In this 1962 episode of the U.S. Army’s TV show THE BIG PICTURE (00:01:13:00) – THE DRAGON’S TEETH, General J. Lawton Collins (00:10:20:00) tells of the U.S. Army’s fight to take the Siegfried line in World War II and of the campaign to cross onto the soil of Germany. The story of the Siegfried Line campaign takes place in Northern Germany, featuring savage combat and inhospitable terrain. A wonderful shot of the Siegfried Line, known as the dragon’s teeth, is featured at (00:03:20:00). Vintage footage of Hitler can be seen at (00:06:37:00).
The line stretched more than 390 miles and featured more than 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps. The network of defensive structures stretched from Kleve on the border with the Netherlands, along the western border of the old German Empire, to the town of Weil am Rhein on the border to Switzerland. It was planned in 1936 and built between 1938 and 1940. Standard construction elements such as large Regelbau bunkers, smaller concrete “pillboxes”, and “dragon’s teeth” anti-tank obstacles were built as part of each construction phase, sometimes by the thousands. (00:03:36:00)
Dragon’s teeth tank traps were also known as Höcker in German (“humps” or “pimples” in English) because of their shape. These blocks of reinforced concrete stand in several rows on a single foundation. There are two typical sorts of barrier: Type 1938 with four teeth getting higher toward the back, and Type 1939 with five such teeth. Many other irregular lines of teeth were also built.
The Siegfried Line at the start of the war had serious weaknesses. German General Alfred Jodl said after the war that it was “little better than a building site in 1939”, and when Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt inspected the line its weak construction and insufficient weapons caused him to laugh. The Reich Ministry of Information and Propaganda drew foreign attention to the unfinished Westwall, in several instances showcasing incomplete or test positions to portray the project finished and ready for action. During the Battle of France, French forces made minor attacks against some parts of the line but the majority was left untested.
In August 1944, the first clashes with American soldiers took place on the Siegfried Line. The section of the line where most fighting took place was the Hürtgenwald or Hürtgen Forest (00:07:20:00) area in the Eifel, 12 miles southeast of Aachen. The Americans committed an estimated 120,000 troops plus reinforcements to the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. The battle in this heavily forested area claimed the lives of 24,000 American soldiers plus 9,000 non-battle casualties.
After the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge began, starting in the area south of the Hürtgenwald, between Monschau and the Luxembourgish town of Echternach. This offensive was a last-ditch attempt by the Germans to reverse the course of the war in the West. German loss of life and material was severe in the failed effort. There were serious clashes along other parts of the Siegfried Line and soldiers in many bunkers refused to surrender, often fighting to the death. By early 1945 the last Siegfried Line bunkers had fallen at the Saar and Hunsrück.
A vintage shot of General Joe Collins appears at (00:09:45:00). Amazing battle footage of Aachen can be seen at (00:13:45:00). Footage of the largest air strike in support of ground troops in the war can be seen at (00:17:25:00). Brilliant footage of flamethrower tanks appears at (00:18:23:00) and of battle in winter at (00:21:57:00). The episode ends with another interview of General Collins. (00:25:17:00)
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