Aachen and the Hürtgen Forest

VII Corps crossed the German frontier south-east of Aachen and penetrated the outer West Wall in the Stolberg corridor. The advance exposed routes toward the Roer, but under-strength formations and stretched supply lines prevented the rapid breakthrough expected after the pursuit across France.

The 60th Infantry of the 9th Division had already tested the western forest and found that small German forces could use the terrain to stop a much stronger attacker. The division now held a broad front from Schevenhütte to the Monschau corridor.

After a one-day weather delay, the 30th Infantry Division attacked on a front little more than a mile wide north of Aachen. The opening air strike missed many of the pillboxes; more than 400 artillery and mortar tubes then supported the river crossing.

Two regiments attacked through the forest toward Germeter, Vossenack and Schmidt. The official plan sought the Hürtgen road net and commanding ground on the eastern edge; the Roer dams lay beyond the stated October objective.

The 18th Infantry of the 1st Division attacked before dawn and took Verlautenheide, Crucifix Hill and later Ravels Hill. Direct fire from self-propelled 155 mm guns and tank destroyers supported the assault against pillboxes.

General Huebner ordered an ultimatum delivered to the Aachen garrison. It demanded unconditional surrender within twenty-four hours and warned that artillery, aircraft and ground forces would otherwise reduce the city.

The 26th Infantry entered Aachen from the east. Infantry, Shermans, M10 tank destroyers and M12 155 mm gun motor carriages worked as small teams against cellars, factories and masonry strongpoints.

The 3rd Panzer Grenadier Division attacked the thin American arc east of Aachen with infantry and Tiger tanks. The aim was to widen the remaining corridor and reconnect with the garrison.

The 30th and 1st Infantry Divisions finally made contact north-east of the city. German armoured reserves had been committed in repeated attempts to keep the corridor open, but the American link sealed the garrison inside Aachen.

Colonel Gerhard Wilck surrendered the remaining Aachen garrison despite Hitler's order to hold the city. Approximately 3,500 surviving troops were taken prisoner during the final capitulation; larger totals include men captured during the surrounding operations.

The 28th Infantry Division attacked toward Hürtgen, Vossenack and Schmidt on three separate axes. The operation went ahead despite bad weather and despite postponement of the wider First Army offensive it was intended to support.

The 3rd Battalion, 112th Infantry entered Schmidt against limited resistance. Its arrival was the deepest American penetration yet achieved in the southern forest.

German infantry supported by Panzer IVs and Panthers attacked Schmidt. American bazookas could not reliably defeat the tanks at the ranges from which they fired, and the battalion in the town broke back toward Kommerscheidt.

Engineers removed rock, mud and immobilised vehicles from the Kall trail. Tank crews were ordered to clear the route by daybreak even if disabled vehicles had to be pushed down the slope.

By midday only six American tanks and three of the original nine M10s remained operational east of the Kall. Colonel Peterson cancelled a proposed attempt to retake Schmidt and ordered a defence in depth north of Kommerscheidt.

The surviving American units withdrew west of the Kall after the positions at Schmidt and Kommerscheidt became untenable. The 28th Division had failed to hold its eastern objectives and had suffered more than 6,000 casualties during the operation.

A large air and artillery preparation opened the First and Ninth Army offensive toward the Roer. The 4th Infantry Division attacked through the northern Hürtgen while the main VII Corps effort operated farther north.

By 18 November the 8th and 22nd Infantry Regiments were grinding forward through woods where mines, registered artillery and machine-gun positions broke the advance into small local fights. Armour and tank destroyers could move only where engineers opened roads and forest tracks.

After four days of limited gains, General Barton renewed the 4th Division's attack. The 8th, 12th and 22nd Infantry Regiments fought toward Hürtgen, Grosshau and the eastern forest edge.

An attempt to combine infantry and armour against Grosshau lost surprise while tanks and tank destroyers struggled along muddy forest routes. Only three tanks and one tank destroyer emerged with the infantry.

The 121st Infantry of the 8th Division captured Hürtgen village after several days of fighting. The regiment took the road centre while German defenders withdrew toward the Brandenberg-Bergstein ridge.

A flanking battalion cut the Grosshau-Gey road while tanks and tank destroyers reached the western approach at dusk. The combined pressure collapsed the defence and more than one hundred Germans surrendered.

Sixteen days after Operation Queen began, the 22nd Infantry reached the woods line overlooking Gey. It was the first time the regiment had emerged through the width of its assigned forest sector.

Companies D, E and F of the 2nd Ranger Battalion assaulted the Burgberg above Bergstein, known to the Americans as Hill 400. The summit provided observation across the Roer valley and the surrounding approaches.

The 78th Infantry Division opened the first ground attack whose operational purpose included the Roer dams. The advance moved through the Monschau corridor while other units fought around Kesternich and the approaches to the reservoirs.

The Ardennes offensive opened south of the Hürtgen sector and forced First Army to suspend the ground drive toward the dams. Formations and attention shifted toward the German breakthrough.

The 78th Division attacked to enlarge its holdings north and east of Monschau. The immediate purpose was flank protection, but the operation also created the position from which the Schwammenauel dam could be attacked.

A company of the 9th Infantry Division reached the Urft dam after a cross-country movement. The concrete structure remained intact, although artillery had damaged parts of the outlet system.

The 309th Infantry moved through the pillbox belt before dawn and initially met almost no opposition. Mines, craters and the condition of the roads then prevented rapid movement of supporting weapons.

The 310th Infantry occupied Hill 493 while the 311th advanced toward Schmidt. Infantry crossed the open ground after German antitank fire stopped the leading tanks and reached the northern houses during the afternoon.

V Corps redirected the veteran 9th Infantry Division toward the Schwammenauel Dam after the 78th Division's advance toward Schmidt and the reservoirs fell behind the timetable demanded by higher headquarters.

The 60th Infantry advanced toward Hasenfeld while the 311th cleared wooded ground along the reservoir. At 18:00 the 1st Battalion, 309th Infantry passed through and moved toward the dam in darkness.

American engineers found the Schwammenauel power-room machinery and discharge controls damaged and the connected Urft penstock opened. The dam structures remained standing.