bigpigeon.us webarea WW II - Germany > ETO > Rhineland 1944, updated by RAC 4 Sep 2020.
In my survey of the European Theater, I consider the Rhineland as that part of Germany lying to the west of the Rhine River, as shown on the accompanying map.
Germany's Major Rivers
Germany Today - the Major Rivers

  • 12 Sep '44 - Beginning of First Army's Battle for Aachen, first German city siezed by the Allies. Aachen is about fifty miles southwest of Cologne. Aachen finally falls on 21 Oct.
  • 16 Sep '44 - Beginning of Third Army's attempt to capture the fortifications near Metz in Lorraine. Metz was not secured until November 22.
  • 19 Sep '44 - First skirmishes near the Hürtgen Forest southeast of Aachen. The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, actually a complicated series of battles, lasted for months but was most intense in November. This was arguably the 6th most-lethal American battle in history, and a German tactical victory.
  • Oct '44 - US Ninth Army arrives from Brittany and is eventually positioned on the left flank of the US First Army.
  • 16 Nov '44: First and Ninth Armies begin Operation Queen, advancing to the Roer River between Aachen and the Rhine River.
  • 28 Nov '44: first Allied convoy reaches Antwerp.
  • 16 Dec '44 - The massive Germany counterattack in the Ardennes known as the Battle of the Bulge begins. All Allied offensive activities in the ETO are soon cancelled to free resources to deal with the German breakthrough.
In late September, Operation Market Garden, the attempted crossing of the lower Rhine, failed. In France, border regions in eastern Lorraine and Alsace were still in German hands. Thus, a Fall 1944 invasion of central Germany would have to pass through the northern part of the Rhineland.

As the Allied land armies approached the Germany  border through Belgium and Luxembourg in September 1944, two obstacles lay in their path into the heart of Germany:
  • The Siegfried Line, the fortified zone along the border.
  • Further east, the Rhine River.
Once they could force their way through the Rhineland and then crossed the Rhine, Allied forces would be unstoppable.



On 11 Sep 1944, advanced units of the United States First Army crossed from Belgium into the Aachen area of Germany and soon penetrated a portion of the Siegfried Line.

​Hopes were high - Cologne and the Rhine River were a scant 50 miles northeast of Aachen across hospitable terrain. (Aachen lies on the extreme western edge of the accompanying map. Cologne/Köln  is northeast on the left bank of the Rhine/Rhein River.)
The Aachen - Cologne Region
The Aachen - Cologne Region, North Rhineland, Germany
Allied hopes were soon dashed:
  • The battle for the streets of Aachen was bloody and protracted.
  • For reasons difficult to understand, US forces were diverted into a series of extremely bloody, lengthy, and sometimes unsuccessful battles in the Hürtgen Forest southeast of Aachen.
  • The Roer River upstream dams further southeast of Aachen posed risks of an army moving from Aachen to Cologne becoming mired in flood waters.
I view United States operations in the Northern Rhineland from September to December 1944 as including three major operations.
  1. The encirclement and capture of Aachen.
  2. The earlier Hürtgen Forest battles.
  3. Operation Queen, the advance by the newly-arrived Ninth Army to the west bank of the Roer River.
The North Rhineland Border Area
The North Rhineland Border Area
The encirclement and capture of Aachen.
Encirclement of Aachen
Encirclement of Aachen
The Hürtgen Forest battles.
Operation Queen, 16 November - 9 December 1944
Operation Queen
Northern portion of Operation Queen showing the Ninth Army's advance to the west bank of the Roer River.
Popular writings on the Hürtgen Forest sometimes convey the idea that the US offensive in the northern Rhineland in the late fall of 1944 was a total failure. This is not the case. Indeed, conditions were horrendous, mistakes were made, losses were high, and objectives were not reached. But by 16 December, the US Ninth and First Armies occupied some of the left bank of the Roer and most of the Hürtgen Forest.

However, the goals of capturing the Roer River dams beyond Schmidt and advancing to Cologne had to wait until the late winter.

Finally, on 9 Feb 1945, units including the 82nd Airborne Division captured Schmidt and the key Roer River dam, but too late to prevent German sabotage and downstream flooding.
The 9th Army at the Roer
The Ninth Army and elements of the First Army at the Roer - December to February 1944-45
After the German Ardennes Counteroffensive began on 16 December 1944, the First Army's VII Corps and units of the Ninth Army withdrawn to blunt the German attack and bolster the northern portion of the Bulge. The Ninth Army's sector was enlarged to cover the front previously covered by VII Corps. The Ninth Army then held this front until February 1945.
:Sources for the WW II - North Rhineland webpage​:
  • The Germany's Major Rivers map is courtesy of tes.com.
  • The Aachen - Cologne Region map is courtesy of
  • The North Rhineland Border Area map is courtesy of http://home.scarlet.be/~sh446368/home.html
  • The Operation Queen .... map is courtesy of weaponsandwarfare.com.
  • The Ninth Army ... at the Roer map is excerpted froma 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 County, Iowa area WW II Dead - North Rhineland:03-04 - The ETO > Rhineland 1944: (eleven dead, updated 7 Oct 2020)
† Coad, Ernest Dyer, SN 39-147-004, US Army, Douglas Co., NE & Alameda Co., CA
  • unknown unit, First Army (assigned to First Army one day before death); KIA 22 Nov 1944, near Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Ellison, Melvin Isaac, SN 37-446-316, US Army, Harrison Co.
  • Co. I, 3rd Bn., 12th Inf. Regt., 4th Inf. Div.;  WIA probably near Schmidt, S of Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; DOW 19 Nov 1944; Battle of the Hürtgen Forest - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Evans, Charles Harold, SN 37-486-832, US Army, Harrison Co.
  • Medical Detachment, 112th Inf. Regt., 28th Inf. Div.; WIA, DOW 5 Nov 1944 near Schmidt, S of Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Battle of Hürtgen Forest - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Gilmore, Burrel Gilbert, SN 39-018-679, US Army, Woodbury Co.
  • 18th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div.; KIA 8 Oct 1944 near Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Imrie, Donn Harold, SN 37-490-433, US Army, Harrison Co.
  • 407th Inf. Regt., I02nd Inf. Div.; KIA 30 Nov 1944 near Linnich, approaching the Roer River, NE of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Johnson, Raymond Earl, SN O-1301648, US Army, Fremont Co.
  • 119th Inf. Regt., 30th Inf. Div.; wounded near Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, DOW 19 Nov 1944 in Netherlands; Operation Queen - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Leonard, Stanley William, SN 37-260-819, US Army, Cass Co.
  • Co. A, 12th Inf. Regt., 4th Inf. Div., First Army; KIA 16 Sep 1944 in the Schnee Eifel, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany ~25 miles E of St. Vith, Belgium; Battle of the Schnee Eifel - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Metheny, Hershel Alfred, SN 6-857-125, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Co. H, 331 Inf. Regt., 83rd Inf. Div.; KIA 11 Dec 1944, near Gey, Hürtgen Forest, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
​​† Miller, Melvin Max, SN 37-692-104, US Army, Crawford & Shelby Cos.
  • Co. C, 16th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div.; KIA 27 Nov 1944 Hürtgen Forest, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Morgan, Dale Leroy, SN 6-939-700, US Army, Pott. Co.
  • Co. H, 18th Inf. Regt., 1st Inf. Div.; KIA 1 Dec 1944 near Hürtgen Forest, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; Operation Queen - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.
† Nielsen, Carl Edvan, SN 39-705-841, US Army, Los Angeles Co., CA
  • Co. C, 743rd Tank Bn., First Army; KIA 22 Nov 1944 Fronhoven, NE of Aachen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; M4A3 Sherman tank asst. driver; tank lost to German anti-tank gun; Operation Queen - The ETO > Rhineland 1944.