Battle of the Huertgen Forest

Just watched Ken Burn's The War and # of veterans talked about Tigers with 88s,

By the way, great and LONG documentry. Learned a lot about WW2 that I didn't know.

 

This interview should be of interest Parts 1 & 2
YouTube - Battle of The Bulge / Hurtgen Forest Recollections 1 of 2
YouTube - Battle of The Bulge / Hurtgen Forest Recollections 2 of 2

 

This battle pretty well ruined some American divisions that were then posted to the 'quiet' sector of the Ardennes forest.

When the Germans launched there attack there on Dec 16, they had the advantage of hitting units largely made up of replacements.

 

Very INFORMED about the battle of the Hurtegen Forest.

Cpt MacDonald NEVER participated in the fighting fo rthe Hurtegen Forest.

The Battle history of the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry NEVER relates to ANY fighting in that dark forest HELL...

 

No it is NOT.

If you read the description for the Panther, it states "88mm main gun".

SORRY, this is NOT a true FACT.

The Jadgpanther has the "88" L71, not the Panther.

 

WRONG,

23rd Infantry Regiment assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division.

Not the 4th Infantry Division.

 

I know, you said that a year ago. Would you stop shouting?

 

Charles MacDonald was a company commander in the 22d Infantry, 2d Division. He joined the team of military historians which produced the US Army official histories commonly referred to as "The Green Books." I wrote a summation of the Huertgen Forest literature awhile back, that may be of interest.

Historiography of the Huertgen Forest Campaign 1944-1945

Greg C.

 

This part is the 28th ID (112th reg) and it is true. I have walked the battlefield there and a few years ago 2 of the missing were found in the field facing hill 400.

 

There is one instance where a company in the Hurtgen (I'm doing this without looking up all the particulars) was placed in the line on a fairly exposed patch of ground. The troops were exposed to virtually continious mortar and machinegun fire in their positions. Their foxholes filled with freezing rain water and they soldiers couldn't leave them for fear of being killed by the fire.
After they endured almost a week of this the whole company in a lull in the fire simply got up and started walking to the rear. There wasn't any panic, no mass flight, the troops simply were finished. They had had all they would take and were finished.

 

Simple common sense to me, but then what do I know.

 

I have a couple of books on the battle. It is the forgotten battle of the european theater. google scorpios hurtgen forest for a good website on hurtgen. The battle for hill 400 and the people involved are worthy of a movie. The rangers took the hill. There is so much to say and study on this part of the war and its unnecessary fighting.

 

You should read Charles B.MacDonald's "The Siegfried Line Campaign" as well as his monograph "The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest". Both are excellent books on the subject. The same author also contributed to the volume "Three battles: Arnaville, Altuzzo and Schmidt", the latter of the three dealing in detail with the abortive november attack of the 28th U.S. Infantry Division on Schmidt.

MacDonald's "The Last Offensive" describes how the Rur River Dams were finally captured by the Americans in February 1945.

All Titles - except the monograph - are part of the U.S. Official Military History; "The Siegfried Line Campaign" and "The Last Offensive" can be found at the CMH online: http://www.history.army.mil/index.html or http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/

MacDonald was an infantry Captain in the 2nd U.S. Infantry Division in WWII and wrote an autobiographic book about his wartime experiences: "Company Commander". He also was involved in the Battle of the Bulge. The book is still in print and an absolute must-read. After the war MacDonald worked as a historian at The Office of the Chief of Military History. After his retirement he wrote: "A Time for Trumpets, The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge". This book is also still in print. He died in 1990.