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Endnotes
1 The planning story is based mainly on VII Corps FO 12, 8 Nov 44, VII Corps Admin and FO file, Nov 44.
2 VII Corps Opns Memo 116, 10 Nov 44, VI I Corps Opns Memo file.
3 Sylvan Diary, entry of 16 Nov 44. See also entries of 25 Oct and 9 Nov 44.
4 See Annex 2 to VII Corps FO 12, 8 Nov 44.
5 FUSA G-2 Estimate 35, 12 Nov 44, COPY found in 104th Div G-2 Jnl file, 14 Nov 44.
6 MS # A-857 (Manteuffel).
7 LXXXI Corps Arty Sit as of 10 Nov 44, LXXXI Corps KTB, Art. Lage u. Art. Gliederungen; LXXXI Corps KTB, Zustandsberichte; Kampf urn Aachen: Maps; MSS # B-290 (Blumentritt), # P-065b (Reinhardt), and # A-994 (Koechling).
8 See FUSA G-2 Per Rpt 157, 14 Nov, 1st Div G-2 file, 15 18 Nov 44.
9 Order, OB WEST to A Gp B, 2245, 5 Nov 44, in OB WEST KTB, Anlagen, Befehle und Meldungen; MS # B-602, Generalleutnant Max Bork, Die 47.
VolksgrenadierDivision im Westen (V.G.D.)
10 FUSA Rpt, Vol. 1, P. 74.
11 Craven and Cate, eds., Europe: ARGUMENT to V-E Day, page 632, points out that statistical data on Operation QUEEN vary so widely in various operations reports and special studies "as to preclude reconciliation." The author has leaned heavily upon the conclusions in this source and on a contemporary ground report, Summary of Operations for 16 Nov 44, found in FUSA G-3 Tac file, 16-17 Nov 44. For results of the air strike, the historian has depended upon contemporary ground records, German sources, and three special reports: (1) FUSA, Effects of Our Air Attacks of November 16, 20-21 Nov 44; (2) NUSA, Operation "Q," A Study in Air Support, 23 Jan 45; and (3) Annex 2 to FUSA G-2 Per Rpt 165, 22 Nov 44, The Enemy's View of Our Air Support on 16 November. All in FUSA G-2 Tac file, 21 22 Nov 44.
12 391st Armd FA Bn, AAR, Nov 44; 3d Armd Div AAR, Nov 44.
13 1st Div G-3 Per Rpt 164, 16 Nov, 1st Div G-2 file, 15 18 Nov 44; 26th Inf S-3 Jnl, 16 Nov 44.
14 1st Div G-2 Per Rpt 152, 18 Nov, 1st Div G-2 file, 15 18 Nov 44.
15 FUSA AAR, Nov 44.
16 FUSA PWI Rpt, Incl 4 to VII Corps G-3 Per Rpt 167, 19 Nov, VII Corps G-3 Jn1 file, 20 Nov 44.
17 Annex 2 to FUSA G-2 Per Rpt 165, 22 Nov 44.
18 Craven and Cate, eds., Europe: ARGUMENT to V-E Day, p. 632, citing 8th AF and IX and XXIX TAC summaries and opns rpts.
19 See, for example, the Ninth Air Force and Its Principal Commands in the ETO, Vol. I, Ch. IL
20 FUSA G 2 Per Rpt 160, 17 Nov, FUSA G-2 Tac file, 17-18 NOV 44.
21 FUSA Arty Intel Rpt 156, 17 Nov, FUSA G-2 Tac Jnl, 18 Nov 44.
22 Annex 2 to FUSA G-2 Per Rpt 165, 22 Nov 45; MS # B-602 (Bork); Annex 3 to FUSA G-2 Per Rpt 166, 23 Nov, The Rise and Fall of the 47 V. G. Division, FUSA G-2 Tac file, 21-22 NOV 44.
23 FUSA AAR, NOV 44, Field Artillery Firing 16-23 November. The figures on number of rounds are estimates based upon FUSA's statistics of 450 light, 126 medium, and 108 heavy guns, and an expenditure of 1,087 tons of ammunition.
24 Statistics on Ground Effort, found in Hq IX TAC, Operation Q.
25 1st Div Intel Activities, NOV 44, dtd 1 Dec 44, found in 1st Div Combat Interv file, Nov 44.
26 1st Div FO 53, 6 Nov, 1st Div G-3 Opns Rpt, Nov 44. The division's records for the period are superior and include detailed journal entries. A small number of combat interviews supplement the official records.
27 In addition to 47th Infantry and 1st Division official records, a combat interview with Lt. Col. James D. Allgood, 1st Battalion, 47th Infantry, provides details on the 47th Infantry action. See 1st Div Combat Interv file, Nov 44.
28 Because Zangen and his staff of the Fifteenth Army had assumed command of Gruppe von Manteuffel only the day before the U.S. offensive, Manteuffel and his staff stayed on to assist until about 20 November. Orders apparently were prepared on a kind of informal "team" basis.
29 Order, Gruppe von Manteuffel to XII SS and LXXXI Corps, 2225, 16 Nov 44, LXXXI Corps KTB Anlagen, Befehle Heeresgruppe und Armee an Generalkommando, 24.X. 30.XI.44 (referred to hereafter as LXXXI Corps KTB, Bef. H. Gr. u. Armee).
30 For personally eliminating a machine gun and an antitank gun in the attack on Hamich, S. Sgt. Paul W. Robey, Jr., was awarded the DSC. For sweeping the road into Hamich with a mine detector in the face of intense enemy fire, an attached engineer, Cpl. Bertol C. Swanberg, also received the award.
31 As the one hundredth infantryman to be awarded the Medal of Honor, Sergeant Lindsey subsequently received the award from the hands of President Truman before a joint session of Congress. Other decorations for action in the Hamich sector included the posthumous award of the DSC to 1st Lt. Kenneth L. Johnson, Pfc. John W. Adams, Sgt. Alfred B. Nietzel, and S. Sgt. Robert D. Farmer.
32 TWX, Gruppe von Manteuffel to LXXXI Corps, 1800, 17 Nov 44, relaying Order, A Gp B to Gruppe von Manteuffel, LXXXI Corps KTB, Bef. H. Gr. u. Armee.
33 Order, Gruppe von Manteuffel to XII SS and LXXXI Corps, 0130, 18 Nov 44, LXXXI Corps KTB, Bef. H. Gr. u. Armee; LXXXI Corps Gelechtsbericht, AAR of 18 Nov 44.
34 This incident is based primarily on American sources, including 1st Div Intel Activities, Nov 44, and 1st Div G-2 Per Rpt 133, 19 Nov, in 1st Div G-2 file, 1920 Nov 44. Identifying the German officer as a Lieutenant Bayer, the 1st Division G-2 may have been confused by the name of the combat team commander, Colonel Bayer, of the 16th Panzer Grenadier Regiment.
35 In this and earlier firing during 18 November at Harnich, American artillery expended 5,350 rounds, almost two thirds of normal daily German expenditure along the entire LXXXI Corps front.
36 1st Div G-2 Per Rpt 153, 19 Nov 44, in 1st Div G-2 file, 19-20 Nov 44.
37 3d Armd Div FO 16, 9 Nov 44. Though no copy of this order can be found, the contents are given in some detail in the CCB AAR, Nov 44. AARs of the 3d Arind Div, CCB, and subordinate units contain valuable material on this action.
38 CCB AAR, Nov 44.
39 Colonel Mills was posthumously awarded the DSC.
40 Detailed statistics may be found in CCB AAR, Nov 44.
41 For details of the attack plan, see 104th Div FO 10, 9 Nov, 104th Div G-3 file, 9 Nov 44. The only sources for this section are the official records of the division and attached units, and a letter from General Allen to OCMH, 26 Apr 56. Hoegh and Doyle, Timberwolf Tracks, provides only a sketchy account of the opening phase of the November offensive. See pages 111-24. Combat interviews with the 104th Division cover only later actions.
42 See Arty Annex to 104th Div AAR, Nov 44, copy in 104th Div G-1 file, Nov 44. General Allen in his letter to OCMH, 26 April 1956, notes that a detailed program of division artillery fire was carried out.
43 104th Div G-3 Jnl, 18 Nov 44; Sylvan Diary, entry of 16 Nov 44.
44 Opns Order, LXXXI Corps to all divs, 1850, 16 Nov 44; Orders, LXXXI Corps to 12th Div, 1845, and to 12th and 47th VG Divs, 1929, 17 Nov 44. All in LXXXI Corps KTB, Befehle an Div.
45 OB WEST KTB, 17 Nov 44; LXXXI Corps KTB, Art. Lage u. Arty. Gliederungen.
46 Opns Order, LXXXI Corps to all divs, 1850, 16 Nov 44, LXXXI Corps KTB, Befehle an Div.
47 Details of the attack plans may be found in 4th Div FO 53, 7 Nov, and FO 53 revised, 15 Nov, both in 4th Div FO file, Oct Dec 44. The account of this period is based upon official unit records, combat interviews, and a narrative, Huertgen Forest Battle' written from the interviews by combat historians and found in 4th Div Combat Interv file, Nov 44.
48 MS # A-892 (Gersdorff ). At least one U.S. commander, General Oliver of the 5th Armored Division, could not understand why the Huertgen Forest was not pinched out by attacks from north and south. See Ltr, Oliver to OCMH, 4 Jul 56, OCMH.
49 Sylvan Diary, entry of 16 Nov 44.
50 See War Department FM 7-40 (9 Feb 42), P. 173.
51 Interv with Thorson, 12 Sept 56.
52 MSS # C-016 (Straube) and # A-891 (Gersdorff). German sources on Seventh Army operations during the latter part of November and early December are limited. The postwar German manuscripts provide almost the only material, although high level references in the A Gp B and OB WEST KTB's are pertinent. One of the postwar accounts is excellent: MS # B-810, Generalleutnant Hans Schmidt, Kaempfe im Rheinland 275. Infanterie Division, Part IV.
53 MS # B-810 (Schmidt).
54 Lieutenant Ray was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
55 MS # A-891 (Gersdorff) and ETHINT 57 (Gersdorff).
56 During the day, Maj. George L. Mabry, Jr., Who had just assumed command of the 8th Infantry's center battalion, advanced alone to find a path through a mine field. He captured three of the enemy and had resorted to hand tohand combat with nine others when his own scouts came to his aid. He subsequently received the Medal of Honor.
57 See V Corps Ltr of Instrs, 19 Nov 44, V Corps Operations in the ETO, p. 310.
58 4th Div FO 54, 20 Nov, 4th Div FO file, Oct Dec 44
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