Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads 1944
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 26 December 1944 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1944 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War II era (1939–1945) | derived from year |
| Location | Germany | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | World War II | Wikidata P361 |
| Coordinates | 50.5019, 6.3275 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads was fought, beginning one day prior to the start of the Battle of the Bulge, at a vital three-way junction near a forester's cabin and former border post named Wahlerscheid, astride the Siegfried Line (Westwall). The road ran along the Höfen-Alzen and Dreiborn ridges, about 5.6 miles (9.0 km) north of Krinkelt-Rocherath, Belgium. In early December 1944, the U.S. V Corps trucked the experienced 2nd Infantry Division from positions it had held in the south to Krinkelt-Rocherath, twin villages adjacent to Elsenborn Ridge and near the southern tip of the Hürtgen Forest.
On the eastern side of the Siegfried Line was an excellent road network leading to the Roer River dams a few miles to the northeast; the Allies' next goal. The Allies had tried bombing the dams without success, and a ground campaign was decided upon. The Americans were assigned to capture the crossroads with the goal of securing a jumping-off point for an attack on the dams, or failing that, force the Germans to blow them up. The dams were important to the Germans because they could be used defensively to control the flow and depth of the Roer River, delaying or even completely blocking Allied advances at will.
During the first two days of the battle, the Americans failed to advance and experienced significant losses. On the third day a platoon infiltrated the German lines and late on 15 December, the U.S.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Heartbreak Crossroads (revision 1380809278), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Elsenborn Ridge 1944 · 8 km
- Battle of Kesternich 1944 · 12 km
- Battle of Lanzerath Ridge 1944 · 16 km
- Battle of Hürtgen Forest 1944 · 23 km
- Battle of Tolbiac 496 · 27 km
- Battle of St. Vith 1944 · 28 km
Other battles of the World War II
- New Georgia campaign 1943
- Operation Garlic 1943
- Siege of Turjak 1943
- Smolensk operation 1943
- Third Battle of Kharkov 1943
- Action of 14 February 1944 1944
- Action of 17 July 1944 1944
- Air battle over the Ore Mountains 1944
- Allied siege of La Rochelle 1944
- Battle for Hill 140 1944
All 178 battles of the World War II →
Browse more: battles in Germany · Europe · World War II era battles