The Schwammenauel dam, battle of the Hürtgen forest

The Schwammenauel dam was not the immediate objective of the American high command. They allocated one division to clear the forest, an objective which should have been done by at least three divisions. In the end the battle for the Hürtgen became a battle of prestige. The Americans were not used to being beaten. So, they send in another division, which was not enough. And then another, and another... They were all mauled piecemeal. And still high command did nothing to break the stalemate. The commanders at the sharp end of the knife had to make due with what they had. Platoons consisting of 5 men, companies with no officers etc. Even the Germans did not understand why the Americans tried so hard to capture this forest. They could have bypassed it or send in more troops. But in the end the Germans managed to tie down a large number of American divisions. And although the Germans were suffering lots of casualties as well, the inflicted horrendous casualties on the American side.

Finally the Americans 'discovered' the tactical importance of taking the Schwammenauel dam. They managed to capture it but not before the Germans manged to destroy it and regulate the water flow from the damn. This caused the river Ruhr to overflow. The Americans could not cross the river and thus... could not support the British and Canadian drive through the Reichswald forest (operation Veritable). The British and Canadians were on their own and had to fight through appaling conditions. The Germans felt secure behind the flooded Ruhr and send large numbers of reinforcements to the Reichswald to fight the British.

In all, the battle for the Hürtgenforest was long, hard, bloody and totally unneccesary. General Gavin of the American 82nd Airborne division was appaled by what he had seen in the region. Lack of understanding by the local HQ and appaling conditions for the soldiers. He thought the battle should not have been fought at all...




Deepest respect for all the soldiers and civilians who fought, were wounded and who died there.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Hürtgen
• Schmidt
• Schwammenauel