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Loading... The Battle of the Huertgen Forestby Charles B. MacDonald
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A study of the meat grinder battle between the German army and the Americans up on the Belgian/German border before the Battle of the bulge. The Americans were making a try at reaching the Ruhr Valley before winter really set in, and the Germans were not going to allow that. The mapping is not great, but the prose is clear. I read this book in June of 1964, so this is a reprint, arguing that it is a useful study. ( ) no reviews | add a review
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In September 1944, three months after the invasion of Normandy, the Allied armies prepared to push the German forces back into their homeland. Just south of the city of Aachen, elements of the U.S. First Army began an advance through the imposing Huertgen Forest. Instead of retreating, as the Allied command anticipated, the German troops prepared an elaborate defense of Huertgen, resulting in a struggle where tanks, infantry, and artillery dueled at close range. The battle for the forest ended abruptly in December, when a sudden German offensive through the Ardennes to the south forced the Allied armies to fall back, regroup, and start their attack again, this time culminating in the collapse of the Nazi regime in May 1945. In The Battle of the Huertgen Forest, Charles B. MacDonald assesses this major American operation, discussing the opposing forces on the eve of the battle and offering a clearly written and well-documented history of the battle and the bitter consequences of the American move into the forest. Drawing on his own combat experience, MacDonald portrays both the American and the German troops with empathy and convincingly demonstrates the flaws in the American strategy. The book provides an insight into command decisions at both local and staff levels and the lessons that can be drawn from one of the bloodiest battles of World War II. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)940.54213551History and Geography Europe Europe 1918- Military History Of World War II Campaigns and battles by theatre European theatre Germany & Central EuropeLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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