The Battle for Kesternich

The Battle for Kesternich. January 30 - 31, 1945.

"No battle has ever been fought that tried harder the souls of men than this battle for Kesternich" Official History of the 78th Division.

For the US, the task was "the most vital at that time on the entire Western Front," taking the Schwammenauel Dam on the Roer. After being pushed back from the Ardennes. The German interest in Kisternich took another twist. Kesternich, and its prominent position in the Monshau Corridor, proved to be the last good defensive position for the German before the Schwammenauel Dam., The morning of January 30 was bleak and freezing. A full-scale blizzard blew in from the west, and continued all day. The men were dressed in white camouflage, and had to place white tape on their rifle stocks so the rifles wouldn't give them away. They got up at 3 a.m., grenades were passed out, and by 5 a.m. they filed out their foxholes and cellars to the forward positions. At 5:30 a.m., the battle Kesternich began., The Germans had over six weeks to prepare and strengthen the town and their positions. They neglected nothing. There were mines, barbed wire, traps ingeniously place machine gun , some fired by string from an adjacent building. Infantry stubbornly defended every building, over 120 in all, with automatic weapons, grenades and rifles. Numerous anti-tank guns blocked the way, and the freezing weather coupled with over two feet of snow favored the entrenched Germans., The death toll climbed alarmingly high right from the start, and US medics scrambled to evacuate the numerous wounded in the bitter cold. The mercury dropped so low that weapons began to freeze and jam. Tanks were lost in large numbers due to cleverly laid minefields; others bogged down in the snow. The 78th knew Kesternich was a now-or-never situation , the entire US front was on the move, and this terrain was key to overall success. Fighting raged inch-by-inch, rubble heap to rubble heap throughout the day., In a battle that was stalled at times, where not a single house was left standing at day's end, and when the action of each man could determine the fate of hundreds , perhaps thousands , one man, Ed Kelley, took action, and gave his life for ultimate success at Kesternich. His deeds are best told by the honor , his country's highest honor, which was bestowed on him posthumously. . This historical marker is in Keyser in Mineral County West Virginia