battle of hürtgen forest casualties

More detailed information on the American Medical Service of the European Theater of Operations (ETOUSA) and the 6th and Captain William S. Boice, one of its chaplains, called the 22nd Regiment “a fighting machine trained to an efficiency not matched at any time during the war.” Its motto was “Deeds, Not Words,” and it would be awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation. "Capturing History Today for Tomorrow's Future", Disclaimer: Web Site Medical Information Posting Restrictions. The Battle of Huertgen Forest occurred from September 1944 to February 1945 when the US 1st Army launched an offensive towards the Rhine River in the forested Hurtgenwald area near Aachen, Germany.The German forces in the Hurtgenwald, commanded by Field Marshal Walter Model, intended to defend Germany to the last man, holding the American assaults back and … More detailed information on the American casualties of the divisions engaged in the fighting in the H?rtgen Forest will be added to this section in the near future. The Battle of Hürtgen Forest was a campaign that could and should have been avoided—a campaign of prolonged and bitter attrition in … First and Ninth U.S. better known to Allied soldiers as "the Siegfried Line. MEDICAL MEMOIRS Armies By the end of the sixth day, the regiment had suffered 50 percent casualties, the point at which an infantry unit is considered to have lost much of its effectiveness. Battle of Huertgen Forest The longest battle of the Second World War on German soil During the autumn and winter of 1944/45, the longest battle of the Second World War on German soil took place in the Huertgen Forest. There, the Germans were able to delay and wear down the Americans, providing security and buying critical time to prepare for the Ardennes counteroffensive. – General George S. Patton Advances outside the Hurtgen were delayed by two weeks, costing the Americans, British, and Canadians heavy casualties. Like many other units engaged, the Double Deucers fought longer than normally expected in the gloomy Hürtgenwald, and few American combat outfits have ever experienced such severe casualties. While most Americans have heard of Normandy and the Battle of the Bulge, the fight for the Hürtgen Forest has been all but forgotten. Losses could be very high. Battle Of The Hurtgen Forest-The Hürtgen Forest, located on the border between Germany and Belgium, was an area of about 129 square kilometers wide, completely wooded.And it was the scene of a battle of great historical significance: the well-known battle of the Hürtgen forest. the Communications Zone for care. Each rifle company went into action averaging 162 soldiers. This Thanksgiving, no American warriors were … For the American soldiers, it’s very name – with its first syllable ‘hurt’ – became a byword for injury and death. 7 March 2007, Privacy & Security Notice | External Links Disclaimer | Disclaimer: Web Site Medical Information Posting Restrictions offensive disrupted the entire Allied front. stalemate along the German border from mid-September through the onset of the actually engaged three separate times. He told them, “As officers, I expect you to lead your men. "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. These forces were not at full strength but were well prepared — 5,000 men (1,000 in reserve) — and commanded by Generalleutnant Hans Schmidt. With this battle, the war precipitated by the Nazi regime returned to Germany. [1]  that formed part of the German It is intended for interested members of the Army Medical Department, the Army, the public, and the news media. It was added in Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory".As the name suggests the map is set in the Hürtgen Forest; a roughly 50 square miles (130 km2) in area in the west of Germany, near the Belgium-Germany border. [4] The battles took place from 19 September to … Office of The Surgeon General, U.S. Army/ Forest stretched from September into December 1944 when the German Ardennes John Greenwood, Ph.D. Casualties exceeded 33 percent. the other divisions. If you survive your first battle, I’ll promote you. The book also explains, in painful detail, why the Battle of the Hürtgen Forest is so little known: it is considered the greatest failure of leadership of US troops in Europe during World War II. The initial objective, to protect General Collins’ flank, was limited, and the high command failed to recognize that the Roer River dams would allow the enemy to flood any Allied advances made to the north. casualties of the divisions engaged in the fighting in the H?rtgen Forest will be added to this The battle caused numerous casualties on both sides. During the autumn and winter of 1944/45, the longest battle of the Second World War on German soil took place in the Hürtgen Forest. On the 10 th of February, the Americans took the dam, but it was already too late. non-battle injuries. In their haste to enter Germany, the Americans underestimated this major obstacle on the path to the Roer River, the strongly defended forest with its dense trees, deep ravines, and lack of roads. John Greenwood, Ph.D. The former said later, “If we would have turned loose of the Hürtgen and let the Germans roam there, they could have hit my flank.”. By September 1944, the British, American, and Canadian Armies were crowding against the borders of Germany. Operations, September-December 1944. So, a total of 128,749 U.S. soldiers were lost as battle and Then there was the weather—either drenching wet or burning cold. 12th U.S. Army Groups (First, Third, Seventh, and Ninth U.S. The next strategic objective was to move up to the Rhine River along its entire length and prepare to cross it. Battalion and Combat Command R, 5th Armored Division, were all heavily engaged in the The Hürtgenwald was valuable territory to the Germans, and its loss would threaten their entire defense line west of the Rhine. [151] Franz Oppenhoff was appointed Mayor of Aachen by the Allies on 31 October, but after his identity was leaked, he was assassinated on Heinrich Himmler 's orders in Unternehmen Karneval (Operation Carnival) on March 25, 1945. When all was ready on November 16, soldiers of the 22nd Infantry Regiment’s forward companies waded across the Roter Weh stream and began climbing a fir-clad ridge toward the Roer River plain, five miles ahead. © Copyright 2021 Center for the National Interest All Rights Reserved. Action Reports, November and December 1944, Consolidated Casualties Treated, August-December 1944, by Infantry Regiment, Division Casualties 15 The “Double Deucer” Regiment had landed at Utah Beach with Maj. Gen. Raymond O. The battle caused numerous casualties on both sides. U.S. Army suffered very significant battle casualties, missing in action and nonbattle casualties during the campaign. They were starting 18 days of hell in the Hürtgen Forest “meat-grinder.” Famed novelist Ernest Hemingway, a friend of Colonel Lanham and a correspondent for Collier’s magazine, described the Battle of Hürtgen Forest as “Passchendaele with tree bursts.” He was recalling the grim Western Front battle of 1917 in which British and Canadian troops suffered 300,000 casualties in gaining a five-mile-deep salient. "Hard Fighting at the West Wall," an Lasting from September 1944 to January 1945, the campaign was part of a drive by the U.S. First Army, led by white-haired, dependable Lt. Gen. Courtney H. Hodges, to cross the Roer River and eventually capture its vital dams. 4th Infantry Division, Battle of Hurtgen Forest, Casualties and Replacements, 22D … The Hürtgen Forest was under the battle plan of the US First Army commanded by Lt Gen Courtney Hodges. By the night of November 20, after five days in action, the 22nd Regiment’s rifle companies had lost more than 40 percent of their strength. Wall,  On the 10 th of February, the Americans took the dam, but it was already too late. When Salinger entered Hürtgen, he crossed into a nightmare world. American operations of the entire European war. After the unexpected success of the Normandy breakout, the Allied high command believed that the enemy was virtually defeated. efficiently to move the casualties from the divisions to rear area hospitals in AMEDD CORPS HISTORY into miles of steel-reinforced, concrete anti-tank defenses, Besides the weather, the Allied armies were plagued by shortages of ammunition and supplies. In the end, the Nazis would manage to hold off the Allies even though Berlin was clearly losing the war. The Battle of Huertgen Forest.The site of one of the bloodiest battlegrounds for U.S. troops during World War II, yet few outside of Germany know of its whereabouts or what transpired there in 1944. Rather we should thank God that such men lived." Front line medical The fighting in the H?rtgen THE AMEDD HISTORIAN NEWSLETTER, When American forces reached the German border life-saving medical care under fire, while the chain of evacuation operated As the battle for the Huertgen Forest neared its end, the massive Nazi attack that became immortalized as the Battle of the Bulge (December 16) exploded into Belgium Also, as a purely American affair, the Huertgen Forest campaign has been largely overlooked by British military historians who dominated much of the postwar scholarship." This would lead to the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, which was to prove more difficult than the Battle of Aachen. During these months, the battles of the V and VII But there was never any question of his courage. Eventually, the 1st, 4th, 8th, 9th, and The Germans had jammed open the floodgates. THE SURGEONS GENERAL Then, Colonel Lanham’s men fought for another 12 days. wounded, missing in action, combat exhaustion, and to various disease and There, a prolonged and bitter battle of attrition was being waged by American and German soldiers, and nowhere else on the front lines during World War II was the stamina, courage, and fighting spirit of U.S. soldiers tested more severely. excerpt from the official history of the U.S. Army Medical Department in World The German Army was being pushed back to its home ground, but it was still a well-disciplined and formidable force. The region provided a shortcut for the Allies to penetrate Germany. of Operations, 1 November 1944-30 April 1945. By September 1944, the Allied offensive in Western Europe had swept from the Normandy beaches all the way to the West Wall, or Siegfried Line, the formidable defensive position along the German border consisting of concrete bunkers fronted by antitank obstacles. Courtney Hodges′ 1st Army experienced hard resistance pushing through the Aachen Gap and perceived a potential threat fro… During its operations in early November in the The scrappy Lanham led from the front to the point of foolhardiness and expected his junior officers to do the same. Despite heavy artillery support, it cost the regiment 2,806 casualties to advance 6,000 yards—averaging just over 300 yards a day—during 18 continuous days of action. The weather worsened that autumn and winter, and a series of bitterly contested battles—Walcheren Island, Aachen, the Saar Basin, the Vosges Mountains, the Reichswald Forest, and the Hürtgen Forest and the Roer River—was fought under the most trying conditions. The area surrounding the Battle of Hürtgen Forest encompassed about 50 square miles of rugged, densely wooded terrain along the German-Belgian border south of Aachen, the first major German city to fall to the Allies. [1][21] The Americans suffered 33,000 casualties during the course of the battle which ranged up to 55,000 casualties, included 9,000 non-combat losses and represented a 25 percent casualty rate. captured, and disease and nonbattle losses. The divisions suffered over 30,000 casualties in killed, Stretched thinly, “Buck” Lanham’s regiment was responsible for a three-mile front in the 20-mile-by-10-mile Hürtgen Forest, situated in a 50-square-mile triangle bounded by the German cities of Aachen and Duren and the town of Monschau. The regiment’s casualty rate was a staggering 86 percent of its normal strength of 3,250 officers and men. The rugged Vosges Mountains in northeastern France formed a traditional defensive barrier, while the Siegfried Line and the River Rhine comprised a significant obstacle to the Allied forces. The Bloody Bucket was bloodier than ever: One battalion in the 110th Infantry was reduced to 57 men even after being reinforced, and losses had whittled the 112th Infantry from 2,200 to 300. 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. of Schmidt, the 28th Infantry Division lost more men in the forest than any of The offensive as undertaken placed the American forces at a severe disadvantage in the forest. Good luck.”. It would be too perilous to send troops across the Roer while the enemy controlled the dams. War II, The Medical Service in the European Theater, covers the period of The forest was more heavily fortified than anyone had guessed. It would be their last hot meal for 18 days. Gen. Maurice Rose’s 3rd Armored Division in September 1944. Use every skill you possess. Only a mile away, men of the U.S. 22nd Infantry Regiment’s rifle and weapons companies rolled up their blankets and ate breakfast. First U.S. Army had 50,867 and the Ninth U.S. Army had 20,787, for a total of German border in the First U.S. Army's area of operations in September 1944, the So, a total of 128,749 U.S. soldiers were lost as battle and nonbattle casualties during the campaign. The weeklong battle had been among the costliest division attacks of the war for the U.S. Army, with casualties exceeding 6,000. Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (German: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) is the name given to the series of fierce battles fought between U.S. and German forces during World War II in the Hürtgen Forest, which became the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought. German Ardennes offensive in mid-December and provides the Medical Service This Web site provides an introduction to the Office of Medical History. Chief, Office of Medical History “Tubby” Barton’s 4th Infantry (Ivy) Division on June 6, 1944, and suffered heavy casualties in the Normandy campaign. The 9th Infantry Division was involved twice, The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (German: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) was a series of fierce battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944, between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II, in the Hürtgen Forest, a 140 km2 (54 sq mi) area about 5 km (3.1 mi) east of the Belgian–German border. Key point: The fight was terrible and costly. ", Medical Service, European Theater of As artillery volleys thumped occasionally in the distance, small groups of chilled soldiers ventured out from the forward foxholes and bunkers of German General Hans Schmidt’s 275th Infantry Division, scouting for signs of an expected American attack. AMEDD UNIT PATCHES AND LINEAGE The Battle of Hürtgen Forest (German: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) was a series of fierce battles fought from 19 September to 16 December 1944 between American and German forces on the Western Front during World War II in the Hürtgen Forest, a 140 km 2 (54 sq mi) area about 5 km (3.1 mi) east of the Belgian–German border. and daily handling thousands of sick and wounded soldiers. AMEDD BIOGRAPHIES context for combat operations from Holland to the Swiss border. Artillery-damaged trees during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. Its defenses—both natural and man-made—were strong, and it was resisting the Allied crusade more stubbornly than ever. Artillery-damaged trees during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. once in September and then again in October, and its 47th Infantry Regiment was in September 1944, they ran  Gray skies hung low and a steady drizzle dripped through the tall, dense fir trees near the German-Belgian border on the morning of Thursday, November 16, 1944, during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest. for obvious reasons called "dragon's teeth," incurred 57,095 battle casualties alone during the entire Siegfried Line Campaign. First US Army Casualty Statistics. BOOKS AND DOCUMENTS The first engagements during the Battle of Hürtgen Forest were fought by Brig. fortifications of Adolf Hitler's West The regiment, almost at full strength, was commanded by 42-year-old Colonel Charles T. Lanham, a wiry, graying 1924 graduate of West Point and former Infantry School instructor and War Department staffer. Denied the chance to fight a maneuver battle, US armor in the Huertgen Forest suffered heavy casualties. Nevertheless, Generals Collins and Hodges decided that it was necessary to clear the Hürtgen Forest. With this battle, the war precipitated by the Nazi regime returned to Germany. The Germans employed tree bursts, which exploded well above the soldiers’ heads, resulting in a shower of shrapnel and shredded tree limbs. A series of attacks in the forest were ill fated, and from the beginning the campaign reflected little credit on the senior American commanders. They were the key to the river, but it would take a bitter struggle in the forest by several divisions before Hodges ordered an attack against them. At the start, the forest was defended by the German 275th and 353rd Infantry Divisions. HISTORY OF THE OFFICE OF MEDICAL HISTORY The Germans had jammed open the floodgates. 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