AFTER-ACTION REPORT

"That forest was a scene only the devil himself could have created..."
Anonymous Lieutenant of the 28th Div.

The Hürtgen forest of the Ardennes was a chamber of horrors to soldiers of both sides during the winter of 1944. Elements of several divisions- the 9th and the 28th, in particular- were decimated by weather, terrain, and enemy resistance. Reports from the action within the forest range wildly from the believable to the fantastic. More than one soldier described the killing ground as "an endless slow-motion nightmare."

D66 intelligence has good reason to suspect the use of Nazi fear gas in the forest- possibly a derivative compound of that found in the UXB found in London in 1940. Evidence of this chemical have been found in other locations, including the Nazi gas laboratory in Burgundy (see Operation: Breathe Easy for details). Certainly the situation in the Ardennes is sufficient in and of itself to generate nightmarish tales and severe combat shock, but trace elements of the compound found in the bloodstreams of some survivors point to gas warfare. Incidentally, these survivors have shown the most severe hallucinations, persisting well after their retreat. One seargent continues to talk about having "seen the devil himself" with a "pack of snow white demons" apparently "hunting the damned" through the forest.

Recommendations: Continue efforts to obtain samples and develop a counter-agent for the fear toxin, if it exists; comb incoming reports for additional intelligence on the AsA agent known as "Asvard" and any references to the "Fenris commandos" that has been associated with this agent.