Desperate Measures

The men of B and C Companies of the 1st Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment supported by two platoons of Shermans were met by intense mortar fire when they launched their attack against the Reichelskaul road junction in the morning of …

1944-11-10

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The men of B and C Companies of the 1st Battalion, 60th Infantry Regiment supported by two platoons of Shermans were met by intense mortar fire when they launched their attack against the Reichelskaul road junction in the morning of November, 1944. The Germans’ main line of resistance in the 1st Battalions sector was defended by men of the depleted 275th Volksgrenadier Division. After several hours of intense fighting the Americans had closed to within a few hundred yards of the crossroads. But the desperate men of 275th Volksgrenadier held on. After two days of fierce fighting the Americans had yet to break the German's line of resistance. The bloodletting would continue.

Reichelskaul, Germany

The Battle of Hürtgen Forest 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. It was the longest battle on German ground during World War II and is the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought. The U.S. commanders' initial goal was to pin down German forces in the area to keep them from reinforcing the front lines farther north in the Battle of Aachen, where the US forces were fighting against the Siegfried Line network of fortified industrial towns and villages speckled with pillboxes, tank traps, and minefields. A secondary objective may have been to outflank the front line. The Americans' initial tactical objectives were to take Schmidt and clear Monschau. In a second phase the Allies wanted to advance to the Rur River as part of Operation Queen.

Wikipedia: Battle of Hürtgen Forest

American

German