1st Battalion 22nd Infantry Hurtgen Forest

1st Battalion 22nd Infantry

Operations of the 22nd Inf Regiment in the Hurtgen Forest

Map of Europe showing the front lines, December 1944.
The shaded area shows the Hurtgen Forest, just inside the German border
south of the city of Aachen.*

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The battles for the Hurtgen Forest area of Southwestern Germany began
on September 19, 1944 and effectively ended on February 10, 1945.
In November the 4th Infantry Division entered the battle, and participated
in some of the most horrendous action of the US Army during the war.
Either all or part of ten different US Divisions took part in the battles
during the above time frame. Casualties were extremely high.
US losses were at least 24,000 dead, wounded, and missing, along with
9,000 non battle casualties caused by trenchfoot, frostbite and exhaustion.

The 4th Division was so badly affected by casualties
it had to be pulled from the front lines to recover and rebuild.
The 22nd Infantry Regiment sustained the highest number of casualties
of any single Regiment involved in the campaign.
Estimated figures for the 22nd Inf were put at 2,678 casualties of all types.
This included 233 killed and 1,730 wounded.
These casualties were incurred during a period of 18 days.

Two Soldiers of the 4th Division received the Medal of Honor for their actions
in the Hurtgen Forest. One of these Soldiers was Marcario Garcia,
a member of Company B, 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry.

The following account of the 22nd Infantry Regiment's participation
in the Hurtgen Forest battles was written by Major Frederick T. Kent,
who served as the Regimental S-4 during the period covered.
This monograph by Major Kent is part of the permanent collection
of the US Army Center of Military History.

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* Map courtesy of the artist, Akhil Kadidal, from his website:

World War II Re-examined

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