Operation Queen

Rhineland 1944

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII-Germany > The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Operation Queen, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 1 Sep 2022.
This webpage is incomplete.

Operation Queen's goal was to drive across the Roer plain north of Aachen to Cologne on the Rhine River.

Queen did largely succeed in occupying a long stretch of the Roer River, half-way to the Rhine, despite an enemy which fought well, muddy ground, and high casualties.

Operation Queen was conducted jointly in the northern Rhineland by the US Ninth and First Armies, with assistance from the British XXX Corps on the left flank.

During Queen, the Ninth Army fought across the Roer plain, with the First Army to the south negotiating the more-difficult terrain in the eastern Hürtgen Forest area.

In the early stages of Queen, the main effort was made by the Ninth Army's XIX Corps and the First Army's VII Corps. The Ninth Army's XIII Corps and the First Army's V Corps on the left and right flanks respectively were also heavily involved.

The accompanying map shows Operation Queen progress in the Ninth Army sector. I have been unable to find a corresponding map for the First Army sector.

Operation Queen, Ninth Army Sector - the Ninth Army's advance to the west bank of the Roer River.

Scalable version of the Operation Queen map
Operation Queen, First Army Sector, scalable map

The following is an incomplete order of battle for the Ninth and First Armies in mid-November 1944, organized from north to south when feasible.

Here is the Queen Order of Battle, from north to south:
Ninth Army:
VIII Corps (not involved in Queen)
XIII Corps (to Ninth Army 8 Nov) target Linnich
84th Infantry Division
102nd Infantry Division
7th Armored Division (reserve)
XIX Corps (from First Army 22 Oct) - target Jülich
2nd Armored Division
29th Infantry Division
30th Infantry Division
First Army:
VII Corps (heavily involved)
104th Infantry Division
3rd Armored Division
1st Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division
V Corps
8th Infantry Division
28th Infantry Division
102nd Cavalry Group

Sources for Big Pigeon's War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Operation Queen webpage:

The Operation Queen .... map is courtesy of weaponsandwarfare.com.
Scalable version of the Operation Queen map, https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Siegfried/maps/USA-E-Siegfried-VIII.jpg.
https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Siegfried/maps/USA-E-Siegfried-VII.jpg
The Ninth Army ... at the Roer map is excerpted from a map I found at pinterest.
See a timeline for US combat is this sector at http://home.scarlet.be/~sh446368/timeline-huertgen-forest-battle.html

Pottawattamie Area WW II Dead - War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Operation Queen:

Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.

03-03 - War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Operation Queen: (four dead, updated 31 Dec 2022)
† Hill, Jack William, SN 37-475-580, US Army, Harrison Co.

405th Inf. Regt., 102nd Inf. Div., XIII Corps, Ninth Army; KIA 6 Dec 1944 near Linnich, Roer River, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Operation Queen.

† Imrie, Donn Harold, SN 37-490-433, US Army, Harrison Co.

407th Inf. Regt., I02nd Inf. Div., XIII Corps, Ninth Army; KIA 30 Nov 1944 approaching the Roer River, near Welz or Flossdorf, S of Linnich, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Operation Queen.

† Johnson, Raymond Earl, SN O-1301648, US Army, Fremont Co.

119th Inf. Regt., 30th Inf. Div., XIX Corps, Ninth Army; wounded near Würselen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, DOW 19 Nov 1944 in Netherlands; War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Operation Queen.

† Nielsen, Carl Edvan, SN 39-705-841, US Army, Los Angeles Co., CA

Co. C, 743rd Tank Bn., attached to 30th Inf. Div., XIX Corps, Ninth Army; KIA 22 Nov 1944 Fronhoven, N of Eschweiler, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; M4A3 Sherman tank assistant driver; tank lost to German anti-tank gun; War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Operation Queen.