hypohystericalhistory

The Battle of the Hurtgen Forest Part 2: Disaster at Schmidt

The Battle of Schmidt is one of the worst divisional actions that was fought by the United States Army during the Second World War. In many ways it exemplifies the waste, horror and carnage of the wider Hurtgen Forest campaign. After breaking through the Westwall defenses around the village of Vossenack, the 28th Infantry Division would find itself in a fight for its very survival as the ubiquitous German counterattack threatened to destroy the entire formation. Despite its battered state, in the depths of the Hurtgenwald the Wehrmacht would show once again just how formidable a military force it could be. 0:00 Dutch Cota and Omaha Beach 16:49 The Keystone Division Prepares to Enter the Forest 36:20 The Advance to Schmidt; Blood, Dirt and Trees 47:19 The Germans React 1:00:15 Kommerscheidt and the Kall 1:14:03 The Vossenack Collapse; adversity or catastrophe? 1:24:50 Post Mortem