Rumors and Assertions
by Rainer Monnartz
There are several rumors and assertions surrounding the battle of the Huertgen Forest. Below, we will look closer into some of them.
Huertgen Forest, Verdun of the west
The main conduct of operations in the battle of the Huertgen Forest was led, like in Verdun, by artillery and infantry. If one considers the devastation of the landscape and the number of the dead persons, such a comparison maybe would hold up.
Apart from that there are only differences:
- static warfare (no clear aggressors / defender)
- more or less an equal amount of soldiers and material between the opposing armies
- clear aggressors / defender
- more soldiers and material on American side
- the Germans were in retreat
The Roer River Dams didn't show on the maps
Until December 1944, the maps with small scales, e.g. 1: 500.000 and smaller, only show the Urfttal-dam. Sheet 456 of the map for the region of Euskirchen (from the 'Reichsamtes für Landesaufnahmen (Berlin)', issue 1939), in the scale 1:100.000, shows all the Roer River Dams. Also the commonly used map TK 25 (1:25.000) sheet 5304 Nideggen (preuss. 3039 Alt), issue 1939, NfD, gives a complete representation of the dams. The same applies to the sheets of the Korps Map Centre 474.
Also on the orginal US maps (GSGS 4414, 3/Nov/44/654 TH ENG RS/556, 5304, dated 1939), the dams are entirely represented.
Villages changed hands up to the 28 times
It is frequently claimed that the village of Hürtgen changed hands 14 times, certain areas in the Huertgen Forest 18 times and the village of Vossenack even 28 times. It is certain that, for the most part, towns were lost to the Americans only once. In some cases the date and even the hour are documented. On 6 and 7 November, the village center around the parish church of Vossenack changed hands several times, but certainly not 28 times. At the present time, the exact number of the changes cannot be fixed exactly, but it's a far lower number. It's a fact, though, that from Nov. 2 until Dec. 2, 1944 (more than 28 days), the Americans as well as the Germans had a stronghold in Vossenack. The Americans held the area around the church up to point 418.2 (Oberdorf = upper village), the Germans dominated the lower village (Unterdorf) at map point 390.1. The villages of Schmidt and Kommerscheidt were lost to the Americans again. The forestry houses of Raffelsbrand, Hürtgen, Kleinhau, Großhau, Hubertus's Height, Mestrenger Mill (= inn) and Kallbrück repeatedly changed hands. The battle for Hürtgen, Bergstein and Straß lasted two to three days. Around Wirtshaus Kallbrück the fighting took place with breaks from the beginning of November, 1944 till the beginning of February, 1945.
The fact alone that the rumour of the frequent changes still exists to this day, gives a strong indication of the fierceness of the fighting.
German elite units were engaged in the Huertgen Forest
On American side it is often claimed that in the Huertgen Forest, German elite units, as for example Waffen SS, fought. This is wrong; the troops in the Huertgen were regular Wehrmacht soldiers supported by units of the Luftwaffe and the "Dönitz-Hilfe", navy troops. The training level of the engaged German troops and the state of equipment were of a low standard. This particularly applied to the heavy weapons units, e.g., tank and artillery.
German to English translation made by Scorpio and Christine Greenthaner.