T/SGT Chris Christensen
Co C 505 Parachute Infantry
Regiment
82nd Airborne Division
Hurtgen Forest
After about 50 plus day’s of
fighting in the horrible weather of the Bulge we had finally
shoved Jerry back to his
original line of departure of Dec 16. Here we would be
entering
the dreaded Seigfried Line and
into Germany itself where we would be relieved and
trucked back to the town of
Salm Chateau, Belgium, where for the next couple of days
we would be cleaning our
equipment and ourselves which was in deplorable condition
Also for the first time while
in combat we got a few replacements In my platoon, I think
I received about 6 or 8 men.
These were a welcome addition, but you also knew the
higher brass had something
else in mind for you.
Sure enough on Feb 7th we
loaded on trucks and moved over to what I now know
as the Hurtgen Forest. This to
us appeared to be a continuation of the bulge, but
was actually on the German
Belgium border and a part of the Rhineland
Campaign
This move went painfully slow
and we did not arrive at our destination until late
afternoon After unloading, we
started down this trail into the forest. We had
only gone a short distance
when we stop and get the order to halt and dig in.
This was as far as we would be
going today. As usual, we would set up a
defense for the night and I
started checking to make sure this is being done All
this is taking time and when I
finally get dug in it is dark. After finishing. I lay
down in this shallow trench
and stretch out. I could not have been in there but a
few moments before I catch a
whiff of this horrible odor. There is no mistaking
this smell I have dug in on a
decaying corpse. Needless to say I was the one to
vacate the hole. The rest of
this sleepless night I spent sitting on the ground
leaning against a tree I do
remember while digging the lower end of the trench it
was much easier going I had
probable disturbed the earth there and this was
where the gases were coming
from
As soon as it gets light the
next morning we move out. While proceeding down
this trail you notice most of
the snow has melted and you are now plowing
through a muddy mess. About
now you can see you are entering an area where
some terrific fighting had
taken place. First indication of this is when you begin to
notice the shell holes plus
the havoc the artillery has done to the trees. These in
places look as if someone has
taken a giant scythe and mowed them down.
Proceeding further down the
trail things are beginning to get progressively worse
The trees I mentioned being
cut down with a scythe, here you can say they have
been destroyed with a
vengeance. Most have been blown to ribbons. Also
scattered among this debris
were countless bodies or parts of. By their shoulder
patch The Red Keystone” you
knew they were remnants of the 28th Inf. Div. The
sickening part was they had
laid there all winter covered in a blanket of snow
Just a short distance further
in, we come to what had been an aid station. No
way can I describe this in
detail. Hundreds of bodies stacked like cordwood
along with heaps of amputated
arms and legs.
Many of the bodies were still
laying on litters. These were probably being
attended to when Jerry
unleashed this massive artillery barrage wiping out this
aid station. By the amount of
shell holes and destruction centered in this one
area, you can be assured this
was no accident, also he must have had direct
observation. Some of these
bodies were just beginning to appear through the
melting snow and a more
gruesome sight you wouldn’t believe.
On this trail until now we
have been enclosed in the forest on both sides All at
once you approach a break in
the trees on the left side. Here you get a good
view of the valley floor below
which is loaded with wrecks of burnt out U.S. tanks.
I would say there were well
over a hundred in this small area. You can’t say a
tank battle had taken place
here as I did not see one destroyed Kraut panzer
tank. The Krauts were probable
setting back with their 88’s and artillery and
annihilated them. About all of
these tanks had burned, so it would be safe to
assume the charred bodies of
the crews were still inside.
On Feb 9th we reach the
village of Schmidt. What I really saw was just a pile of
rubble. The town had been
flattened. Here a terrific battle must of have taken
place. There were bodies
strewn everywhere. Some of these, tanks had run
over and flattened. Charred
bodies hanging out of turrets where the crews had
tried to bail out of these
burning hulls. You could see a arm or leg laying around,
but no body it had been
attached to. Had some wild animal been dragging this
off to feast on later? You
would shake your head and wonder is this
Armageddon? Has the civilized
world gone mad?
Passing through Schmidt, the
regiment continues on to its final objective, the
ground overlooking the Roer
River.
At the same time the 78th Div.
has moved up on our flank while proceeding on
down to the Schwammenauel Dam.
Their objective is to capture the dam and
the power house works intact.
This was not to be. The Germans while
withdrawing, had destroyed all
the control valves, thus releasing the water and
flooding the valley.
My questions are, was all this
for naught? Was all this just to satisfy some top
brasses ego? The useless
slaughter of lives, not one thing was accomplished.
Will any of this go down in
history and how will it be described? Our supreme
commander, Eisenhower, in his
“Crusade in Europe” devotes two full sentences
to this campaign. For the men
who fought and died here, I would imagine they
would view it a little
different. Why couldn’t this action be abandoned? Was it
that the U.S. high brass
prestige was at stake? This 50 square miles costing
30,000 dead and wounded,
equates out to 600 Gl’s per square mile. Mighty
costly real estate.
A short time back I came upon a book about the Hurtgen Forest which answered
a lot ot questions that had
bothered me for years. This book “The Battle of
Hurtgen Forest by Charles
Whiting” writes about 30,000 American Gl’s being
killed or wounded in this
longest battle that should not have been fought. He
explains where from Sept 44 to
Feb 45 eight U.S. Infantry and two U.S. Armored
Divisions were thrown into the
Green hell of the Hurtgens 50 square miles of
thick wooded hills loaded with
Germans. This forest the Gl’s called the “Death
Factory.” Briefly what I have
learned I will attempt to pass on.
This whole brain child can be
contributed to Gen. Joe Collins, commander of the
VII Corp 1st Army. After
convincing his Army Commander, Gen. Hodges that
his right flank needed to be
secured, he was given permission to send in a
reconnaissance. This would
soon develop into a large scale attack.
On Sept 13th the 9th Infantry
Division was given the honor of starting this fiasco.
When they were relieved, their
casualties were enormous. For a gain of exactly
3000 yards on a three mile
front, the 9th had suffered 3,836 casualties. This
meant that a man had been
killed or wounded for every square yard of German
soil gained. Whiting writes
that in reality this was not the true figure as the top
brass was cooking the books.
The 60th lnf. Reg., for example, had suffered an
almost 100% turnover in combat
personnel, a truly appalling figure.
The next Division to enter
this Death Factory was the 28th Inf Div. with one
combat command from the 5th
Armored Div. attached. Their line of attack was
the same as the ill-fated 9th
Starting with Germeter, Vossenack across the Kall
River Gorge and finally to
Schmidt. There was one difference, part of the attack
would be up the Kall trail
which was virtually a cart track. Here the 28th losses
were 6,184 casualties or about
45% of the division strength. The rifle companies
suffered the worst, with about
a 90% casualty rate.
The same would continue every
couple of weeks, a new division being
committed and being chewed up.
The casualty rate was becoming alarming.
About now the top brass has
changed it’s objective. The protection of Collins
flank probably does not
justify the amount of losses that were being sustained
The objective now is the
Schwammenauel Dam. This dam controls the Roer
River flood waters. Until now,
none of this has been mentioned.
The top brass by now are
getting desperate, a general has been relieved of his
command, as are Colonels and
on down the line. Replacements are steadily
being shoved into combat. It
was said if one of these lasted three days, he would
be considered a veteran.
What I can’t understand is a
campaign of this magnitude and so little being
written about it. Both
historian and writer Stephan Ambrose, as well as the noted
Charles MacDonald calls the
whole operation both stupid and ill-advised.
General Gavin, commander of
the 82nd Airborne Division said, Quote: For us the
Hurtgen was one of the most
costly, most unproductive and most ill-advised
battles our army has ever
fought. Incidentally, he was the only general who
protested this waste.
On Feb 19th, we were relieved
by the 9th lnf. Div. and returned to Suippes,
France. This would be the last
of the winter war for the 505.
What I had witnessed there in
the Hurtgen would leave a lasting impression.
This place must have been the
closest to hell one could get without entering the
gates, but what I can’t
understand is how these divisions left their fallen troops
behind. This is completely
unacceptable.
W.T. Christensen
11-7 Silverwood Circle
Annapolis, Md 21403
410-268-4105
