Operation "Nordwind" has perhaps too often been eclipsed by the larger offensive "Wacht am Rhine". Nordwind was Germanys very last major offensive action in the West. What we illustrate on this page is in fact the remains of a type 82 "Kubelwagen". It once belonged to men of 17th SS Pz Grenadier Division - "Götz Von Berlichingen". This unit was largely made up of Volksdeusche. However what ever they may have lacked they were not short of bravado and their losses in this area were large. The Kubel was found in an area that had seen much shelling, shrapnel filling the ground as much as in areas of the Hürtgen forest. The floor pan, top right. Below left a shattered M35 helmet, retained by a local after the battle. This may well have belonged to an SS Schütze, or perhaps a member of 559th VGD who also fought here during January 1945.

What remains of the bodywork has been piled up unceremoniously in a heap. Sadly this is one type 82 that is way past restoration. However it has lain here on the battlefield since January 1945!
17th SS attacks were held tenaciously by soldiers of the 44th and 100th Infantry Divisions of the US Army. The SS were also thwarted by their own eagerness to push forward. Their commanders were frequently casualties, either being killed or captured. Rightly or wrongly the "myths" that have grown around the fighting qualities of the Waffen SS are measured by such acts of recklessness or courage.
The relic below left has been confirmed as being winter track cleat from a German Panzer. At right we show an example of how such a cleat fitted into a track (in this case the track is from a Panzer IV). Similar cleats were used on the MkV Panther, so it is possible that the item found is from either a MkIII or MkIV. Further details can be found in "German Tanks" by Walter J. Spielberger. Published by Motorbuch Verlag in Stuttgart.

Exhibits List