Battle of the Hürtgenwald / Gr.Rgt.983 Group

[Willi Z.]

I just found the file. I was there with friends in Feb of 2018 doing a 26 km "in the footsteps of the 82nd Airborne" march in the Ardennes before heading there. Here is the German veteran, and some other views.

[Willi Z.]

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[Willi Z.]

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[matthias_AC]

I just found the file. I was there with friends in Feb of 2018 doing a 26 km "in the footsteps of the 82nd Airborne" march in the Ardennes before heading there. Here is the German veteran, and some other views.

Thanks for the additional pictures, definitely the same place!

What unit/division was the veteran part of?

[Willi Z.]

89. Infanterie Division.

[InfanterieSammler]

It's amazing how a simple thread about a Soldbuch with a couple of Nahkampftage entries has evolved in this.



Matthias and Willi, thank you both for posting the additional photos!


Matthias, I appreciate you taking the time to explore and look for Bunker 112. It's a shame you were not able to find it. The fact that it is not in the brochure as a "historic site" may indeed be a bad sign. Your last photo of the forest really gives a feel for what it must have been like for the US troops trying to make their way though. It could not be easy to orient one's self surrounded such a dense growth of trees.


John D.

[Willi Z.]

John, I have used "Traces of War" to look up battlefields and monuments when I travel to Europe. On all wars: Napoleonic, Franco-Prussian, Eastern Front, etc. Here is the Hürtgenwald lookup. Use the map to zoom out to find where sites are, then zoom in.

https://www.tracesofwar.com/search.asp?q=H%FCrtgenwald

[matthias_AC]

John, I have used "Traces of War" to look up battlefields and monuments when I travel to Europe. On all wars: Napoleonic, Franco-Prussian, Eastern Front, etc. Here is the Hürtgenwald lookup. Use the map to zoom out to find where sites are, then zoom in.

https://www.tracesofwar.com/search.asp?q=H%FCrtgenwald

According to this site Bunker 112 should still be visible left of the footpath, where I actually assumed I´d find something. I checked this exact area carefully (its not even big, approx. 50 metres from the footpath to the road, check picture 1) and I am 100% sure there wasn´t even a small piece of cement lying around.

[Ludwig]

Very nice Soldbuch and a very interesting thread!

[InfanterieSammler]

John, I have used "Traces of War" to look up battlefields and monuments when I travel to Europe. On all wars: Napoleonic, Franco-Prussian, Eastern Front, etc. Here is the Hürtgenwald lookup. Use the map to zoom out to find where sites are, then zoom in.

https://www.tracesofwar.com/search.asp?q=H%FCrtgenwald

Hi Willi,


Great site - thanks for sharing!


Here is exactly what they show...

[InfanterieSammler]

As expected we did not find anything that looked like a bunker, so we were right with our assumption. But about 50 metres from where bunker 112 should have been we found a memorial for 4 soldiers (2 US, 1 unknown/unidentified German) who obviously we killed right there, maybe attacking/defending bunker 112!? And maybe the German soldier knew the owner of Johns Soldbuch??

Hi Matthias,

This is a really interesting theory and one that must be possible considering the proximity of the bunker and the memorial.

John

[Willi Z.]

Welcome John. I have used that website with great success. I was near my Father's village in what is now Poland, and I was able to find the bunkers of Festung Schneidemühle in the woods with it.

[InfanterieSammler]

Wondering if it's possible to determine which direction Bunker 112 faced?

John

[InfanterieSammler]

Well, we can put one theory to rest...A quick search online and I've found that the two US soldiers killed, were killed on 13 and 15 December. Gefreiter Lechner was in a field hospital by 8 November, so they soldiers would not have crossed paths. It's still possible that the US soldiers had engaged Bunker 112, however Gefreiter Lechner was long gone by that point.


John

[Simon H]

The bunkers of the Schill line in this part of the forest face predominently WNW. Bunker 112 is (or was indeed to the left of the Mittelweg minor road track. Bunker 111 was on the site of the Owl head parking area.

Cahow was killed during a casualty rescue mission on December 13th 1944, he had volunteered with 2 other men to enter the woods near Bunker 112 to attempt to locate and recover wounded comrades. Unfortunately Robert Cahow set off a mine and the resulting small arms fire drove back his comrades who were unable to come to his rescue.

Somewhere in an album I have photos of Bunker 112, which was later blown up by the Corps of Engineers, there was very little left of it at all when I visited it.