The Battle of Hürtgen Forest has been regarded as one of the most underreported and least understood battles of World War II. The battle, which lasted from 19 September to 16 December 1944, marked the longest and most grueling battle ever fought by the United States Army on German soil during the war. Despite being a protracted struggle, the battle has not received the kind of attention it deserves in the annals of history.

The battle was fought in the thick Hürtgen Forest, located about 3.1 miles east of the German-Belgian border. The US commanders launched the offensive in a bid to pin down the German forces in the region and prevent them from reinforcing their front lines further north in the ongoing Battle of Aachen. Initially, the American forces aimed to clear Monschau and secure the village of Schmidt. Their objective then was to advance towards the Rur River as part of Operation Queen.

The German forces, led by Generalfeldmarschall Walter Model, put up a fierce defense to halt the Allied advance. Model, who was less intrusive in the day-to-day operations of his units, closely monitored the situation and exploited the fortified Westwall (Siegfried Line) to take advantage of the Allies. This slowed the progress of the Allies and inflicted heavy casualties. The battle proved to be an immense challenge for the US forces, costing them at least 33,000 killed and wounded, including both combat and non-combat losses, with upper estimates at 55,000. The Germans also suffered significant losses, with 28,000 casualties.

Historian Rick Atkinson and author of The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945, in outlinng the Allied losses, writes "In less than three months, six U.S. Army infantry divisions would be tossed into the Hurtgen, plus an armored brigade, a Ranger battalion, and sundry other units. All told, 120,000 soldiers sustained 33,000 casualties in what historian Carlo D'Este would call 'the most ineptly fought series of battles of the war in the West.' A captured German document reported that 'in combat in wooded areas the American showed himself completely unfit,' a harsh judgement that had a whiff of legitimacy with respect to American generalship." (Atkinson 2013, 325)

The Hürtgen Forest played a crucial role as a staging area for the German winter offensive, Wacht am Rhein (Battle of the Bulge), which further intensified the gravity of the battle. The Allies failed to capture the area even after several heavy setbacks, and it remained under German control until their last-ditch offensive into the Ardennes.

Yet despite this hard-won victory, the Germans once again found themselves outmatched when they launched their surprise Ardennes offensive. With nearly 30 divisions, including the fearsome 1st, 2nd, and 12th SS Panzer Divisions, they launched an attack that pushed deep into the American lines, creating a large and dangerous salient that reached nearly sixty miles at its peak. Despite their considerable advances, the Germans were never able to realize their ultimate objective – the capture of Antwerp. In the end, the Ardennes Offensive ground to a halt in early January due to a combination of factors. American forces, with their formidable defence, destroyed crucial bridges, and the Germans lacked the necessary fuel to continue their offensive. While the cost on both sides was tragically high – with countless lives and resources squandered in the process – it was the Allies who ultimately prevailed, forcing the Germans to abandon their ambitions and retreat back to their own lines.

A Human Being in Need
From the U.S. Army 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry website "One soldier who got out alive is retired Major Gen. John F. Ruggles of Phoenix, 86. He was then a Lieutenant Colonel serving with the 22nd Infantry Regiment. Last year (1994) to mark the battle's 50th anniversary, Ruggles organized an effort among veterans of the Regiment to place a monument in the forest. It's a very different monument. Unlike other World War II tributes, this one doesn't honor our own soldiers. This one honors an unheralded act of humanity by a 23 year old German Infantry Lieutenant. Ruggles wasn't interested in media attention last year, and the monuments dedication received no news coverage in this country. But a friend recently convinced him that others would like to hear the story, so last week he talked about it.

On November 12, 1944, Lt. Friedrich Lengfeld was commanding a beleaguered German rifle company. Like most units on both sides, he had suffered heavy casualties. Early that morning, a wounded American could be heard calling from the middle of a German minefield in a no man's land separating the combatants. "Help me" the man cried. His unit had withdrawn , however, and no U.S. troops were close enough to hear. Lengfeld ordered his men not to shoot if Americans came to rescue the man. But none came. The soldier's weakening voice was heard for hours. "Help me" he called, again and again. At about 10:30 that morning, Lengfeld could bear the cries no longer. He formed a rescue squad, complete with Red Cross vests and flags, and led his men toward the wounded American.

He never made it. Approaching the soldier, he stepped on a land mine, and the exploding metal fragments tore deeply into his body. Eight hours later Lengfeld is dead. The fate of the American is unknown. Much of this story, unpublished in any American books on the war, is based on the eyewitness account of Hubert Gees, who served as Lengfeld's communications runner. Speaking at the monument's dedication in Germany last October, Gees said : "Lieutenant Lengfeld was one of the best soldiers of the Hürtgen Forest. He was an exemplary company commander, who never asked us to do more than he himself was ready to give. He possessed the complete confidence of his soldiers."

Ruggles said Lengfeld's sense of duty went far beyond the call. " You can't go to any greater extreme than to give your life trying to rescue someone you are fighting as your enemy in war he said. Compare that to the indifference most people feel about each other today." The bronze and concrete monument is believed to be the only one placed by Americans in a German military cemetery. To the young Lieutenant, the voice crying out that day did not come from an enemy. Nor from an American, nor a stranger. It came from a human being in need. Something inside Lengfeld compelled him to act - a feeling so strong and enduring not even the madness of war could block it. In the heavy silence of the German forest, where thousands upon thousands met death, that glorious impulse for life is now honored."

BIBLIOGRAPHY

"1st Battalion 22nd Infantry - Monument to German Soldier." 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry. Accessed July 8, 2023. https://1-22infantry.org/history4/lengfeld.htm#:~:text=Themonumentstandsnearthe,savewoundedAmericanSoldier.

Atkinson, Rick. The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2013.

Caddick-Adams, Peter. Snow & Steel: The Battle of the Bulge, 1944-45. Oxford: Oxford University Press, USA, 2015.

Roberts, Andrew. The Storm of War: A New History of the Second World War. New York: HarperCollins, 2011.