Rhineland 1944

bigpigeon.us webpage WWII-Germany > The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen, © 2023 by Robert A. Christiansen, updated by RAC 3 Nov 2023.

• Operation Queen, which began on 16 November 1944 and ended mid-December, was a joint venture of the US Ninth and First Armies.
• This webpage describes Operation Queen in the First Army sector, at the northern and eastern edges of the Hürtgen Forest. Here Queen was a continuation of the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, which had begun mid-September.
• Like the Ninth Army further north, Operation Queen advances in the Hürtgen area were slow and costly. Queen ended with almost all of the Hürtgen Forest in First Army hands and with US forces occupying most of the west bank of the Roer River.​​

First Army order of battle
VII Corps:

• 3rd Armored Division
• ​104th Infantry Division (not shown)
  
• 1st Infantry Division (replaced by 9th Infantry Division 5 December)
• 4th Infantry Division replaced by 83rd Infantry Division 3 December)
• 5th Armored Division (from 29 November)

V Corps:

• 5th Armored Division (to 29 November)
• 8th Infantry Division

Third Phase (Operation Queen) of Hürtgen Forest Campaign

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Operation Queen - The Hürtgen Forest, 16 November - 9 December 1944

scalable version

Originally Operation Queen's southern sector, in the Hürtgen Forest, was assigned to VII Corps. Starting 19 November, V Corps units were brought in. Some smaller units that fought are not listed above.

From 10 December to 16 December, the final week before Germany's Ardennes Counteroffensive halted combat in the Hürtgen area, VII Corps divisions advanced to the the west bank of the Roer River, including the outskirts of the key city of Düren, as shown on the map accessible from the hotspot on the right.

The Approaches to Düren
10-16 December 1944 - scalable

Sources for Big Pigeon's The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen 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 Chapters XVIII, XIX, & XX.
• http://home.scarlet.be/~sh446368/home.html - The Battle for the Hürtgen Forest.

​Sources for webpage images:

• Operation Queen - The Hürtgen Forest, 16 November - 9 December 1944, scalable map, https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Siegfried/maps/USA-E-Siegfried-VII.jpg.
• The Approaches to Düren, 10-16 December 1944, scalable map, https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-E-Siegfried/maps/USA-E-Siegfried-IX.jpg.
  

Other Sources:

• After Action Report, 12th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div., 1 November - 8 December 1944, http://home.scarlet.be/~sh446368/aar-12th-inf-1.html.

Pottawattamie Area WW II Dead - The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen:

• Taken from the bigpigeon.us WWII Roster module.

03-03 - The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen: (eight dead, updated 3 Nov 2023)
† Ash, Lawrence Edward, SN 37-691-207, US Army, Marshall & Montgomery Cos.

• Co. E, 28th Inf. Regt., 8th Inf. Div., V Corps, First Army; KIA 6 Dec 1944 near Vossenack in Hürtgenwald Municipality, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen.

† Ellison, Melvin Isaac, SN 37-446-316, US Army, Harrison Co.

• Co. I, 3rd Bn., 12th Inf. Regt., 4th Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army;  WIA west of Hürtgenwald in Hürtgenwald Municipality, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; DOW 19 Nov 1944 Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen.

† Madsen, Elmer Herman, SN 37-691-778, US Army, Audubon Co.

• Co. F, 26th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 30 Nov 1944 Merode west of Düren in Langerwehe Municipality, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Cos. E & F, 2nd Bn., 26th Inf. Regt. advanced eastward into Merode from the Hürtgen Forest on 29 Nov; they were cut off and overwhelmed in the  Merode outskirts; The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen.

† Metheny, Hershel Alfred, SN 6-857-125, US Army, Pott. Co.

• Co. H, 2nd Bn., 331 Inf. Regt., 83rd Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 11 Dec 1944 SW of Düren near Guy in Hürtgenwald Municipality, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen.

​​† Miller, Melvin Max, SN 37-692-104, US Army, Crawford & Shelby Cos.

• Co. C, 1st Bn., 16th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army (1st Bn. attached to 18th Inf. 27th & 28th); KIA 27 Nov 1944 NW of Düren near Langerwehe, Langerwehe Municipality, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen.

† Morgan, Dale Leroy, SN 6-939-700, US Army, Pott. Co.

• Co. H, 2nd Bn.,18th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 1 Dec 1944, NW of Düren in  Langerwehe Municipality, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen.

† Rasmussen, Harley Norman, SN 37-691-442, US Army, Audubon & Guthrie Cos.

• Co. D, 18th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army; WIA Nov 1944 North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; shrapnel; DOW 26 Nov 1944 Germany; The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen.

​† ​Tomes, Carlas, SN 39-471-995, US Army, Fremont Co. & Clarke Co., WA

• 39th Inf. Regt., 9th Inf. Div., VII Corps, First Army; KIA 12 Dec 1944 Jüngersdorf, west of Düren in Langerwehe Municipality, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > War of Attrition > Rhineland 1944 > Queen/Hürtgen.