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JCSM Shareware Collection 1996 September
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JCSM Shareware Collection (JCS Distribution) (September 1996).ISO
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
* *
* OUR PURSUIT OF THE GERMANS TO THE GERMAN BORDER *
* *
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
After leaving Paris, the 4th Division made an exhausting
dash across northern France and Belgium to Germany. We
left Paris on August 27 and crossed into Germany seventeen
days later on September 13. My recollections for this period
are limited. Fortunately, however, shortly before going into
Germany, I wrote letters which remind me of events.
Dear Folks, Sunday, September 10, 1944, Somewhere in
Belgium
Believe me when I say that this has been my first
opportunity to write since we left Paris. As the press will tell
you, things have been moving very rapidly. We go from early
morning until late at night. Moving until we come across
some Jerries, cleaning them out and then moving on again.
By the time we stop in the evening, everyone is quite tired.
For myself, I just eat and go to sleep.
I expect we shall fight just one more hard battle. No doubt
its outcome will have been decided before you receive this
letter. When we have cracked the West Wall defenses, which
are somewhat of an enigma to us just now, the German
Wehrmacht as such will have been completely broken. True,
they will be able to resist some; and, if the civilians decided
to fight, this could turn into a pretty nasty mess, with a
useless slaughter of men, women, and children. I hope this
is unnecessary.
These Belgians are an unusual group. To me, they vary
greatly from the French. In many towns their welcome is
every bit as enthusiastic as the French. There are generous
supplies of wine, shouting, and flowers. However, they go in
for kissing less, darn it! Their practice of giving out bread
with butter is much more practical, though.
The Belgians have their own army of the interior. It is
usually referred to as the Maquis. It seems much better
organized and more aggressive than the French Forces of the
Interior (FFI). Certainly they have been of more value to us.
We have been very well informed as to the enemies' location
and strength all the time. They are of infinite value as a
source of information.
Yesterday we moved our CP (command post) into a Belgian
home. They put out their flag for the first time in years.
Across the field came a platoon of Maquis from out of the
woods. Their commander called them to attention and they
saluted the flag. The commander broke out with a profusion
of tears. There was a strange silence. Then he got control of
himself and dismissed the group. Being the nearest at hand,
all came over and shook hands with me.
The group started showing me their weapons, many dropped
by parachute, some taken from the Germans. One showed
me his .45, and in turn I showed him mine. Someone
suggested a swap, which was immediately arranged. Now, I
have his, and he has mine. Both of us are pleased.
All the country we pass through is beautiful. This is rolling
country, with many hills and steep valleys. Patches of
woods, usually pine, dot the countryside. One couldn't call
them forests, only woods. There are frequent valleys and
small settlements of homes, apparently few towns or cities.
But all goes well. We all have high hopes.
Love, John
Dear Dad, September 10, 1944, Somewhere in Belgium
Yes, Dad, believe me, I exercise the greatest care and follow
more of your advice than you probably suspect. I have made
mistakes and had some narrow escapes, both to be
expected. Also, sometimes I take chances, but only those
necessary to perform my duties.
The other day I had the first man in my section wounded,
after three months of combat. He was only wounded slightly.
I believe this is good after being with the infantry since D-
Day. Let's hope our good luck continues.
I felt badly at losing this man, since he had been my radio
operator and right hand man since the minute we hit the
beach. However, as I explained to the section, he made a
bad mistake. It's no crime to be hit by the first shell, but
one should seldom be hit by succeeding rounds. He was,
when he exposed himself without need after a shelling
started.
The war moves rapidly. Those who said combat is mostly
resting and little fighting didn't have this campaign in mind.
It's been a constant pressure ever since we started, with
only a week of rest just before we went into Paris. It is of
some interest to me that I am possibly moving over the
same terrain that you did in World War I.
Your son, John
As these letters indicate, our advance to the German border
was not without resistance. When my radio operator was
wounded, we were in a small farm community in a valley.
A German artillery observer evidently had us under
observation, and we were subject to periodic shelling. The
operator went out to our jeep during a shelling and picked
up a shell fragment in his leg. We pulled him into a
building, and the medics put him on a stretcher and
evacuated him. This was all rather messy, since the shell
had landed in a pile of manure.
During the confusion, a scoundrel stole the stove from our
jeep. Since we depended on this to heat our rations, this
made me very angry. However, I managed, with some effort,
to persuade our supply people to give me another.
THE GERMANS FOUGHT AN EFFECTIVE DELAYING ACTION
Although the Germans were unable to establish a new
defense line in either France or Belgium, they were clever at
delaying our advance. At one point, we were moving across
open farming country. When an advance patrol approached
the edge of a patch of woods, it received fire. The battalion
halted to organize for an attack, which included getting the
artillery into position to fire.
By that time, our supply lines from the beach and
Cherbourg were getting very long. It was, therefore, difficult
to get enough gasoline to move the tank chassis on which
the artillery pieces were mounted. At one point, almost the
entire V Corps, to which the 4th Division was attached, was
out of gasoline. Even the organization of the Red Ball
Express, which used over 6,000 vehicles, did not solve the
worsening supply problems.
After contacting the artillery, I stood by a haystack and
watched the drama unfold. The trucks which were carrying
the infantry halted out of range of an anti-tank gun which
the Germans had. The infantry dismounted and began to
deploy on either side of the road. An artillery observation
plane appeared above us. Soon a single shell screeched
overhead and landed short of the trees. Soon there was
another, which landed in the trees. A German machine gun
began to fire at the aircraft. It began to weave and bob, to
make it harder to hit it. A volley of artillery shells screamed
overhead and landed in the trees. The machine gun stopped
firing.
By the time the infantry was ready to attack, it was late in
the afternoon. The infantry battalion commander decided,
therefore, to wait until the next day. During the night, a
great many artillery shells were fired into the woods.
When the infantry moved forward the next morning, it was
not fired upon. During the night, the Germans had
withdrawn. They did this, however, in such haste that they
did not take time to bury the men who lay on the ground
in grotesque positions. In addition, they abandoned an anti-
tank gun which had been hit by an artillery shell.
Another recollection concerns Ernest Hemingway. One day
he came roaring past our column of vehicles in a jeep.
When reading Carlos Baker's biography, I learned that Buck
Lanham had sent him a letter taunting him for lingering in
Paris. He was, therefore, on his way to join the 22nd
Regiment. Shortly after he passed us, we passed him at a
crossroad. He waved and pointed proudly to a few Germans
he had "captured." This did not impress us, since Germans
were at that time surrendering by the hundreds. When they
came out of the woods with their hands up, we waved to
them to head toward the rear and kept going. (The picture
of Hemingway and Capa would have been taken about this
time.)
WE WERE UNCERTAIN WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN WE ENTERED GERMANY
One day which is clear in my mind is September 13, when
we crossed into Germany. We hiked across an open field,
through woods, and into a small village. We were not sure
what to expect. As we approached the border, the civilians
seemed hostile. To our pleasant surprise, there were white
sheets hanging from many of the windows.
As we neared the village, I recalled that I had never fired
the gun which I got from the Belgian. Nervous anyway, I
decided to be sure it would work. This was a silly thing to
do, since I was not the only person who was nervous. The
loud explosion brought the battalion commander running to
where I was, demanding to know what had happened. When
I told him, he simply said, "Don't do that again."
Although our entry into Germany went easily, the hard part
was yet to come. We had heard about the defense line Hitler
had ordered built along the border. We were, however,
uncertain what to expect when we reached what we called
the Siegfried Line. (The Germans called it the West Wall.)
Although we were not aware of it at the time, on September
3 Hitler had recalled von Rundstedt, whom he had relieved
at the beginning of July. Even though the German Army
had lost hundreds of thousands of men since June 6, he
and his commanders managed to pull together improvised
units for a defense of the border area. Since we were very
low on artillery ammunition, General Gerow decided to delay
an attack on the Siegfried Line for two days. In addition, we
were all very tired, and our equipment was suffering from
lack of maintenance. Nevertheless, optimism prevailed, and
we all expected soon to reach the Rhine, little suspecting
that it would be over six months before the 4th Division
would cross that river.
The 4th Division attack on the Siegfried Line began on
September 14 in the Schnee Eifel, a hilly wooded area with
poor roads east of St. Vith, Belgium. Against varied
resistance from disorganized German forces, the Division
captured six miles of the West Wall. The price was about
800 casualties.
During this operation, an incident which made a profound
impression concerned my new radio operator. We were using
a German pillbox as a command post. Since the Germans
were shelling us, the operator set up his radio just outside
an embrasure, while he sat inside. A group of infantrymen
were gathered outside near the radio. An artillery shell hit
the concrete side of the pillbox near where they were
standing and killed them all. When I heard the explosion I
ran to where my radio operator was. He had not been
wounded but was in shock. I got him to lie down and rest
for awhile, assuring him he was would be all right. He made
it clear, however, that he was unwilling to stay at the front
any longer. After I explained the circumstances to Capt.
Edward C. (Ed) Green, the cooperative commander of the
29th's Headquarters Battery, he assigned another radio
operator to me.
From where we had an artillery observation post, I could see
the Germans just across an open field. In a clump of woods,
they were well dug in. If we fired a salvo, therefore, they
simply got into their shelters when they heard the rounds
coming. I tried firing random single shells, in the hope of
unnerving them, but tired of this before they did.
Again contrary to my view that my place was at battalion
headquarters, I accompanied Joe Gude's C Company on an
operation. As we marched across a clearing in the trees,
artillery shells landed several hundred yards behind us.
Assuming a German artillery observer had us under
observation, I instinctively jumped into a nearby ditch.
Seeing this, several infantrymen did the same. Without
looking at me, Gude shouted, "All right, you can't hide from
them, so keep on marching." Embarrassed, I got out of the
ditch and rejoined Gude on the road. After advancing a
distance without encountering small arms or further artillery
fire, the company returned to the positions it had been
holding.
Not long after that, during an intense battle for control of a
hill, Gude was wounded. I watched the medics trying to load
him into an ambulance. He refused to leave until he had
received his liquor ration.
AN ILLNESS EARNS ME A BRIEF RESPITE FROM COMBAT
Evidently I was feeling the wear and tear at this point, since
I wrote the following letter the day after Gude was wounded.
Dear Folks, September 22, 1944, Somewhere in Germany
The battalion commander has brought me back to our CP
for a twenty-four hour rest, so for the first time in a week
or more I'm having an opportunity to write to you. Believe
me, the Jerries are making a desperate fight for their
borders and homeland. Those of you who think this war
nearly over may be right, but just now it's rather hard to
convince the men about me. Love, John
During my absence, Ed Cissel replaced me. Unfortunately,
he developed pneumonia and was evacuated to the US.
At higher levels, there were divided opinions about our
prospects. The intelligence chief at Eisenhower's
headquarters was optimistic, whereas Patton's was more
realistic. His estimate said that "barring internal upheaval in
the homeland and the remoter possibility of insurrection
within the Wehrmacht, it can be expected that the German
armies will continue to fight until destroyed or captured."
(Forrest C. Pogue, The Supreme Command, page 245.) It
was not German resistance, however, which stopped us so
much as lack of supplies. Eisenhower gave priority to
Montgomery's abortive attempt to make an end run in the
north, MARKET-GARDEN. This operation had the aim of
seizing a bridgehead over the Rhine. The British were also
anxious to capture the V-bomb sites which were firing at
London.
BEHIND US, OTHERS WERE ENGAGED IN A BITTER SIEGE OF BREST
While most allied forces were pushing to the east, several
American divisions were engaged in a grisly battle in
Brittany. The initial objective was to capture Brest and other
ports. As Channel ports were becoming available, however,
the Brittany ports became less important. American
commanders decided, nevertheless, to continue the attack on
Brest.
After discussing the question with Bradley on September 9,
Patton commented, "We both felt that the taking of Brest at
that time was useless, because it was too far away and the
harbor was too badly destroyed. On the other hand, we
agreed that, when the American Army had once put its
hand to the plow, it should not let go. Therefore, it was
necessary to take Brest." (Patton, War as I Knew It, quoted
in Forrest C. Pogue, The Supreme Command, page 259.)
The alternative would have been to contain Brest until the
end of the war, as was done with Lorient and St. Nazaire.
These had substantial garrisons, but they were smaller than
Brest's. Bradley maintained that containment of Brest would
have required "more troops than we could spare on an
inactive front."
NOTE: The 2nd, 8th, and 29th Divisions had nearly 10,000
casualties during the siege of Brest and took about 30,000
prisoners.