FRANCE
AN M4A3 MEDIUM TANK fitted with track extensions maneuvering through soupy ground. Track extensions were so devised as to give better flotation and traction through the November mud.
GERMANY
105-MM. HOWITZER M3 shelling enemy positions. After the capture of Aachen the First and Ninth Armies prepared for a new offensive. The initial objectives were to capture bridgeheads over the Roer River in the vicinity of Dueren and make advances toward Juelich. At the same time the defensive positions in the Ardennes area were held. After a four-day delay the weather cleared and planes of the Allied air forces began the attack. Several towns including Dueren and Juelich were reduced to rubble.
GERMANY
MEDIUM TANKS FIRING during the assault toward the Roer River (top). 155-mm. gun motor carriage M12 firing on enemy held positions (bottom). In spite of the elaborate preparations made for the attack and the great concentration of combat power, progress was extremely slow. Each of the towns was woven into a network in which each house had to be reduced, and each foot of the muddy ground was defended to the last by the enemy troops. The attack plowed on determinedly in the mud and cold and on 3 December 1944 the Ninth Army came to the Roer. The First Army also attacked until the river was reached. (Note the newer type track with cleats on the treads to give better traction.)
