Snipers and cold weather aggravated life on Their-du-Mont ridge. The snipers were deadly. It was bitter cold and digging into the deep snow covered frozen ground was impossible. The 508th PIR men still lacked winter clothing and cold weather casualties increased
On January 10, the 508th PIR was relieved by elements of the 75th Infantry Division. Newly arrived in the theatre, the men of the 508th PIR envied the 75th Division soldiers with their overcoats, galoshes, winter caps and gloves, truck mounted kitchens and hot meals.
The 508th PIR moved to a rest area near Chevron, Belgium to regroup and lick its wounds.
In less than a month, 900 men and officers were casualties; more than 40% were victims of the bitter cold weather rather than the Germans.
Most of the 508th PIR men had not been in any shelter or had a warm meal since December 18, 1944 when they left Sissonne, France.
During the 508th PIR’s short rest period the tide of battle had changed. The Germans, reeling from the allied counterattacks were holding a line with Waffen-SS troops, allowing the Volksgrenadier and first-line Panzer-Grenadier Divisions to withdraw to comparative safety.
On January 21, the 508th PIR returned to the line for three days in Diedenberg until relieved by the 424th Infantry, the sole remaining regiment of the badly battered 106th Infantry Division.
On the January 28, the 82nd Airborne Division, in an attack formation, headed east toward the heart of Germany with the Siegfried Line fortifications as the immediate objectives. The next days were memorable, not for the German resistance, but for the extreme cold, snow and fatigue. In addition to the physical strain of plowing through knee-deep snow, carrying weapons, ammunition and the blankets necessary to keep from freezing, was the constant knowledge hat anyone wounded in the thick snow-bound forests would probably die from exposure before he could be evacuated. | 
