Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads: Difference between revisions

| combatant1 = {{flag|United States|1912}}

| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|Nazi Germany}}

| strength1 = <!-- 2,000 men -->

| strength2 = <!-- 2,000 men -->

On the eastern side of the Siegfried Line was an excellent road network leading to the [[Roer River]] dams a few miles to the northeast; the Allies' next goal. The Allies had tried bombing the dams without success, and a ground campaign was decided upon. The Americans were assigned to capture the crossroads with the goal of securing a jumping-off point for an attack on the dams, or failing that, force the Germans to blow them up.<ref name="Hersko"/> The dams were important to the Germans because they could be used defensively to control the flow and depth of the Roer River, delaying or even completely blocking Allied advances at will.

 

 

== Background ==

 

== Geography of the attack ==

 

Two roads north of Höfen were important to movement through the area. In the north a main paved road led from Höfen through the Monschau Forest, then divided as it emerged on the eastern edge. The fork beyond the forest later gained some tactical importance.<ref name=colesix/>

 

A two-lane secondary road ran laterally behind the division center and right wing, leaving the Höfen road at the Wahlerscheid crossroads, which was guarded by a constellation of 25 concrete pillboxes. The Germans had cleared the ground near the crossroads of trees to give their troops a clear [[field of fire (weaponry)|field of fire]], and laced the area with antipersonnel mines and masses of barbed wire six to ten deep.<ref name=macdonald2/><ref name=story2nd>{{cite web|title=Story of the 2nd Infantry Division|url=https://archive.org/details/FromD1To105|publisher=Stars and Strips|access-date=4 July 2015}}</ref> It continued south through the Monschau Forest and the twin hamlets of Rocherath and Krinkelt, then intersected a main eastwest road at Büllingen.<ref name=colesix/><ref name=colefive>{{citation | last = Cole | first = Hugh M. | author-link = Hugh M. Cole | title = The Ardennes:Battle of the Bulge | chapter = The Sixth Panzer Army Attack | publisher = Office of the Chief of Military History Department of the Army | chapter-url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_6.HTM | year = 1964 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150729050559/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_6.HTM | archive-date = 2015-07-29 }}</ref>

 

On about December 12, the 2nd Infantry Division was brought to the rear of the yet untested [[99th Infantry Division (United States)|99th ID]] on Elsenborn Ridge and passed through their lines headed for the Wahlerscheid crossroads. The 2nd's commanding officer, General [[Walter M. Robertson]], directed the 9th Infantry Regiment to attack along the only road, capture the junction, and then swing northwest to clear German forces along the Höfen-Alzen ridge towards Monschau. He ordered the 38th Infantry Regiment to attack northeast from the road junction along the Dreiborn Ridge, in the direction of the Roer River dams. The 23rd Infantry was held in reserve.<ref name=macdonald2>{{cite book| last=MacDonald|first=Charles B.|title=The Siegfried Line Campaign | publisher=Center of Military History| year = 1990|edition=CMH Pub 7-7-1 |location=Washington, D. C. |asin= B001P4MAYO}}</ref>{{rp|610}}

 

== Allies attack ==

 

The 277th Volksgrenadier Division's 991st Grenadier Regiment and the [[294th Infantry Division (Wehrmacht)|294th Volksgrenadier Division]] were in the Monschau Forest about {{convert|1.5|mi}} southeast of Wahlerscheid.<ref name=coleseven>{{cite book |last= Parker |first= Danny S. |date= 1994 |title= To Win the Winter Sky: The Air War over the Ardennes 1944–1945 |publisher= Combined Books |isbn= 0-938289-35-7|page=71}}</ref> The 2nd ID intended to surprise the Germans and advanced without artillery preparation. Their movement forward through the forest went well at first with little resistance,<ref name="Hersko">{{cite web |url=http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge-us-troops-fight-at-elsenburn-ridge.htm/1 |title=Battle of the Bulge: U.S. Troops Fight at Elsenburn Ridge |publisher=HistoryNet.com |author=Ralph E. Hersko, Jr. |date=November 1998 |access-date=2010-07-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612000346/http://www.historynet.com/battle-of-the-bulge-us-troops-fight-at-elsenburn-ridge.htm/1 |archive-date=2011-06-12 }}</ref> but once they gained the edge of the cleared forest around the pillboxes on December 14, they found themselves facing four pillboxes, six concrete bunkers, a forester's lodge, and a customs house, grouped compactly about the road junction and sited to provide interlocking fire for their machine gun and rifle positions.<ref name=macdonald2/>

 

=== Germans prevent U.S. advance ===

=== Americans break contact ===

 

 

=== Withdrawal to Elsenborn Ridge ===

During the night of 16 and dawn of 17 December, General Robertson consolidated his and other forces that had only a day before captured the vital crossroads at Wahlerscheid. To the east of Rocherath and Krinkelt, the Germans had made a deep penetration and were liable at any moment to come bursting out of the forest. The U.S. had to hold the twin villages to allow the 2nd ID with its heavy weapons and vehicles to reach positions around Elsenborn intact. The 99th Division had already put its last reserve into the battle. The 2nd ID with the attached 395th were left to defend the endangered sector of the corridor south.<ref name=colesix>{{citation | last = Cole | first = Hugh M. | author-link = Hugh M. Cole | title = The Ardennes:Battle of the Bulge | chapter = The German Northern Shoulder Is Jammed | publisher = Office of the Chief of Military History Department of the Army | chapter-url = http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_6.HTM | year = 1964 | url-status = live | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150729050559/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/7-8/7-8_6.HTM | archive-date = 2015-07-29 }}</ref>

 

 

The Americans later regretted their failure to destroy the pillboxes at the crossroads when they were forced to recapture the area again in early February 1945.<ref name=colesix/>

 

== Notes ==