Infantry Regiment in the Battle of Hurtgen Forest

On 16 November 1944, the 4th Infantry Division attacked into the Hurtgen Forest as one of the ten divisions participating in Operation Queen, a combined offensive by the First and Ninth U.S. Armies to seize the Rhine River crossings into Germany.

As one of the infantry regiments of the 4th Division, the 22d Infantry spent 18 days in November and early December 1944 in the Hurtgen Forest. In a battle many believed mattered little in the big picture, the 22d suffered 2,773 casualties, or 85% of its normal complement of 3,257 soldiers, to take one village and 6,000 yards of forest. Each rifle company went into action averaging 162 soldiers. Seven days later the rifle companies averaged 87. Even this number required 42% replacements. By the end of the battle, losses of the rifle companies reached an estimated 151% of their original strength.

Although the 22d Infantry suffered these very heavy casualties, the U.S. Army's practice of replacing casualties while units were still in combat kept the unit from ever falling below 75% strength. Total replacements amounted to 1,988 soldiers. GEN Rudolf-Christoph Freiherr vonGersdorf, chief of staff for the German Seventh Army, called the fighting in the Hurtgen worse than anything he had seen on the Russian Front, and compared it in intensity to the battles of attrition conducted during the last two years of World War I.

The terrain and weather negated the impact of American superiority in aviation and armor and made the battle an infantryman's fight from beginning to end. Although massive amounts of artillery fire assisted the forward movement of the regiment, the infantry still had to take the ground. The entire ergion was crossed by a series of ridges running north to south. The area was thickly wooded with great hardwood and fir trees standing 75 to 100 feet tall. The bodies of the firs hugged close to the ground and interlocked with their neighbors, making it appear as if the forest were a sea of green, which th mid-day sun seldom broke through, leaving an eerie twilight effect. This combination of terrain and vegetation forced wheeled vehicles and tanks onto the few trails and firebreaks running through the woods. Almost nothing is worse for an infantryman's morale than to be wet and cold and to know he has little chance of drying out. Throughout November, temperatures in the Hurtgen remained near freezing, with a seemingly never-ending mizture of snow, sleet and rain.



The 22d was neither poorly trained nor led. LTG J. Lawton Collins, the VII Corps Commander and later the Army Chief of Staff, considered the 22d one of the premier infantry regiments in the European Theater of Operations. It had been formed in 1940 and at the time of the Hurtgen battle, most of its officers at the company level and above had been with the regiment since 1942. By all accounts, the regiment's commander, COL Charles T. Lanham, and his battalion commanders, were effective leaders. Officers at the platoon level were primarily Officer Candidate School graduates who had joined the unit after it had landed at Utah Beach. Many of the enlisted soldiers, especially the NCOs, had been with the unit during its training in the United States and Britain.

The attack began at 1245 hours on 16 November. Although the 22d made good gains during the first day, it fell short of its initial objectives. Then, as one soldier stated, "all hell broke loose." During the next two days, every battalion commander was killed or wounded as were many of the small unit leaders. Gains were measured in yards as German artillery pounded the advancing Americans. Mines blocked the muddy roads and the injured had to be hand-carried 1,500 yards back to the Regimental aid station. Tanks and other vehicles could not get forward to help the infantry. German counterattacks supported by armor limited the advance. Some companies were down to 50 effectives and the 2d Battalion in the south was particularly hard hit. The attack paused again the next day to clear the rear areas of German infiltrators and to put in a bridge across a stream so that supplies could be moved forward to the beleagured units. In the early morning of 22 November, the 3d Battalion executed a left hook around the German defenses and advanced about 500 yards, cutting the road leading into the village of Grosshau. In the south, the 2d Battalion was hit by two counterattacks, one tank supported. The American tanks could not get through the thick woods and it was up to the infantry to defeat the attack, but with heavy casualties. The open southern flank was so serious that on ecompany from the 1st Battalion and an ad hoc organization of 100 replacements were sent to hold the line there. The 23rd and 24th were days of comparable rest, while the regiment refittred and reorganized while waiting for the 12th Infantry to secure the southern flank. Turkey sandwhiches and "luke cold coffee" went forward to the rifle companies of Thanksgiving Day, the 24th. This was the only hot meal to be served to the soldiers of the line during the 18-day battle.



The 22d Infantry, heavily reinforced by armor, artillery and engineers, launched its attack to seize Grosshau on 25 November. The 3d Battalion again executed a left hook and found its initial move to the forest edge north of Grosshau easy. It then took three hours for the tanks to make their way through the woods and come on line with the infantry. By that time, the Germans were waiting. Six tanks were destroyed in a matter of minutes and the infantry was driven back into the trees by a massive artillery barrage. The 2d Battalion also made it to the edge of the woods south of Grosshau, but not before sustaining heavy casualties. Nine battalions of artillery, ranging from 105mm to 240mm howitzers, then fired against the village, but to little effect against the German soldiers safely ensconced in the cellars. More leaders in the 22d fell on this day than on any other day of battle. The following day was quiet except for one company committed to close the gap between the 2d and 3d Battalions. After gaining its objective it was thrown back by a German tank supported attack boiling out of Grosshau.

The one Medal of Honor awarded to a member of the 22d during World War II occured the following day when another company attacked close to the breach. PFC Marcario Garcia, while acting as a squad leader, single-handedly knocked out two machine guns that were holding up the attack. Another company rushed to assist the assaulting company in holding the ground gained. At the end of the day, combined strength of both units stood at 70 soldiers, or less than two full-strength platoons. By 27 November, more than half of the regiment's soldiers had fallen; almost as many replacements (1,640) had arrived as there were soldiers in the rifle companies at full strength.



On the morning of the 29th, the 3d Battalion attacked north and then east around the German defenses in Grosshau, cutting the road leading from the village to the town of Gey, located on the Roer plain. During the 3d Battalion's advance, COL Lanham received orders to take Grosshau by direct assault. Only the company that had been holding the line between the 2d and 3d Battalions was in position to make the attack. It was rapidly pinned down with heavy casualties and remained in that predicament for three hours until an American tank force from the south appeared to take some of the pressure off the infantry. The fight for Grosshau continued house to house into the night and was finally declared secure just before midnight.

There was no pause after Grossau, although there was now a break in the woods and soldiers could see the sunlight. The 22d continued its push to the edge of the forest overlooking the Roer plain. Because of the regiment's weakened state, the 46th Armored Infantry Battalion was attached to seize a line of departure for the 5th Armored Division south of the 2d Battalion. But it and the 2nd Battalion met extrememly heavy fire when they advanced across the open fields. Both made it to the far woodline, but had to pull back because there were not enough men to hold the line.



On 1 December, the two battalions again attacked under a horrific artillery barrage. The 46th, after making some gains, was forced back to its line of departure. The 2d Battalion was hit by a counterattack and the reserve company was rushed forward to stabilize the line. The fighting strength of the 2d Battalion was down to 124 soldiers in its three rifle companies, or just about two-thirds of a full-strength company. COL Lanham organized a last-ditch regimental reserve composed of headquarters, service, and anti-tank soldiers, which totaled about 100 men.

Before the regiment could continue the attack the following day, the 3d Battalion was hit by a German counterattack from Gey and had one of its companies overrun and enemy soldiers penetrate up to the command posts of the 1st and 3d Battalions. Rather than withdraw, Lanham committed his reserve and told his units to "hold on and fight." The German penetration was shortly wiped out by infantry and tanks. The line was restored. Because of its heavy losses, MG Raymond O. Barton, the 4th Division commander, requested that the 22d be relieved "because the had attacked until there was no attack left in them." The next day, the 330th Infantry, 83d Infantry Division, began relieving the 22d on the line. Just prior to the relief, on eof the 1st Battalion's companies was hit by another German attack. It was partially overrun, but the headquarters elements of the three rifle companies, as well as soldiers from the heavy weapons company, closed the breach. Later during the day the German Luftwaffe sortied and about 30 German aircraft bombed and strafed the area, but with few American casualties. The 22d pulled out of the forest on 3 December and headed for Luxembourg. Its battle in the Hurtgen Forest was over.



The 22d Infantry entered the Hurtgen Forest expecting a low-cost success. Instead, the regiment fought its way through the woods virtually unsupported in a battle of attrition against three German divisions and elements of two others. Although the 22d suffered more casualties than any other unit in the Hurtgen, it lost no ground that was not immediately rcovered. The last days of the battle saw fresh German battalions breaking through decimated companies of the 22d, only to be cut off, killed or captured by other equally understrength companies rushed into the battle. During the battle, the 22d captured 764 Germans. There is no existing casualty figures for German units, outside of those captured. However, it must be assumed that Herman casualties were at least as high, if not higher, than those of the 22d. German companies suffered the same fate as the 22d's, but they lacked the ability to regenerate and were burned in the flame of Hurtgen.

The regiment kept fighting as long as it contained soldiers who had trained together in the United States or who had significant previous combat experience with the regiment. These veterans provided a pool of competent soldiers to replace the junior officers and NCOs when they either became casualties or were promoted during the battle. As long as there were veterans around whom the replacements could coalesce, the regiment moved forward. The loss of these small unit leaders quite possibly dealt a more deadly blow to the regiment's ability to attack than did the loss of the commanders of every rifle company and battalion. The backbone of the regiment was the soldiers, officers and enlisted, who had trained together in the United States.

[Darksheare]

That'd be typical.
When Half-Life Blueshift was released ,it released overprice, and the Half-Life game of the year edition was bumped up in price as well.

[Darksheare]

Welcome.
Split second decision making skills like that aren't trained, they're born with them.
Others would have had to take a few seconds longer to come to that decision, or worse, attempt to survive and fail the larger mission.

One's own death like that isn't an easy thing, even when combatting evil.

[snippy_about_it]

What the British staff officer said after inspecting the Somme battlefield in France during the First World War could have very well applied here. He cried out, "My God: Did we really send men to fight in this?"

Sad, especially now learning they could flood the forest and we would have still gained nothing.

[snippy_about_it]

I never cease to be amazed at the quality of men this country produces.

It is amazing. I'm sure his men, those that survived the Hurtgen Forest, never, ever forgot that image.

[snippy_about_it]

From today's thread;

There was no more deadly fire, from the viewpoint of the infantryman, than that which burst in treetops and exploded with all its hot steel fury downward to the ground, shattering minds and bodies. Men quickly learned that the safest place when mortar or artillery fire hit treetops, was to "hug a tree".

It must have been quite frightening.

Thanks for the discussion Light Speed.

[snippy_about_it]

One's own death like that isn't an easy thing, even when combatting evil.

I don't suppose it is, though most of us will probably never know. Thank God for those that have given their life and thank God for the fact that thanks to those men, most of us will never have to make that last second decision.

[SAMWolf]

Morning Light Speed.

The TD concept was somethiing the US
kept trying to implement, only the Germans wouldn't co-operate. They kept using thanks to fight tanks. The TD was good when used in ambush but in tank vs tank it usually come out ont the short end.


On November 2, the 28th Infantry Division took up the fight. The 28th was the Pennsylvania National Guard and was called the "Keystone Division" referring to their red keystone shoulder patch. So many of the Pennsylvania National Guard were to fall here that the Germans decided their name should be changed from the "Keystone Division" to the "Bloody Bucket Division," since the keystone looked somewhat like a bucket. When the 28th tried to move forward, it was like walking into hell. From their bunkers, the Germans sent forth a hail of machine-gun and rifle fire and mortars. The GIs were caught in thick minefields. Their attack stalled.

For two weeks, the 28th kept attacking, as ordered. On November 5, division sent down orders to move tanks down a road called the Kall trail. But, as usual, no staff officer had gone forward to assess the situation in person, and in fact the "trail" was solid mud blocked by felled trees and disabled tanks. The attack led only to more heavy loss of life.

The 28th's lieutenants kept leading. By November 13, all the officers in the rifle companies had been killed or wounded. Most of them were within a year of their twentieth birthday. The Keystone doughboys remained on the line for fourteen days; they drove over a matted mountain to capture the towns of Kommerscheidt and Schmidt only to be overwhelmed by a panzer counterattack and to come out minus one whole regiment except for 350 men.

As the 28th Infantry withdrew, Combat Reporter Ivan H. Peterman was witness and wrote the following report: "When survivors retired from the Hürtgen Forest today, they crouched in their vehicles, staring straight ahead. If there were heroics to recount, someone else had to talk. The men of this unit would not. Too many of their companions remained behind, too many were dead or missing. Too many grievously wounded and shattered in nerves and spirit. If they never saw the Hürtgen Forest again it would suit them. If they never traveled in fragrant ravines, pitched another tent or hewed out a hut to ward off fragments and falling treetops, if they never saw a timbered slit trench, or smelled the tangy odor of burning cones and felt the springy needles underfoot, they wouldn't care. They had enough.

They hated the Forest and all it defended. They hated its roads and ridges. They hated its cold and dampness. They hated its lurking death and the constant feeling of unknown danger. Yes, they hated the Hürtgen Forest where the stately Douglas firs with their epaulets of snow, ranged like frosted grenadiers, close ordered on hillsides -- immutable, impenetrable, defiant...."

Ernest A. Herr

[Darksheare]

Amen.

[snippy_about_it]

"FOURTH DIVISION MOTHERS"



Fourth Division mothers
lift your hands in pride,
While I attempt to tell the story
Of your gallant sons who died.

They stormed those famous beaches
In the June of '44
And thousands of those there with us that day
Aren't with us anymore.

The Cherbourg port was intact
The War Department said
So we paved the road to history
with Fourth Division dead.

The Panzers came to meet us
In the daily counter-attacks,
With a blistering concentration
We proudly drove them back.

We broke their line in Normandy
And astounded half the nation,
By blitzing through to Paris
To perform the liberation.

The depleted German Army
We threw to quite a loss,
They came to respect our division
The men of the terrible green cross.

We drove them back thru the Ardennes forest
And ripped a hole in the Seigfried Line,
Although we drew out to consolidate
Before heading for the Rhine.

And again we drove into Germany
Determined not to stop,
And that is where you will find us now,
Fighting around the clock.

Mothers of the Fourth Division
Your sons will march with us again
When we parade down Unter Der Linden

And Old Glory Flies over Berlin.

written by Stanley Jozwiak who was wounded at the Battle of The Hurtgen Forest
Link

[SAMWolf]

Thanks you Snippy.

[snippy_about_it]

Your're welcome. It was a lucky find!

[SAMWolf]

Generals Bradley and Hodges remained determined to take the Hürtgen Forest. Next, it was the 4th Infantry Division's turn and this seasoned outfit took possibly the worst losses of all. This division had led the way onto Utah Beach on June 6th, and had gone through a score of battles since. Not many D-Day veterans were still with the division -- most were dead or badly wounded. Here in the Hürtgen Forest, the 4th Infantry Division would be asked to pour out its lifeblood again.

Between November 7 and December 3, the division lost over 7000 men, or about ten per company per day. "Replacements flowed in to compensate for the losses but the Hürtgen's voracious appetite for casualties was greater than the army's ability to provide new troops." Lieutenant Wilson recorded his company's losses at 167 percent for enlisted men. "We had started with a full company of about 162 men and had lost about 287." Sgt. Mack Morris was there with the 4th and reported: "Hürtgen had its fire-breaks, only wide enough to allow two jeeps to pass, and they were mined and interdicted by machine-gun fire. There was a mine every eight paces for three miles. Hürtgen's roads were blocked. The Germans cut roadblocks from trees. They cut them down so they interlocked as they fell. Then they mined and booby trapped them. Finally they registered their artillery on them, and the mortars, and at the sound of men clearing them, they opened fire."

After the 4th Division was expended, the First Army put its 8th Infantry Division into the attack. On November 27, it closed in on the town of Hürtgen, the original objective of the offensive when it began in mid-September. Orders were given to Lt. Paul Boesch, Company G, 121st Infantry, to take the town. At dawn on November 28, Boesch put one of his lieutenants on the left side of the road leading to the town while he took to the other side. When he gave the signal, Company G charged. "It was sheer pandemonium," he recalled. Once out of that damned forest, the men went mad with battle lust.

Boesch described it as "a wild, terrible, awe-inspiring thing. We dashed, struggled from one building to another shooting, bayoneting, clubbing. Hand grenades roared, fires cracked, buildings to the left and right burned with acrid smoke. Dust, smoke, and powder filled our lungs, making us cough, spit. Automatic weapons chattered while heavier throats of mortars and artillery disgorged deafening explosions. The wounded and dead -- men in the uniforms of both sides -- lay in grotesque positions at every turn. Lt. Paul Boesch was wounded later that night by a German shell and was sent to a hospital in the States. He would be one of the few left to report the battle. "Dead men tell no tales."

The 8th Division did not get far beyond the town before it was used up. A staff officer from regiment visited the front and reported, "The men of this battalion are physically exhausted. The spirit and will to fight are there; the ability to continue is gone. These men have been fighting without sleep for four days and last night had to lie unprotected from the weather in an open field. They are shivering with cold, and their hands are so numb that they have to help one another on with their equipment. I firmly believe that every man up here should be evacuated through medical channels." Many had trench foot, all had colds or worse, plus diarrhea.

Ernest A. Herr

[Light Speed]

Hello Sam and all visiting the Foxhole today.

A bit of a historical diversion from main thread..yet a reminder of how dangerous the Battle Ground of Germania was in the historic.

SPQR...For the People of Rome
Legio II Augusta..by Chris Collingwood

Legio II Augusta was created during the army reforms instituted by Emperor Augustus early in his reign and took his name. Their original emblem of the Capricorn was adopted to indicate its reconstruction by the Emperor. The Pegasus symbol was later awarded for its service in Britain under the future emperor Vespasian when the unit was known as 'Vespasian's Best'. Originally stationed in Spain ca. 9 AD, Legio II was transferred to upper Germany to guard the Lines against the Germanic tribes. During the Army revolt following the death of Augustus, Legio II stayed loyal to their oath. In 23 AD, it moved into permanent barracks at Strasbourg, France.

When the Emperor Claudius invaded the British Isles in 43 AD, Legio II commanded by the future Emperor Flavius Vespasian was one of the four legions involved. Leaving their home station behind, they would remain in Britain for the next almost four centuries. Only when the last of the Roman Army was ordered out of Britain in 407 A.D. would Legio II Augusta leave the island.

While Britain remained at peace for centuries, the same could not be said of the rest of the Roman Empire. Political and religious unrest fragmented the empire into East and West in 364 AD. Rival claimants to the Imperial throne often pulled Legions out of the provinces to support their claims further weakening the borders. In 407 AD, the last of the regular Legions were drawn out of Britain and Legio II went with them. Beyond that, their history is unknown. But, for 400 years Legio II augusta defended Roman civilization. Few military units, modern or ancient, can claim that length of uninterrupted and faithful service.

Yet..all was not Glory for the Armies of Rome vs the Germanic tribes.

Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
In the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9) an alliance of Germanic tribes led by Arminius (also known in German as Hermann), the son of Segimerus of the Cherusci, ambushed and wiped out a Roman army.

The battle established the Rhine as the boundary between Romans and Germans. The Romans never got any further north.

The Roman force was led by Publius Quinctilius Varus, a noble from an old family, who had become the governor of Germania in AD 7. The battle is thus more well known as the Varusschlacht in German (battle of Varus). His force was made up of three legions (XVII, XVIII, and XIX), six cohorts and three squadrons of allied cavalry.

Varus had sought tribute from certain tribes. The tribes bided their time and initially received Varus peacefully. Later, some distant tribes began to rise in rebellion. Varus organised a force to take punitive action against these tribes, for which he had been promised aid from the Cherusci.

The Roman force appears to have been poorly organised during the march, and as they passed into a forest they found the track narrow and marshy; a violent storm had also arisen. In passing through the forest the Roman forces had lost their structure, and they were ambushed by the Germans repeatedly over two or three days. Finally the remaining Romans stood their ground, and as the rains continued in the ensuing assault the Romans were slaughtered. Around 20,000 Roman soldiers died, Varus is said to have taken his own life.

The shock of the slaughter brought an end to Roman attempts to extend their territories eastward from the Rhine across Germany. These attempts had dragged on since around 20 BC with variable success.

[SAMWolf]

Thanks Light Speed.

The history Channel had a program on the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. It was done pretty well and had re-enactors for the film that went along with the story.

Peiner, Battle in Teutoburg Forest,

[snippy_about_it]

Between November 7 and December 3, the division lost over 7000 men, or about ten per company per day. "Replacements flowed in to compensate for the losses but the Hürtgen's voracious appetite for casualties was greater than the army's ability to provide new troops."

SAM, these are horrific numbers. Nothing else to say, just shaking my head. Very sad.

[ex-snook]

Thanks Sam (just saw your tag line- awesome!)

[SAMWolf]

Reminds me of an old Chad & Jeremy Website song.

No Tears for Johnny

"And if a hundred boys should die,
we can send in a hundred more"

[SAMWolf]

Thanks, I thought it was a good analogy.

[colorado tanker]

The fighting must have been terrible for the 28th to get the nickname "bloody buckets."

The 4th I.D. is once again in a hornets nest, with the assignment of subduing resistence in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown.

TIKRIT, Iraq (AP)

Dozens of U.S. troops raided homes near Tikrit's dangerous ``RPG Alley'' Monday, arresting five men suspected of helping to bankroll attacks against American troops in Saddam Hussein's hometown. The pre-dawn raid was carried out against three homes located next to a highway which has seen 20 attacks with rocket propelled grenades, or RPG's, against the U.S. military in the past two weeks. In the most recent attack Saturday, an Iraqi bystander was killed and two people were injured when a guerrilla in a taxi fired on a U.S. convoy. An Associated Press reporter traveling with the U.S. troops saw five men taken prisoner. The military said those arrested included a man allegedly involved in helping finance attacks by Fedayeen guerrillas and four others closely associated with him. ``These individuals are involved in financing Fedayeen activity and organizing cells of resistance against U.S. forces,'' said Maj. Bryan Luke of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division, who headed the operation. The troops, backed up by Bradley fighting vehicles, Humvees and troops in a 5-ton truck, wove through central Tikrit's back alleys without headlights, surrounding the homes before troops used metal rams to knock down their front doors. The 3 a.m. raid also netted a number of assault rifles, pieces of a rocket propelled grenade launcher and ammunition. As the raid took place, mortars were heard booming in the distance - a show of force by American troops. U.S. troops carry out numerous raids in and around Tikrit in an effort to arrest Saddam loyalists and restore security to the city. They are sometimes joined by Iraqi police. In a raid Sunday, they arrested seven men suspected of being members of a gang responsible for kidnappings, robberies and car jackings along the main road to northern Iraq. Sunday's raid, about 20 miles northeast of Tikrit, involved more than 100 Iraqi security forces and U.S. Army military police

[SAMWolf]

The 28th Infantry Division is a National Guard Division trained to conduct a variety of missions provided by the federal government as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The 28th Infantry Division is the oldest division in the armed forces of the United States.

The first elements of the Division entered combat on July 22,1944, landing on the beaches of Normandy. From Normandy, the 28th advanced across western France, finding itself in the thick of hedgerow fighting through towns such as Percy, Montbray, Montguoray, Gathemo and St. Sever de Calvados by the end of July 1944. The fury of assaults launched by the 28th Infantry Division led the German Army to bestow the Keystone soldiers with the title "Bloody Bucket" Division.