Memorial

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Troops got into the small patch of wood that they were supposed to clear of the enemy. Bannholz woods would become one of the darkest pages in the history of the 2/376. It ran into strong defenses and counterattacks by German tanks and infantry in Bannholz Woods itself and was continuously fired on by German tanks. Artillery and mortar fire added to the toll in dead and wounded. By noon the operation was all but lost: communications were at a standstill, there was no workable command structure left as nobody knew what was going on in the woods, except in his own immediate vicinity. And it had started pouring with rain, which filled up every foxhole and made movement in the woods even more difficult. The situation became untenable as reinforcements failed to arrive. The attack had turned into a desperate defense and then a retreat.