CHAPTER VI
HÜRTGEN to the Corps Objective ( 29 Nov - 5 Dec )
With the fall of HÜRTGEN a foothold on the HÜRTGEN-KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ridge was seized which gave CCR, 5th Armored, room to maneuver. Accordingly, CCR attacked at daylight and captured KLEINHAU and HILL 401 to the northeast. Here it was relieved by the 1st Battalion, 13th Regiment, in order that it could regroup and push south to BRANDENBERG. The 1st and 2nd Battalions, 121st Regiment, consolidated positions in the vicinity of HÜRTGEN while the 3rd Battalion continued its attack east through the forest and gained 1000 yards south of the town. Elements of the 28th Regiment in VOSSENACK to the south pushed eastward and occupied HILL 50 (F049343). The 709th Tank Battalion was still attached to the 121st Regiment but remained in regimental reserve helping to consolidate and to organize defensive positions around HÜRTGEN.
On the next day new orders were given to the 709th Tank Battalion. The assault gun platoon was attached to the 56th Field Artillery Battalion. Company A was attached to a task force with the mission of assisting in clearing remaining enemy resistance west of the KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ROAD. Company D plus one platoon of Company B was attached to the garrison under Lt. Col. Streiter which was being organized with two rifle companies and a platoon of TD's for the defense of KLEINHAU. En route to KLEINHAU a light tank from Company D turned over killing an officer and an enlisted man. Company B (less one platoon) was ordered to outpost and defend HÜRTGEN, and lost one tank during the day when it ran over a mine.
The drive for the dams gained headway again once the bottleneck of HÜRTGEN was removed. The picture on the 8th Infantry Division front for this day includes the building up of defenses along the line HÜRTGEN-KLEINHAU to ward off any attack from the northeast; the push of elements of the 121st Regiment just south of HÜRTGEN toward the KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ridge; and the breakout of the VOSSENACK 'thumb' by the 28th Regiment in the direction of the KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ROAD. All the while CCR, 5th Armored Division, was pushing down this road in the direction of BRANDENBERG and BERGSTEIN. Though bloody fighting continued but the stalemate was crumbling.
Company A, 709th Tank Battalion, continued to operate on 1 December in the reduction of enemy resistance west of the KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ROAD. The 1st platoon was ordered to attack with the 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment against the enemy to the southeast of HÜRTGEN. The 2nd Platoon also joined the attack with the mission of giving supporting fire. The attack was successful and the 2nd Battalion crossed the KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ROAD by evening. The 3rd Battalion launched its attack in the same area. Just before the attack jumped off 4 American tanks appeared on the scene. Major Hogan, the Battalion Commander, talked with the tank platoon leader who informed him that his mission was to support the 2nd Battalion. Major Hogan requested that they support him instead. Shortly afterwards when the 3rd Battalion was held up by pillboxes, the tank platoon commander requested and received permission to assist them. An infantry sergeant was placed in the lead tank and coordinated the tank fire with that of the infantry on the strongpoints which were holding up the attack. The Germans placed fire on the tanks but failed to destroy them. After assisting the infantry to gain 7O-100 yards in the entire days fighting the tanks returned to HÜRTGEN for the night.
To the northeast the 3rd Platoon of Company A attacked with the 1st Battalion of the 13th Regiment. The attack started at KLEINHAU and the platoon progressed some 1500 yards to the south, losing but one tank which struck a mine. The attack south of HÜRTGEN continued on 2 December against the remaining enemy pockets west of the KLEINHAU-BRANNDENBERG ROAD with the 2nd Platoon of Company A in support. Lt. Bush and Sgt. Harper of the Infantry were placed in one of the tanks with an SCR 300 radio and coordinated tank fires with those of the infantry. One pillbox was knocked out by a tank firing at it from pointblank range with its 75-mm. cannon. An advance of 150 yards against stiff resistance was made and 55 prisoners were taken. Sergeant Carlton R. Brown, Operations Sergeant of the 3rd Battalion, 121st Regiment, stated in a combat interview regarding this action, "Tanks were not of much value except that psychologically they scared the enemy and encouraged us/" (7)
The 2nd Battalion, 121st, to the east of the KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ROAD reported that an American tank fired on them killing two men and wounding two others, before it could be stopped. They also reported that later one of the tanks in the same group ran over a pile of 20 mines which destroyed the tank, killed the crew, and injured some of the nearby infantrymen. (After Action Reports of the 709th Tank Battalion do not mention this incident.)
The 1st and 2nd Platoons of Company A attacked with the 3rd Battalion cleared out the pocket west of the KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ROAD and crossed into the woods on the east by evening of 3 December. The 1st Battalion, 3rd Regiment pressed its attack east of the road supported by the 3rd Platoon, Company A, 709th, gaining 300 yards before they consolidated their gains for the night. On this date CCR seized BRANDENBERG.
While the 121st Regiment was clearing out the resistance on both the east and west sides of the road, the 28th Regiment to the south had been pushing east and southeast from VOSSENACK attempting to straighten out the line from VOSSENACK to BRANDENBERG. On this date the 2nd Platoon, Company B, 709th moved to VOSSENACK to support one of the attacks of that regiment. Mud and woods interfered with the coordination of tanks and infantry and the tank platoon withdrew to GERMETER.
The 1st and 2nd Platoons of Company A of the tank battalion on 4 December assisted the 121st Regiment in a final attack to secure its objectives on the KLEINKAU-BRANDENBERG ridge. Lt. Bush of the 3rd Battalion was again placed in one of the lead tanks as the attack moved forward. Mortar fire was encountered, but it bounced off the tanks without damaging them. The infantry complained of the reluctance of the tanks to leave the fire lanes and enter the woods. When they did so, however, the tanks knocked out two machine gun nests before bogging down. The 3rd Battalion was on the Corps objective (the-KLEINHAU-BRANDENBERG ridge) by nightfall.
Meanwhile the 1st Platoon of Company B supported the 2nd Battalion 28th Regiment in an attack to the southeast of VOSSENACK. The attack jumped off after a heavy artillery preparation but met no success and lost all of the tanks of the platoon, presumably to enemy tank fire. The remnants of the tank crews returned to GERMETER.
On 5 December Company C returned to the control of the 709th after seeing considerable fighting with the 4th Infantry Division. A description of its action is included in the chapter on armored support of the 4th Division. ( See Chapter V )
The phase of the action that ended on 5 December saw the 121st Regiment in possession of the high ground which included HÜRTGEN, KLEINHAU, and BRANDENBERG with control of supply routes necessary to continue the attack southeast to the vital dams on the ROER. The 28th Regiment had pushed elements east as far as BRANDENBERG and BERGSTEIN. The action of the 709th Tank Battalion in the area near HÜRTGEN was concluded and the weight of armored support was shifted to the 28th Regiment.
