OFFICE OF THE CHIEF OF MILITARY HISTORY
DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY
WASHINGTON, D.C., 1963
Library of Congress Catalog Number: 62-60001
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University of Wisconsin
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U.S. Continental Army Command
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Yale University
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Industrial College of the Armed Forces
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University of Virginia
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U.S. Army War College
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University of Washington
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U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
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Emory University
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United States Military Academy
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Johns Hopkins University
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| Chief Historian | Stetson Conn |
| Chief, Histories Division | Col. Leonard G. Robinson |
| Chief, Publication Division | Lt. Col. James R. Hillard |
| Editor in Chief | Joseph R. Friedman |
| Foreword | ix | ||
| The Author | x | ||
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Preface |
xi | ||
| Chapter | Page | ||
| PART ONE Breaching the Siegfried Line
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|---|---|---|---|
| I. | THE ROAD TO GERMANY | 3 | |
| Allied Strategy | 3 | ||
| The Shadow of Logistics | 6 | ||
| The Germans in the West | 14 | ||
| II. | THE FIRST U.S. ARMY | 20 | |
| Weapons and Equipment | 25 | ||
| The Terrain and the West Wall | 28 | ||
| A Pause at the Border | 36 | ||
| III. | V CORPS HITS THE WEST WALL | 39 | |
| The Race for the West Wall | 41 | ||
| Into Germany | 43 | ||
| Battle of the Schnee Eifel | 49 | ||
| Bridgehead at Wallendorf | 56 | ||
| Defense of the Bridgehead | 63 | ||
| IV. | VII CORPS PENETRATES THE LINE | 66 | |
| German Developments | 69 | ||
| The Battle of the Stolberg Corridor | 71 | ||
| The Drive on the Second Band | 75 | ||
| A Wall About Aachen | 80 | ||
| Battle of the Monschau Corridor | 82 | ||
| The Germans Strike Back | 86 | ||
| The Onset of Position Warfare | 90 | ||
| The First Fight in the Forest | 92 | ||
| V. | ACTION ON THE NORTH WING | 96 | |
| Defense of the Albert | 98 | ||
| From the Albert to the Border | 101 | ||
| Delay in the Assault | 112 | ||
| PART TWO An Airborne Carpet in the North
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| VI. | OPERATION MARKET-GARDEN | 119 | |
| The Germans in the Netherlands | 123 | ||
| Seven Days for Planning | 127 | ||
| What Did the Germans Know? | 134 | ||
| The Flight to the Corridor | 136 | ||
| VII. | INVASION FROM THE SKY | 140 | |
| "a remarkably beautiful late summer day" | 140 | ||
| Hell's Highway | 143 | ||
| Six Bridges and a Ridge | 154 | ||
| Taking the Objectives | 160 | ||
| The Red Devils at Arnhem | 170 | ||
| VIII. | DECISION ON THE GROUND | 174 | |
| Developments on D Plus 2 (19 September) | 174 | ||
| The Fight for the Nijmegen Bridges | 179 | ||
| First Attempts To Drive on Arnhem | 184 | ||
| Keeping the Corridor Open | 186 | ||
| The Outcome at Arnhem | 195 | ||
| The Achievements and the Cost | 198 | ||
| Release of the U.S. Divisions | 201 | ||
| IX. | THE APPROACHES TO ANTWERP | 207 | |
| The Controversy About Antwerp | 209 | ||
| The Battle of the Schelde | 215 | ||
| Baptism of Fire | 222 | ||
| South Beveland and Walcheren | 227 | ||
| Something Beastly in Antwerp | 229 | ||
| X. | THE PEEL MARSHES | 231 | |
| First Army Draws the Assignment | 231 | ||
| The British Attempt | 241 | ||
| A Spoiling Attack | 242 | ||
| PART THREE The Battle of Aachen
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| XI. | A SET ATTACK AGAINST THE WEST WALL | 251 | |
| First Army Readjusts the Front | 251 | ||
| Planning the West Wall Assault | 252 | ||
| "Those infantrymen have guts!" | 260 | ||
| Commitment of CCB | 269 | ||
| XII. | CLOSING THE CIRCLE | 281 | |
| The 18th Infantry Drives North | 287 | ||
| The 30th Division Strikes South | 293 | ||
| Sealing the Gap | 304 | ||
| XIII. | ASSAULT ON THE CITY | 307 | |
| The Assault Begins | 309 | ||
| Holding the Last Link | 313 | ||
| The Final Blow | 314 | ||
| What Aachen Cost | 317 | ||
| PART FOUR The Roer River Dams
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| XIV. | THE FIRST ATTACK ON SCHMIDT | 323 | |
| The Neglected Objective | 324 | ||
| Objective: Schmidt | 328 | ||
| To the First Clearing | 331 | ||
| Toward Raffelsbrand and Vossenack | 334 | ||
| Regiment Wegelein | 337 | ||
| XV. | THE SECOND ATTACK ON SCHMIDT | 341 | |
| Planning the Thrust | 343 | ||
| Objective: Schmidt | 348 | ||
| The Germans React | 352 | ||
| Events Along the Trail | 359 | ||
| Catastrophe in Vossenack | 364 | ||
| The Kall Gorge | 366 | ||
| Climax at Kommerscheidt | 368 | ||
| Withdrawal Across the Kall | 369 | ||
| New Missions | 372 | ||
| PART FIVE The Huertgen Forest
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| XVI. | THE BIG PICTURE IN OCTOBER | 377 | |
| Air Support | 381 | ||
| An Enigma Named Logistics | 382 | ||
| XVII. | NEW PLANS TO DRIVE TO THE RHINE | 390 | |
| German Resurgence and Deception | 392 | ||
| First Army Plans | 397 | ||
| Ninth Army Plans | 400 | ||
| Operation QUEEN | 403 | ||
| The Roer River Dams and the Weather | 406 | ||
| XVIII. | VII CORPS MAKES THE MAIN EFFORT | 408 | |
| The State of the LXXXI Corps | 409 | ||
| Preliminary Bombardment | 411 | ||
| The Push Northeast From Schevenhuette | 415 | ||
| Armor in the Stolberg Corridor | 421 | ||
| The Second Battle of the Donnerberg | 424 | ||
| Another Victim of the Huertgen Forest | 428 | ||
| XIX. | V CORPS JOINS THE OFFENSIVE | 440 | |
| A Fourth Fight on the Bloody Plateau | 440 | ||
| The Fight for Huertgen | 447 | ||
| An Armored Drive on Kleinhau | 448 | ||
| Broadening the Effort | 451 | ||
| Bergstein and Castle Hill | 457 | ||
| XX. | THE FINAL FIGHT TO BREAK OUT OF THE FOREST | 464 | |
| The Fruits of Deception | 464 | ||
| A Handful of Old Men | 470 | ||
| Resuming the Corps Main Effort | 474 | ||
| Towns, Woods, Hills, and Castles | 479 | ||
| German Reinforcements | 487 | ||
| Debacle at Merode | 490 | ||
| PART SIX Battle of the Roer Plain
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| XXI. | CLEARING THE INNER WINGS OF THE ARMIES | 497 | |
| The Fight North of the Boundary | 499 | ||
| The Fight South of the Boundary | 503 | ||
| The Push to the Inde | 506 | ||
| Taking the High Ground | 510 | ||
| XXII. | THE ROER RIVER OFFENSIVE | 516 | |
| Planning Period | 516 | ||
| D-Day on the Roer Plain | 522 | ||
| Armor Attracts Armor | 530 | ||
| Finding the Formula | 534 | ||
| The Push to Gereonsweiler | 540 | ||
| XXIII. | THE GEILENKIRCHEN SALIENT | 545 | |
| Operation CLIPPER | 546 | ||
| The Jump-off | 550 | ||
| An Exercise in Frustration | 554 | ||
| XXIV. | NINTH ARMY'S FINAL PUSH TO THE ROER | 558 | |
| ". . . in effect we are there . . ." | 560 | ||
| A Hundred Men of the XIII Corps | 566 | ||
| A Shift in the Main Effort | 571 | ||
| Gut Hasenfeld and the Sportplatz | 574 | ||
| PART SEVEN Conclusion
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| XXV. | THE APPROACHES TO DUEREN | 581 | |
| On the Plain | 583 | ||
| In the Forest | 587 | ||
| To the River | 590 | ||
| XXVI. | OBJECTIVE: THE ROER RIVER DAMS | 596 | |
| The Neglected Objective | 596 | ||
| The Second Battle of the Monschau Corridor | 602 | ||
| Heartbreak Crossroads | 606 | ||
| Something in the Air | 611 | ||
| The VIII Corps in the Ardennes-Eifel | 612 | ||
| XXVII. | THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN | 616 | |
| Appendix | Page | ||
| A. | A TABLE OF EQUIVALENT RANKS | 623 | |
| B. | RECIPIENTS OF THE DISTINGUISHED SERVICE CROSS | 624 | |
| C. | FIRST ARMY STAFF ROSTER AS OF 11 SEPTEMBER 1944 | 627 | |
| D. | NINTH ARMY STAFF ROSTER AS OF 4 OCTOBER 1944 | 628 | |
| BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE | 629 | ||
| GLOSSARY | 633 | ||
| CODE NAMES | 636 | ||
| BASIC MILITARY MAP SYMBOLS | 637 | ||
| INDEX | 641 | ||