The Bloody Forest by Gerald Astor

Author:Gerald Astor [Astor, Gerald]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History
ISBN: 9780307755230
Publisher: Presidio Press
Published: 2000-07-11T00:00:00+00:00

11

WE WERE THERE TO BE KILLED

When the attack of the 28th Division crumbled, the first outfit hurled into the breach came from the 12th Infantry Regiment, part of the 4th Infantry Division, with its distinctive shoulder patch of ivy leaves. That attempt to regain the advantage ended with a badly depleted 12th withdrawn to a defensive position.

On 16 November, early in the afternoon on the same day the 1st Division soldiers began their assault toward Hamich, GIs from the 4th Division’s 22d Infantry, following the massive artillery barrage, left their assembly point at Zweifall and entered the forest. The objective was Grosshau, a village to the east between Hamich and Germeter. In addition to the three battalions of foot soldiers, the attackers included armor from the 70th Tank Battalion and the 803d Tank Destroyer Battalion, a 4.2-chemical-mortar unit, assorted engineers, and medics.

Only light resistance cropped up, until, just short of a mile beyond the line of departure, the Germans greeted the leading 2d Battalion with a torrent of mortar and artillery blasts that forced the men to halt and dig in. The other pair of battalions swung north and south to cover the flanks of their comrades ahead of them. Everyone settled in for the night and prepared to renew the drive in the morning.

Dr. Bill Boice, a chaplain, wrote in his History of the 22d U.S. Infantry in World War II: “As each battalion dug in for the night, new orders for the next day arrived. It was almost impossible for plans to be set forth more than twenty-four hours in advance. As reconnaissance patrols were never able to extend more than a few hundred yards in front of the lines, troop leaders rarely knew the exact disposition of hostile firepower until they actually exposed themselves.” Indeed, the inability to operate on little more than an ad hoc basis and without effective intelligence about the defenses doomed the soldiers of the 4th Division to blindly grope toward their objectives at an exorbitant cost in blood.

George Wilson, a platoon leader in F Company, while placing his men in a perimeter defense, suddenly fell into a hole and for several minutes lay stunned at the bottom. When he recovered, he completed his rounds and then with his runner sought to find the foxhole as their home for the night. In the darkness, it could not be located, and the two men were obliged to dig for themselves. When morning came, some of his soldiers explored the void into which Wilson had dropped. They discovered that it actually led to a dugout in which four frightened Germans quickly surrendered. “I couldn’t help thinking,” recalled Wilson, “how lucky I had been they weren’t fanatics who would have finished me off as I lay stunned at their feet.”

The battalion resumed its progress, with F Company trailing in reserve, but the lead companies met strong opposition from soldiers ensconced in log bunkers with the backing of machine guns, mortars, and artillery. “Our casualties were prohibitive,”

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