Victory was Beyond Their Grasp: With the 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division from the Hürtgen Forest to the Heart of the Reich (review)

In 1993 an American dealer in military documents journeyed to a small town in eastern Germany to purchase a collection of German military identity papers. Included in her purchase was a battered suitcase which, upon inspection, contained the almost complete files and documents for Füsilier Company 272 of the 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division, covering in detail the time from the unit's formation in September 1944 through its dissolution at the end of World War II. Fortunately for historians, the documents ended up in the possession of Douglas Nash, author of Hell's Gate: The Battle of the Cherkassy Pocket, January–February 1944. Nash used this treasure trove, along with other primary and secondary sources, as well as interviews with German and American veterans, to write a detailed and thorough history of this relatively unknown German division.

Although it was in existence for less than a year, the division participated in several critical battles on the Western Front. Formed from the remnants of the 272nd Infanterie-Division that survived the intense fighting of the Normandy Campaign, the newly christened 272nd Volks-Grenadier Division had only six weeks of training before being deployed in the infamous Hürtgen Forest at the end of October, 1944. There it performed the critical mission of not only holding the current defensive positions, but also preventing the Americans from discovering the buildup of German troops in preparation for the Battle of the Bulge offensive. The division was successful in keeping American attacks in check, but at such a cost that it was judged too weak to participate in the ensuing offensive. After the failure of the Ardennes campaign, the division remained on the defensive along the Westwall, effectively delaying the Americans from capturing the Roer Dams for several weeks. Once pushed back across the Roer River, and suffering significantly from lack of supplies and support, the division endured a series of retreats, first to the Rhine, then to the Wied River, and finally most of the division was disbanded after being surrounded in the Ruhr Pocket. A few units managed to escape encirclement and make their way to the Harz Mountains before finally surrendering in late April, 1945.

The amount of detail that Nash has been able to document is often quite remarkable, especially since during the last days of the Reich military records were often either nonexistent or deliberately destroyed. While ostensibly a divisional history, the narrative often describes events on a regimental, battalion, and even company level, often down to individual actions. Aiding the reader's understanding, Nash includes an excellent chapter discussing the organization and purpose of Volks-Grenadier Divisions. Often confused with Volkssturm units, which were usually made up of very young and very old conscripts, Volks-Grenadier Divisions were considered to be elite formations, often commanded by highly decorated officers. In the 272nd alone there were seven Knight's Cross holders, as well as eighteen soldiers decorated with the German Cross in Gold.

The maps included in the book are very useful, although a few additional maps detailing the movements of the division's regiments and battalions would have been helpful, as the division often did not fight as a cohesive unit. The appendixes provide a detailed Order of Battle as well as well as a very helpful explanation of the numbering system used for creating the Volks-Grenadier divisions.

Thanks to the efforts of an unknown German soldier in keeping the documents of his unit safe for almost forty years after the end of the war, Nash has written an excellent and highly readable history of an unheralded German division, and he has contributed significantly to our understanding of the final months of the Third Reich...