The Steinwald was the key to CCA’s attack. Unless the woods were cleared of Germans, the plan would be doomed to failure. The combat command organized into three task forces. Task Force 1 consisted primarily of the 43rd Tank Battalion, and Task Force 3 was essentially the 17th Armored Infantry Battalion. Both had Offendorf as their final objectives. Task Force 2, consisting of the 66th Armored Infantry Battalion and a tank platoon from the 43rd Tank Battalion, had the vital mission of clearing the Steinwald.

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Prior to the attack, Allied Intelligence estimated that between 500 and 800 German infantrymen and Volksgrenadiers held Herrlisheim. The Germans, in fact, had major elements of the 10th SS Panzer Division in both Herrlisheim and Offendorf. In the Steinwald, the Germans had one company of well-dug-in infantry, a mortar company, three anti-tank guns and at least six other armored vehicles.

The American attack went badly from the start. Almost simultaneously, the Germans launched a drive down the west bank of the Rhine from Lauterbourg, attempting to link up with the Gambsheim bridgehead. The 79th Infantry Division, to the north of the bridgehead, took most of the brunt of that attack, but CCB also came under heavy artillery fire and again was unable to get its tanks across the river.

Combat Command A’s attack from the south commenced at 1 a.m. on the 16th. By 4:45 a.m., the 66th Armored Infantry Battalion reached Landgraben River, the line of departure for the Steinwald attack. There they were pinned down by heavy German fire. When the attack was called off at noon, Companies A and C of the 66th Armored Infantry were reduced to a combined strength of only 65 survivors.

At 10:30 a.m., the whitewashed tanks of the 43rd Tank Battalion started to move across the open field south of Herrlisheim. The Steinwald was supposed to have been cleared by that time–but it was not. Caught in that perfect tank kill zone, the 43rd Tank Battalion started taking fire from the Steinwald to its south, from Herrlisheim to its north and from Offendorf to its east. To make matters worse, the 43rd could not return fire into the Steinwald because the tankers believed American troops were still trying to take it. After 12 of his tanks were knocked out and another 11 were hit, Colonel Novosel finally ordered a withdrawal two kilometers to the west and requested airstrikes on the Steinwald.

The 17th Armored Infantry Battalion, commanded by Major James W. Logan, also took heavy fire during its advance. Some of the light tanks attached to the battalion managed to reach the railroad embankment, but they were quickly torn to pieces by German anti-tank fire from Offendorf and the Steinwald. Even the normally dependable 3rd Algerian Infantry Division failed to get anywhere close to Gambsheim that day.

On January 17, Combat Commands A and B of the 12th Armored Division went at Herrlisheim again. For this attack, the 23rd Tank Battalion was pulled from CCB and given to CCA. In exchange, CCB got Company C of the 17th Armored Infantry Battalion.

Combat Command B’s objective was the point just north of Herrlisheim where the D-468 and the rail line crossed, but the Americans’ attack again stalled almost before it started. Trying to extend the tenuous bridgehead east of the Zorn, the combat command ran into heavy artillery, mortar and small-arms fire. After several hours of slugging it out, CCB pulled back to the Zorn.

Combat Command A’s attack began at 4 a.m., when the 66th Armored Infantry Battalion jumped off to clear the Steinwald. Although severely mauled the day before, the 66th Armored Infantry had been reinforced with Company A of the 119th Armored Engineer Battalion (fighting as infantry) and Company B, 23rd Tank Battalion. That effort went no better than the day before, and by 7 a.m. the 66th had been thrown back to its line of departure along Landgraben River. At dawn, meanwhile, both the 17th and the 43rd started moving across the northern edge of the Steinwald toward the D-468 and then the rail line leading north into Herrlisheim. Although their movement was partially screened by heavy ground fog, the 43rd Tank Battalion still lost four tanks to fire from the Steinwald before it reached the southern outskirts of the town. At 7:40 a.m., Novosel radioed that he was preparing to enter Herrlisheim.

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