The Mortarmen

Product Description

A heroic and heretofore untold story of the men of the 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion and their 326 days of combat in Europe during World War II.

Customer Reviews:

Great World War II Book.......2007-09-27

This is one of the best World War II books I have ever read. It mixes the well written history of the battles with the personal stories of the men who fought them. It does a great job of bringing the heroism of the greatest generation to life.

A Great Story Poorly Told.......2007-05-14

This book tells an interesting story. One of my college classmates was a member of the 87th Chemical Mortar Battalion - the subject of this book - and found the information to be accurate. However, it is a self-published book and suffers from the major shortcoming of that genre: a lack of copyediting and proofreading. The very first paragraph of Chapter 1 contains a typographical error, a punctuation error, and a grammatical error. Because of errors like these, the book is sometimes difficult for a person like me -- a retired editor -- to read. Nevertheless, I found it worth the effort.

The Mortarmen.......2006-12-22

For years I have always wanted to study the basics of World War II, but just never found the time. In reading this book, I have received such a personal, up front view of World War II - more than I think I could have gotten elsewhere, and in much less time!!! It seems to be a "magnifying glass" of that spot in history. Thanks, Michael Connelly!!!!

Wanda K. Perry

a reader from Louisiana.......2006-09-07

This is a fantastic book about World War II. At times I felt like I was right there with the men of the 87th who fought their way across Europe. The book is full of history, but more importantly it is full of the stories of the men who fought the war. It tells you their story and you can't help but get caught up in this great tale. Michael Connelly is a master story teller.

A really greaat subject told very badly.......2006-09-06

I was looking forward to this book to arrive. Having read several other books about the Battle of the Bulge and related topics. This is a great story about very heroic men just doing their job. Unfortunately it is written so poorly that I must caution you here. If you have not reward any other WWII book, I suggest reading any of the following first

- Anything by Donald R. Burgett, Especially 7 Roads to Hell
- Band of Brothers (although 7 roads I felt was even better)
- Black Devil Brigade

The thing about these books mentioned is that they deal with the battles and they let you meet, and get to know, the men that fought. When reading Mortarmen I felt like it went like this, " Then the major ran up to the bunker and gave his orders to the leader in the bunker. Then the bunker leader fired his mortar and killed a bunch of Nazi's". I am not kidding. In the 7 Roads to Hell, there was the description of a black mortar team and how well they worked. I got more out of those 3-4 pages than I did with this book.

I love this topic, to the author I offer the following:

1. Please let us know about the soldiers personally
2. Describe in depth how these mortars, and the other weapon work. People that buy these books really want to know this.

I wish you all the best in the next revision

Average customer rating:

Can you handle the truth?
The Battle of Hurtgen Forest
Attrition at its worse
Excellent short history
First Huertgen Forest Account Returns

The Battle of Hurtgen Forest
Charles B. MacDonald
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945
A Time for Trumpets: The Untold Story of the Battle of the Bulge
Hell In Hurtgen Forest: The Ordeal And Triumph Of An American Infantry Regiment (Modern War Studies)
Battle: The Story of the Bulge
If You Survive: From Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge to the End of World War II, One American Officer's Riveting True Story

ASIN: 0812218310

Book Description

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

Customer Reviews:

Can you handle the truth?.......2007-06-09

As a professional military officer, I found this work interesting and full of great details. I caution readers that are not familiar with the military to understand that this book may be dry or difficult to understand. I am a huge fan of Mr. McDonald and referenced his other work "Company Commander" while I was in command of a company myself. Informative, opinionated, and solid are the words I use to describe this book.

The Battle of Hurtgen Forest.......2006-03-14

Excellent book. Kept your interst while describing the tactics and intricacies of war.

Attrition at its worse.......2003-05-01

MacDonald's text is the original non-scholarly texts written on this battle, he does however reference many Allied and German war records and unit histories as well as personal accounts of troops who were present. His credentials as a military historian are also well established adding significant value to this work.
This text is very well written and is the origin for many of the theories that are often repeated with regards to this battle - specifically that it was a useless use of manpower and that it never had the proper goals or objectives (the Roer River Dams specifically). Indeed, MacDonald quotes German commanders puzzlement about why the Americans were making such strong attacks into the forest.
Hindsight makes us wonder why the attack into the forest was pressed Division by Division with the loss of armored, artillery and air support and indeed the forest and the Germans extracted a heavy toll. Indeed one wonders why an airborne attack at the Roer River Dams coupled with a an armored push north (the Aachen Gap) and South (to the Roer) was not used to isolate the forest defenders, especially when one considers what was accomplished in the Falaise and Roer Pockets by the Allies or in the numerous encirclements achieved by the Wehrmacht on the Ostfront. Instead it appears that Eisenhower's broad front strategy condemned many soldiers to slugging it out yard by yard in the forest.
Regardless of the opinions or analysis aided by nearly 60 years of time - this is an excellent text and well worth reading as an insight into some of the hardest combat the allies saw in the ETO.

Excellent short history.......2003-01-26

Charles MacDonald covers a lot of the same ground in "Siegfried Line" and "Three Battles", and those books have nicer maps. This book has the advantage of focusing on the Forest only (up to the Battle of the Bulge), and is fair and readable in the typical MacDonald style. For what the book is meant to be (i.e. popular history), it's superb. Other sources will have more detailed descriptions of certain battles and better maps.

First Huertgen Forest Account Returns.......2002-09-13

The late Charles B MacDonald served as an officer of infantry in World War II and later became a civilian historian in the U.S. Army's historical division. His memoir, _Company Commander_ has enjoyed classic status. He also contributed three volumes to the Official History of the U.S. Army in World War II, commonly known as the "Green Books." This work, first published in 1963, still holds a valued place in World War II historiography.Although such recent authors as Gerald Astor (The Bloody Forest, 2000), Edward G. Miller (A Dark and Bloody Ground, 1995) and Robert Sterling Rush (Hell in Hurtgen Forest, 2001) have contributed new studies that take advantage of the latest sources, they all owe a debt of gratitude to MacDonald. MacDonald was the first to argue that the American planners failed to appreciate the importance of the Roer River dams as a primary objective of the Huertgen Forest campaign. He was also the first to state the Huertgen Forest was a wasteful squander of American lives and should have been avoided. Again, he was the first to criticize the American leadership for not fully comprehending the detrimental affects of the rugged terrain, the staunch German defence, and the harsh weather conditions that was indicative of the slaughter in the Huertgen Forest. These three basic themes would provide a basis for Astor, Miller, Rush, and others attempting to provide any future analysis of the campaign. MacDonald places the initial probes into the forest in September, 1944; the failure of the 9th Division in October; the decimation of the 28th Division in early November; and the final breakout in late November in overall perspective. MacDonald also provides a summation of Eisenhower's "broad-front strategy", a wide sweeping advance into the enemy's heartland, coupled with a strategy of annihilation, that of destroying the enemy and his ability to wage war. With this overall strategy in mind, what then was to be done with the Huertgen Forest? How were the Roer River dams to be captured when the heavily fortified town of Schmidt, and the better roads it provided for German armor and infantry, was continually denied to one American division after another? MacDonald does not tell us, nor, for that matter, does Astor, Miller, or Rush. The mistakes of generals are oftentimes evident; alternative solutions come harder.Yet, as a comprehensive narrative of the Huertgen Forest campaign, MacDonalds book was, and still is a solid foundation from which to build insight into what is perhaps the most difficult and bloody campaign in American Military history. A must for anyone interested in this terrible fight.

Average customer rating:

Not definitive...not interesting
Good Oral History, Old Arguments.
Good...but misses the mark.
Battle for the Huertgen Florest.
Great but not quite superb

The Bloody Forest
Gerald Astor
Manufacturer: Presidio Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945
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The Battle of Hurtgen Forest
When Trumpets Fade
The Battle of Hurtgen Forest (West Wall Series) (West Wall)

ASIN: 0891416994
Release Date: 2000-07-11

Book Description

For nearly five months, starting in mid-September 1944, American GIs battled for the Hurtgen Forest, a 50-square mile tract of extremely inhospitable terrain.

Customer Reviews:

Not definitive...not interesting.......2002-06-12

The Bloody Forest is an account of the battle of the Huertgen Forest, which took place during the fall of 1944. As with all of Astor's books, this is an "oral history". This means it's really a book based on the recollections by participants more than a scholarly and objective analysis of the battles. Indeed, there is no analysis or critical thinking; no historically important questions are raised or answered. Like Stephen Ambrose, Astor does not write history, but merely chronology spiced with personal accounts. Of course, this is not the point of the book, but if you are looking for an assessment of the Huertgen campaign, this is not the book you're looking for (instead, try Miller's A Dark and Bloody Ground, which is not "hard to get" as another reviewer claims).

For someone looking for a book that focuses on personal experiences of individual combatants, the book does an adequate job of providing this. The personal stories are gripping, the descriptions of being shelled in the forest and suffering airbursts are vivid, and the tales of exhaustion, frustration, and sheer terror are both pointed and poignant. I particularly liked the stories which reflected the frustrations of command during the battles. Many focused on the problems at the company level, where the predominant issues were company and platoon comander losses, causalties in general, and the poor training and integration of the green replacements. Occasionally there are also tales of battalion or regiment HQs being so out of touch with what was happening at the front lines that orders were completely rediculous and lead to serious defeats.

The book, despite these interesting tales of failures of command, is not great, due to a number of problems. First, the stories and experiences reported in the book get repetitive very quickly. They all are about artillery and airbusts, foxholes, and mines. Granted, these were key themes of the battles, but after the first 10 or 15 stories, the reader gets the point that covering your foxhole with logs was imperitive to avoid getting nailed by airbusts. Astor does a poor job of editing these comments so that the reader isn't bored. This is a major failing by Astor, as it cheapens the effectiveness of the combatants' tales of their experiences. Instead of being exciting throughout, the book plods on and on (the reader starts to think "...let me guess, this guy will dig a foxhole, cover it with logs, and then complain about mortar fire and how wet his feet are"). This isn't fair to the vets who are relating their experiences.

Furthermore, huge sections of George Wilson's If You Survive were quoted. Although the material was appropriate (Wilson's personal accounts of his exeperience in the Huertgen Forest are very interesting), I found this to be annoying. I have read Wilson's book and I was annoyed to find out that I was going to read it again instead of Astor actually providing something new. Furthermore, it is a failure on the part of the author when whole sections of another text must be quoted verbatim to carry the story along. At least Astor properly, legally, and ethically quotes the material and documents the source. Perhaps ... Stephen Ambrose should take note.

Another problem is that Astor does not provide useful maps. There are only two for the entire book. One is a broad overview map, showing the entire region of the Westwall south of Aachen. As such, it isn't useful to pick out the locations of individual towns where battles took place. The other is a more detailed map, but it only covers the portion of the Huertgen Forest that was initially invaded in the early parts of the battle. It doesn't even include Schmidt! This lack of maps was extrodinarily frustrating, even though I've read other books on the subject and am familiar with the geography of the region.

Finally, the book is very choppy. Instead of seamlessly blending the personal stories of the combatants with a tight chronology of the battle, Astor jumps around both in terms of time and space. Several pages will be devoted to a battle in one location at a certain time, and then without warning (i.e. with nothing more than a new paragraph) Astor will jump to a new location miles away and cover a different battle that took place a day earlier. This is very frustrating, particularly when there aren't supporting maps to help the reader.

In the end, the book is a disappointment if read on its own. If you are going to read only one book on the Huertgen Forest, this is not the one to read. Instead, read Miller's A Dark and Bloody Ground for a tight history as well as analysis, then read this book to add the color and grit of the peronsal accounts.

In a nutshell: A potentially great book ruined by a bad writer.

Good Oral History, Old Arguments........2002-05-23

The strength of Gerald Astor's book lies in his oral history narrative. As a work of history, however, Astor breaks no new ground. The standard arguments: the Roer River Dams should have been the American's prime objective; the Hurtgen Forest should have been avoided; the American numerical advantage, armor and air supremacy were nullified in the confines of the forest, are repeated once again in Astor's work. Astor tries to represent as many units that took part in the fighting as possible. Good oral history, no new analysis.

Good...but misses the mark........2001-07-31

This book certainly provides the reader with an understanding of the front-line soldier during the Battle for the Huertgen. However, Mr. Astor fails to provide a larger context in which this struggle can be understood. I had difficulty understanding how the local village battles related to one another or to the Corps or Army level for example.

The oral history is good but the "big picture" is missing.

Battle for the Huertgen Florest........2001-05-30

I don't believe Mr. Astor's account of the Huertgen Forest campaign flows as well as his Blood Dimmed Tide book about the Battle of the Bulge. I have read and also written about this campaign and find Mr. Astor's book authentic and reliable in its facts. It can be used as a source book to other writers.

Great but not quite superb.......2001-01-17

While this book did captivate me, especially on a personal level, my grandfather fought in the Huertegen, I can't bring myself to give it 5 stars. It is certainly well written, and enjoyable, but the first hand accounts are broken and choppy and in my opinion, Astor should have given the veterans more space.

Astor's book does convey a forboding feeling for the darkness and terror of the forest and attempts to provide the German perspective as well for completeness. The language just didn't feel as rich as some other books (even Astor's own "A Blood Dimmed Tide") and came across as very flat even when describing horrific details and events.

The maps provided were limited and not of much use. The photographs also seemed very limited and didn't aid the text. It is hard to believe that there aren't better photographs from this campaign. Even modern photographs of the Huertegen would have been more instructive than some of the photo's included.

The Huertegen campaign was a horrible, bloody affair that revealed poor strategic decision making coming from SHAEF and it has not recieved much scholarly attention and for that we should thank Astor. This text is well worth the read, but it is not the definitive book on the campaign.

The Battle of Hurtgen Forest (West Wall Series) (West Wall)
Average customer rating:

Supermarket Tabloid at its Worst!

Great Personal Accounts, Suspect Leadership Analysis

The "Death Factory" in a dark forest

Good battle review, difficult to read

SHAEF asleep in the Death Factory

The Battle of Hurtgen Forest (West Wall Series) (West Wall)
Charles Whiting
Manufacturer: Da Capo
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Battle of Hurtgen Forest

Bloody Aachen

Hell In Hurtgen Forest: The Ordeal And Triumph Of An American Infantry Regiment (Modern War Studies)

A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945

BOUNCE THE RHINE (The West Wall Series)

ASIN: 1580970559

Book Description

Volume 4 in the West Wall series. The U.S. Army regards the Hurtgen Forest as one of the most desperate -and longest- battles it has ever fought. Flanking the key German city of Aachen, the thick evergreen forest was a formidable natural barrier made more secure with a network of concrete bunkers that made up part of the West Wall.

The forest's German defenders were battle-scarred and under-strength, but their defenses were well concealed and provided with mines and wire. American infantry and combat engineers slowly fought their way forward in rain and snow, as German shells exploded. American control of the forest was not assured until December, at a cost of over 30,000 casualties.

Customer Reviews:

Supermarket Tabloid at its Worst!.......2004-11-08

Charles Whiting's _Battle for Hurtgen Forest_ begins harmlessly enough by openly questioning the legitimacy of the Huertgen operation and describing the brutality of the fighting and the harshness of the unforgiving terrain. In spite of the hardships of life at the front, Whiting quickly describes the efforts that were made to provide some rest and recreation for the American infantrymen. Whiting tells of Red Cross club mobiles set up in the Rear where ladies would hand out doughnuts and free coffee to the tired troops. There were also United Service Organization (USO) Shows that included such celebrities as German-born actress Marlene Dietrich. From this point on, however, this informative account takes a bitter turn for the worse."But for young men whose life expectancy in the infantry was exceedingly limited," contends Whiting, "something else was needed - women." The author rants on how soldiers were routinely rotated out of the line for seventy-two-hour passes to Paris. Like a writer of bad pulp fiction, the author digresses into the city's famous red-light district the Americans all too commonly referred to as "Pig Alley." There, explains Whiting, "whores" who had serviced Germans for the previous four years were now infecting Americans by the hundreds with venereal disease. "That fall," observes Whiting, "the United States Army sent 606 men, the equivalent of a battalion daily to the 'pox doctor.'" Unfortunately, the author fails to cite a single source and provides no evidence for this claim.Whiting jabs that while Americans were dying in combat, carousing in Paris, or deserting by the thousands (again no citation), Supreme Allied Commander Dwight Eisenhower was living comfortably in a French Chateau. Whiting takes every opportunity to discredit anyone close to Ike, especially his British "chauffer-cum-mistress" Kaye Summersby. Similarly, he refers to General Everett S. Hughes as Ike's "card-playing, hard drinking womanizing crony" who once called a WAC [Women's Army Corps] "a double breasted GI with a built in foxhole." Whiting, once again, fails to cite a source or give evidence for this last sexist remark.Whiting goes beyond the Huertgen time-frame into The Battle of the Bulge, not to illustrate its correlation to the Huertgen Campaign, but rather to exemplify the social gaiety at Eisenhower's Headquarters. As the author explains, while the German Panzer spearheads were roaring through the Ardennes, General Eisenhower was attending a wedding and champagne reception for two junior members of his staff. In yet another effort of tabloid journalism Whitingrecounts the delicacies being served:Eisenhower's 'darkies' as he called his black mess servants, were preparing oysters on the half shell, followed by oyster stew, with fried oysters concluding the festive pre-Christmas meal. And on-and-on!Whiting's sarcasm is evident-his message is clear, his evidence is severely lacking. Obviously, the author's purpose for writing this sensationalism is to sell books. In fairness, Whiting makes some legitimate points concerning the Huertgen Forest battles and it is safe to assume that few readers are naive enough to think that high-ranking officers did not enjoy considerable more creature comforts than the combat rifleman sweating it out in a foxhole in the Huertgen Forest. It is the sardonic style in which he chose to present this view, however, that greatly lessens his credibility as a serious historian, something the opening paragraphs of the book initially suggest. The telling of the love affairs of generals may sell books but is of little importance in the thorough analysis of a significant battle such as the Huertgen Forest. Read MacDonald, Miller, Astor, or Rush, and leave this tabloid on the supermarket check-out stand.

Great Personal Accounts, Suspect Leadership Analysis.......2004-04-18

As someone who has read a decent number of books on WWII history, I found Whiting's working commendable for his inclsuion of so many personal accounts--they really helped to make the history come alive. I also appreciated his respect for the common soldier and evident respect for their sacrifice and heroism. Unfortunately, I felt the book fell short in a number of ways that damage Whiting's credibility.
First of all, one gets the feeling that he feels pretty much any soldier beyond the rank of Capt is a fool, motivated only by personal ambition. In addition, he slams the character of several senior, senior flag officers with no real cited evidence. For instance, he paints Eisenhower as some sort of philandering, out of touch, comfort-seeking oaf.
Second, Whiting's overall attitude makes him come off as an arrogant know-it-all Monday morning quarterback type. The kind of person you occasionally meet that acts like the answer to every difficult issue is disgustingly simple and those in charge are just complete idiots. Whether or not Whiting is this kind of person or not, I have no idea. However, his writing comes across this way.
Finally, add the first two criticisms to a relatively weak bibliography and I can only conclude that it would be dangerous to put too much faith in Whiting's work. I fear Whiting may use some of the Hurtgen history as a backdrop for his own personal opinions without being honest enough to identify it as his opinion versus known fact.
I cannot for a minute recommend buying the book.

The "Death Factory" in a dark forest.......2002-06-02

I thought the book was well written although the maps included never seem to show the places and landmarks described in the chapter it is placed.

I feel the author does an excellent job of communicating the conditions in which the fighting took place: the dreary, dark, forest that seemed to close in on the soldiers, the dampness and the cold, the difficult terrain of ridges and canyons.

The author also does an excellent job of explaining how personal pride and reputation led to feeding division after division, regiment after regiment into a meat grinder that made no strategic difference to the overall campaign. The book shows the complacency of allied "Top Brass" - as he continually refers to them - who thought the war was as good as won. It also shows a detachment of the generals from the guy with a rifle getting shot at every day that is appalling - Ike and the generals living it up in Paris while the average riflemen is trying to stay dry and warm in a foxhole half-filled with water.

On the other side of the fence, in spite of repeated decimation of their ranks, the Germans were still able to put up a deadly defense. One of the most important points of this book is the complete reliance by American infantry on support weapons such as artillery and air power. When those assets were missing, such as in the dense forest, American troops were less effective than the Germans who focused on tactics, unit cohesion, and individual initiative.

There are a lot of lessons for military professionals and historians in the Hurtgen Forest - and they should be learned.

Good battle review, difficult to read.......2002-04-19

Mr. Whiting gives a perfect recollection of the different divsions' struggles in that (otherwise beautiful) part of Germany. I have but two remarks. The first the popular reference to the commanding officers as 'Top Brass'. If you use it too much it just gets annoying! Then there is little graphical support of the text. Small situational drawings would have done miracles here. But considering all its a good book.

SHAEF asleep in the Death Factory.......2001-08-08

The battle of the Hurtgen Forest has been long ignored by historians and the armed forces because it was a defeat of the first order for the United States. The infantry that fought there called it the Death Factory. Whiting's book delves into the details of the battle itself and the decisions that fed so many young men into a meat grinder. The allied (particularly the American) high command was ignorant of the conditions at the Front and willingly sacrificed the advantages of air power, armored mobility, artillery superiority (the German defenders were well bunkered) and resorted to the bloodiest of methods, the infantry assault through dense vegetation. Whiting's book provides details from the front line troops to underscore the horrid conditions, battle statistics to emphasis the slaughter that was occurring, and accounts of what the top brass was doing simultaneously. The argument is sufficient to convince me that SHAEF was driving with its eyes closed. The butcher's bill ran higher and higher, the Generals thought surely the Germans would break at any time. Tactical and strategic thinking was thrown aside in favor of a "kill Germans where ever you find them" philosophy.

The American Generals were caught up in their own glorification and didn't consider the possibility that they could be making a mistake, if enough man power was committed, the Wehrmacht and Field Marshal Model would break. The Germans couldn't understand why the Americans were attacking in such force through the forest but were more than happy to deal with the unfortunate attackers slogging unprotected through the dense woods. It became personal to the American Command, their reputation and the reputation of the Army were at stake. A price was even put on Field Marshal Model's head, how dare he slow up the glorious Americans and their Generals. Interestingly enough, 30 odd years later, the junior officers who survived the Hurtgen fed young men into the meat grinder known as Vietnam where the logic of "body counts" reappeared.

The Anglo-American allies certainly had their shining moments in the second world war, they also had their low points. The Battle of the Bulge has long been studied as the point where SHAEF was caught asleep but still managed to "win". The battle of the Hurtgen forest was where they dozed off. Sadly they were counting divisions of young men that they sent into Death Factory as they slept.

A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945
Average customer rating:

Top Rate Professional Job

Attrition warfare at its worse, chronicled at its best

Same Sad Song: Miller Covers MacDonald's First Hit

A closely detailed study of the brutal fighting

A Dark and Bloody Ground

A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams, 1944-1945
Edward G. Miller
Manufacturer: Texas A&M University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Battle of Hurtgen Forest

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When Trumpets Fade

ASIN: 1585442585

Customer Reviews:

Top Rate Professional Job.......2006-05-16

I echo what others have said about this book. It is not a fun or easy book to read but it is an excellent study of one of the most useless wastes of American soldiers in the ETO. How 28th Division CG Coda, one of the heros of D-Day, could turn into such a poor operational commander is sobering. I was also struck by how the author pointed out the weakness of the US policy (continued thru Vietnam) of plugging individual replacements into front line units with predictable disastrous results. Our current rotation of units is 100% more effective. He does all this in about a page and a half. This is indicative of the insights the author brings to the work.

Attrition warfare at its worse, chronicled at its best.......2004-11-25

Edward G. Miller's "A Dark and Bloody Ground" is a tour de force piece of academic-grade conflict history. Miller's research is solid and thorough and he covers a lot of ground in 200 or so pages, taking us from the initial commitment of American troops to the forest so oft referred to simply as "Hell" (by both sides!), through nearly three months of attrition fighting involving parts or all of TEN US Army divisions, to the final capture of the Roer River dams that lie on the other side of that seventy-odd square miles of Hell. Miller states up front that he wishes to provide a clear and concise overview of the Battles for the Hurtgen in a way previously not done. In this he is quite successful.

With respect to readability, Miller's writing style is quite easy to follow but it is made a bit choppy and (at least initially) hard to follow because he switches between American and German units frequently and unless/until the reader is familiar with which side of the line what unit numbers belong this can make the going tough. A simple use of italics to refer to German units (for example) would have gone a long way towards providing clarity for the reader. Robert Rush (or his publisher) used this tactic in his book on the Hurtgen (see comparison to Miller's book below) with great success.

The final chapter of Miller's book, entitled "Analysis" is worth the price of admission for its insights. Miller provides testimony from commanders who were there and can, looking back, see where problems arose and successes were achieved. The biggest "problem" with the battles of the Hurtgen forest, as Miller and his supporting players see it, was the lack of proper tactical goals, namely the Roer River dams. The dams were not in fact objectives until late in the game after many thousands of casualties were sustained on both sides. Until these proper objectives were articulated the US Army goal in the Hurtgen was to drive the enemy back and capture roads and settlements, as had been the case in Normandy and Brittany. Breaching the Westwall was important and laudable but the casualties were not. Hindsight is always clearer than foresight.

"A Dark and Bloody Ground" is, in the end, a solid piece of historical work worthy of a read. Despite some potential "readability" problems Miller has crafted a four star gem. Anyone interested in learning more about the Hurtgen Forest battles should check out Robert Rush's "Hell in the Hurtgen" which, unlike Miller's book which deals broadly with the whole campaign, focuses on a single 4th Division Regiment, the 22nd, and its time spent dying in the Hurtgen. In a literary sense Rush's book is superior, although both hold their own against each other on content!

Same Sad Song: Miller Covers MacDonald's First Hit.......2004-11-11

If _ A Dark and Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest and the Roer River Dams 1944-1945_ (1995) were a song, it would be a cover tune first recorded by Charles B. MacDonald in 1963 (see my review of MacDonald's _The Battle of the Huertgen Forest_). Like Elvis Presley's rendition of Frank Sinatra's standard "My Way," opinion would vary as to who performed the song better. A younger generation might even hold that Presley was the original artist, while older fans would stand by Sinatra's as the better performance. The song has not changed, only the artist's style and delivery has. Such is the case with Edward G. Miller's contribution to the Huertgen Forest canon. Miller emphatically echoes MacDonald's original thesis that the American planners chose road junctions and towns as primary objectives when in fact they should have concentrated their efforts on two Roer River dams. Miller contends that the dams should have been the main objective from the onset of the campaign. If this had been the case, he argues, there would have been no need to enter the Huertgen Forest, thus eliminating the chance of becoming embroiled in a bitter contest there. In addition, Miller supports the claim that in order for the Americans to cross the Roer River successfully they first had to secure the dams to prevent the Germans from destroying them, flooding the entire region, and causing substantial delay. This last point is just the type of 20/20 hindsight that Miller and others cannot resist when supporting this argument. This is exactly what happened in February 1945, delaying the American attack crossing of the Roer River by two weeks.Miller also rehashes other criticisms such as the Americans had sacrificed mobility and firepower by entering the forest; the American planner's failure to consider the harsh weather conditions and terrain favorable to the defense, and the forest should have been by-passed altogether. As narrative history, Miller is top-notch. The author skillfully retells the sequence of events that made up the Huertgen Forest Campaign. From the VII Corps's first encounter with the forest in September 1944; the failed October attacks of the 9th Division; the tragedy of the 28th Division efforts in and around heavily fortified town of Schmidt in early November; to the renewed two-corps offensive that finally broke out of the forest. Miller covers the complete campaign with thoroughness and efficiency.Along the way, Miller conducted an enormous amount of research that includes the standard primary and secondary sources, as well as a substantial amount of correspondence and personal interviews from both American and German veterans of the fighting. The author has certainly succeeded in blending thorough analysis with readable narrative, however, he got a little careless at one point. To support a contention that Eisenhower and the high command were obsessed with reaching the Rhine River in favor of destroying German forces, Miller paraphrased Martin Blumenson in the official history. Upon checking this source, it clearly showed Blumenson was referring to Germans trapped within the Falaise Pocket in August 1944, not at the German border as Miller had hinted. The biggest question with all these notions is "how? How should the Huertgen Forest have been avoided? The author admits that it would probably been dangerous for the Americans to by-pass the forest initially, but that this does not mean First Army should have committed units time and time again in a fruitless battle of attrition. I agree! Miller states that the area north of the city of Aachen presented the best avenue of approach into Germany, yet he stops there without substantiating this claim or offering a suggestion of how this maneuver could have been carried out. How could the dams have been captured earlier? Miller implies that had there not been an American manpower shortage, they "might have succeeded" in taking the Roer River Dams in September or October. Again, the author offers no clear plan on how this would have been performed. He then goes on to state that had V Corps been reinforced with one or two regiments, it "would likely have" taken the two dams in November. "Ifs," "might haves" and "would likely haves" are not concrete enough in this unending controversy. Miller has written a fine book, equal to MacDonalds first study. That is an impressive achievement in itself. Whether you like the cover tune or the original is a matter of taste. They are both the same sad song.

A closely detailed study of the brutal fighting.......2003-06-19

A Dark And Bloody Ground: The Hurtgen Forest And The Roer River Dams, 1944-1945 by Edward G. Miller (an active-duty army ordnance officer) is a closely detailed study of the brutal fighting which took place in the Hurtgen Forest near the end of World War II. Those deadly battles in the Hurtgen Forest have been overshadowed in military history and popular imagination by the more famous "Battle of the Bulge", and yet the gripping depictions of combat, terror, and the revelations of lethal blunders in A Dark And Bloody Ground make it a truly recommended resource for avid students of Military History in general and World War II Studies in particular.

A Dark and Bloody Ground.......2002-07-02

I purchased this book as part of research I am doing. I found it to be very informative and interesting reading. The author does a wonderful job putting names of men with places throughout the book. I was even able to find reference to my Dad, Capt. Gilbert H. Fuller, 2nd Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment.

This book will prove very helpful in my writing of a WWII memorial of my parents and their contributions to the effort.

Customer Reviews:

The Forest was the Victor.......2007-07-07

FOLLOW ME AND DIE is one of the best books written about the five month campaign in an area since known, at least in US military History, as the Huertgen Forest. After having read Charles B. MacDonald and Charles Whiting's books on the same subject, I was intrigued by the battle. Prior to my research into the subject, I incorrectly assessed the Huertgen campaign as an insignificant precursor to Ardennes Offensive. After reading FOLLOW ME AND DIE I came away with a greater appreciation for the battle and the devestation inflicted on American divisions that were fed into the bloody forest.

In military history the Huertgen Forest has been defined as 50 miles of woodland running from Monschau to the former Roman colony of Duren. Up until 1944 however, Huertgen Wald was technically nothing more than the woodlot adjacent to the minor crossroad village of Huertgen. As the Huertgen crossroads were an American intermediate objective, the whole forested zone, to the Americans, became the Huertgen Forest. Even today the area is studded with the remains of pillboxes, concrete anti-tank dragon's teeth obstacles, and hundreds of cuts and depressions in the forest floor of what used to be American and German foxholes.

FOLLOW ME AND DIE primarily focuses on the 28th Infantry Division's struggle to seize both sides of the Kall Gorge. In doing so the US 1st Army would gain a dominating position overlooking the Roer River and the Roer dams. At least that was the way the mission was portrayed after the war. As it turns out, discussion about the Roer as an objective -- of any sort -- was not mentioned or documented until well into the Huertgen battle. The battle for the Huertgen begins with a handful of scratch German units holding off superior American forces. After some particularly tough fighting the Americans slowly overwhelm the German positions on the Weisser Weh and fight their way into Vossenack. With initiative on their side, the 28th Division pushes elements, including tanks, down the the Kall trail and up the other side of the gorge. In briefly capturing Schmidt the US Army threw the German high command into panic as the Roer/Rur was threatened and a major roadway was cut. For the GIs their difficulties were only just beginning as much needed reinforcements to exploit and hold the Schmidt position arrived piecemeal. The Germans quickly reinforced the area and boxed in the Americans holding Schmidt and its neighboring town. Eventually the American postion became a hedgehog defense in a meadow just outside of town with several Sherman tanks and the surviving infantry staving off German attacks.

This was at a time when the 28th Division had actually passed through both belts of most of the formal Westwall defenses. The remainder of the German defenses were recently dug fighting positions, obstacles, and minefields. The greatest aid to the German defense was the rugged terrain.

The book highlights the fact that the Kall trail, the precarious US Army main supply route to Schmidt, and the surrounding forest was never cleared of enemy soldiers. As such a few American vehicles and soldiers could pass unmolested down the trail one minute and the path could be swarming with heavily armed Germans the next. The trail itself was so narrow that it barely constituted a decent footpath. Yet tanks and other vehicles were expected to maneuver down the dangerous route, across a stone bridge, and then climb an equally hazardous slope toward Schmidt. Many vehicles did not make it.

In the midst of this was an ad hoc American aid station set up in an abandoned German dugout astride the trail. The aid station was later regarded as sort of neutral territory with frequent German patrols simply checking to ensure that no weapons were kept there. Unfortunately when the 28th's battle subsided in the Kall the aid station was forgotten by both sides and many wounded GIs on stretchers were left to their fate and their remains not rediscovered until February 1945.

The Germans generally roamed the forested stretches of the Kall gorge with impunity and indeed at one time were able to counterattack and temporarily retake half of Vossenack. Meanwhile the American command got impatient with 28th Division Commander Norman "Dutch" Cota and could not fathom why division did not make any appreciable gains. On corps and army level mapboards the Kall trail was templated as if it was a major highway. Those sent to check on Cota's progress spent more time berating the general on his division's lack of progress rather than surveying the irregular and tough terrain on which it was deployed.

By December 1944 the battered 28th Division was withdrawn from the Huertgen front and moved to a rest and refit area in (what was thought to be) the quiet Ardennes. In reality the 28th never fully recovered from the beating it received in the Huertgen.

FOLLOW ME AND DIE is packed with information and is a very readable history of the battle. The terrain is described so well that I used notes from the book to tour the battlefield. Additionally Currey includes detailed accounts from the soldiers about the ominous triple canopy forest and mortar barrages to the horrible autumn weather endured by the GIs. If you were only going to read one book about the Huertgen, FOLLOW ME AND DIE should be that volume.

Good Job.......2006-05-17

I just read "A Dark and Bloody Ground" about the same battle and it made me get out this book, which I had read years ago. I think I like Follow Me better. It goes into a little more narrative detail and the maps are better. I also got a better feeling for the battle, and especially General Coda's incredable mistakes in this book than the newer work. Both are good but I think this one is a tad better written.

Into the Green Hell.......2005-04-27

One of my personal fascinations has been how the US 1st Army focused on the Hurtegen Forest. In my readings about this campaign, learned about the 28th Infantry Division (ID) and it's struggle in the Hurtegenwald. Mr. Cecil B. Currey's book, Follow Me and Die, tells the tale of the 28th ID and it's battle in the Hurtegenwald.

In this book, Mr. Curry provides a detailed analysis of what led up to the 28th ID's attack that November 2nd, how the Americans performed during the battle (pluses and minuses), and how the Germans reacted to the threat. Mr. Curry does a fabulous job describing a very complicated situation from the American perspective. Often, you're wonder how men could operate under the conditions described.

It should be noted that this is book is a historical analysis of the battle rather than a human remembrance. Mr. Curry includes veterans experiences, but their words are to facilitate the history, not to tell a story. A major focus for the book is identifying the parties responsible for what happened to the 28th ID and explaining what did happen to the 28th ID (note: I feel that Mr. Curry failed to attach enough blame to General "Lightning" Joe Collins. If his Corp had started their offensive as planned, the 28th ID's situation probably wouldn't have been as bad as it was).

If a person is interested in the fighting that occurred in the Hurtegenwald or excellent analysis of a battle, this book is outstanding. My Amazon rating for this, a solid 5!

One of the Best descriptions of the Hurtgen Forest Battles.......2001-12-09

I found this book to be an extremely readable and informative account of the Hurtgen Forest battles. You get a feeling for both the terrain and the battle itself and an understanding of the effect of the Kall Trail on the battles around Schmidt and Vossenach. Excellent.

Detail-laden but important World War II combat history........1999-08-13

Casual readers may have difficulty with the over-abundance of military detail and walk-on characters. But indespensible for history buffs interested in World War II ETO theater. Well researched, bloody and overwhelming narrative of the Huertgen Forest battle portrayed in movie WHEN TRUMPETS FADE. Ripe for reissue by a publisher!

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The Battle of Hurtgen Forest
Charles Whiting
Manufacturer: Pan. Book Condition: Used - Like
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WW8XGY

The Battle of Hurtgen Forest ( Huertgen )

Average customer rating:

The Battle of Hurtgen Forest ( Huertgen )
Charles Whiting
Manufacturer: Pan Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TYWJ42

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