Editing Battle of Hürtgen Forest (section)

===Second phase===
{{main|Operation Queen}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-J28303, Hürtgenwald, schweres Infanteriegeschütz.jpg|thumb|right|A German [[15 cm sIG 33|infantry gun]] firing in defense against a U.S. attack on 22 November 1944 in the Hürtgen forest]]

The second phase was part of [[Operation Queen]], the Allied thrust to the Rur River. In this phase, the U.S. 4th Infantry Division was to clear the northern half of the forest between Schevenhütte and Hürtgen, capture Hürtgen, and advance to the Rur south of Düren. From 10 November, this would be VII Corps′ responsibility and it was part of the main VII Corps effort to reach the Rur. The 4th Division was now fully committed to the Hürtgen, although its 12th Infantry Regiment was already mauled from its action at Schmidt, leaving just two fully effective regiments to achieve the divisional objectives. U.S. VII Corps was opposed by German forces, mainly from the LXXXI Corps, consisting of three understrength divisions. In the Hürtgen, there was the 275th Infantry Division—6,500 men with 150 artillery pieces. They were well dug-in and prepared.

The abstract of a U.S. report describes what happened:<ref name="Huertgen_Forest_Deliberate_Attack">{{cite web|title=CSI Battlebook|url=http://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a151627.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808063352/http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a151627.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=August 8, 2014 |work=dtic.mil/|year=1984|access-date=2007-02-03}}</ref>

{{blockquote|The VII (U.S.) Corps, First Army attacked 16 November 1944, with 1st Inf Div, 4th Inf Div, 104th Inf Div, and CCR 5th AD to clear [[Huertgen Forest]] and the path of First Army to the Rur River. After heavy fighting, primarily by the 4th Infantry Division, VII Corps' attack ground to a halt. V Corps was committed on 21 November 1944. Attacking with 8th Inf Div, and CCR 5th AD, the V Corps managed to capture Huertgen after stiff fighting on 28 November 1944.}}

The attack started on 16 November. The two infantry regiments attacked in parallel columns: the 8th along the northern edge of the forest towards Düren, the 22nd further south in parallel. The open flanks invited infiltration. Similar tactics elsewhere in Hürtgen had "invited disaster".

[[File:111-SC-196622 - Deep in the Hurtgen forest, in Germany, American infantrymen move across a bridge over a small stream. A tank, part of the new Allied offensive, can be seen in the background.jpg|thumb|Troops of Co. I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, in the Hürtgen forest on 18 November 1944]]

Attacks by the 8th Infantry Regiment on Rother Weh Creek hit heavy resistance and were repulsed with heavy losses. The 22nd failed to take Raven's Hedge (''Rabenheck''), beaten back by heavy machine-gun and artillery fire along the fire-breaks. After three days, there were 300 casualties, including numerous officers and [[Non-commissioned officer|NCOs]].

By 18 November, tanks were deemed essential, so engineers blasted tank routes through the forest. Communications and logistics remained a problem, so the next day the attack paused to allow re-supply and evacuation of the wounded. German reinforcements arrived from 344th and 353rd Infantry Divisions and resistance stiffened further.

Responsibility was returned to V Corps and, on 21 November, [[U.S. 8th Infantry Division|8th Division]] attacked the Weisser Weh Valley, continuing toward Hürtgen. The 121st Infantry Regiment hit heavy defenses immediately. Despite armored support from the 10th Tank Battalion, daily advances were less than {{convert|600|yd|m|abbr=on}}. Hürtgen was taken on 29 November and the battle continued to Kleinhau, {{convert|1|mi|km|abbr=on}} north.

[[File:111-SC-197740 - American infantrymen move through Hurtgen, Germany, on their way to the front lines. Company I, 181st Regiment, 8th Infantry Division.jpg|thumb|American infantrymen move through Hürtgen on their way to the front lines. Company I, 181st Regiment, 8th Infantry Division.]]

The final action in the Hürtgen Forest was at [[Langerwehe|Langerwehe-Merode]], on the northeastern edge of the forest. Two American companies took the village, but they were later destroyed in a German counter-attack. More than 300 soldiers of the 1st Infantry Division were killed in action on November 29 and 30, 1944.

Later, the secret daily report of the Supreme High Command of the [[German Army (Wehrmacht)|German Army]] (''Oberkommando des Heeres'' (OKH)) of 27 November, stated that in the old Langerwehe penetration area, the U.S. Army (''enemy'') won terrain.{{sfn|Fabianek|2012|pp=25–26|ps=: incl. picture of the daily report of the Supreme High Command of the German Army}}

Elements of the 8th and the 28th Infantry Divisions then advanced on Brandenberg. The 28th Division—just like the 9th before it (and the 4th Infantry Division, which would relieve the 28th)—also took heavy casualties during its stay in the Hürtgen Forest. On 14 November, the [[75th Ranger Regiment (United States)|2nd Ranger]] Battalion arrived to relieve elements of the 112th Infantry Regiment. On 6 December, the Rangers moved on Bergstein and subsequently took the strategic position of Hill 400 from defending troops from 980th Grenadier Regiment of the [[272nd Volksgrenadier Division]]. Shortly thereafter, on 12 December, the towns of Gey and Strass were taken by American Forces. On the last day of the Hürtgen battle the Germans retook the hill from the 13th Regiment who had replaced the Rangers. The U.S. Army would not seize Hill 400 again until February 1945.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Marino|first1=James|title=Taking Hill 400: Army Rangers vs Fallschirmjägers|journal=Warfare History|date=October 3, 2016|url=http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/taking-hill-400-army-rangers-vs-fallschirmjagers/#addcomments|access-date=19 April 2017|archive-date=27 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191027153348/http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/taking-hill-400-army-rangers-vs-fallschirmjagers#addcomments|url-status=dead}}</ref>

From 1–12 December, the 309th, 310th and 311th Infantry Regiments of the [[78th Division (United States)|78th Infantry Division]] ("Lightning") relieved elements of the 1st Infantry Division in the line in the vicinity of Entenpfuhl. On 13 December, these regiments smashed into Simmerath, Witzerath, and Bikerath, Germany, and were fighting the [[Battle of Kesternich]] against the 272nd Volksgrenadier Division when General [[Gerd von Rundstedt]] launched his counteroffensive in the Monschau area. On December 15 the 2nd battalion, 309th Infantry was annihilated when the 272nd Volksgrenadiers counterattacked and took back Kesternich. The Germans knew that from the heights at Kesternich the Americans could detect the troop buildup for the Ardennes Offensive and place artillery there to fire on advancing German troops.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Miller|first1=Edward G|title=Desperate Hours at Kesternich|journal=World War II Magazine|date=November 1996|url=http://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-desperate-hours-at-kesternich.htm/#addcomments|access-date=24 July 2018|archive-date=30 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130052651/https://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-desperate-hours-at-kesternich.htm#addcomments|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Military actions at the Siegfried Line up to 15 December alone brought death, injury or captivity to more than 250,000 soldiers from both sides. The First and Ninth U.S. Army suffered 57,039 battle casualties (dead, wounded, captured, missing in action); 71,654 non-battle casualties, i.e. accidents, diseases such as [[pneumonia]], [[trench foot]], [[frostbite]], and [[Combat stress reaction|trauma]]. German Armed Forces are presumed to be 12,000 dead, 95,000 captured (documented), and an unknown number of wounded.{{sfn|MacDonald|1984|p=616}}

On 16 December 1944, German forces began the Ardennes Offensive, more commonly known as the [[Battle of the Bulge]] and as a result further fighting in the Hürtgen ended.{{sfn|Zabecki|2015|p=1537}}