Battle of Hurtgen Forest





Battle of Hurtgen Forest is name given to series of battles fought in the
Hurtgen Forest, afterwards known to both Americans and Germans simply as the
Hurtgenwald. The American High Command was flush with success after the
breakout at Normandy and the race to Germany, and therefore overconfident.
The battles took place between September 13, 1944, through February 10,
1945, in a corridor barely 50 square miles on the border of Germany. They
were characterized by the American High Command not recognizing the true
objectives of the forest, the dams that controlled the height of the Roer
River, until December. Had the Germans blown the dams, they could have
flooded a region far to the south, delaying American advances. Multiple
divisions were sent in, only to be wrecked and replaced by still more
divisions. Air, artillery, and armor, all advantages of the Americans at
this time were nullified because of the terrain, and the Germans were happy
to delay the much stronger force using smaller numbers and good defensive
positions.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

     "For us the Hurtgen was one of the most costly, most unproductive, and
     most ill-advised battles that our army has ever fought." --Gen. James
     Gavin, Commander, 82nd Airborne Division, 1944-1945

     "The German Command could not understand the reason for the strong
     American attacks in the Hurtgen Forest...the fighting in the wooded
     area denied the American troops the advantages offered them by their
     air and armored forces, the superiority of which had been decisive in
     all the battles waged before." -- Generalmajor von Gersdorff, Chief of
     Staff, German 7th Army, 1944-1945

     "The forest up there was a helluva eerie place to fight...Show me a man
     who went through the battle...and who says he never had a feeling of
     fear, and I'll show you a liar. You can't get all of the dead because
     you can't find them, and they stay there to remind the guys advancing
     as to what might hit them. You can't get protection. You can't
     see...Artillery slashes the trees like a scythe. Everything is tangled.
     You can scarcely walk. Everybody is cold and wet, and the mixture of
     cold rain and sleet keeps falling. Then they jump off again, and soon
     there is only a handful of old men left." --T.Sgt. George Morgan, 1st
     Battalion, 22d Infantry