Battle of Crucifix Hill
Part of World War II
Captain Bobbie E. Brown leading the American troops up the hill.
Date October 8, 1944 Location Outside Aachen, Germany Result The 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division gains contol of Crucifix Hill. Territorial changes Crucifix Hill is taken by the U.S. 1st Infantry Division
Combatants
Nazi Germany Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Image File history File links CrucifixHill. ... October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (282nd in leap years). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... Aachen ([] Dutch Aken, French Aix-la-Chapelle, Latin Aquisgranum, Ripuarian Oche) is a spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km to the west of Cologne, and the westernmost city in Germany. ... This article should belong in one or more categories. ... The 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army —nicknamed the Big Red One after its shoulder patch—is the oldest continuously serving division in the United States Army. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Germany_1933. ... Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...	United States of America Image File history File links US_flag_48_stars. ...
Commanders
Colonel Gerhard Wilck	Colonel George A. Smith Jr.

The Battle of Crucifix Hill was a World War II battle that took place on October 8, 1944, on Crucifix Hill (Hill 239), outside of Aachen, Germany. The battle was part of the Drive to the Siegfried Line. The hill was named after the large crucifix on the top of the hill. The objective of the battle was to gain control of the hill, which was laced with a maze of pillboxes and bunkers, so that the main objective of encircling Aachen could be completed. Colonel Gerhard Wilck was the German commander who defended the German city Aachen in the Battle of Aachen. ... The drive to the Siegfried Line was one of the final Allied phases in World War II of the Western European Campaign. ... The 10th Canadian Infantry Brigade was tasked to cross the Ghent Canal about five kilometers south of Bruges at a small village called Oostcamp. ... Combatants United Kingdom United States Poland Germany Commanders Bernard Montgomery Gerd von Rundstedt Strength XXX Corps, 35,000 airborne 20,000 Casualties 17,000 casualties 8,000 casualties Operation Market Garden (September 17-September 25, 1944) was an Allied military operation in World War II. Its tactical objectives were to... Nancy is a city in France. ... Combatants United States Germany Commanders Courtney Hodges Walther Model Strength 120,000 unknown Casualties 33,000 dead and wounded 12,000 dead - number of wounded and captured not exactly known The Battle of Hurtgen Forest (German: Schlacht im Hürtgenwald) is the name given to the series of fierce battles... Combatants United States Germany Commanders William Simpson Gerhard Wilck Strength 100,000 soldiers 12,000 soldiers Casualties 2000 killed 3000 wounded 5500 killed or wounded, 5,600 POW The Battle of Aachen was a battle in World War II that took place in October 1944 in the German city of... Combatants Canada United Kingdom Poland Belgium Norway Germany Commanders Guy Simonds (acting) (First Canadian Army) Gustav-Adolf von Zangen (German 15th Army) Strength  ?  ? Casualties 12,873 total; including 6,367 Canadian  ? The Battle of the Scheldt was a series of military operations which took place in northern Belgium and south... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... October 8 is the 281st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (282nd in leap years). ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1944 calendar). ... This article should belong in one or more categories. ... This article should belong in one or more categories. ... Aachen ([] Dutch Aken, French Aix-la-Chapelle, Latin Aquisgranum, Ripuarian Oche) is a spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km to the west of Cologne, and the westernmost city in Germany. ... The drive to the Siegfried Line was one of the final Allied phases in World War II of the Western European Campaign. ... A crucifix amidst the cornfields near Mureck in rural Styria, Austria A handheld crucifix A crucifix in front of the Holy Spirit Church in KoÅ¡ice, Slovakia A crucifix is a cross with a representation of Jesuss body, or corpus. ... A bunker is a defensive warfare fortification to protect oneself. ... A bunker is a defensive warfare fortification to protect oneself. ...

Charging the hill

The 18th Infantry Regiment, U.S. 1st Infantry Division, led by Col. George A. Smith Jr., charged the hill with special pillbox assault teams equipped with flamethrowers, Bangalore torpedoes, and demolition charges. Also, a battery of tank destroyers and self-propelled guns were prepared to send direct fire at the pillboxes. As the leading rifle platoon assaulted the first pillbox, flanking fire from a nearby pillbox gun emplacement fired upon the soldiers. The pinned down soldiers also expirienced an intense artillary barrage that rained down on their exposed position. The 1st Infantry Division of the United States Army —nicknamed the Big Red One after its shoulder patch—is the oldest continuously serving division in the United States Army. ... A bunker is a defensive warfare fortification to protect oneself. ... German troops use a flamethrower on the Eastern Front during the Second World War A flamethrower is a mechanical device designed to throw flames or, more correctly, project an ignited stream of liquid. ... Platoon is a term from military science. ...

Captain Bobbie Brown

Captain Bobbie E. Brown was the leader of C Company, and was a boxer who had earned a commission in Normandy. During the onslaught of the nearby pillbox, Captain Brown grabbed a pole charge and ran 100 yards with bullets whipping by him, placed it in the pillbox, and destroyed it. He did this twice more to two other pillboxes each time succeeding to destroy the pillbox, and only on the third one was he injured by a mortar round. Although he was wounded, he refused medical attention and countinued up the hill. After the hill was secure, he went by himself on recon mission to locate enemy troops beyond the hill. He delibrately let the enemy fire at him so to find out where enemy emplacements were. While doing this he was wounded twice more. The information he discovered allowed his company to repell two German counterattacks. Only after the position was completely secure did he allow treatment for his wounds. For his actions during The Battle of Crucifix Hill, Captain Brown recieved the Congressional Medal of Honor. Bobbie E. Brown was a recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions at the Battle of Crucifix Hill, near Aachen, Germany, on October 8, 1944. ... For the computer game, see Medal of Honor (computer game). ...

See also

• List of military engagements of World War II
• World War II
• Aachen
• Battle of Aachen

German soldiers during the Battle of Stalingrad. ... Combatants Major Allied powers: United Kingdom Soviet Union United States Republic of China and others Major Axis powers: Nazi Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Harry Truman Chiang Kai-Shek Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tojo Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead... Aachen, Dutch Aken, French Aix-la-Chapelle, Spanish Aquisgrán, Latin Aquisgranum, Ripuarian Oche) is a spa city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the border with Belgium and the Netherlands, 65 km to the west of Cologne, and the westernmost city in Germany. ... Combatants United States Germany Commanders William Simpson Gerhard Wilck Strength 100,000 soldiers 12,000 soldiers Casualties 2000 killed 3000 wounded 5500 killed or wounded, 5,600 POW The Battle of Aachen was a battle in World War II that took place in October 1944 in the German city of...

References

• Schur, Keith. "Combat Mission: Crucifix Hill." Games Depot. 20 May 2003. Wargamer Publishing, Inc.. 24 Nov 2006

• "Battle of Crucifix Hill." Patton's Gallery. Patton's Gallery. 24 Nov 2006

• "CHAPTER XII Closing the Circle." CMH Online. 26 September 2006. U.S. Army Center of Military History. 25 Nov 2006