RETHINKING OPERATIONS

Deadlock had been reached and Americans knew it. Their commanders now decided that the best way to capture Hurtgen town was to first clear the enemy from the woods around it. On November 26, the 121st resumed its advance and managed to take substantial territory before noon, but attempts to enter the town itself were thwarted. The regiment's F Company succeeded in moving up to a point of 300 yards from the southern edge of the town, but further movement was met by intense enemy gunfire. Digging in, the company held its positions for the night before pulling out early the following morning to rejoin the rest of the regiment, which was in the process of breaching the Hurtgen woods. (See map V). By mid-afternoon, this had been accomplished, and on the morning of November 28, American forces from the 13th Infantry with the 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion managed to size the Kleinhau-Brandenberg road - an important American objective. Attention now focused on Hurtgen town.

At 8 am on November 28, the 2nd battalion, 121st Regiment with 'C' Company, 13th Regiment launched an attack from the northeast. Hurtgen town was by now was little more a collection of two-stored houses - their roofs and walls blown away by artillery and aerial bombardment. The 1st Battalion, 121st regiment in the meantime closed in from southwest. Riding into the town on the backs of tanks, the American infantrymen were sucked into bitter street fighting, but by late-afternoon Hurtgen had fallen. Three hundred and fifty Germans

became prisoners of war; they were the luky ones. Many more of their comrades had died in the fighting. The scars of battle were ever present. Debris floated in waterlogged roads, chocked with American and German dead. Combat Command R (CCR) moved quickly through Hurtgen town, passing the scene of their earlier fighting. They had orders to prepare for an assault on Kleinhau and nearby Pt.401, at daylight tomorrow on the 29th.

At 0700 hours on November 29th, the attack on Kleinhau began by CCR's battalions of tanks, armoured infantry and engineers. By later afternoon, the town had reportedly been captured, although the Germans still stubbornly held out in the town's cellars and the surrounding woods. At dusk, CCR advanced through Kleinhau, leaving it in the care of 1st Battalion, 13th Regiment for the night. The night passed tentatively as the Germans launched several hit-and-run raids on the American positions. When daylight finally came, it had never been so welcome. The 13th Regiment wasted no time in rooting out the remainder of the enemy from their last hideouts in the town and the adjoining woods.

Desolate Streets. Hurtgen town soon after its capture. An American jeep drives down a flooded street in the center of the town, surrounded by bombed-out houses.

On November 30th, divisional headquarters sent out Field Order No. 19, which specified that the 121st Infantry with the 1st Bn, 13th Regiment were to capture Pt.401 northeast of Kleinhau, while elements of the newly-arrived 28th Infantry Regiment were to probe towards the Brandenberg from Hurtgen town. Combat Command R meantime, was stay in Kleinhau, ready to exploit any developments at Brandenberg. Attacking as ordered at 7.30 am on December 1, the men of the 121st and the 13th Regiments party gained their objectives but came under enfilading fire from enemy pillboxes during the approach to Pt.401. Elsewhere meantime, the 28th Regiment was making some progress towards Brandenberg despite heavy opposition.

On the following day, a fierce German counterattack hit recently captured Grosshau, held by the 4th Infantry Division and the 5th Armored's Combat Command A. The sudden attack forced the 8th Division to become defensive. Units at the front or earmarked for mobile exploitation were suddenly moved to the rear to protect important targets. For instance, CCR, while on the move to Brandenberg, suddenly lost its 46th Armored Infantry Battalion, which was withdrawn to Hurtgen town to defend it from possible enemy attack. The same was the case with 'B' Company from the 121st Regiment.

By now, the 8th Division was strung out all over the forest, holding a curved line fourteen miles in length. All its reserves were concentrated in one bag - at Hurtgen town. The generals decided to bring in the elite 2nd Rangers Battalion by trucks, to be committed in case of an emergency. The 117th Combat Engineers Battalion was also similarly dispatched. This foresight would be rewarded a few days later.

CHARGING SOUTHWARDS

On the morning of December 3, as the German counterattack petered against Grosshau, the tanks of CCR moved on Brandenburg, minutes after an allied artillery barrage had 'softened up' the area. They found the enemy defenses badly organized and captured the settlement by mid-day, taking over 300 prisoners. December 3 was also a day, during which the Luftwaffe made a rare appearance - strafing and shooting up vehicles and front-line positions, including the divisional headquarters at Rott and Roetgen. In response, the American anti-aircraft guns opened up on the sixty plus enemy formation, bringing down eighteen of the raiders.

On December 4, Combat Command R was ordered to probe a thousand yards east of Bergstein for possible enemy reaction. Bergstein was a tactically important town. It covered the southern exits out of the forest. In the north, the 121st and the 13th regiments were to take Pt.401 by December 5 - so as to shorten the division's lines, which were too long and thinly-held. On December 4, CCR with the 28th Regiment drove to Bergstein, but were hindered by fire coming from enemy pillboxes and by small amounts of white phosphorous artillery, which was (and still remains) one of the most devastating forms of conventional ammunition. White phosphorous, coming into contact with air would burn and would not stop burning. It could only be smothered, that too temporarily, by being held under water. The Americans were forced to withdraw. In the north meantime, at Kleinhau, the 13th Regiment had made some progress compared to 121st, which had been pinned down.

On December 5 at 2 pm, Combat Command R with USAAF air support overhead, launched a ferocious drive back towards Bergstein, forcin back the german defenders to southern sector of the town. The Americans then blocked all the roads leading southeast and southwest with tanks and prepared to hold their positions for the night. Camping with the tankers were infantrymen from the 1st Battalion, 121st on the left and the 3rd Battalion, 28th Infantry on the right. Their deployment completed, the Americans then positioned artillery to close the gaps between the 121st and CCR in Bergstein, and the 28th Infantry near the Vossenack ridge. They were just in time. Field Marshal Model, determined to recapture Bergstein sent out a disptach promising a Knight's Cross and two weeks leave for any man who took part in the successful recapture of the town.

For Valor. The Knight's cross was one of Germany's highest medals for gallantry. The highest rank of the medal being the Knight's Cross with swords, oakleaves and diamonds - in that order. The medal displayed above is the basic Knight's Cross, but the recipient nevertheless enjoyed the widespread respect and admiration that it commanded. In wartime Germany, Knight's Cross winners became famous overnight. Their photos were printed on cards, which were distributed en mass to the public to be traded and collected, much like today's baseball cards - taking an American example. Little wonder then that most German soldiers were driven to obtain the medal at all costs. Viewing it from such a perspective, Model's offer of a Knight's Cross for the capture of Bergstein can be easily understood and sympathized with.

With these incentives in mind, three separate German counterattacks would batter themselves on Bergstein the following day. At 7.30 am on December 6, the first counterattack materialized from the south, from the general direction of Schmidt. The attackers, numbering approximately 300 troops from the 1st, 2nd and 4th companies of the 980th Grenadier Regiment raced towards the American lines, supported by five self-propelled guns. Charging towards the positions of 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry and CCR in open terrain, they were totally oblivious to presence of two whole companies from the 28th Regiment - the riflemen of 'K' Company and the machine-gunners of 'M' company who were situated front of them and at the sides. The Americans waited until the Germans were within 25 yards of their positions before opening fire. Droves fell, and the survivors, taking fire from all angles, panicked and began retreating across the open ground. But American artillery was in position and completed the annihilation of the enemy force. The Americans took 35 prisoners, killed at least a 150 and wounded many more. They also took satisfaction from the destruction of one StuG self-propelled gun.

Before midday, the second counterattack appeared. Survivors from the earlier attempt, reinforced by other companies from the 980th regiment and supported by armor, tried to break into Bergstein, but were repulsed after twenty minutes of combat. Then at 2 pm, another small group of infantry attacked from the northeast but were beaten back. Their infantry assault broken, the Germans took to shelling the town in vain hope of causing the Americans to withdraw. If anything, it had opposite effect. Determined American soldiers, anxious to end the shelling pushed ahead, capturing more of Bergstein and the surrounding area.

On December 6, the 2nd Rangers Battalion received orders to attack and seize Pt. 400. 'Castle Hill' as it was sometimes called, was a towering promontory on the southeastern edge of the Hurtgen forest. It was thus one of the final objectives of the campaign.

At 3.30 am in the early darkened morning hours of December 7, all six companies of the 2nd Rangers assembled at the base of the Pt 400, fixed bayonets to charge the enemy at first light. Charging over hills or cliffs was nothing new to the Rangers, having done the same thing at Point du hoc in Normandy on D-Day, but this time, the Germans had concentrated 88mm guns and mortars at the top and had already thwarted earlier American attempts to scale the hill. At first light, screaming Rangers charged up the promontory, guns blazing. They took the enemy by surprise and were soon on the summit. At the top, they found well-kept buildings and a bunker network. Hand-to-hand fighting broke, but the Rangers battled their way into the bunkers. They had barely gotten in when they felt the earth thunder and shake. Desperate to beat back the Americans, the Germans had called artillery strikes on the top of their positions. Some rangers died, but so did many Germans; the remaining Americans soon had the hill under their control.

Realizing that the only way to beat the Americans off the hill, was to drive them out. Model ordered a series of armored and infantry counterattacks, and again reiterated his offer of a Knight's Cross for men taking part in a successful attack. At 9.30 am, the first of five counterattacks for that day alone, ran into the Rangers. Using MG.42s, automatic weapons and grenades, the Germans fought their way to summit, but were thrown back by the tough Rangers. yet, by noon, the Rangers were running low on ammunition and their casualties were heavy. But they knew they had to hold on. Reinforcements were on their way, but would get there in time?

They eventually succeeded in holding out until nightfall. American litter-bearers used the cover of night to evacuate the wounded to the safety. By dawn on the 8th, the combined strength of the rangers stood at a mere five officers and 86 men. Suspecting that the Americans were on their last leg, Germans attacked after breakfast with the full force of artillery and infantry. Again, the Germans were pushed back from top. Soon after, the Rangers were cheered to hear that an infantry regiment and a tank destroyer battalion were advancing to relieve them. It was dusk, when the relief took place and the gallant Rangers withdrew from the field - their numbers reduced by ninety percent, but their heads held high with the knowledge that they had done their job well. Unfortunately, a fortnight later, Hill 400 was back under German control, and the enemy stayed on until February 1945 - to the closing days of the campaign - when they were beaten off for the last time. .

Elsewhere, the 8th Division achieved its last objectives. The campaign had reached its twilight, but pockets of enemy troops hung on grimly about the forest. The most prominent was a pocket southeast of Vossenack, held by German engineers. These men were fanatics and believed that their position was the only line of defense against a suppossed American armored breakout towards Schmidt.

On December 9, the Americans attacked and made a 300 yard salient into the enemy pocket, including a large minefield, and then on the following day, the 28th Infantry Regiment stepped and wiped out the engineers. This last attack signaled the ended of major German resistance in the Brandenberg-Bergstein area, although the town of Bergstein was still the target of counterattacks by Model. For the remainder of December, the Americans mopped-up, and used the pause in the action to bring in the 78th Infantry Division, recently shipped over from the States. This division took up positions on the 8th Division's right flank, and fought small scale actions in the snow-encrusted landscape, destroying pillboxes and conducting a limited attack against German forces on the Kall River on December 13. Then on December 16, as the Germans attacked in the Ardennes the Hurtgen became unusually quiet as large numbers of enemy troops were transferred out to Belgium. Lt General Lawton 'Lightning Joe' Collins, one of the best American corps commanders of the war, used to lapse to unleash his divisions against the town of Obermaubach, which had served as an assembly area for German troops and reinforcements since the beginning of the campaign. It was a routine undertaking; the Americans no longer had any cause to fear defeat in Hurtgen. The back of the German defense had been broken in four months of intensive combat. There had been no shortcuts, only a long-winded slug match between the American infantryman and the German grenadier for the fate of a miserable stretch of land, whose only importance was that it was a thoroughfare. Hurtgen was no longer a charnel house; the "death factory" had finally slowed in consumption.