AMERICAN FIRST ARMY - AACHEN TO THE ROER RIVER

AMERICAN FIRST ARMY - AACHEN TO THE ROER RIVER - Department of Defense 1948 - PIN 20340 - ADVANCE BY THE 1ST ARMY: 1ST, 9TH, 28TH, 83D, 104TH DIVISIONS, AND 3D ARMORED DIVISION.

[@bobbyhulsey1691]

My dad was there with the 18th Infantry Regiment Company C.

[@TJ24050]

I was in Alpha company in Baghdad 06-07. Did he ever mentioned his CO named Bobbie Brown or crucifix hill?

[@edwardgilmour9013]

They brushed over the stupidity of the Heutgen Forest fiasco; 24,000 casualties from just the 28th division alone.

[@reddeserted13]

The enemy was there and had to be destroyed. Can't go around an army like that, else the Germans would have had free range in the rear of the Allied advance.

[@00crusader1973]

The U.S. 28TH Infantry division was totally mauled in the Hurtgen forest, then they got to rest and rebuild in the Ardennes. They got mauled in that battle also, they totally didn't need to have been at Hurtgen first.

[@Jklopoppcorn]

I mean they would’ve had to have take it at some point, hitler was already sending troops over there, if the allies wanted to spearhead through Germany, those thousands of German troops would cause a lot of trouble and threaten to flank the advance into the heartland of Germany.

[@johnfranklin1955]

The power of American industry and transport, the logistics of putting the men and supplies from the US into Europe was overwhelming!

[@adriaanverhulst820]

Ga zo verder mooi

[@robsan52]

It's only to bad that the American General Staff were so incompetent compared to the German and British General Staff...I've always thought, after reading 40 years of WW2 history, that American Gen. Staff deserve a solid C- in ability...though there were individual American generals with competent abilities...but for every good yank General there were five German Generals that were intelligent and extremely competent. Yes thank God America had the industrial might to defeat Germany, Italy and Japan.

[@mrpaddy3318]

and the other 50 nations

[@Chiller01]

@@robsan52 A seriously Anglophilic viewpoint. The Hurtgen Forest was a terrible mistake but then so was Market/Garden. The British campaign through Normandy was fraught with miscalculation and poor coordination. For every defeat at the Philippines there was a Singapore. For every Kasserine there was a Gazala. I really dislike these parochial arguments about the superiority of one nation’s army over another. There were plenty of German tactical blunders. In general terms their high command had some tactical strengths but strategically they were a disaster. Apparently your 40 years of reading failed to provide much of a perspective.

[@williamlydon2554]

Thanks for NOT putting a watermark on this. The film is excellent.

[@herodlowery9923]

My dad (1924-93) was there in the First Army, 544th Ordnance.

[@ehkuwah4539]

Lol

[@jakejohnson4657]

@@ehkuwah4539 what is funny

[@quasimodo8215]

I am very pleased and thankful that your father successfully came out of that hall. I also hope that he had good life after the war.

[@herodlowery9923]

@@quasimodo8215 How very kind of you to say that! My dad was the toughest guy I've ever known. He turned out to be the greatest salesman in the history of the California oil industry. He left us in 1993 at 68 and I STILL hear stories about my dad from guys that worked with or for him. Thanks again!

[@celticman5038]

Then it was the battle of the bulge! Those guys that suffered through the Hurtgen forest fighting were overshadowed by the headlines of the bulge. Gen. Omar Bradley said that Simpson and Hodges were excellent, dependable Officers, but never got the credit they deserved because of glory hounds like Patton, Montgomery, and Mac Arthur hoarding up headlines. Gen. Hodges was a patient, meticulous Officer whose temperament was suited for the stubborn, flustrating, tedious Hurtgen Forest campaign. Patton would have been a disaster in that campaign.

[@richardfabrizio8998]

celticman my father was there 4 th infantry. Very true

[@zdzichus.3264]

Montgomery was a mason and an idiot...

[@zdzichus.3264]

and a war criminal - in SU he would be shot a few years earlier... or after... anyway - there would be no monuments of this... I lack the word...

[@awarriorscall1]

The Hurtgen forest was the worst disaster of all ww2. The brass that sent them men in there should of been hanged. It doesn't matter who sent them in there. There`s some good books on amazon about it.God Bless any man who stepped into that nightmare.

[@aeriacross770]

Awarriorscall1 exactly. The Germans just loved it when they went into hurtgen. That was hell. Indeed MacArthur was a glory hound. He was generally positively perceived in Philippine history because we’re grateful like that. But the idiot could have spared Manila and went straight to the central plains where the Japanese forces were actually rerouting their resources. But no... He had to have glory and fulfill his promise and reclaim Manila. Because of that, Manila was leveled, civilians were wantonly killed and raped, and it was one of the greatest casualties in the second world war just after Krakow and Berlin. It’s considered the Asian Stalingrad.

[@vivians9392]

I laughed at the soldier at the end of this episode who was carrying the red hen...He wanted a good chicken dinner further down the road!

[@vivians9392]

A dedicated farm boy, no doubt!

[@mictreful]

I served with the 8th Infantry Division `72-`74 in our mess hall well had a large mural painted on the walls depicting the battle in the forest I was with the 2/13 Inf Bn

[@jeankroeber4841]

My father was in this dreadful battle after having survived the Normandy invasion at Omaha Beach; then the Ardennes and Luxembourg. He and his men were also at Bergen Belsen three days after the British "liberated" the camp. He went to people's houses, told them to bring shovels, and brought them into the horrors of one of the camps with the bodies piled all over. He said "Dig". They all said "we didn't know". Some of our Dutch relatives were among the corpses. He fought all the way to Berlin where he was in hand-to-hand combat. He was in Company "D", 109th Inf. Reg., 28th Inf. Div. He was awarded several medals...not nearly enough for the slaughter and the horrors. Jean Santilhano Kroeber

[@mrsillywalk]

They were brave men who have my thanks, your father included! I worked with old British soldiers who were in Belsen.

[@batch1638]

Ditto my Uncle Paul A.Scopa

[@errickflesch5565]

Much respect to your father. Brave men. Not like these snowflakes of today. My courage has never been tested in battle. I'm 57 and am glad I didn't. Not that I couldn't, I just couldn't imagine all the horrors these men faced...not only in WW2 but all the wars prior and after. War is indeed hell.

[@64MDW]

God bless your Dad. The Germans knew...they knew.

[@justinhealey2408]

crazy crazy stuff he saw

[@gotrythym]

My Dad was there. PFC Audrey Clayton: 1st Army, 9th Infantry Division, 39th Infantry Regiment, Company C. under Lieutenant Cain, (or Kane?). Dad's feet were frozen badly between Schevenhutte and Duren. He had to run on his heels, hobble really. His Company was pinned down by German artillery for several days. He was in a fox hole with his Sergeant who had a premonition that he was about to be killed. He carried pictures of his girlfriend and would pull them out of his pocket and weep and say he felt like his luck was running out. Sergeant Richard B. Faulhaber had already been in fighting in since early '43 in N. Africa and France. Dad had just caught up with the front lines in September of '44 somewhere east of Paris as a green replacement troop. Sgt. Faulhaber was KIA on December 11, 1944. He was from Adrian, MI. A few days after they "jumped off" from that pinned down position to attack forward, Faulhaber was shot by a sniper. This saved my Dad's life. I wouldn't be here if not for Sgt. Faulhaber. If anyone wants to hear the details I will gladly tell the story. Dad died at age 84 in 2009. Faulhaber was just 21. RIP Dad. RIP Sgt. Faulhaber

[@Overnity]

God Bless those good Boys the best America Had, Never to be bettered...

[@erichkaufmann5284]

Aachen the first city to be captured in WW2 literally

[@erichkaufmann5284]

Overnity German

[@stewiehig901]

hahahahahahaha

[@string-bag]

Bless them all.

[@jdh91741]

Seeing this young men firing 30.06 rounds of rifles and machine guns without hearing protection will make them all have tinnitus, hearing impairment or total hearing loss when they reach middle age. No one returns from war whole. Everyone suffers.

[@redtobertshateshandles]

I've fired 30-06 military rounds from a short Mauser. I think that they were pretty mild.

[@9thInfantryDivisioninWWII]

Great documentary. The Hurtgen Campaign is often overlooked.

[@EXTERMINADORJAVIER]

OMG i mean great that i cann see pictures from the 2 war in my own town

[@michaeltolsdorf865]

Remember, most footage occurred in a controlled area, not actual combat conditions.

[@manbunnmcfanypakjustacoolg4965]

I wonder if one of the men juat walking by the camera or in a foxhole or the back of a truck could be my grandfather.

[@generalsaufenberg4931]

operation clipper was the operation against my hometown Geilenkirchen. my family lived nearby in small villages called Beeck and Prummern, it was part of the siegfried line, and there was heavy fighting in this region. the americans blew up the house of my family. nobody was harmed, because they were in a cellar nearby, and the men at the front somewhere else. most of them at the eastern front.

[@kellyreim6627]

my dad was 104 inf 329 eng his capt was max eisner

[@mannyv77]

Kelly Reim My grandfather was 104th 415 regiment Company I. If you are not already a member of the Timberwolf Pup Association on FB, please join. Would love to you have you. facebook.com/groups/105790052814598/ I've read stories about your father Capt. Eisner. Sounded like a great man.

[@EXTERMINADORJAVIER]

Greeaat!!

[@gizmo4eval]

I heard 17,000 American soldiers died in the hurtgen forest, what a murder game!

[@TheLookingOne]

Was the Big Red 1 division in the First Army at Aachen?

[@arkansaswookie]

Soldiers remains are still being discovered to this day there, both American and German.

[@MaskHysteria]

Aachen is renowned for its natural hot springs. Hopefully some of our GI's had a chance to relax and enjoy them before shipping out.

[@shanemoore8055]

Eschweiler.....i`m surprised they took this town in Nov 1944, i thought they took it in March 1945, i lived near this area as kid, i used to catch trout in the Eschweiler bach, Bad Muenstereifel is only 10 km to the east, it wasnt taken until early March 1945, they must have stalled their advance into Germany for over 3 months at some stage, amazing

[@shannonpinion5729]

yes the battle of the bulge happened and Patton's army had to go deal with Pipers Panzers and Grenadiers this delayed allied advance for almost 90 days

[@shanemoore8055]

@@buttmunch74 ......go to bad muenstereifel, head towards Iversheim, just before you reach Iversheim, there`s a steam that flows into the Erft, its called Eschweiler Bach, if you have a detailed map, it should show you, Petri Heil

[@fritzschulze6613]

It´s not Eschweiler near Münstereifel, but Eschweiler between Aachen and Düren.

[@tkelly411]

what followed the progress in the hurtgen forest,was a couple weeks,so the guys thought,of rest,,fires for hot chow,fresh snow melted water,then christmas,then,all hell cut loose

[@bobbyhulsey1691]

Yes, that was his company commander.

[@pavel9652]

This is a very interesting video. I have just seen a documentary video on the battle for Hurtgen Forest, and it was called there the meat grinder. Over 60k people have died on both sides.

[@marioroth2987]

In der heutigen Zeit wäre die Quantität der Qualität hoffnungslos unterlegen! Nur gut das es früher anders war!

[@SabraStiehl]

The Germans kept their most promising young officers after WW I and groomed them during the 20s and 30s as they aged and matured, whereas the American military, due to isolationist congressmen denying appropriations junked their WW I officer corps and as WW II loomed on the horizon only began large-scale maneuvers in 1940 in CA. After that they practiced and eliminated deadwood in LA and the Carolinas with outdated or nonexistent equipment. More deadwood was culled in N. Africa, but not all.

[@warrenwarburtonesq.6884]

A few years back I went to the cite of the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest to walk the Kall Trail. The battle took place in and around the villages of Schmidt and Vossenack down one side of a very deep ravine and up the other side along the Kall Trail. I visited the area a few years back and have posted a video of my walk on the Kall Trail. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pniWlmCQZst-mKc For some reason the video starts about 5 seconds into the video, so just back it up those 5 seconds for the full vid.

[@MaximusDesimusMeridius]

My uncle max alcantar was in the 104 th division. 415 th reg company K

[@claudiograeff6334]

Schow!👏👏👏

[@MonkPetite]

Check out the #200.000 st gerry POW ! He got a sign hung to his chest.

[@vivians9392]

I'm sure he was NOT happy to be a walking billboard! Bet he didn't brag about it after the war...

[@davis7099]

Brave, brave men of the greatest generation. It baffles me to this day as someone interested in the history of the times as to why were the men forced to take the forest when moving around it , encircling it would have had the same effect without the massive loss of life.?

[@jakejohnson4657]

Then the generals wouldn't get any glory you see how mad mcarthur was he didn't get to invade japan

[@shirleybalinski4535]

I have wondered this too.Yet, without taking the center, you leave a " Bulge" which can lead to flanking or encircling from the rear as an enemy pours men & material into the opening. Does this sound reasonable? Remember this almost happened a short time later with the infamous Battle of the Bulge. Could or would Germany have been able to take the Hurtgen is debatable. Perhaps, more casualties, more stalemate, more delay..it all matters in war. Glory to commanders can certainly play its part though I suspect that can be more a political theory on both observers( 80 years later) & commanders further up the line including those sitting in DC.

[@SabraStiehl]

The point I was trying to make with my other blurb today was that we Americans did damn well in WW II based on the late start we had. We only lost 39,000 with 200,000 wounded in WW I (besides 69,000 who died in Europe from influenza, the Spanish flu), minuscule numbers compared to the European combatants, but somehow isolationism reared its head and kept the U.S. from electing people who would have gotten us ready for WW II. Our huge industrial base helped immeasurably after we got it started.

[@CharlesvanDijk-ir6bl]

If Hitler had not declared war to the US history would have been different. Biggest mistake he made maybe 2nd mistake he invaded Russia without the formality of declaring war. The die was cast for the 2nd half of the 20th century.

[@rayz639]

“Only 39,000” and it’s not America’s place to get involved in European affairs. Why should an American president send young men to die half way across the world to fight for rival nations?

[@mrsillywalk]

@@rayz639 Why? The guy told you why in his post. Can you not see it. Germany declared war on the US! Do you not know your own history?

[@mrsillywalk]

By the time of Operation Torch the best of the Nazi troops had been beaten and the US faced the "B" division. Ask any Russian or Brit.Kudos to the American troops who fought.

[@vivians9392]

@@CharlesvanDijk-ir6bl Hitler invaded Russia, just like the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and China...cowardly, brutal murderers. They all paid, once the Allies caught up to speed with them, through building men, weapons and supplies. The Japanese Naval officer who said after Pearl Harbor, "I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant"... was SO, SO right.

[@taciturno1970]

👍👍👍

[@candyextreme8406]

1:47 - "Kaput"

[@geraldbostock9858]

What is the wheeled armor at 19:00?

[@evan8654]

Looks like a Sherman or m4 tank.

[@batch1638]

AMC Rambler

[@JohnSmith-fb7nz]

When America didn't need to be made great again because it already was.

[@marcobreuer4591]

They still finding dead soldiers here in Schmidt. So many people died here in the Hurtgen forest. This old propaganda movie showes nothing of the dieing. I hope one day people stop fighting each other like this.

[@davemaxa5263]

@@lindablouin5530 Irrelevant - they lost.

[@eloimumford5247]

So true what you wrote ...compare to what they did to every other country , allies soldiers were mercifull and human...SHAME on Nazis.

[@charris5700]

@uh wot The Germans at that time had the best & most well rounded army in the world. That cannot be denied. That's one reason that its evident to have taken a whole list of allied countries to finally defeat Germany, and requiring several years to do it. Another reason is this was a true World War with many countries fully involved. The scale of it was massive. This war was fought on the ground, in the sky, on the ocean and even beneath the oceans surface which was a particularly devastating and hard way to do battle when one side had a slight edge over the other. Germany planned and built up it's army for about 5 or 6 years before it started the campaign that would trigger the 'World War' that it was inevitable to become. German divisions of infantry and Armor and Air force were very strong and skilled through out most of the war especially in the beginning. It is much easier for a country to steamroll another countries army when the invader has the element of surprise and has prepared with massive production of tanks, airplanes, U-boats, artillery, machine guns, and a conscripted infantry consisting of millions of well prepared and motivated soldiers. To sum that up; Poland didn't stand a chance, especially since the soviets invaded shortly after from the other side. 2 powerful armies blitzed their way through in less than a month to meet in the middle. Despite Poland being very unprepared having inferior tanks, almost no air force, almost no naval force or geography to use it, small variety of guns, and neglect to build up their military for years as they watched Germany build up their forces well beyond adequate levels, Poland still inflicted 10,000 kills and hundreds of destroyed vehicles on the Germans while being invaded without warning. So one of the main reasons for Germany's great success and speed at which they conquered Poland, Belgium and France is that these countries were not prepared with adequate equipment and # of well trained divisions to fight an even war against Germany that had a very well prepared and modern military that also attacked with very little warning and attacked with extreme speed and tenacity thag none of these countries stood a chance when fighting 1 vs 1 agonist the Germans, and fortunately for Hitler and the Wehrmact that is exactly what happened. Also Britain was accross the channel and after their little BEF divisions were pushed into the ocean along with the French by a massive fast group of armored divisions and infantry lead by excellent comanders, it took some time and planning before Britain could strike back effectively with the help of the USA, Canada and Russia who would all face their own inadequacy and learning experiences in the beginning as well. So Germany did well and fought effectively early on because they had the most prepared military and they invaded the hell out of every country they decided to fight and that gives the massive advantage of surprise. The Russians got steam rolled all the way to the gates of Moscow before the german armies came to a dead stop and the wheels fell off even though they cut far into Russia and stretched supply lines to the brink. By that time it was full on retreat and Russia had built up huge numbers of divisions: Armor, Aircraft and artillery. Numbers that alone would be difficult for Germany to keep up with. By this time the western allies also had a steady warpath with top of the line fighter planes/bombers/ battle ships and aircraft carriers + an amazing number of tanks coming for Germany as well and it was basically already over before the allies even made it into Germany...It was just a matter of time before all those soldiers and machine's of war blasted their way in. They didn't stand a chance with 3 or 4 well equipped armies and industrial/logistical speed to match it. They fought hard til the very end though and they never totally crumbled despite losing all the best generals and large numbers of armor and aircraft.

[@vivians9392]

@@lindablouin5530 It wasn't written in the stars (literally) for Germany to win the war. They had caused too much death and destruction in Europe, and eventually, God makes them pay. Game over, Hitler and cronies!

[@vivians9392]

@@davemaxa5263 Nothing was "irrelevant" concerning this war!

[@markfoor4137]

I was a member of the 110th Inf Regiment /28th ID during the late 70's.

[@samiam5557]

Kilroy was there!

[@paxwallacejazz]

This is of course our propaganda but it is completely commonly understood that not pursuing the fleeing Germans in disarray from Dday was an extremely costly mistake this allowed the Germans to reorganize and prepare for our offensive. They were delighted that we chose to move through the Hürtgen Forrest because they were ready to the tune of 20,000 US personnel. Watch "Hurtigan 1944 America's meat grinder" Mark Felton productions

[@JRandallS]

Every time I watch anything about the Hurtgen forest I wonder why the allies didn't use incendiaries to just burn it to the ground. Watch the weather for a strong wind, and set fires from on high.

[@vivians9392]

How much land mass did the Hurtgen cover? If we had done that guess you would've burned down Germany all the way to Berlin, too?

[@JRandallS]

@@vivians9392 No of course not. It was a forest. No obvious advantage. Except that you could hide a large force within it that you did not want behind your lines. Eisenhower had this idea of an unbroken advancing line. It was so large that they could not easily surround it and starve them out, besides the fact that deciding to sit there and wait for slow results will mean that thousands more will die in non-liberated concentration camps. War is an ugly business. A forest can regrow, but all those lives cut down removed something from us as a country.

[@Chiller01]

They could and should have bypassed it to reach the Ruhr dams. It was so wet that fall and winter that nothing would have burned. Hodges should have been relieved of command.

[@asmodeus0454]

I wonder if the Germans fought as fiercely against American troops in the West as they did against the Soviets in the East.

[@danielgreen3715]

A Temporary action was it the Hurtgen!??? Me thinks not!!

[@JohnRidersoldoutforjesus]

Why do they never show people what war really looks like??? Maybe if they did, we would have less of it. But I think I just answered my question.

[@gertvanpeet3120]

The battle of the Huertgen forest was not a succes. It took 6 months. Tanks could not be used in the Woods. The battle of the Bulge came in between, Just a few miles South. Only after that the way to the Rur lakes was possible.

[@harleyblue999]

Cathedral flyover you not find that odd at the beginning,where was the Church.

[@dalj4362]

Wow, whole towns and cities destroyed. All the poor people lost their homes. Must have taken years to rebuild.

[@JRT176]

Yeah, it just shows how unprofessional and incompetent our military could be at times. It tends to be forgotten because the Allies won.

[@CharlesvanDijk-ir6bl]

Win or lose an American GI would still go home, with European combatants it was different.If they lost they would be at best social outcast for the next 25 years. Germans were called Krauts, Boche , Moffen among others, I visited Europe last time in 1991 and then I was told they were called German nowadays.

[@antoinettelamontagna9999]

Truly Our Greatest Generation!

[@oldfan1963]

the meat grinder

[@KeniKeni-fu5fm]

Это вам не восточный фронт ((( как в кино((

[@Srki99Production]

Greetings from Serbia

[@adamanderson3042]

This film was made in 1948 and when referring to the Army Air Corps they call it 'air force', pretty big inaccuracy from the Department of DEFENCE merely 3 years after the war had ended. The air force was only created after the war.

[@SabraStiehl]

Let's face it, the brass at the top on the Allied side generally sucked. Nimitz and some others shone, but they were in the minority. A lot of it on the American side was due to the fact that isolationism retarded military growth so long that those thrust to the top were ill-selected and ill-prepared. On the British side, since they were a bunch of peacocks, anybody who wasn't addressed as 'sir' regardless of ability had a very difficult time making it up through the maze of sirs above him.

[@robertmiller1299]

Sabra S Montgomery, Alan Brooke and Slim amongst others do not fit your description.

[@johnrobinson9639]

This is raw. I hate seeing our boys hurt

[@lindablouin5530]

The Germans were no joke,,,they ,at that time,,would have beaten any one of the allied countries or Russia one on one

[@rapier1954]

not at this point in the war the US industrial capacity was too great turning out so much equipment that Germany whose capacity was bombed badly could not match it.

[@gabenewell3955]

rapier1954 Farrell true but both starting from scratch Germany would most likely have won or forced a peace treaty

[@williamsnyder5616]

No one is denying the ability nor skill of the German soldier. But what were the Germans fighting for? Racial superiority and conquest of the world. It was bad enough that Hitler and his cronies used the Great Depression as a means for gaining power, but to force their ideals on the rest of the world, well, they got what they deserved. Apologists for Hitler are just angry because their alleged machismo is exposed for the selfishness they had. No excuses. Just band over for the spanking you got...and probably wished for.

[@steroidstar1267]

Linda ist just saying, that at 1939, if you would pick any army (english, French, French+English, French+English+polish, Russian, american, etc) and put them on a battlefield 1vs1 with the german army. The Germans would win. They had the best equipped and technological most advanced army

[@vivians9392]

BUT, not at the same time as Hitler chose to try in his insanity. Exactly what super powers did Hitler think little Germany had, even with it's small country takeovers, against the USA and Russia? His manpower ran out, as well as food.

[@fabiosantos-qv6zd]

Are these videos in the public domain?

[@erichkaufmann5284]

Aachen was the first german city to be captured in WW2 fun fact

[@KeniKeni-fu5fm]

((( этих людей уже давно неосталось в этом мире ((

[@SabraStiehl]

American First Army commander, Courtney Hodges, was a West Point washout who enlisted in the Army, was commissioned and rose through the ranks. Third Army commander, George Patton, was a West Point washback. In those days when someone flunked a course at a military academy they took a turnout exam. Those who passed continued with their class, but those who flunked were either washed back a year or thrown out of school, depending on how badly they flunked and/or what the brass thought of them.

[@mike89128]

Hodges should have been court-martialed for incompetence for the Battle of the Hurtgen Forest. Totally unnecessary. German generals captured after the war, expressed amazement that Hodges didn't flank the forest and move onto the plain excellent tank country.

[@periesicsd]

Propaganda on both sides was great.

[@anakin924]

make Germany great again!!

[@quasimodo8215]

Do you mean "Stupid again" ?

[@hinkel1980]

brave german soldiers!!