30 November 1944

The 4th Infantry Division continued the coordinated attack to the east and northeast from positions secured in the previous day's attack against increasing stubborn resistance on the part of the enemy. Considerable gains were made by all attacking echelons. The resistance on the northern and southern parts of the division zone of action (sectors of the 8th and 22d Infantry Regiments) was considerably greater than that in CT 12's zone of action. The attack of CT 12 caught the enemy off guard to some extent, therefore, this attack made better progress than those of the other two combat teams.

The 8th Infantry, with Company A. 4th Medical Battalion; one platoon, Company A, 4th Engineer Combat Battalion; one Platoon, Company D and Company A, 70th Tank Battalion; Company A, less one Platoon, 803d Tank Destroyer Battalion (SP), and Company C, 87th Chemical Battalion attached, attacked with the 1st Battalion at 0845 and the 2d Battalion at 0900 to seize the objective at F-062432. The enemy resistance was heavy throughout the period. The enemy used many automatic weapons, firing along the final protective lines, along the mined and booby trapped firebreaks, and trails in the eastern edge of the Hurtgen Forest. Heavy mortar fire and artillery fire of medium intensity was also encountered. A small counterattack by enemy infantry on the flank of the 1st Battalion was repulsed, and by 1200 both the 1st and 2d Battalions had succeeded in capturing the positions organized and occupied by the enemy during the night of 29-30 November 1944.

At 0930 the 3d Battalion was ordered to move and attack on the right of the regimental zone of action (also right of 1st Battalion) with its objective the vicinity of F-064423. The 3d Battalion moved forward to the vicinity of (F-049414) where they became involved in a fire fight. After several attempts to overcome this resistance, the battalion was ordered to consolidate their positions for the night in preparation for the continuation of the attack on 1 December. In spite of resistance from small arms and machine gun fire, the 3d Battalion managed to reach a position abreast of the 1st Battalion.

The 12th Infantry, with Company B, 4th Medical Battalion; one Platoon, Company B, 4th Engineer Combat Battalion; Company B and Company D, less one Platoon, 70th Tank Battalion; Company B, 803d Tank Destroyer Battalion (SP) and Company D, 87th Chemical Battalion attached, .attacked with the 1st and 2d Battalions abreast, the 2d Battalion on the right, at 0830 and 0800 respectively, to seize the line (F-062408) to (F-063394). Initially, the advance was slow due to the constant danger of mines and booby traps. The 2d Battalion encountered an extensive deceptive mine field in the vicinity of (F-051397) at 1030. At the same time, the 1st Battalion became involved in a fire fight with an enemy strong point in the vicinity of (F-054400). By the end of the period, the 1st and 2d Battalions had succeeded in capturing the terrain very near the eastern edge of the woods on the high ground overlooking the town of Gey.

The 3d Battalion in regimental reserve moved to a new assembly area in the vicinity of F-032410, closing therein by 1545.

The 22d Infantry, with the 46th Armored Infantry Battalion; Company C, 4th Medical Battalion; one Platoon, Company C, 4th Engineer Combat Battalion; Company C, 70th Tank Battalion; Company C, 709th Tank Battalion, and Company C, 803d Tank Destroyer Battalion (SP) attached. Heavy enemy mortar and artillery concentrations fell in the Combat Team sector during the night of 29-30 November. However, no enemy infantry action was noted during the night.

After an artillery preparation, the 2d and 3d Battalions attacked at approximately 1130. Initially, the 3d Battalion moved against relatively light resistance, and at 1500 was 500 yards short of its objective. The opposition stiffened and, in accordance with orders, the 3d Battalion secured for the night at 1630.

The 2d Battalion, on attacking east from. Grosshau, encountered machine gun fire and increasing mortar and artillery fire. At 1335, the battalion was 300 yards beyond its line of departure and moving slowly. Armored support was requested at 1405, and subsequently four tanks and two tank destroyers were attached to the battalion. However, the 2d Battalion was unable to continue the advance and dug in for the night shortly after 1630. One Company of the 2d Battalion remained in Grosshau. Enemy mortar and artillery time fire on the forward positions of the 2d Battalion (200 yards west of the woods) was intense.

The 46th Armored Infantry Battalion, moving toward its line of departure, encountered enemy small arms fire at 1020 from the hill northeast of Kleinhau, supposedly secured the previous day by elements of CC "R" of the 5th Armored Division. After severe fighting across open fields, during which time over forty prisoners were taken, the battalion reached its line of departure, and at 1516 hours was at the woods (coordinates F-063377). Small additional gains were made and the battalion dug in for the night at 1630.

The 1st Battalion, in reserve, staged forward to positions in rear of the 3d Battalion.

During the day some rifle fire was received from Grosshau and some additional prisoners were subsequently taken from the basements of the town. Late in the afternoon plans were made for the resumption of the attack on 1 December.

Supply and Evacuation

1. Supply: The static condition which prevailed during October continued until the 7th of the current month. At that time the division was detached from the V Corps and moved from the Bullingen sector in Belgium to a sector generally southeast of Aachen, Germany. Here the division was re-attached to VII Corps and was committed to aggressive action east of Zweifall, Germany, in which town the Division CP was set up. Because of the lack of suitable areas, the service installations (4th Quartermaster, 704th Ordnance Light Maintenance, and 4th Signal Companies) were located approximately ten miles west of the Division CP, in the general vicinity of Hergenrath, Germany.

2. All movement in this area was considerably hampered by the extremely hilly and heavily wooded terrain, poor roads and almost continuous rain and heavy mud. In numerous instances it was necessary to hand carry rations, water and ammunition to front line troops. Cargo Carriers, M-29 (the only vehicles able to move cross-country over this terrain) were used to partially relieve this situation.

3. The expenditure of mortar and artillery ammunition increased considerably after arrival in this sector. Since the supply of this ammunition was critical, quantities available for expenditure by the division were allocated periodically by VII Corps. These allocations, in turn, were apportioned among the infantry regiments and artillery units.

4. Action was heavy throughout the period and combat losses in vehicles and weapons were considerable. Replacements were normally rapid, but at the end of the period the following critical shortages existed:

Item	Atzd	Short
Car, Half-track, M2	90	4
Truck. 2 1/2-ton, LWB	358	4
Truck, 2 1/2-ton, Dump	27	4
Rifle, automatic, cal .30, M1918A2	258	69
Mount, tripod, MG, cal .30, M1917A1	98	22
Binoculars, 103	1,276	400
Watch, wrist, 7-17 jewel	1,301	512

5. Extreme difficulty was encountered in the recovery of vehicles, weapons, and other equipment from the dense woods because of the mass of of trees and branches brought down by mortar and artillery fire, completely covering the ground. In addition to making the terrain almost impassable, even on foot, mines and booby traps were sown thickly throughout the division area which to date have not been cleared.

6. Quartermaster supply of Class 1 items continued normal throughout the month. However, shortages of various items of Class 2 items existed. The most important shortages were as follows:

Herringbone twill clothing, small size

Jackets, field

Overshoes, sizes 10 to 15

Water cans

Gas lanterns

7. Because of the difficulty in transporting purified water to the troops, local sources were utilised, necessitating the extensive use of Halazone Tablets. A critical shortage of this item existed throughout the period.

8. With the troops continuously exposed to rain and mud, trench foot broke out and evacuation of these cases was heavy. Issue of overshoes and additional socks was expedited. At the end of the period all men, except the more recent replacements, had been issued overshoes and the number of trench foot cases had dropped appreciably. However, the supply of overshoes in sizes 10 to 15 remained critical.

9. Because of the narrow roads and soft shoulders, traffic difficulties were experienced. This condition was partly overcome by putting into effect a traffic circulation plan lifting certain rods to one-way traffic. Work by the 4th Engineer Combat Battalion, supported by the 1120th Engineer Group, on the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges was continuous .

10. Motor maintenance was conducted and inspections made under the supervision of the Division Motor Officer.

11. Evacuation: The evacuation of casualties was handled in a most expeditious manner:

Summary of Casualties
	Officers	EM
Killed in action	40	352
Died of wounds	2	37
Died of injuries	-	1
Missing in action	10	245
Seriously wounded in action	20	314
Seriously injured in action	-	4
Slightly wounded in action	115	2,471
Slightly injured in action	18	424
	205	3,848
Total Casualties:	4,053

12. A total of 1,757 prisoners of war were taken during this period.

13. During the period from 1 November to 30 November 1944, a total of 170 officers and 4,754 enlisted men replacements were received.

	1 November 1944			30 November 1944
STRENGTH OF DIVISION (Present and Absent)	0	WO	EM	0	WO	EM
Hq 4th Inf Div	58	8	135/75	45	7	130/14
8th Inf	170	3	3,081/76	155	3	2,899
12th Inf	159	5	3,065/75	139	4	2,714
22d Inf	162	5	3,050/75	141	4	2,849
Hq & Hq Btry, 4th Div Arty	19	2	122	19	2	122
20th Fa Bn	31	2	602	31	2	592
29th Fa Bn	33	2	566	32	2	551
42d FA Bn	39	2	547	30	2	519
44th FA Bn	35	2	556	28	2	533
4th Engr Combat Bn	25	3	666	23	3	588
4th Med Bn	37	1	413	34	1	397
4th Rcn Tr, Mecz	6	-	145	5	-	128
Hq Sp Trs, 4th Inf Div	4	2	75	4	2	77
Hq Co, 4th Inf Div	4	1	167/7	4	1	162/68
MP Platoon, 4th lnf Div	4	-	140/6	3	-	138/4
704th Ord L Maint Co	9	-	151	8	-	147
4th QM Co	10	1	227	10	1	223
4th Sig Co	13	4	288	13	4	280
Total..............	818	42	13,996	724	40	13,049
STRENGTH OF UNITS ATTACHED TO DIVISION (Present and Absent)
4th CIC Det	4	-	12/2	4	-	12/2
Order of Battle Team No. 2	1	-	2	1	-	2
IPW Team No. 34 (8th Inf)	2	-	3	2	-	3
IPW Team No. 91 (12th Inf)	2	-	5	-	-	-
IPW Team No. 414 - Vll Corps (12th Inf)	-	-	-	1	-	-
IPW Team No. 44 - VII Corps (12th Inf)	-	-	-	-	-	2
IPW Team No. 35 (22d Inf)	2	-	5	2	-	5
PI Team No. 31	1	-	1	1	-	4
MI Team No. 417-G	2	-	4	2	-	3
Air Support Party	1	-	8	1	-	8
Det G, 165th Sig Photo Co	1	-	3	1	-	4
70th Tank B	41	3	684	40	3	664
377th AAA (AW) Bn	36	3	761	36	3	757
801st TD Bn	33	2	737	-	-	-
803d TD Bn	-	-	-	38	1	597
Total..............	126	8	2,227	129	7	2,061
Grand Total	944	50	16,223	853	47	15,110

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