Battle of the Crucifix Hill

How Captain E. Bobbie Brown became a war hero

German soldiers standing next to the Crucifix on top of the hill 1944

The year 1944 had proven to be the most difficult and vicious for both the Allies as well as for the Axis. By late October 1944, most of the troops and resources were exhausted but revenge is what kept the Allies going. On the 8th of October 1944, the 18th infantry regiment, U.S. 1st infantry division lead by Henry G. Leonard, Junior was sent on a special mission to set up defenses on Haarber Hill 239 Germany where Crucifix Hill was located. The main reason for the advanced defenses was to secure the entry of Allied troops into West Germany.

The Allied troops have already pushed 50 km into Germany as the 1st Division started marching from Aachen, a small town that was only 20 km away from Crucifix Hill. The hill was a very good defensive position that had entrenched pillboxes with mounted MG42’s and 88mm anti-tank cannons. C Company was sent for the first assault, upon reaching and eliminating the first pillbox with flamethrowers. This was a very efficient tactic of the U.S. Army as the flames would detonate the ammunition inside the pillbox, making it explode like new year’s eve fireworks. After the explosion, C Company was flanked from the east by a German machine-gun unit.