Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads

Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads
Part of World War II, Battle of the Bulge
Infantrymen of the 9th Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division crouch in a snow-filled ditch, taking shelter from a German artillery barrage in the Krinkelter woods on 14 December.
Date 16 – 26 December 1944 Location The Ardennes 50°30′07″N 6°19′39″E / 50.50194°N 6.32750°E / 50.50194; 6.32750Coordinates: 50°30′07″N 6°19′39″E / 50.50194°N 6.32750°E / 50.50194; 6.32750 Result Initial American victory, then withdrawal
Belligerents
United States	Nazi Germany
Commanders and leaders
Omar N. Bradley Walter E. Lauer Walter M. Robertson	Sepp Dietrich Hugo Kraas
Units involved
2nd Infantry Division 99th Infantry Division	277th Volksgenadier Division

The Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads was fought at a vital crossroads near a forester's cabin named Wahlerscheid, astride the Siegfried Line (Westwall) that ran along the Höfen-Alzen and Dreiborn ridges, about 5.6 miles (9.0 km) north of Krinkelt-Rocherath, Belgium. In early December 1944, the U.S. V Corps trucked the experienced 2nd Infantry Division from positions it had held in the south to Krinkelt-Rocherath, twin villages adjacent to Elsenborn Ridge and near the southern tip of the Hürtgen Forest.

On the eastern side of the Siegfried Line was an excellent road network leading to the Roer River dams a few miles to the northeast; the Allies' next goal. The Americans were assigned to capture the crossroads with the goal of securing a jumping-off point for an attack on the dams, or failing that, force the Germans to blow them up. The dams were important to the Germans because they could be used defensively to control the flow and depth of the Roer River, delaying or even completely blocking Allied advances at will.

During the first two days of the battle, the Americans failed to advance and experienced significant losses. On the third day a platoon infiltrated the German lines and late on 15 December, the U.S. troops captured the crossroads. On 16 December, the German Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein offensive threatened to isolate the Americans' rear areas, and they were forced to withdraw to the twin villages. The villages lay astride a key road that the Germans wanted to capture in their attack west towards Antwerp. This turned into the Battle of Elsenborn Ridge, which was the only portion of the Battle of the Bulge where the Allies did not yield to the Germans.

The sector along the northeast side of the road assigned to the 9th Infantry Regiment was technically within the 99th Division’s sector, but that division was stretched very thinly over an elongated front. Some areas had no fixed defensive positions, and were only canvassed with foot patrols. That left a gap on the northeastern side of the road where the southeastward curve of the 99th Division’s lines left the sector wide open to enemy penetration from the east. This prompted General Leonard T. Gerow on December 13 to order the 395th Regimental Combat Team (RCT), made up of two battalions of the 395th Infantry Regiment and another borrowed from the 393rd, to make a limited attack on the 2nd Division’s immediate right flank against German positions about 1.4 miles (2.3 km) southeast of Wahlerscheid.

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