Weissenhof Crossroads

As the German Ardennes offensive got underway, the 62nd Yolks Grenadier Division opened its attack by hurling two regiments against the 424th Infantry in an attempt to breakthrough at Winterspelt. The most serious threat developed at the Weissenhof crossroads where …

1944-12-16

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As the German Ardennes offensive got underway, the 62nd Yolks Grenadier Division opened its attack by hurling two regiments against the 424th Infantry in an attempt to breakthrough at Winterspelt. The most serious threat developed at the Weissenhof crossroads where the 424th Cannon Company armed only with small arms had been reinforced in an effort to block any movement along the main road toward the town. By noon, the 190th Regiment had broken through north of the Cannon Company's position and occupied the high ground overlooking the road to Winterspelt. The Germans now ordered their " mobile" battalion with support from assault guns to force a breakthrough at the crossroads.

Schnee Eifel, Germany

The Losheim Gap is a 5 miles (8.0 km) long, narrow valley at the western foot of the Schnee Eifel, on the border of Belgium and Germany. Most accounts of World War II describing the Battle of the Bulge focus on the attack by the Germans around the Siege of Bastogne and the Battle of St. Vith, while the Germans' primary ambitions were actually anchored in taking the Losheim Gap. In this region of the border between Belgium and Germany, it is the only region conducive to military movement. In 1944, "Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein" (Operation Watch on the Rhine) was planned by Hitler to trade space for time by an attack which would advance through the Allied armies to Antwerp. This would be through "the Ardennes, a region that had long fascinated Hitler, where German armies had attacked with tremendous success 1914 and again, at Hitler’s personal instigation, in 1940 .... (but not also, as is often erroneously remarked, in 1870. That advance was from the Saar-Palatinate through the Wissembourg Gap into Alsace)".

Wikipedia: Battle of Losheim Gap

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