(4 - 21 September 1944)
By General der Infanterie a.D. Friedrich August Schack, March 1948.
14 SEPTEMBER
During the night of 13 - 14 September the enemy in an enveloping attack captured, with their main effort from the south and southeast, Maastricht.
Contact with the 176th Division, on the left wing of the First Parachute Army, was now established 1 kilometer north of Bunde. The 275th and 49th Infantry Divisions manned the fortified positions Meerssen - Valkenburg - Orsbach, where contact was established with the West Wall, manned by troops from Aachen combat command. In neither of these sectors was there much enemy action during 14 September. The two divisions were therefore able to strengthen their defense preparations, and on the 49th Division front an enemy attack developing toward Gulpen was repelled.
On the other hand , the assembly of strong enemy infantry and tank forces, in the morning hours, in the Schleckheim - Walheim area opposite the southern corps sector indicated an impending major attack. In this sector the enemy entered Kornelimünster at 1030 and Breinig at 1100. Thereafter enemy pressure was exerted along the entire southern front of LXXXI Corps as far as the area west of Aachen, apparently with the intention of enveloping Aachen from both sides.
In the fighting for the West Wall pill boxes, strong enemy detachments, with flame throwers and all kinds of close combat weapons, supported by tanks, advanced on the pill boxes and overpowered them one at a time. The West Wallwest of Aachen and deeper penetrations south and southeast. The weak forces of the 116th Panzer Division were not able to clear up the breach. The enemy carried Ober- and Niederforstbach, and their tanks and infantry reached Rother Erde and Eilendorf.
The 116th Panzer Division was ordered to deliver a counterattack and for the purpose, the entire sector commanded by the Aachen combat commander with every unit committed therein, was subordinated to the division.
The enemy attacked from Kornelimünster toward Busbach and Breinig and from Rott toward Zweifall, where they captured some pill boxes and continued their advance toward Mausbach. Elments of the 9th Panzer Division were committed in a counterattack.
In the evening the situation on the left wing was no longer clear.
15 SEPTEMBER
That morning, the major engagements south of Aachen flared up anew. An enemy thrust in the vicinity of Busbach was repelled. Counterattacks against the enemy, who had advanced via Breinig and Zweifall, were carried out successfully, and the main line of resistance northeast of Busbach and Zweifall, with all the pill boxes located therein, was reoccupied. In the area west and south of Aachen the main line of resistance now ran: Vaals, south of Burtscheid - Eilendorf - Busbach, east of Rott - east of Lammersdorf.
During the afternoon the enemy made a penetration at Valkenburg. They crossed the brook at several places and major artillery and fighter-bomber activity were reported south of Gulpen. Here an enemy attack, delivered at 1800 in the direction of Schin op Geul, was repelled.
It was now our impression that the enemy was preparing a new attack in the northern corps sector.
Southeast of Aachen, after artillery preparation, the enemy attacked, in an easterly direction via Eilendorf on Stolberg. The 116th Panzer Division was committed for a counterstroke, which drove the enemy back. South of Busbach the enemy broke through the main line of resistance and the West Wall's second line, southeast of Stolberg, in the direction of Mausbach. The 9th Panzer Division launched a counterattack and stopped the enemy in the vicinity of Mausbach. During these engagements LXXXI Corps destroyed 24 tanks and several thousand armored reconnaissance cars.
During this critical situation south of Aachen the reorganized 12th Division was assigned and subordinated to LXXXI Corps - the first fresh, intact, and full-equipped division corps had had for a long time. It was intended that the new division should fill the gap between Stolberg and Zweifal. In addition, the first echelons of the 27th Fusilier Regiment was expected at Jülich and Düren on the morning of 16 September. Bad weather favored these units' detraining and transportation. Every available bus from the postal service and mines was requisitioned and every available truck used to speed their arrival. Thus as the shipment arrived they were moved toward Verlautenheide were of decisive importance to the defense of the Aachen - Stolberg gap and had to be held at all costs.
The corps command post was moved to Pattern.
The 9th Panzer Division was reinforced with 15 newly arrived tanks. Because a complete view of the terrain was difficult and telephone equipment was not available, this division's 15 kilometer sector had been found to be too wide. Therefore the southern half of the sector, with all troops committed therein, was subordinated to the 353d Division.
16 SEPTEMBER
Beginning in the early morning hours, heavy enemy artillery fire was directed on the entire LXXXI Corps sector. The 9th Panzer Division reported the assembly of about 50 enemy tanks and strong infantry forces at Mausbach.
As expected, the enemy launched a major attack that morning. In the 275th Infantry Division sector 25 enemy tanks entered Valkenburg, and a counterattack by that division failed, although an enemy battalion attacking Schin op Geul was repelled. An enemy attack, with 24 tanks, on Gulpen, drove the 49th Division back on Voerendaal and Ubachsberg. A counterattack, supported by the antitank battalion of the 10th SS Panzer Division, stopped these forces, but they retained Trintelen, south of Ubachsberg. An enemy attack on Eis was repelled, but an enemy regiment pushed through, with tanks, from the Mechelen area, via Nijswiller toward Bocholzerheide.
East of Aachen, an enemy attack reached Verlautenheide and Atsch, northwest of Stolberg. But here the 27th Fusilier Regiment from the 12th Division had just come up. This regiment was committed immediately in a counterattack from the Weiden - Eschweiler area. It drove the enemy back, retook and cleared Verlautenheide and Atsch, reached the West Wall line on both sides of Muensterberg, and established contact with elements of the 9th Panzer Division holding the group of pill boxes in the southern environs of Stolberg. The employment of these fresh troops greatly lifted the morale of both the population and the battle-weary units and closed a dangerous gap in the southern sector.
That evening, another enemy attack in the vicinity of Mausbach broke through the thin line of the 9th Panzer Division and reached Gressenich and Schevenhuette. The 12th Division was ordered to take over the 9th Panzer Division sector, and the remnants of the 9th Panzer Division combat team were subordinated to the 12th Division.
The right sector boundary of LXXXI Corps from Meerssen, west via Sittard was now shifted slightly, to extend from Meerssen via Gangelt to Birgden.
17 SEPTEMBER
Beginning early in the morning, there was heavy enemy artillery fire and much artillery air reconnaissance all along the LXXXI Corps sector. Nevertheless, contrary to our expectation, the enemy attack on the right sector, with infantry and tanks, did not develop until the afternoon. Its main effort was directed against Meerssen, on the right army boundary, and there a German battalion whose commanding officer was killed in action was overrun and suffered heavy casualties.
After a while the attack extended along the whole front. By evening the remnants of the 275th Division were driven back on the line Schimmert - Klimmen. In the 49th Division sector the enemy reached Heerlen. The 116th Panzer Division repelled the enemy south of Steinebrueck and Burtscheid. Heavy fighting developed in the 12th Division sector.
In the meantime this division had brought up two more regiments. The 27th Fusilier Regiment strengthened its position adjacent to the 116th Panzer Division, in the vicinity of Eilendorf and southwest of Verlautenheide, and extended their main line of resistance to the West Wall east of Stolberg. The newly-arrived 89th Grenadier Regiment was committed to attack Werth via Hastenrath - Scherpenseel, and the 48th Grenadiers was to attack Mausbach and Fleuth via Gressenich, with the mission of taking the Stolberg - Vicht road.
The 27th Fusiliers mopped up the West Wall and advanced into the southern environs of Stolberg, repelling at the same time minor attacks, in the vicinity of Verlautenheide. The 89th Grenadiers took Werth, Weissenberg, and the Diepenlinchen slopes, but suffered heavy casualties. The 48th Grenadries took Gressenich and delivered a surprise attack north of Mausbach, into the flank on an American attack directed from Mausbach, against the 89th Grenadiers, toward Diepenlinchen. They captured an American colonel and 200 men and took Mausbach.
These successful attacks almost closed the gap in the southern sector of LXXXI Corps. On the other hand, our reconnaissance reported strong enemy forces in Schevenhuette. Because enemy counterattacks were expected on the following day, the 12th Infantry Division was ordered to hold and strengthen the line reached and to drive the enemy from Schevenhuette during the coming night.
At 2300, two enemy battalions, supported by 20 tanks, launched a counterattack west of Mausbach and recaptured some of the West Wall pill boxes, 1 kilometer southwest of Stolberg. The 12th Division was ordered to mop up this pocket.
In the right corps sector the fragments of the 275th and 49th Infantry Divisions were withdrawn to the line Brunssum - Nieuwenhagen - Kerkrade - West Wall. The 183d Volks Grenadier Division was assigned to Corps in support of the right wing. It was to assemble around Geilenkirchen and to be committed to the right wing during the night of 19 - 20 September.
