Youth versus Experience

(Source)

Hauptmann von Lüttwitz studied the faces of his platoon leaders. He remembered when platoons were led by officers, now they were led by experienced veterans, many of them NCOs. He had heard that on the Eastern Front there were entire divisions led by majors and lieutenant colonels. Of course, those divisions were divisions in name only, many of them were the strength of weak battalions.

The 275th Infantry Division was in the process of being rebuilt, many of the new recruits came from the Luftwaffe, men experienced in the ways of the military but completely ignorant of ground combat. In other words, they knew how to put their uniforms on, who to salute, and the necessity of obeying orders. Leave them on their own and they were no better than a civilian when the bullets started to fly.

Someone up the chain of command had decided that giving the men some combat experience might be a good idea, rather a novelty at this stage of the war von Lüttwitz thought. That evening his company would board a train and head south to the Aachen area. The Amis were fighting to seize that city, the Wehrmacht was fighting hard to prevent them from doing so.

At first von Lüttwitz had wanted to protest when the 5th Company had been selected. Then he realized that it would be a good experience for the new men. Let them experience war on a fairly quiet section of the front, which the forests to the south of Aachen were at the moment. His biggest worry was the trip, going by rail was fraught with danger, at least they would be traveling at night. Shouldn't be that bad, he thought.

Unteroffizier Manfred Sauer, Feldwebel Dieter Pohl, and Oberfeldwebel Klaus-Peter Keller all waited for von Lüttwitz to gather his thoughts. All three men were experienced soldiers, Sauer and Pohl had been with the division since its formation as the 223rd Infantry Division in 1939. They had fought in France and in Russia, where the old 223rd had been destroyed then reconstituted in 1943 in France as the 275th. Which had been torn to red ruin in the Falaise Cauldron. An experience which von Lüttwitz, Sauer, and Pohl still had nightmares about.

Oberfeldwebel Keller had been wounded in Russia and spent nearly a year convalescing until rejoining the division in early 1944. Wounded again in Normandy he had missed Falaise, a fact for which he was eternally grateful. His men called him der Kugelmagnet, the bullet magnet, not to his face of course, but he was aware of the nickname. One wag in the 4th Company had joked that if Keller kept getting hit, the Wehrmacht would start making him buy his own uniforms!

Finally von Lüttwitz spoke, "All right men, here's the plan, we load the men on a troop train in," the captain glanced at his watch, "three hours. We'll be transported to Kreuzau in Kreis Düren, where we'll detrain and then proceed on foot to wherever the local commander needs us. We'll be temporarily attached to the 246th Volksgrenadier Division. The idea is to 'blood' the company over the space of a week. Patrolling will be the big thing. Questions?"

"What are the Amis doing in that sector Herr Hauptmann?" Unteroffizier Sauer asked with a thoughtful look on his face. "They chased us over half of France, it would be nice to hurt them."

"From what battalion has learned, the Amis south of Aachen are simply holding their positions, but there have been reports of some very aggressive patrolling, particularly by their 1st Infantry Division. It might be possible to ambush a patrol, give our men some experience and let them taste combat for the first time. Hurting the enemy at the same time, of course." The latter bit was said with a nod in Sauer's direction.

"How about enemy Panzers?" Oberfeldwebel Keller had an extreme dislike of tanks. He had been nearly killed in Russia after being wounded when an enemy T-34 had tried to crush him in the trench where he lay bleeding.

"Their 3rd Armored Division is north of where we shall be, I know the 1st has an attached tank battalion, but in the forest..." The captain was interrupted by his 2nd Platoon leader, Feldwebel Pohl.

"In the forest their Panzers have to worry more about us then we about them. It's very different from the steppe country we saw in Russia." Pohl paused, then said, "I have heard that the enemy Shermans burn very easily, I am not worried."

"Then you're a fool Dieter." Sauer had seen American Shermans tear German Panzer IVs to shreds at close range. "Remember my old comrade, for every bullet in your ammo pouches, the Amis have ten Shermans."

"Battalion says that the Amis are short of fuel, it's why they have been relatively static over the past month. Most of their supplies went to the Tommies' failed attempt to seize Arnheim¹. Fat lot of good it did them." Oberfeldwebel Keller had friends throughout the division. When he had arrived von Lüttwitz had asked him if there was anyone he didn't know.

"Yes, I've seen that report as well. I don't know what to make of it, in our little trip across France I don't think I ever saw an American walking. Seems they have a vehicle for every soldier. A lack of fuel would plague them, more than us I suppose." Hauptmann von Lüttwitz looked at his watch and told the men, "Right then, get the men ready."

By some miracle it had started raining nearly the instant their train began to move. While the younger soldiers groused about it, the veterans told them that the Amis couldn't fly in this weather, if they couldn't fly, they couldn't kill Germans. Trains are very tempting targets, but with night and the rain, the veterans felt safer.

The line was clear all the way to Kreuzau, another benefit of the rain was that it kept the Allies from bombing the rail line and all the stations and yards along the way. They had been held up briefly by a train carrying wounded away from the front, but they arrived at their destination with ample time to move to their assembly areas while it was still dark.

The men arrived wet and tired, but they arrived. They passed through the small village of Grosshau at first light, the place seemed deserted. On the other side of that town, there was a path leading into the forest. Some of the younger men grumbled at the idea of continuing the march, when were they going to eat, one of the younger men complained.

"When we've dug in and have placed our weapons, then we can eat. Provided you have anything remaining in your bread bag. I saw you youngsters eating your rations on the train. Do you think there will be food waiting for you in the forest?" Opa Köhler chided them. While he wasn't thrilled with the nickname, it had stuck. At least the veterans used it respectfully. Not so with the younger men. But they were kids, it didn't bother him.

At that some of the youngsters did look worried. Though they'd been told not to gobble up their iron rations, well, they were hungry. What did the Army expect anyway? As the company began it's march up the muddy trail, one of the younger men asked, "Does this forest have a name?"

Hauptmann von Lüttwitz nodded and answered, "Yes Junge, the Hürtgenwald."

(Source)

Many of the men marching up that trail would never see home again.




¹ The German name for the Dutch city of Arnhem.