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bigpigeon.us webpage WWII Germany > The ETO > Rhineland, 1944 > Last 1944 Offensives, © 2026 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 2 Jan 2026

In mid-December, the US First Army launched two limited offensives that were terminated after the massive German Ardennes counteroffensive launched from the Eifel region to the south on 16 December.
The Advance to Düren
Towards the Roer River Dams
Water released from the Roer River reservoirs shown in the upper-right of the accompanying map could trap an invading army downstream. First Army had launched two earlier attempts to capture the dams. Both attempts were launched from the Hürtgen Forest to the northwest and had the intermediate goal of Schmidt, in the upper right. Both bloody attempts ended in the retreat into the forest of US troops.

The third attempt to neutralize the Roer River dams began on 13 December. Unlike the first two attempts, which attacked from the northwest, this attempt advanced from the south. Like the first two attempts, the third attempt, called for first advancing to Schmidt.
  • The main effort, by the 78th Infantry Division, based at Røtgen in the upper left, would advance up the road from Kesternich to Schmidt.
  • The 2nd Infantry Division would advance northward towards the east side of the reservoir area.

Both the 78th and 2nd Divisions met substantial resistance but were making small but satisfactory progress when the German Ardennes counteroffensive began to the south on 16 December. Much of the attacking force poured through the Losheim Gap, at the very bottom of this map.
Towards the Roer River Dams from the South
Towards the Roer River Dams from the South
scalable version
Sources for Big Pigeon's World War II > The ETO > Rhineland, 1944 > Last 1944 Offensives webpage:
Major Sources:
  • The Siegfried Line Campaign, by Charles B. MacDonald, 1961, ~670 pp. [CMH #7-7] - the 1944 ETO Rhineland Campaign & Netherlands operations. See Chapter XXV, The Approaches to Dueren and Chapter XXVI, Objective: The Roer River Dams.
​Sources for webpage images:
Pottawattamie Area WWII Dead - WWII Germany > The ETO > Rhineland, 1944 > Last 1944 Offensives:03-03 - WWII Germany > The ETO > Rhineland, 1944 > Last 1944 Offensives:
  • No known area dead.