The Longest Battle: September 1944 to February 1945: From Aachen to the Roer and Across

by Harry Yeide

In the early afternoon of September 12, 1944, an American patrol entered Nazi Germany southwest of the ancient city of Aachen. Three months after the landing at Normandy, the Allies were finally within reach of the enemy on his home turf. Among the troops there was even talk of getting home for Christmas. What followed, though, was one of the most grueling campaigns of the war—the nearly six-month-long battle fully recounted for the first time in this powerful work. Combining stirring narrative and meticulous historical detail, The Longest Battle provides a complete and compelling account of what happened after the first breach of the Third Reich by Allied ground combat forces: of the troops’ terrible struggle across the Siegfried Line, Hitler’s vaunted West Wall, through the benighted Hurtgen Forest, and across the Roer. The strategic decisions and setbacks, the incremental advances, and catastrophic losses that marked this still-controversial but critically important battle unfold in all their historical, military, and human significance in Harry Yeide’s book—finally filling a gap in our understanding of World War II.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Military History, War

320 pages, Hardcover

First published April 2, 2005

Reviews

[happy · Rating 4 out of 5]

With this book, the author looks at one of the overlooked campaigns fought by the US Army in Europe. Starting first piercing of the Siegfried line and the capture Aachen, Charlemagne’s capitol, and the thru the crossing of the Roer River, Mr. Yiede gives a good detailed account of the battle. His approach is remarkably even handed. He tells the strategy and tactics from both sides. While the time frame of the book includes the battle for the Hurtgen Forest and the Battle of the Bulge, the author does not spend much time on them. Basically he tells us how they affected the drive to Roer River. He does this from both the German and Allied perspective.

Mr. Yiede shines light on both the high level decision making and war of PBI who had to carry out those decisions. One interesting anecdote that I found concerned the capture of Aachen. It seems both the German commander and the commander of the American division, the 1stID - Big Red One, given the task to capture it wanted to avoid fighting in the city itself. The German commander was prepared to surrender the city when the Americans show up. It was his desire to avoid the casualties and colateral damage that street fighting in the city would entail. The American commander moved around the city to cut it off and avoid unnessary casualities. By the time he got around to actually attacking the city, the German Commander had been replaced with one determined to make the Allies pay and pay they did.

Another facet of the battle I found interesting is the way the German Army was able to reconstitute units. There are several instances in the narrative where German Divisions are for all intents and purposes destroyed and a couple of weeks later show up on the battlefield again. This ability to patch together disparate units into cohesive ones definitely prolonged the battle.

Perhaps the only major fault I have with the narrative is the way Mr. Yiede uses unit identifications. He uses both the numerical designation and the nick name of the divisions, esp for US units ie the 1st Infantry Division or The Big Red One. In some ways this slows down the flow of the story. Also there are spots were the story telling is a little dry.

All in all this is a good telling of one of the overlooked campaigns of the US Army. I would give it 3.75 stars rounded up to four for Good Reads.

[Alan Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Useful but laborious account of the US Army's fight to break through the West Wall, take the city of Aachen, and by crossing the Roer River, reach the mighty Rhine. A solid history of what happened, that neglects the why, and often struggles to tell a story. Too often, the pages are rife with "First Battalion and Second Battalion, with Company B's Sherman tanks in support, took Weilerstadt ("Hamlet-Town") against strong/moderate/weak resistance from the 999th Volksgrenadiers, which had two/six/no King Tigers."

The frequent maps are repetitive and do not give enough information to locate the narrative - I turned instead to the maps in the official US Army history of the campaign, The Siegfried Line Campaign.

[Robert Drumheller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rarely do we hear of the tragic decisions of our American generals. It was very informative.

[Troy Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good information for my research on my grandfather's time in France and Germany during World War II.