In September, 1944, the Anglo-Americans were moving hell bent for leather to push into Germany. The breakout from Normandy had led to rapid advances and the belief that the war was going to be over soon. The Germans did not seem to have any fight left in them. Unfortunately, the long supply line eventually slowed the offensive. The Germans had the time to regroup and they were determined to defend their homeland. One target for the American army was the Roer River dams. If the Germans opened the dams, the area downriver would be flooded and create a large barrier. To get to the dams, the U.S. 1st Army could go through the highly defensible Hurtgen Forest. Or it could bypass that hellscape and use mobility to reach the dams. Lt. Gen. Courtney Hodge chose option A. He was backed by the overall American commander, Omar Bradley. It was a poor decision that would have disastrous results.
The forest was the worst terrain that almost all the American soldiers had ever faced. It was thick and tangled. It had few roads and all were muddy and easily blocked. There were mines everywhere. The Germans were dug into concrete bunkers and had all the attack lanes zeroed in for artillery. Their machine guns also covered the approaches. To this, the weather has to be added. The winter was harsh with snow and sleet. The mud hindered movement. But orders to attack still made it to the front line
About 120,000 Americans fought in the battle. Most of them were reinforcements called in piecemeal as attack after attack failed and units were decimated. 17 divisions took part in the meat grinder. The battle began on Sept. 19, 1945 and went on until January. It was the longest battle in American History and one of the worst losses. Those losses came from frontal attacks on German positions. Stepping on mines. Being killed by tree bursts when artillery and mortar shells exploded in tree tops, raining down wood and metal splinters. A fox hole was not protection. Daily advances were measured in yards. Supplies ran low because of the bad supply line. Hot meals were rare. The G.I.s also had to deal with frost bite, trench foot, and pneumonia. Historians compared it to WWI. Hemingway wrote that the Hurtgen Forest was “Passchendaele with tree bursts.” Except in the Great War attacks were seldom made in winter and the soldiers had fairly comfortable dugouts to live in. Life in the Hurtgen Forest was pure misery. Morale declined and combat fatigue cases were common. Some men refused to attack. But most continued to follow insane orders to attack under very difficult conditions. Even the green replacements went forward into the hell, with predictable results.
Americans can be proud of the grit of its boys. Most never gave up. The town of Hurtgen changed hands 14 times. In the end, the attempt to reach the dams was a failure. But most Americans were not aware of it. The Battle of the Bulge stole all the newsprint. As time passed, the battle was forgotten. Many books about the American army in Europe don’t even mention it. Americans don’t like to read about losses. Bradley and Hodges’ reputations were not marred by their terrible decision to fight in an area where America’s biggest advantages, artillery and air support, were negated. It is hard to find an American general in WWII who did not have at least one stupid decision. You can graduate from West Point and learn all the principles of war, but still violate them. To the cost of your young men.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_H%C3%BCrtgen_Forest
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