Into the Death Factory of the Hürtgen Forest | History Traveler Episode 326

Soldiers called it things like “The Death Factory” and “Green Hell”. We all know it as the Hürtgen Forest. We’re taking a few episodes to explore this dense, rugged forest that was the scene of some of the worst fighting that the Americans saw in WWII. Starting with the 9th Infantry Division, the Hürtgen Forest would be a place that would grind up and test the limits of several units in what would become the longest battle for the U.S. in WWII.

This episode was produced in partnership with The Gettysburg Museum of History. See how you can support history education & artifact preservation by visiting their website & store at https://www.gettysburgmuseumofhistory.com

Map animations courtesy of @SandervkHistory with inspiration from the king himself, @TheOperationsRoom (who gave his blessing on this prior to the upload 🙂 )

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Other episodes that you might enjoy:

– Back to the Hürtgen Forest with FOUR WWII Veterans! | History Traveler Episode 325: https://youtu.be/_roNk1-nAEc
– The Rifle: Stories From the Last WWII Veterans | History Traveler Episode 324: https://youtu.be/sM12FtYbJ2Q
– At the Eagle’s Nest with Easy Company (w/ Matt Leitch of Band of Brothers) History Traveler 322: https://youtu.be/fDKBJ4yqSuQ
– Into the Tunnels Beneath Hitler’s Mountain | History Traveler Episode 321: https://youtu.be/LBmUVNmzIUk
– The Dead of Verdun at the Douaumont Ossuary | History Traveler Episode 317: https://youtu.be/taJAcx372NA

I’ve had the opportunity to travel to a lot of interesting historical places. There are some places that you go that, for lack of a better way to describe it, just hold the weight of memory. These woods that I’m walking in right now is one of those places.

This is a spot where in the latter part of 1944, in the early part of 1945, the U.S. Army just fed one division after another after another into these woods. And the combat here just chewed men up and spit them right back out. Some of the soldiers who fought here

Referred to it as the death factory. Others called it green hell. But most people would better know it as the Hurtgen Forest. So this is the Hurtgen Forest. This is a battle that I would venture to say most people don’t know as much about as some of the others.

The Hurtgen Forest has kind of been lost in the shuffle between Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge. But if you talk to veterans who fought here, many will say that their worst experience was right here in these woods.

So we’re going to take a little bit of time in in this episode to kind of look around these woods, look at what the Hurtgen Forest may have looked like to men of the different infantry divisions that fought here. But first, it would probably do us good to explain why this place.

Following the successes in North Africa, Sicily and Italy, the Western allies found themselves in a position to launch a cross-channel invasion which occurred on the French coast of Normandy on June the sixth, 1944. In the days since the Allies had landed in Normandy, German

Forces had been steadily pushed back until they found themselves positioned behind the defenses of the Siegfried Line, also known as the West Wall. At the center of the Allied Drive was the US first army under General Courtney Hodges. On the 12th of September. Elements of the first army crossed over into Germany,

Just south of the city of Aachen. Once the allies crossed through the Siegfried line, they could then move on to the Roer river. After that, the last major obstacle between them and the heart of the Third Reich was the Rhine River. Standing in their way was General Field Marshal Valter

Model, who was in command of Army Group B As the U.S. First Infantry Division and third Armored Division moved through what was called the Stolberg corridor to encircle Aachen, concerns arose that the Germans could launch a counterattack into the right flank from the hurtgen forest.

The Hurtgen forest was 50 square miles of steep ridges and dense forest. The Germans would put up a stubborn defense of this part of the front for a few reasons. First, the rugged terrain made it ideal for defense by a smaller force. Second, the Hurtgen was flanked to the north

And south by the Stolberg and Monschau corridors, which the allies would have to go through to get to the Roer river. For the Germans, the Hurtgen was also important because it formed a defense of the Roer river dams, which were important to them for a variety of reasons,

But were not really a high priority for the allies at that time. Most importantly, keeping the allies west of the Roer river was critical to protect a massive buildup of German troops for a surprise offensive through the Ardennes that was to take place in December.

The task of clearing out the hurtgen forest fell to the U.S. ninth Infantry Division, nicknamed the Old Reliables, as the ninth had been among the first troops engaged in combat against the Third Reich when they had landed and fought in North Africa.

After fighting through Sicily, they had landed on Utah Beach on D-plus four and had since then fallen in places like Cherbourg, Saint Leo and the Falaise Gap. On September 14th, the 47th Infantry Regiment of the ninth Infantry Division entered into the fray on the right flank of the third Armored Division,

With the immediate objectives of Shevenhutte, Vitch and Zweifall. Beyond that, the ninth was to clear out the entire hurtgen forest and open up the Monschau corridor to the south. They would be the first to be thrown into the death factory of the hurtgen forest. I’ve interviewed different

Veterans who fought here in the Hurtgen Forest. And one of the words that all of them use to describe this place is eerie. They say that the woods had just like a haunting feel to them. And it really kind of added to the sinister nature of the combat that took place here.

The spot where I’m standing right now is known as the oxenkopf. And right here, there were three different infantry divisions that fought over this exact same spot. So so first, the ninth Infantry Division is going to get fed into this place,

And then they are going to cycle out in about mid-October of 1944. The 28th Infantry Division is going to be brought in. They are going to get completely chewed up here in these woods. And then after that, the 78th Infantry Division comes in and fights over this same ground. Again, I

Want to manage expectations in this video. In this particular episode, we’re not really talking about any specific combat actions. This is more to just kind of serve as an example of what the Hurtgen force looked like and some of the defenses that the U.S. infantrymen went up against when they fought here.

Again, you have the night, the 28th and the 78th, all fighting right here in the same spot. So in that way, it’s where these guys had a war of movement up to this point. When they get to the Hurtgen Forest, it bogs down almost into like World War

One style fighting that the lines don’t move very much. As a matter of fact, this ends up being the longest battle of the war. And it’s all fought right here in this general area. So the ninth Infantry Division, like I said, are the first ones moving in here.

And they are going to be attacking this Western wall defense of Germany that U.S. soldiers called the Siegfried Line. From this spot where I am standing right now. We are right on the Siegfried Line. So we’re facing west right here. And there was a bunker complex that was behind me

That we’ll take a look at here in just a moment. But in front, well, you can see all of these forward positions. And right here we are standing in one of the German trenches along this part of the West wall. So if we walk down here and we can get down a here’s

A little foxhole position that we’re in, it looks like it took a cut to the left and then as you can see, there’s a much larger dug out right here. So maybe this is a listening post. Maybe it’s, you know, designed for a machine gun position.

But you can see the commanding view there. A German infantrymen would have had from this point, we’re up on high ground. It’s really steep. So anybody who is attacking from this direction out here has a big job ahead of them, which is why the U.S.

Tried to penetrate the West wall in strategic points and then circle around and take these bunkers from behind, because obviously all of the guns are pointing in this direction. They weren’t expecting attack from the back. But yeah, here’s some of the trenches here along the West Wall.

One of the things that men had to really worry about when they were fighting here in the Hurtgen Forest was tree burst. A lot of infantrymen had been trained that when, you know, when you have incoming artillery, you need to lay flat, hit the dirt. Well,

That could possibly be a little bit of a detriment here in this forest because of tree bursts. So the artillery was exploding in the trees and literally causing the trees to explode and sending even more shrapnel everywhere. So many of the casualties here in the Hurtgen Forest

Were because of these tree bursts from artillery. So probably the safest thing to do if you had incoming artillery fire is to find a tree and get tucked up close to it to try and avoid a bunch of the shrapnel that was just flying about. All right.

We’re going to go ahead and move on to another position here. All right. We’ve moved out into this clear cut. This is an area you can see a big windmill in the background. There’s some of these areas of the Hurtgen Forest that have been cleared to make room for these windmills.

You might even be able to hear one that’s next to me in the background. And what’s a shame is when they were putting these things in. They destroyed a lot of foxholes and trench positions. But living up here. Well, you can see one of these destroyed bunkers of the Siegfried Line.

And this is just absolutely wild. All right. So, okay, so right here we’re looking at like a machine gun stand. And you can really get an idea for how thick these walls were. So let me just jump down in here real quick. Trying not to hurt myself.

A trip on a piece of rebar busted up concrete. So from the German position now, all of this would have been forested at the time. At least I’m assuming so. So from the German position, this is the view that they would have had. And the Americans really

Had a tough time with these bunkers. So what they would have to do is in some cases they would you know, attack from behind, which is what the the ninth Infantry Division is initially doing with the 47th and 60th regiments. They got behind the Siegfried line and came in from the rear.

I’ve read stories where in some cases they brought in bulldozers and buried some of these positions. They would have tanks come in and try and shoot through the gun ports. You know, all kinds of different things. They would also have satchel charges that they would bring in and,

You know, have a guy run up and throw inside one of these things to try and kill people inside. As a matter of fact, that’s what happened right here. There’s an account from a German officer who was in this very bunker, and he said that there was an American

Who ran up with a satchel charge, lit the fuze and threw it inside. And then at that exact moment, there was an artillery round that hit the top of the bunker, knocked out all the lights. Well, they could see that fuze burning, so they cut it,

Which of course, led to it not exploding, and then proceeded to counterattack and ended up taking about 18 American prisoners. Yeah. Here’s one of the bunker positions right here on the Siegfried Line. One other thing before we leave this position right here.

It may be kind of hard to see on camera, but right through here you can see a trench line that extended just to the side of this bunker and continues on down here and then splits again. A lot of this got destroyed

When the loggers came in and clear cut this, which is really a shame. But another thing that Tobias just pointed out to me is if you look here on this side, on this bunker wall, well, not only do you see some of the original green paint that was used to camouflage this bunker,

But there’s all kinds of battle damage right here on the side from where, again, it could be guys from the ninth Infantry Division. It could be the 28th. It’s hard to say. But anyway, lots of damage here on this thing. my. We are moving on to our next position here

And all throughout the Hurtgen Forest, as I mentioned, you have all these divisions that are getting fed in and then pulled out and replaced by another. And as these divisions came into the hurricane and then came right back out, well, unfortunately, they left a lot of their dead behind.

And some of them are still being discovered to this day. Here in this part of the Hurricane Forest, we have a memorial that is dedicated to a private by the name of Robert Cahill. Says he was an American soldier of World War 2/311 Regiment, 78th Infantry Division, U.S. Army.

He rested in an unknown forest grave for 56 years until by chance, his remains were found and recovered by a German ordnance sweeping team near this marker. So. So Robert Cahill was killed here in 1944, the 78th Infantry Division. They were one of the later divisions that got fed into the Hurricane Forest.

But he was killed here and was not recovered until 56 years later. And the spot where he was found is just up the hill from here. As we are walking up this rise, you have to understand that again, this is all clear cut during the battle. This was all forested.

So really, even up until a couple of years ago, it was all forested until they brought the giant windmills in. But right here is the spot where Robert Cahill’s body was found. And as you can see, it has now become like a bit of a memorial. People have come here and left stones.

There’s a cross that has been made that has a. It’s concrete, but it’s fashioned to look like a U.S. helmet. But people who come to this part of the Hurtgen Forest can come here and remember this. Infantrymen from the 78th Infantry Division. Here in this part of the Hurtgen

Forest is another memorial that is dedicated to some soldiers who, for 32 years were listed as missing in action, but were found here on the 12th of May 1976. And you can see their names there. There’s Francis Dempsey, Richard Quick, both U.S. Army soldiers and also along with them, an unknown German soldier.

So they all died together or rather died in the same spot in 1944. Here’s the location of another bunker position here along the West wall. And well, actually, that’s the bunker position. And here is a piece of the bunker. Now, it looks like it might be a ceiling, but it’s not.

Oh, let me get down here. This is actually a section of one of the walls. So this bunker was blown up at some point after the war. Matter of fact, right here you can see one of the the vents. But. But from right here in this position. Well, this would have looked out

Over the Kall River Valley. So, again, we’re way up here on a high spot. And this bunker would have had a very commanding view of the terrain below. I’ve moved over to a spot behind the bunkers that we were just looking at and this is what I’m thinking are American foxhole positions.

So we saw the German trenches earlier in front of the bunkers. These are, again, behind the bunkers. So Americans needing to protect from a German counterattack would likely dig in right here. So, again, the bunker is just over that hill right here.

And then on this side of the slope, well, we see all of these remnants of American foxholes that still remain here in the Hurtgen today. All right. We’ve moved to another part of the Hurricane Forest, and I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it or not,

But with us today is Tobias from the Hurtgen Forest Museum. And he knows all about this area and has really been helping us out a lot. But the area that we’ve moved to now is a little bit to the east of where we started out.

And this is where the 47th Regiment of the ninth Infantry Division moved through and started rolling up some of these bunkers along the Siegfried Line. All right. Coming up on another bunker position here. And as you can see, we’ve moved a little bit closer to the road.

Well, there were some specific bunkers along the Siegfried line that were designed to cover roadways and to try and take out, you know, tanks and vehicular traffic. And you can’t really tell much from this bunker right here because it has been completely blown up.

But anyway, this is another one of the the bunkers here on the Siegfried line in this area that would have been designed to cover the roadways. Now, something that’s kind of interesting. Originally, these bunkers were designed for the pack 36, which shot a 37 millimeter round.

But in Russia, they found that that really only kind of tickled the tanks. So they ended up beefing up their anti-tank weapons at something called the Pack 40, which shot a 75 millimeter round. The problem is that the pack 40 was a little bit too big for these bunkers,

So they had to make other arrangements. But here you can see kind of what the inside of this bunker looks like. Now. So Tobias told us that he was bringing us to his favorite part of the forest. And man, I can see why this is cool as heck.

Here are a couple of German bunkers on the Siegfried line that obviously have seen better days. Looks like they were, well, rather blown up at some point. But again, when you see them kind of deconstructed like this, you can see just how thick the walls were on these things.

And, oh, my gosh, man, I feel like I’m on some kind of movie set or something right now. This is absolutely incredible. We’ve moved out in front of the bunker just a little bit. And there’s another thing that’s pretty interesting here. We’ve got a couple big old holes in the ground.

Obviously, these are not foxholes. These are bomb craters from a P 47 that we have knowledge of from the records. Actually dropped bombs on this position. Now, P 47 would drop two bombs at a time. So if you look here’s a bomb crater here and then we’ve got another bomb crater right here.

So when the Germans were here, one of the American P 40 sevens got pretty darn close to scoring a hit on this particular bunker. Now again, we’re facing the front of the bunkers right here. So so this direction is to the east and this is roughly to the west. So after the U.S.

Took over these positions, well, they started digging foxholes on this end of these bunkers. And if you walk through here, there is all kinds of stuff that has been left behind. So, for example, if you take a look at this right here, well, this is a little section of a U.S.

Army issue raincoat. We’ve been finding little bits of shrapnel and pieces of, oh, ration cans and whatnot. As a matter of fact, here’s here’s our pile of just random material that we’ve pulled out of this. So, I mean, you can see here’s some sort of charge something.

Here’s some more of the rank cut materials. More pieces from ration cans, all kinds of things that have been left behind here. Here’s another foxhole here in front of this bunker. This looks like it might be another foxhole. Here’s another one right here.

Now, this is a little bit larger, as you can see. So this is more likely a mortar position. So you might have had a 60 millimeter mortar team that was right here in this spot. Man, this is absolutely amazing to be here. Here’s a pretty good example

Of a rather well fortified or what would have been a well-fortified foxhole for the American position. So you can see it’s it’s pretty wide. So it can hold 2 to 3 men. You’ve got an entrance right here. And then it’s built up there in front.

Well, what the Americans would do since there was so much artillery that was flying around, well, they would dig these foxholes and then they would get logs and they would put it over the top here to create a little bit of a roof.

And then you would have a head log there in front and then a little gap where you could, you know, point your machine gun or your rifle or whatever. And here in the back, I’ve read accounts from veterans who said that you’d have to like,

Get down on your hands and knees to crawl in or maybe even belly crawl in to to get into this position. Yeah, they have a really good example, right here in this spot. All right. Well, there was just a little bit to start off our exploration of the Hurtgen Forest.

We have a couple different places that we’re going to be going in the next few episodes. We’re going to be looking at the cattle trail with the 28th Infantry Division, will be looking at the high watermark for the second Ranger Battalion that happened over on Hill 400.

Lots of things to see and learn right here in a place that that the soldiers nicknamed Green Hell.