CHAPTER II
47th RCT Captures and Holds Schevenhütte
To accomplish the mission of breaching the WEST WALL defenses and capturing road centers near DÜREN, the 9th Division commander ordered the 47th Infantry Regiment to proceed northeast from ROETGEN along the edge of the HURTGEN FOREST. The regimental commander used his 3rd Battalion to protect the right flank by proceeding through the forest mass, while the bulk of his command followed the edge of the forest. German resistance to the advance was sporadic, and disorganized, as indicated by the following combat interview:
The third battalion executive officer, Major W. W. Tanner, stated that, from the time they had left ROETGEN until reaching SCHEVENHÜTTE, they did not receive a single round of artillery or mortar fire, due in a large measure to the fact, that the enemy did not know exactly where they were. Further evidence of this was the fact that every night some part of the enemy forces would blunder into the battalion area, completely unaware of the presence of our troops. (1)
The most serious threat during this three-day advance was a meeting engagement at 150400 September, when a battalion of German infantry marched into the bivouac area of the 3rd Battalion just southeast of ZWEIFALL (K956367). The situation was cleared up within five hours, and the third battalion continued to a position east of VICHT (K962394) for the night. On 16 September the 3rd Battalion proceeded to SCHEVENHÜTTE in approach march formation and prepared a coordinated attack on GRESSENICH for the next day. This attack was called off when the Germans counterattacked from the northwest, north, and east. The Germans continued almost daily counterattacks through 22 September when their final effort made by two companies was repulsed. They continued to harass SCHEVENHÜTTE with artillery and mortar fire for many weeks.
Schevenhütte
While the 3rd Battalion proceeded on the right, the 1st and 2d Battalions advanced through ZWEIFALL and VICHT to MAUSBACH (K971409) and KREWINKEL (K981410). Here again, opposition was sporadic until the final positions were reached on 16 September. The 2d Battalion cleared MAUSBACH and KREWINKEL on that date but was withdrawn south out of KREWINKEL on the following day. The 1st Battalion occupied MAUSBACH on 16 September and was moved to a position in the edge of the forest south of GRESSENICH to attack the town in conjunction with the 3rd Battalion on the following day — the attack which was called off.
In these positions, troops of the 47th withstood counterattacks and artillery and mortar fire for many weeks. They were not relieved when other elements of the 9th Division retired from the HURTGEN FOREST on 28 October, but stayed in position under the command of other divisions.
