Action At Kommerscheidt

By October, 1944 the American Army had ripped two large holes in the Siegfried Line at Aachen and Roetgen. The next step called for a limited flanking operation in the Huertgen Forest. The 28th Division was ordered to carry out …

1944-11-04

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By October, 1944 the American Army had ripped two large holes in the Siegfried Line at Aachen and Roetgen. The next step called for a limited flanking operation in the Huertgen Forest. The 28th Division was ordered to carry out his attack with the initial objective being the town of Schmidt. Although the town fell easily to the division’s attack, a strong German counterattack soon followed and routed the Schmidt defenders. Moreover, the German attack continued and threatened to overrun the next defense line located in the small village of Kommersheidt. As the German attack formed up in a wooded draw to the south, two Shermans pulled up on a slight rise west of the village and fired on the oncoming panzers, scoring two quick kills. Meanwhile, a Panther took up position in an orchard to the east of the village but was met by a third Sherman which set it ablaze after scaring the crew into abandoning the vehicle with several HE direct hits. This stalled the attack on the left and the Germans began to fall back. On the opposite side of the village two more German tanks had pinned down the defenders when P-47s suddenly appeared. They succeeded in immobilizing one tank while scarin goff the other. A bazooka team finished off the immobile tank as the remainder of the German column retreated to Schmidt under heavy artillery fire.

Kommerscheidt, 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