In this forest, a foxhole was a death trap: German shells were fused to burst in the canopy, raining wooden splinters straight down. This episode explores the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, the longest single battle on German soil and one of the longest in US Army history.

We examine how dense terrain and freezing mud neutralized American air and armor superiority, how commanders 30 miles away misread a paper map, and how the Kall Trail disaster and the Battle of the Bulge left 88 days of suffering with little to show.

• Why standing and hugging a tree was safer than digging in
• How the Siegfried Line and hidden minefields fortified the woods
• The unscouted Kall Trail and the stranding of troops at Schmidt
• The remarkable ceasefire and Lieutenant Lengfeld’s fatal rescue
• Trench foot, non-combat casualties, and the hubris of distant command