A captain runs pillbox to pillbox under fire, and Crucifix Hill falls
Outside Aachen, Germany, a maze of pillboxes on Crucifix Hill stood in the way of the 1st Infantry Division's attempt to encircle the city. On October 8, 1944, Capt. Bobbie E. Brown of C Company, 18th Infantry Regiment, ran 100 yards under fire three times to plant pole charges and destroy three enemy pillboxes, taking a mortar wound on the last one. He refused treatment, scouted enemy positions alone while drawing fire to expose them, and was wounded twice more before letting medics near him. His information let his company beat back the German counterattack that followed.
Brown, a former boxer who'd earned his commission in Normandy, became one of the war's most decorated infantry officers for a single afternoon's work. His Medal of Honor citation credited him with helping break open the siege of Aachen, the first German city to fall to American troops, a milestone that sharpened the Army's sense that Germany itself could be taken block by block.
QWho commanded the 1st Battalion that was ordered to take Crucifix Hill?
Lt. Col. Henry G. Leonard Jr. held that command, reporting up to Col. George A. Smith Jr., who led the full 18th Infantry Regiment. Leonard's battalion was the unit tasked with clearing the hill, and C Company, under Capt. Bobbie Brown, was just one company operating under his orders that day. Brown's charge against the pillboxes took place within the attack plan Leonard had set in motion, though it was Brown's individual actions the Army chose to decorate. Leonard's name rarely appears outside unit records, overshadowed by the Medal of Honor citation his subordinate earned.
QWhat mistake did a 2005 video game make about when Crucifix Hill was fought?
Call of Duty 2: Big Red One, released in 2005, recreated the assault in a level simply titled "Crucifix Hill," putting players in the role of a soldier storming Hill 239. The game placed the battle in September 1944, a month earlier than the actual October 8 date. The error made it into the shipped game even though the real engagement's date is documented in Brown's Medal of Honor citation. It stands as one of the more notable date discrepancies in a game otherwise built around the 1st Infantry Division's real campaign history.
QHow long did the Germans manage to hold part of Crucifix Hill during their October 12 counterattack?
Two full German infantry regiments threw themselves at the hill on October 12, four days after Brown's assault, and briefly succeeded in overrunning sections of the American position before the day ended. American defenders fought through the day and pushed the Germans out by nightfall, meaning the recapture attempt lasted less than 24 hours from start to collapse. The cost was severe on the German side: both regiments were left virtually destroyed in the failed attempt, a casualty rate that shows how heavily the Wehrmacht was willing to spend men trying to reclaim a single fortified hilltop outside Aachen.
