It was at Simmerath, Germany where I first saw the proximity fuse in use by a new type Tank Destroyer. It was larger and distinctly different from any TDs that I had seen. The bogie wheels were larger and evenly spaced. It also mounted a long barreled 90mm gun. Later, I found that this was the M-36 TD.
I was intrigued by the consistent height of the air bursts–all appeared to explode about thirty feet above the ground near the Siegfried Line pillboxes at the base of the slope, about 600 yards from our position. When I asked the gunner how he set his fuses so accurately to get such uniform air-bursts, he replied that a magnet in the shell’s nose caused it to exploded automatically at the desired distance above the ground.
I said that it could not be a magnet–it would have to be done by some type of radio signal. But a radio transceiver (transmitter and receiver) built into an artillery shell — impossible! I had no ready answer and learned only later that my initial assumption had been correct.
Through our binoculars we observed German ambulances making multiple daylight runs to the Siegfried pillboxes at the base of the slope. This appeared suspicious and we thought that they might be bringing in ammunition, food or other supplies in the ambulances, even though this would have been a violation of the Geneva Convention—most German regular army units were usually quite scrupulous in abiding by its dictates. The proximity fuse may well have been the reason for all the ambulance runs that we had observed.
The US began work on the proximity fuse in 1940 and successfully brought it into operation in late 1942. The Germans and British had been working on the fuse for several years, but had failed to develop it. It was first used in the ETO on 12 June 1944 against the buzz-bombs in England and was later in use at Antwerp. US navy gunners had used it against Japanese planes in January 1943, from the USS Helena.
In chapter 4 of “War as I Knew It”, General George Patton stated “the night of December 25 and 2 6 we had used the new proximity fuse on a number of Germans near Echternach and actually killed 700 of them.” This action was during 3rd Army’s move north to Bastogne, and was the first documented use of the fuse against ground forces. It is my belief that we had seen the proximity fuse in use several weeks earlier, even though many WWII authors have stated that it was first used on the continent during the Bulge.
This was well before the Bulge, and should remove all doubt that its use at Simmerath was possible. My belief is reinforced by the explanation of its operation by the gunner, and—although flawed–was a reasonable explanation from an unsophisticated gunner! Because the fuse had been used in England and Antwerp, this Tank Destroyer may have been there and could have carried some proximity rounds to Simmerath. Regardless of how they arrived, I firmly believe they were there and that I had seen the proximity fuse as previously stated!
BLESSINGS IN THE “BULGE”
by Patrick J. Kearney, 11th AD, 55th AIB
It was December 30, 1944, and the 55th Armored Infantry Battalion was ready to move out. We had just entered Belgium at Florenville the previous day, and had passed through Jamoigne and Neufchateau before arriving at Ebly for overnight encampment.
As we prepared to depart for Vaux lez Rosieres and the front lines, we observed a lone jeep driving the entire length of our column, which stopped at each half-track. When the jeep arrived at ours, we saw that its passenger was our battalion and CCR chaplain, Lieutenant Regis J. Galvin, who was a member of the Order of Friars Minor (the Franciscans).
Chaplain Galvin
Father Galvin was wearing his chaplain’s stole and helmet, and he greeted us all with a smile and some kind words. He then spoke of the work we were about to undertake, and asked everyone to remove their helmets and to bow their heads. Our chaplain then gave General Absolution to the Catholic soldiers, and a blessing to the Protestant and Jewish soldiers, in our half-track. None of his spiritual sons were forgotten before their “baptism of fire” in the Battle of the Bulge!
But our chaplain’s deep concern for our spiritual welfare did not just end on the eve of battle. At lulls in the fighting during the “Bulge”, Father Galvin drove up to our position on the front lines, donned his alb, stole and chasuble, and celebrated Mass for us on the hood of his jeep. His presence on the battlefield was a great comfort to us – as were his prayers for the souls of our buddies who had been killed in action.
August 20 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of Father Galvin. His genuine concern for others was the hallmark of his ministry as an Army chaplain. And his deep regard for others is only surpassed by the high esteem in which he is still held today by those “Thunderbolts” whom he served. Pro Deo et Patria!
My company C was sitting in Stavelot, Belgium with orders to defend the town. Here we watched the troops of the First Army retreat and knew this alert would not suddenly be removed like it was in Carentan and Avranches, both in France. This was definitely the real thing as our guys had patrolled the area for German paratroopers only a few nights before but didn’t find any. Two hours before the initial enemy attack came support from one company of the 7th Armored Division arrived to help us in the defense of the town.
The attack came from the 150th Panzer Brigade using either American origin or German equipment disguised as American. The shelling started just daybreak and I was walking to chow with Russ Beamer of Dellroy Ohio. He and I left for the Army together and went all through the war together. I asked Russ, “Do you think we will ever see Carroll County again”? He replied, “Carl it doesn’t look very good now”. The fight was continued from early morning until just before noon. At this time and upon advice from the commander of C company we left Stavelot.
I was driving the command car as John Higgins the regular driver was in the hospital and my 2 1/2 ton truck was broken down and led our company out of Stavelot. As we were going out of Stavelot the Americans had set a huge gasoline dump on fire to keep the Germans from getting the gas. Our convoy went about 10 miles to a town called Spa that was First Army headquarters. Our acting C Company commander Lt. Joe F. Chinlund of 1323 Eddy St Chicago, Illinois told First Army headquarters that we had just got shelled out of Stavelot. They told Lt Chinlund that they didn’t know that the Germans had counterattacked and were that close. With those just written few words I believe our current company C was the very first to come in contact with the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge.
Our company C was relieved of its commitment to defend the town of Stavelot by the 117th Infantry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division. It was rumored that Germany’s highest armored division was in the area and that our company of 150 men would be completely wiped out if we were to become involved with them. This rumor later became history as the Malmedy Massacre was only about 10 miles away. We left half of our equipment and vehicles in the town as we left and we picked everything up a week later traveling through miles of newly won German territory.
Wesley Hillary was later awarded the Silver Star for his action in the battle. Under intense enemy fire and in an exposed position he continued to operate his 50-caliber machine gun and destroyed three or four enemy half-tracks, knocked out several machine gun positions and many of the enemy’s personnel. Part of the company was now with the 47th Infantry Regiment near Monschau and they prepared a bridge for demolition and guarded it. They were under enemy artillery fire and contacted enemy patrols on many occasions. They also took positions in some other bridges near Arville and guarded them against the Northern thrusts of the German Sixth Panzer Army.
Able Company held a barrier line which ran from south of Liege to Arville to the vicinity of Jalkay south of Spa along with a third section of Baker Company. The line was under attack by enemy aircraft constantly. H and C companies water points which were listed as lost or now located and found to be supplying water for the first and second infantry divisions. Company C had moved into buzz bomb alley at Verviers. The town was under fire by the German railroad guns and approximately 150 German paratroopers who spoke English and carried forged documents disguise as Americans, were in the city.
On Christmas day as the 101st Airborne Division battled in encircled Bastogne, the battalion was relieved of its assignments to the First Army and V Corps and was sent to the Third Army’s VIII Corps. By the 27th the move to the southern flank of the bulge was completed and A company reinforced a bridge at Bokair to carry a class 40 load. The following day the battalion CP was moved to St. Renig, France.
On December 29 our battalion went into direct support of the 87th Infantry Division and the battalion CP was moved to Bouillon, Belgium and later to Herbeaumont, Belgium. Work with the 87th consisted of just about every type of engineering work possible. B Company quickly constructed a barrier line to protect the divisions left flank on New Year’s Day 1945. A company constructed two bridges both over the divisions MSR. The gap was 40 feet the first day and the remaining 20 feet was bridged with a single span timber bridge with a 30 class capacity. They teamed up with the infantry for the construction of a second bridge, the span was 110 foot class 40 triple single Bailey bridge. Extra outposts were setup between the bridge and the enemy. Company C and their direct support was given the job of clearing the roads from St. Hubert to the front. The Germans had just withdrawn from the area and as usual left minefields, obstacles and booby-trapped items. Besides the roadwork, roads were covered with thick layers of ice and snow. During this operation in this area T/5 Leland Aring of company C was awarded a Bronze Star for his work in clearing booby-trapped items.
Baker Company continued to work on the divisions MSR during this period. The entire unit was constantly with the members of the 87th division. The 87th pulled out alone on January 17 and our battalion was now to give support to the paratroopers of the 17th Airborne Division. This was an extremely hard task due to the fact that the divisions engineers the 139th engineers A&B battalions had few trucks or heavy equipment. This left the entire responsibility of the job ahead directly to the 202nd Engineer Battalion. While with the 17th Airborne Division our division constructed two bridges in the forward area a 30 foot class 40 single Bailey bridge by company C on January 21 and a 60 foot class 40 double single Bailey on January 27 by company B.
The same problems that were faced when with the 87th were again faced with the 17th. The hardest job was clearing the remains of the city of Houffalize. The city when in enemy hands was under heavy attack by allied aircraft and the roads were impassable because of huge craters and rubble from bomb buildings. Heavy snowdrifts covered the entire area and besides all these obstacles mines had been placed throughout the entire area. A company was in direct support of the division and that it had established their CP in Boulangerie, Belgium and the battalion advance CP was located in the same town.
All other companies worked constantly in the divisions’ forward area under enemy observation and mortar fire. In one case Andy Yoder of A Company was credited with taking an entire town alone with his bulldozer. He was busy doing his work, as advanced elements of the 17th Airborne Division move cautiously in. Relieved of duty of the 17th Airborne Division our division continued to work in the VIII Corps area until February 5 when it was reassigned again to the 9th Army and attached to the XVI Corps, 1153rd engineering combat group.
Suffering that the men endured during the battling in the Ardennes forest is something that cannot be described to its fullest extent. The men themselves are the only ones who will ever know just how miserable life was during that time. No matter how much clothing was put on it was still impossible to keep warm. Trench foot and frostbite were common
The Battle of the Bulge is now finished and what had started out to be the German’s greatest victory had turned into a smashing defeat. The American forces had suffered terrible casualties some 80,000 men were included in their casual list; the Germans have lost some 90,000 soldiers in the campaign which made our heavy casualties look a little less terrifying
In closing please forgive me if the article I have written to you about the events of the 202nd Engineer Combat Battalion played in the Bulge seems a little too long. You see I’m proud of everything our battalion did during this historic period of time besides being honored and thrilled with what my own see company did and what part I had a
I’m proud and honored to have served.
Help keep America free!
Cross The Rhine With Dry Feet – Courtesy Of The 9th Armored Division
Bobby Cobb
December, 1941, shortly after December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day, Bobby enlisted as a volunteer for which his mother had to signed for to enlist. Was sent to Camp Beaugard, Louisiana just south of New Orleans. The first week of January, 1942, was sent to Ft. Riley, Kansas and arrived on a cold winter snow day with 2-4 inches on the ground to CRTC (Cavalry Replacement Training Center) the old horse Cavalry. After several months of training, was sent to one of three main camps of Ft. Riley – – Camp Funston. We had been in training for the 2nd Cavalry Division, which was to be sent to the Philippine Islands to reinforce the 1st Cavalry Division. The Philippines fell to Japan – – this changed things.
2nd Cavalry Division started the movement to armor. We were organized as the 92′”‘ Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron with horses, jeeps, and 6-wheeled half tracks. Later, we became the 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron Mechanized, part of the 2nd Cavalry Division, assigned to the 9th Armored Division and began to train in all seriousness.
We ended up in full desert training from there the 9th Armored Division was sent to the swamps of Louisiana for training in 1944 – – towards New York for shipment overseas. On the trip to New York area, “E” Troop, the assault gun (75M) howitzer, light tank, designed for speed-close infantry support and street fighting) was notified that we were now on DS – – meaning Detached Service to the 99th Infantry Division which was in England for the invasion of Europe.
From New York, we (“E” Troop 89th Cavalry) boarded the Queen Mary for overseas duty and landed in Glasgow, Scotland – – (2&1/2 days) – – boarded the famous “Flying Scott” train which could really fly non-stop South Hampton, England, a seaport in southern England and 18 miles across the English channel to France. On arrival, “E” Troop by platoons were placed in tents with 12 cots for beds with a large coal-fired stove for heat. From here “E” Troop went north in England to a very large open field which us assault gun tankers were told to pick out our tank, clean the preservation coating from rust, fuel the tanks, with trailers, for the return trip to the area near South Hampton. That field was loaded, row after row, with our tanks as far as the eye could see.
On arrival, we loaded the tanks and trailers with fuel, ammunition, 75MM, 50 caliber machine- gun ammo and Army “C” rations for a week for a crew of 4, plus water cans. June 6th, 1944, “D” Day, headed for France – third wave. Landed 3 degrees off course – – landed at the point which divided Omaha and Utah beachheads. Headed inland towards St. Lo, France (hedge-groove country) where the battle for St. Lo ended in final victory after four weeks. Stalemate of battle after invasion of France followed – – finally the American Army broke out of stalemate and a running gun battle continued for France wherein over 400,000 German Troops were captured and we, “E” Troop of the 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron ended our DS (detached service to the 99th Infantry) and rejoined our Squadron and the 9th Armored Division at Metz, France near the border of Germany. Regrouped, took on supplies and toured the French Maginot Fortress facing Germany.
Later, the 9th Armored Division was assigned the area along the border of Luxemburg/Germany, Eternack the Southern end – St. Vith on the northern end, a 60 mile stretch. “E” Troop was stationed at Bovange, Luxemburg. Midnight of December 16,1944, we, the 1st Platoon tanks of”E” Troop DS service assigned to “A” Troop of the 89th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron for the duration of the war, were ordered to Etenternach, Luxemburg, the southern end of the “bulge” to help stop the German advance south as the great “battle of the bulge** had begun. Following this stop, my tank and my companion tank commander, Floyd Nichols, were to requested to rejoin our assigned “A” Troop if we could find them as they were scattered from hell to breakfast as were so many other members of the 89th Cavalry & 9th Armored troops. Our two tanks joined others scattered Troopers on a hit and run retreating battle towards Bastone, Belgium where we joined the besieged troops of Bastone. After the seige at Bastone was broken and the beginning of the end of the “Bulge” Battle, fresh troops from the US took up the battle to push the Germans back into Germany, word was spread throughout the battled area that the 9th Armored Division troops were to gather in the area SE of Leige, Belgium, to reorganize, received replacement men, equipment, and supplies. Afterwards, the 9th Armored Division received its orders to go the attack once again. The target industrial city of Colonge, Germany.
The battle for Colonge lasted about 4 days and, at Midnight, my tank and my sister tank commander, Floyd Nichols, led Combat Command “A” of the 9th Armored
Division, on our continued attack south n the West bank of the Rhine river. At Midnight, March 4th, 1945, my tank and sister tank of Floyd Nichols, circled the town of Remagen, Germany, and continued on into the valley to the Rhine river where we found the Lundenburg, passenger/railroad, bridge still in tack across the Rhine River. We notified our platoon leader, S/Sgt Bill Douglas, by radio of our position and that the bridge was intact. We were told to hold our positions until we heard from him. 2&1/2 days later we met the lead elements of the 27th Armored Infantry Division of the 9th Armored Division whose orders were to take the bridge.
After we crossed the Rhine river, my tank and my sister tank of Floyd Nichols, led Combat Command “A” of the 9th Armored Divison south on the East bank of the Rhine river fight gun battles along the way to Koblenz, Germany to help General Patton get across the Rhine river. Afterward, our two tanks led Combat Command “A” towards Limburg, Germany where a good battle ensued. Afterwards we pursued north, fight small battles on the way to the industrial city Leipzig where a great weeks battle followed. We captured 122 German 88 Artillery guns – that is how hard they defended the city. This was the last big battle of the war for us.
We then headed due south to meet the Russians, which we did. Later, continued our march south, our two tanks leading Combat Command “A” towards Czechoslovaks where Combat Command “A” setup headquarters in the resort city of Carlsbad, Czechoslovaks. My tank and sister tank of Floyd Nichols continued on east where we ended up in the capital city of Prague, Czechoslovaks where we received word to “cease fire” the war has ended. The celebration was on.
Later, “E” Troop (my Troop) was assigned to Bayreuth, Germany, due west of Czechoslovaks, the home of the famous German Lica camera factory, which was empty, as our city of occupation. Here, we found 2200 displaced Polish men, women, & children which I later be came in charge of and finally, after several months, I escorted them to Warsaw, Poland.
As the occupation continued and men started to leave and return home as they became eligible, I was promoted to First Sergeant. Later in 1945,1 was directed to Camp Strike near the port of Cherburg, France and was in charge of soldiers scheduled to return home. I later got to schedule my own return to the US and aboard the Cruiser USS Portland. On arrival in New York City, I was put in charge of a Troop train of soldiers with their discharge papers and saw that at designated stops (4) I made certain that each received his discharged papers and left the train. The last stop camp Robinson at Little Rock, Arkansas where I caught another train to Oklahoma City and a cab to home. All this was in December, 1945. January 8, 1946, Louise and I were united in marriage in El Dorado, Arkansas and settled in Oklahoma City.
Enclosed is a copy of some of my achievements in service.
I never lost a tank or crewmember during the war. (the tank had a lot of battle scars)
1941 Entered Military Service at Shreveport, Louisiana Mother Required to sign for my entering the service
Honorable discharged as First Sergeant Dee. 1945
Received the following during four years of service:
3 Bronze Stars for bravery under enemy fire
1 Purple Heart – Germany 88MM shrapnel North of Limburg, Germany
Presidential Unit Citation for The Battle of The Bulge
Awarded Government Citations for Service By: The Country of Luxemburg, The Country of Belgium, The Country of France
Our tank after the Battle of the Bulge
PS: In four years of service – – two years of training together my tank crew was
Walter Bagley – – Tank Driver – – Pennsylvania; Odell Meyers – – Gunner – – Iowa;
Joseph Beneke – – Gun loader and manned the 50 caliber machine gun – – New Jersey; And – – Bob Cobb – – Tank Commander
While attending my senior year at Olney High School in Philadelphia in 1943 I turned eighteen and was required to register for the draft. A notice came down that anyone who wanted could be tested for ASTP, Army Specialized Training Program. I took the test and passed making me eligible for the program. On June 22, 1943 I was ordered to go to the Philadelphia Armory to be inducted into the army, that night was my graduation exercises from high school. I was given two weeks to get my affairs in order and then report to New Cumberland Army Depot as a new recruit. After a few days and many shots I found myself on a train heading south. We arrived at Fort McClellan, Alabama for thirteen weeks of basic training. The hot southern weather only added to the rigors of training.
Finally basic training was complete and we were given a short furlough and orders to report to CCNY, City College of New York. I thought I had it made in the Army going to college for a couple of years and come out as an officer and gentlemen. Much to my dismay the program was canceled and I was once again on a train heading south. This time we arrived at Camp Me Cain, Mississippi, where the entire 87th Infantry Division had moved from their barracks into the field now living in pup tents. Imagine the cultural shock of moving from college life to the fields of Mississippi.
The reason for the move was to go on Maneuvers in Tennessee for ten weeks during the winter of 1943-44 living in the fields of Tennessee practicing “War Games”. The weather was awful, rain, sleet and snow prepared us for what we would experience later in the Battle of the Bulge.
After maneuvers we convoyed by truck to Fort Jackson, South Carolina for further training and bringing our Division to full strength. At this time we received many new recruits from ASTP and the Air Force. We continued our training until September 1944 when we shipped overseas to England on HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest ship afloat at the time. Our entire Division, fifteen thousand men were on the ship. The ship was so fast, we traveled unescorted, randomly changing course to prevent the enemy submarines from waiting to torpedo us. The German submarines sank many of our ships in these waters, so it was a real concern for us to be traveling the seas.
Our company was fortunate enough to be assigned watch on the guns, which meant four hours on and eight hours off. To be near the guns we were berthed in the Cinema on the Promenade deck. This was much better then being below deck. Bunks were stacked eight to ten high as the ceiling was high. After a few days our ship arrived in Glenock, Scottland where we disembarked and by train went to a small town in central England. The town was Congelton, Cheshire County, near Manchester. We were billeted in an old factory building. The food was all dehydrated, getting the cooks prepared for what they would be serving when we got into combat. One of my best memories of England was Fish and Chips. With their paper shortage, newspapers were formed into cones and the Chips (French fries) were put into the cone.
One family was nice to me and invited me to their home. They gave me a boiled egg, which was a real sacrifice for them as they were rationed. They had a son stationed in India and said they hoped someone would look after him as they did me. Each week the ” Honey Dipper” would come by with their horse drawn cart to dip the “Honey” from every ones out house. We were given passes to near by Manchester several times. Passage was by train from Congelton. On one occasion there was an air raid alert and we had to join the civilians in their air raid shelter.
When we were given our Thanksgiving dinner one week early we knew something was up. Sure enough we shipped out before Thanksgiving. Crossing the English Channel to La Harve, France was uneventful. Because of the war damage to the harbor we had to anchor in deep water. Small boats (LCI) Landing Craft Infantry pulled up along side our ship and we had to climb over the rail and down the side of the ship on cargo nets, to get into the boats, carrying all of our equipment, packs and rifles. When we reached shore the bow doors opened and we went ashore getting our feet wet in the process.
After leaving the LSI we were marched up a hill to an apple orchard where we set up our pup tents, in the rain. It just rained and rained and the fields got deeper and deeper in mud. Someone found some hay bales and we spread the hay inside our pup tents to stay out of the mud and help keep our sleeping bags dry. Each squad had a gasoline fueled cook stove and since we were in an apple orchard most squads made fresh cooked apples.
The next day out transportation arrived, a French train with steam locomotive and small wooden box cars called “Forty and Eight” a term carried over from WWI the cars held forty men or eight horses. A little straw on the floor was the only convenience we had. No seats, windows or heat. When the train would stop everyone would get out taking care of their personal needs. If we were near a town or village someone would run to see if there was a bakery and return with loaves of fresh hard French bread.
Several days later, on my twentieth birthday, December 9,1944 we arrived in Metz, France on the German boarder, near the Maginot Line, a French defense line to protect them from German attacks. We were now within sound of Artillery fire from our forces.
The next day we went on line, relieving the 26th Yankee Division. Within minutes we were pinned down by enemy Artillery fire, were we lost several men, either killed or wounded on the first day of battle. Within a week our company of two hundred was down to about one hundred men as the result of wounds or killed in action. Some of them eventually returned to our outfit. Replacements joined the company whenever more men were required. Many of the replacements became casualties before we even got to know their names. By the end of the war only fourteen men from my original platoon of fifty remained. I was one of the lucky fourteen.
First night on line: We had been drilled on the care of our feet. Everyone had multiple pairs of socks and we were to change them every day. The spare socks were to be kept dry, so they were kept around our waist, under our clothes. After digging a slit trench and preparing to climb into my sleeping bag, I removed my shoes and dutifully changed my socks, not putting my shoes back on.
At daybreak we were awakened by machine gun fire with tracer bullets flying over our heads. These bullets were from a German tank coming over a ridge, right toward us. I never put my shoes on so fast and never slept without them again. Many of our soldiers had frozen feet, called trench foot. Many had to be hospitalized and many lost toes or even their feet. Following our good training, I never had a problem with my feet. That’s not to say they were never cold
Early on our arrival to the Saar Valley the weather was rainy. We traveled mostly across farm fields which became very muddy. Mud would stick to our overshoes forming a clod about one foot in diameter, becoming very heavy with each step a chore. Rain soaked our long GI overcoats, they also became a burden. We cut off about one foot from the bottom to make them lighter. Anything the make our load lighter was discarded, gas masks and cook stoves.
When artillery shells landed on the soft mud they would penetrate deep into the soil and explode vertically causing minimal damage, but as the weather got colder and the ground froze the shell would explode and scatter horizontally, parallel to the ground causing much more damage. Tree bursts were very damaging also raining shrapnel over everything below, especially in the Ardennes Forest.
Small arm fire was especially feared by me, as I felt someone had me in their gun sites. Artillery fire was aimed in my general direction, not me alone. Many an Artillery shell would land within a few feet of me and I would hear a thud but no explosion. We attributed our good fortune to the slave labor at the munitions factory for sabotaging the shells.
As the weather got colder, many times way below zero degrees Fahrenheit, the weather was worse than the enemy. Although we didn’t like walking many miles, at least it kept our blood circulating and made the cold less destructive. I saw one jeep driver with his feet in a sleeping bag still able to drive and keep his feet warm. One destructive action the Germans devised was to string a wire tightly across the road and when a jeep came along the wire would catch the driver’s neck, many times decapitating him. To counteract this, an angle iron bar was welded to the front bumper, vertically to prevent the wire from hitting the occupants of the vehicle.
On Dec 16,1944 the Germans began an offensive, latter called “The Battle of the Bulge” that caught the Allies by surprise, penetrating deep into Belgium. Everyone thought the war would end by Christmas. We all felt badly for the Belgium people since they were only recently freed from five years of German occupation, by the United Troops.
Our 87th Infantry Division, part of General George Patton’s Third Army, was assigned to the battle area, but we were several hundred miles away. By now it was snowing and getting colder every day and our transportation that time was open stake bodied tractor trailers. The only comfort we had was a little straw spread out on the floor of the trailer Its was only the beginning of the coldest, snowiest winter in recent European history. Can you imagine living outdoors, sleeping in a foxhole, twenty four- seven for a whole winter?
Arrival in Belgium from the Saar valley:
We had just arrived in Belgium, which was Christmas Eve, December 24,1944. Luckily my company was assigned to a large bam. There was plenty of hay in the lofts which made very comfortable bedding. Since the cows were still in the bam, their body heat made it very comfortable even though the weather outside was snow covered and hovering around zero degrees. Later that night a Chaplain came around with his field organ and we sang Christmas carols and had a short service. This was comforting to us believers. The next day the cooks prepared a full turkey dinner for us. This was the last of the comforts for many months. We were so thankful for what we had.
Arriving in Luxemburg then on to Belgium we were given the task of cutting off the German supply lines in the area of the town ofTillet. Sergeant Curtis Shupp, from my company, took out a German machine gun nest after being mortally wounded; he received the Congressional Medal of Honor.
One day on a march from St. Vith to St Hubert we came to a cross road and to our horror saw at least twenty five of our Comrades lying dead in the snow. The Germans had taken them prisoner then decided to machine gun them as they were lined up. Their frozen bodies, half snow covered infuriated us as we thought of them and their families back home.
On another lucky night I got to sleep on a feather bed with a soft comfy down comforter. Even with no heat in the house it was warm and comfortable. Remember I didn’t even take my shoes off. By this time the ground was frozen to about eighteen inches deep, making it difficult to dig a fox hole. To solve the problem we were given a block of dynamite, about the size of a quarter pound of butter. We would dig a small hole, bury the charge and explode it. Once we were below the frost digging was easier.
Since we were in the open field all the time we could not shower, bathe or change our cloths. Our last shower was back in England at Thanksgiving time, it was now mid March and we had not had a change of clothing, even though most to us had dysentery at one time or the other. Field showers were set up, which consisted of a tractor trailer fitted with canvas curtains, shower heads and warm water. We were given two minutes to lather up and two minutes to rinse off, then all new clothing from head to foot. Even though it was still very cold outside we enjoyed the clean feeling.
About February 1944 a call came down form Battalion Headquarters for a need to form a special group they would call a “Tiger Patrol”. Now everyone knows you never volunteer for anything in the Service, but after months of carrying a heavy sixty milometer mortar, as first gunner, I felt anything would be better than being on the front lines 24/7, living in fox holes and exposed to the harsh weather. The Tiger Patrol was to consist of about 15 men, including one officer and attached to Battalion Headquarters, who would be behind the front lines three to five miles. This meant shelter in houses, or barns, regular meals, a chance to wash and shave, but it also meant more personal risk by going out after dark into enemy territory. This was not to be a combat patrol but rather to determine the enemy position and strength; we were encouraged to bring back a prisoner if the opportunity occurred. The most frightening part was going out through our outposts and then having to return to our lines without getting shot by our own men
While serving as first gunner on the Mortar, I was issued a forty five caliber revolver, when as part of the Tiger patrol I was issued an M-l Rifle. One day while talking to a tanker, we discussed our weapons. He was issued an automatic machine gun, which had a magazine that held 30 rounds of ammunition. His gun was called a “grease gun’ because it was made from pressed steel and resembled a grease gun. With that much additional fire power I felt it would be a better weapon to carry so I traded my M-l rifle for his grease gun. After a few weeks we had a break so we decided to test our weapons, to my dismay my grease gun did not fire even though I had thought I had protection with it
One time we were challenged and after being identified were told not to move, because they had a wire strung between two trees, the end of which was tied to the firing pin of a hand grenade. If we had hit the wire it would have pulled the pin and the grenade would have exploded right next to us.
Being winter everyone had a cough, so we could hear our people and the Germans coughing so we knew where everyone was. One night on patrol as we were crossing an open field, suddenly a flare went up and it lit up the field like a night game at the ball park. We hit the ground just as the German machine gunners opened fire on us. Luckily there were depressions in the ground enough to give us cover to crawl out of their range; luckily no one was injured.
One day as we were driving down a road we came upon a German riding a motorcycle, going in the same direction, we waved him over, after debating what to do with him, it was decided that I would take him back to our Headquarters. So I got on the motorcycle and he got on behind me and off we went back to our lines and he became our prisoner. He probably was glad to be finished fighting and I am sure he was treated well.
Along the Rhine River:
While regrouping and getting ready to make an assault crossing of the Rhine River, we were in a small riverside town called Boppard, Germany. Since the Germans by now were all on the eastern side of the river, we had some free time. One day I was walking down by the water and noticed an MP’s motorcycle lying on it’s side. The MP had been shot by a lucky shot from across the river. A lucky shot for the enemy but not for the MP. I never heard if he had been seriously wounded. I picked up any motorcycle I could find, this GI issued Harley-Davidson was no exception, and I had several German bikes before.
To pass the time we took some assault boats that were assembled for the pending river crossing in a few days. Out on the river and just for fun we would drop a live hand grenade into the water. When it exploded, stunned fish would float to the surface, a few minutes they would swim away, unharmed.
In the same town of Boppard is were I had my first taste of potato soup, Kertoffel soup, they called it. We had been assigned a private home and only the lady of the house was still there. One evening she offered to make some soup. Since she was German, the enemy, we were somewhat reluctant to eat it, we did and it was delicious. It is now my favorite soup. I often said the Germans treated us better than the French. Which reminds me; we would often go into the basement of homes and find canned goods. Home jarred preserves, peaches, cherries, pears etc all very tasty, but then again we had our thoughts of possibly poisoned preserves. Most of the GFs were more interested inn the home brew, which was everywhere, especially along the Rhine and Mosel Rivers.
After awhile I began to feel bad and could not eat my rations, so I went to the Battalion Aid Station and they diagnosed me as having Hepatitis and I was evacuated, by air, to a, Hospital in Verdun, France, where I stayed for thirty days. While in the hospital President Roosevelt died and the war ended May 7,1945. After being discharged from the hospital I returned to my original company in the 87th Infantry Division, who by that time were now in Plauen, Germany near the Czechoslovakia!! border.
They were preparing to return to the United States, to be sent to the Pacific to invade Japan, We regrouped at Camp Lucky Strike, France where I was given a short pass to Paris and saw the usual sights, Eiffel tower. Champs Elyse, Follies Bragier, Notre Dame Cathedral and rode the Metro, all in a few hours. We returned to the US on a liberty ship, the Fredrick Lykes and hit a sever storm, everyone was sea sick. I remember one meal when I started to eat, ran upside to the rail, threw up and returned to finish my meal.
After eleven days we pulled into Boston Harbor and were greeted by fire boats spraying their hoses into the air and blaring welcome home music to greet us. We were one of the first division’s home and given a thirty day furlough. I was at my family’s summer home in Wildwood, N.J., when President Truman authorized the dropping of the Atom bomb on Japan, thus forcing the Japanese surrender ending the war and saving thousands of lives, both US and Japanese, as well as our scheduled invasion of Japan.
After our furlough we returned to Fort Benning, GA where the 87th Inf. Div. was disbanded and the soldiers were sent to Camps near their homes, waiting till they had enough points for discharge. I was sent to Fort Indiantown Gap, PA and was discharged Jan 6,1946.
Our Division was awarded three bronze stars for serving in Central Europe, Rhineland and Ardennes sectors of Europe. I also received the Bronze Star.
When the conflict in Korea began in 1950,1 was an active reserve member of the 318th Tank Battalion, stationed in Reading, PA. In October, 950 our Battalion was called to active duty at Fort Polk, LA. By this time I was married and we had our first daughter. After receiving a favorable response to my request for a hardship discharge, I returned home to PA by August 1951 never having to actually go to Korea.
Every day I thank God for sending his guarding and protective angles to watch over me.
The 188th Engineer Combat Battalion was formed at Fort Devens, Massachusetts on September 9th, 1943. The noncommissioned cadre were from the Louisiana maneuver area. The majority of the recruits were from the New England area. Basic training in infantry skills, and combat engineering skills were conducted. At the conclusion of this thirteen week training period you could consider yourself as being on the way to the status of a combat engineer. The battalion conducted maneuvers in the mountains of West Virginia in January and February of 1944. On completion of training there, the battalion was moved to Fort Dix, New Jersey to continue our training in combat engineering skills and techniques.
In the latter part of June, the battalion moved to Camp Shanks New York, to prepare for movement overseas. Shortly before midnight on July 23rd, the battalion boarded The Mauritania along with thousands of other troops, for the movement to England. The Mauritania was one of the premier ships of the Cunard White Star Line. It was the fastest ship of its class in the world. It had a British captain and crew, but the gun crew was composed of American sailors.
We departed the port of New York at 9:15 a.m. on the morning of July 24th. The ship was unescorted as The Mauritania could outrun anything in the German navy. The ship zig-zagged across the Atlantic Ocean arriving at Liverpool on July 31st. Prior to arriving at Liverpool and moving down the Irish Sea, I saw a dark line on the horizon. One of the ships officers was standing nearby. I asked him just what it was and he told me it was the coastline of Ireland, and it was about eight miles away. Sometime later in a letter to my parents, I told them of the sighting. My father in an answering letter said “You saw the coastline of Ireland, and it was eight miles away. Son you have been closer to Ireland than any Riley in the last one hundred and sixty nine years.” My great great grandfather had emigrated to America as a bonded servant at the age of fifteen in 1775.
We left the ship on August 1st and boarded a train for Nantwich, a town in central England. A motor convoy carried the battalion to Duddington Hall, where we were to continue our preparation for combat in France and beyond to who knows where. An Engineer Combat Battalion is highly mechanized, and the next three weeks were spent in acquiring the vehicles, equipment, and tools for the battalion. We had left the states with only our personal weapon. Everything else was left behind. The vehicles were stored at depots like Aintree Race Track. There were vehicles of every classification stored there, and they numbered in the thousands.
In a Combat Engineer Battalion, every squad of a line platoon has a two and one half ton truck for personnel and equipment. Additional vehicles are required for the Supply Sergeant, Company mess personnel, stoves, etc. and various vehicles for officers and others. In all, each line company can have as many as eighteen or more vehicles and trailers. Vehicles for the battalion staff, medical department and supply will add even more to the total required. The channel crossing was made on Sunday August, 27th, and we anchored overnight at Utah Beach in the Cherbourg Peninsula that evening. While in England, we learned that the battalion would be a part of General George Patton’s Third Army. Now that we landed in France, our first job would be to catch up to him, as his army had broken out of the Cherbourg Peninsula and was moving east across France.
We began our movement on August 29th, and as we passed through the town of St. Lo, we could see the damage wrought on that town. There was not one building that had four walls standing. The three or four French civilians that we saw were wandering aimlessly, as there was no place to go. The first day we traveled two hundred and thirty five miles from our departure point. We were out of gas and waited three days for fuel [German gasoline] to continue on our “catch up”. We then traveled another one hundred and sixty miles, arriving at a town near Troyes, France. While stopped there, we had our first encounter with the enemy. A five man reconnaissance patrol from B Company, led by a platoon lieutenant, met a group often or eleven SS troops. The patrol captured three of the enemy, and killed one. We had no casualties from this first encounter with the enemy.
Then the fifth of September, we were on assigned our first job at Joinville, France, on the Upper Mame River. It was the first of many bridges to be built by the Battalion in the months ahead. The damaged bridge was of masonry construction, and the first job was to clear the rubble in the foundation areas, to provide a solid, stable foundation base for the wooden bridge bents to be built at the site. Twenty four inch I beams were to be used as the bridge stringers. Suprisingly, these were found in the local area. The existing masonry piers were utilized after some cleanup and repair. The bridge was completed on September 12th, and placed in service when the 79th Division crossed it with their light tanks, and artillery.
All the material for the two bridges, and canal rerouting were from nearby areas. I tip my “helmet” to the members of these reconnaissance teams that locate acquire and arrange for transporting of this material to the job site. I never was a member of one of those teams, but I know what an important part they play in the success of any construction. The design of the bridge depends on the material they locate. The length of the bridge spans, and the number of stringers per span, and other vital construction items, depends on what they find and deliver.
The Battalion then moved to the Moselle River where the 4th Armored Division had built a tread-way bridge. Our task was to replace this bridge with two bridges, a class 70 and a class 40 bridge. Work started on September 13th as previous reconnaissance by the battalion staff had been completed prior to the arrival of A and C companies, who were to construct the two bridges. A low level timber bridge was to be built along side the recently installed tread-way bridge. A combination of various sizes of I beams were used as there was an insufficient number of any one size for the complete bridge. A trademark of combat engineers is their ability to adapt the design with the materials at hand. The two bridges were completed and ready for traffic at midnight on September 17th.
From September 13th to October 18th the battalion swept two hundred and seven miles of
mined roads, and filled craters, removed road blocks and cleared mine fields. These operations cost the battalion thirteen casualties, and three deaths. The losses were sobering, and caused a change in our tactics of removing mines and anti-personnel devices. All were to be detonated in place when located, no exceptions. We had additional casualties in spite of this. The Germans had ingenious ways of disguising these deadly devices. Most of the casualties we suffered in our activities in Europe, were the result of mines and anti-personnel devices.
The Germans excelled in their use of land mines, and anti-personnel devices. They were ingenious in their placement and disguising of these deadly devices. The German land mine was a finely machined device. The fuses for their land mines were either pressure type, or pressure release type. Both were very effective. The anti-personnel devices were pressure release types. That is, if you stepped on, or a vehicle ran over the triggering device, they exploded with a deadly force when you moved your foot, or the wheel weight was removed as the vehicle moved. Other anti-personnel devices utilized trip wires to detonate them. The most infamous anti-personnel device was a “Bouncing Betty.” When actuated, the explosive charge was elevated to waist height and then exploded. The “Bouncing Betty” was the most feared of all the devices. I have seen, too many times, the crippling, deadly results of their activation.
One of our most catastrophic events with land mines and anti-personnel devices was in the Foret de Haye, between Toul and Nancy, France. This was the site of a German officer training center and proving ground. Imagine the methods of placement and disguising of these mines by German officers, striving for a high mark in their classroom lessons. We had three deadly activations of mines and anti-personnel devices while working in this area, for a total of thirteen casualties. Removal and destroying of these devices was a dangerous job, but it had to be done, and it was the job of the combat engineer to do it.
The Battalion continued to build bridges, repair roads, and all of the other tasks pertinent to being a combat engineer, as we continued to move east across France. Every bridge construction presented new difficulties, but each and every one was solved by the men on the job, and we continued our move east. We had been assigned to support The Fourth Armored Division on our arrival in France, so every bridge job was a “hurry up job”, as the armor was always waiting to cross the river and hammer the enemy. We never kept them waiting too long.
The Battalion continued building bridges across the Moselle River at various locations. As the bridge at Flavigny was nearing completion, heavy rain, which had been falling for a week, caused the river to rise six feet in forty eight hours. This rapid flow of surging water threatened to scour the footings under the bridge bents. There was danger that the bridge might collapse. Work to save the bridge was constant, night and day. The footings were reinforced, and after many hours of anxiety the bridge was saved.
The XII Corps of The Third Army had taken up a defensive position east of Nancy and our drive was stopped. The divisions were rested and re-supplied for the battle yet to come. In early November, while in the Nancy area, word was received that the commanding General, George S. Patton would honor us with a visit. That announcement sure started a commotion. General Patton is well known as an advocate of a full and proper uniform at all times. We had been in France for two months, and not every soldier had a full and complete uniform, especially a necktie. Other items of clothing could be borrowed from another soldier, but each of us only had one tie to start with, and none to lend.
A combat engineer is an ingenious individual, and we soon came up with a solution for the missing neckties. A suitable facsimile could be fashioned with a pair of G I socks. Not a work of art, but it could probably make it in a “walk through” review. It did. General Patton presented Colonel Allen with the Battalion colors, and made a short speech commending us for our performance as a part of the Third Army. We appreciated his visit and his remarks on that occasion.
Early on the morning of November 8th, the artillery illuminated the sky, and we were headed east once again. B company moved to the town of Vie sur Seille where C company constructed a bridge across the Seille River at the town ofChambrey. A company began clearing mines for a bridge at Nomeny, and pile driving began for the bridge. In eight days they had completed a bridge two hundred and twenty five feet in length over the river.
More bridges were constructed on the Saar River, near Diedendorf, Al beschaux, and Neufvillage. Road repairs continued at several locations including damages by bomb craters. B company began construction of a fixed bridge to replace a Bailey bridge at Keskastel. They were within a day of completing the bridge when word was received to stop all construction and prepare to return to the Company area. When I asked about completing the bridge, I was told “your orders are to stop construction and prepare to move out. Some other engineer outfit will complete the bridge, as I doubt that we will ever return to this area. We never did return to this area.
On December 20th we began a bumper to bumper movement of vehicles and personnel -NORTH. We traveled twenty four hours a day, full headlights at night. From time to time we had to move to the side of the road, to permit armored units to pass through us. It seemed that armored units were the ones most wanted first. During one of the stops to permit armored units to pass, I was asked by one of the men where we were headed. I told him that I had not been given that information before our departure. I knew that did not satisfy him. I told him that if we survived this mission, that someday in the future, after the war, we would probably think of this moment as we sat in our rockers, with our favorite libation in hand, and smile. I wonder if he ever did, I know I have.
The seriousness of the German counteroffensive was made known to us at one of the later halts in our movement north. While the Battalion waited at Longuyon France, for one day we were further briefed on the happenings ahead of us, and learned that we were to be assigned to support the Fourth Armored Division in the effort to relieve the units defending Bastogne. That meant we would be in the thick of things, and we were as soon as we arrived.
The Battalion moved from Longuyon to Aubange. A company was to construct a Bailey bridge over the Sure River at Martelange, Belgium. After waiting a day south of the town while the Fourth Armored Division cleared out the Germans, construction began at 7am on the 23rd of December. There were some incoming rounds of mortar fire, but no casualties at the bridge site. The bridge was completed at noon, and placed in service immediately.
For several days there was nothing but fog. The ground combat activities continued, but
all aerial activity was at a standstill. Finally the fog lifted one morning, and the sky was clear. Then we heard the roar of airplane motors. Looking up, we saw the sky was filled with airplanes – Our airplanes. Imagine an expressway, four or five lanes wide in each direction. The first wave of planes were all flying east, literally wing tip to wing tip as we viewed it with the naked eye. We looked up into the sky at the wonderful sight, and shook our fists and cheered like fans at a football game.
The first waves of bombers. Liberators, and B52’s, filled the sky. What a most welcome sight to behold. These were followed by low level bombers and fighter planes that attacked the German lines, that were no more than a hop, skip, and jump from our lines. The German soldier in those positions must surely have thought, “What the hell am I doing here!” These bombing, strafing runs continued from dawn to dusk. The air was continuously filled with planes. One wave coming to punish the Germans and return waves, not as orderly, returning to base for refueling, and reloading of bombs and ammunition for the next trip. What a sight to behold, and one that is indelibly impressed on my mind, for the rest of my life. The odds on the Germans expanding The Bulge must have been shortened as a result of the excellent work of the American and British Air Forces on that day, and the days following.
The American forces defending Bastogne were bolstered by the air drops of supplies by parachute when the skies cleared. Parachutes were of various colors to indicate the type of supplies they were delivering. I am sure some of these parachutes landed in the areas occupied by the German forces. That is understandable because their and our forces were so close. I collected a number of these empty parachutes. The supplies had been removed by the time I reached them. I cut them into smaller sections and mailed them home to my wife. She was an excellent seamstress, and created handkerchiefs, scarves, babushkas, and pillow cases for our family, friends, relatives, and neighbors. So the parachutes went on to a further use after they had done their primary job.
B Company was assigned the mission of out-posting the town ofMartelange. Our platoon was approaching their assigned position at a road intersection north of the town and were challenged, and ordered to halt. Passwords and the usual questions about city and baseball in America. The challenger was satisfied, and we were told to advance. After a few steps, we were once again ordered to halt. It was then that I could see a tank, partially obscured by a small building and a tree. When I looked up at the tank, the muzzle of the gun seemed to be about a foot in diameter, pointing right at me. A voice from within the tank said “I would suggest that you discard or pull up that long coat you are wearing, up to your waist and secure it. Right now you look like a German soldier.” It was far too cold to discard the coat, so I quickly tucked it in at my waist. The next day I traded the long coat for a mackinaw, through the good graces of our supply sergeant. We moved on to our assigned area, and took defensive positions.
At first light a column of American tanks moved down the road toward us, and then stopped as they saw us. An officer in the lead tank asked if we had heard any activity in the town just ahead of us. He was advised that we had heard vehicle movement during the night. With that he ordered the column to move, and it proceeded into the town ofBigonville, Belgium, which was held by the German army. The sounds of battle were soon heard. Sometime later. Fourth Armored Division soldiers were bringing captured German soldiers into our area, where they searched them for weapons, and then assembled them for delivery to a prisoner of war holding area. Our mission was completed and we returned to our company area.
The next day, December 24th, Christmas Eve, the battalion, together with the 249th Engineers, was placed in the line east ofMartelange. The Fourth Armored Division had progressed nearly to Bastogne, and was ready to breech an opening in the German defense. The two engineer battalions were to take the place ofCCR of the Fourth Armored Division, which was to move east, and sweep around the left into Bastogne. Under cover of darkness we moved up on line and began the process of digging in at our defensive positions. The snow was deep, and the night was very cold. Machine guns were set up and bazooka teams were positioned to prevent any breakthrough by German tanks.
All night long the whine of outgoing artillery was heard as they passed over us. But there was no whistle of incoming shells to our defense position. However, there were flares launched into the sky by the enemy. They illuminated the area as if it was daylight. When the flares would burst we froze in place to prevent any detection of our presence. There were no untoward incidents during our stay at our defense position. At noon we
were relieved by elements of the 6th Cavalry Division, and we moved to a rear area, where our cooks had prepared a most welcome Christmas dinner. That Christmas Eve has never been one of my favorite memories when measured against all of the others in my lifetime.
The maneuver by the CCR of the Fourth Armored Division of moving out as we moved in was a successful one. The next day, December 26th, they pierced the Bulge, and the city ofBastogne , and the American soldiers defending it were relieved. Bastogne was important to the German plan because it was at the center of five roads. It was very important to control the city and the five roads in the German plan of attack, to divide the Allied forces. The campaign to stop the German advance was a success, and we were a part of that success. The war moved on as we once again were headed east.
The fighting was fierce and the weather was extremely cold to the point of bitter cold during the month of December. I believe that we accomplished things that none of us thought we were capable of. The German High Command placed the best they had in the line, and we beat them-There was still a lot of fighting ahead of us, but I believe the German High Command realized after their defeat at Bastogne, that the tide of the war had changed, and the Allied Armies would prevail. I believe that they would have surrendered then, rather than suffer the complete destruction of the German homeland. Hitler had nothing to gain by agreeing to a surrender, so the war went on for four more months.
All of this happened sixty nine years ago, and I am now ninety one years old. In retrospect my feelings now, as they were then, are that I am glad that I did not miss it, but I would not want to go through it again.
After the Bulge was blunted, that is the Germans were placed in retreat or captured, since the foxholes did not have running water etc. we had not washed. We were in the same clothes worn when we left Haverford West, South Wales, UK 6 weeks or so before. Some soldiers may have had an opportunity to change clothes. We didn’t. If you were to look at my hands, the only clean parts would be my fingertips where the dirt and grime would wear off from use in handling my rifle, ammunition and a month or so of living outside under bad conditions.
One day we were transported about 10 miles behind the front lines to a temporary Quartermaster operated washing and change of clothes-station. They had set up a truck alongside a small stream. The truck was equipped with water heaters and showers. There were small tents at the front and rear of the truck. Small groups were let into the first tent and given instructions in very colorful language “take off all your clothes” you will not see them again. “If you have any valuables hold them in your hand.” “When you enter the shower find someplace where they may not get wet”. My “long Johns” felt like a part of me. I had sweat in them, froze in them and did everything in them. I mean everything. When I took them off it was like peeling off some of my skin. So there we were naked and shivering waiting for more instructions. All our clothes were on the ground (dirt) and we were freezing. It was winter and we were nude in a forest by a stream.
We were then given instructions as to what was going to happen next. Once again instructions were given in colorful language. It seems that no one would pay attention unless you spoke that way. We were told it was to be a three-minute shower. You would go up the steps into the shower cubicle, which was built into the truck somehow. The water would come on. You would have one minute to wet yourself, followed by one minute to soap yourself and then one minute to rinse. We were reminded that if soap was still in your eyes or anywhere else “too bad”. The water would be shut off anyhow. Pick up your valuables (family photos and other items of value) then go down the steps into the rear tent.
As I went down the steps from the shower into a cold tent someone handed me a set of new clothes and shoes without any regard for size. We were all nude wandering around that tent bumping in to one another asking anyone what size they were given and “could we trade”. I ended up with very narrow shoes. (They were probably 11 and a half-triple A). They curled up in the front and seemed to say “hello”. Did you ever try to dress and/or bend in a crowded room of nude men or try putting on a pair of shoes? We were then ushered outside the tent, which seemed extra cold because our pores were now wide open and we weren’t wearing the dirt-clogged underwear etc. As dirty as my “long Johns” had been, I longed for them at that moment.
Because we were a company of about 250 men it was a slow and long process to shower and process everyone. Some of us wandered down the road to a bar that somehow was open. It didn’t take much cognac, so for the first time in my life I got drunk. I hardly remember getting in the truck to return to the front lines. I can’t remember where I went. I thought about it later and realized it was dangerous being on the front line and not really having all my senses.
Remembering World War II and the Battle of the Bulge
by Philip Walsh, 2nd AD, 66th AR, Co C
I was 18 years old when I got my draft notice from President Franklin Roosevelt. It was 1943. The notice read “greetings from President Roosevelt” and went on to say I was drafted to the US Army. I had never been away from home before and I wondered if I would return home to Maine.
I was sent to Fort Devon’s, Massachusetts, for a few weeks where I received my army uniform and medical shots. I recall walking down a narrow hallway and got shots in both of my arms. The fellow in front of me passed out after receiving his. I can still hear the guys who had already got their shots saying “you will be sorry.” They were right. They also warned me to watch out for the square needle that’s left in overnight. I found out to my relief they were just kidding because I was a new recruit.
From there I was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for 21 weeks of tank training. I remember being homesick, went to see the doctor, a major, who gave me some pink pills and said I would be fine. I wasn’t. I was still homesick. When our training ended we were sent to Fort George Meade, Maryland, for advanced training. Then I was sent to Camp Shanks, New York, to board the Aquitania for Europe.
I recall when we landed in Greenock, Scotland some Scottish girls greeted us and gave us muffins filled with meat. I took one bite and threw it out. It tasted awful to me. We left Scotland by train to England. By the time I arrived in England I was no longer homesick. It was more than 6 months since I left Maine. The war was underway, and by this time I figured I’d never get home alive.
When I was sent to France I was assigned to Company C 66 Armored Regimen, 2nd Armored Division. Afterward I was deployed to Omaha Beach in June – six days after D-Day. When I landed I asked the Beach Master if many men were killed. He said if anymore were killed no one would have gotten ashore. I remember one solider, in particular who landed on the beach with me. He was from the southern part of the States and was assigned to another tank because tank commander, Lt. Johnson, also from the south, picked him for his crew because of the connection to the south.
This was the first day in battle for us. Lt. Johnson’s tank was heading down a road between a row of hedges rows and ran over a mine. The explosion blew a track off the tank. The crew climbed out of the tank, started to crawl on the ground and a mortar shell landed on the back of the soldier from the south. All that was left of him was a piece of his fly and belt buckle. It was terrifying. Later I was told that Lt. Johnson was planning to get married in Paris after the war and arranged to have his bride’s wedding dress made from a parachute. Unfortunately he was killed outside of Berlin at close range by one of Hitler’s Youth with a Panzer Faust bazooka after he stepped outside of his tank.
We were never told where we would be deployed or given any details. That was one thing I didn’t like about the Army. After Omaha Beach we were sent to another location in France. We were on the front line for 21 days with the Germans firing at us from a train with artillery guns. I remember it sounded like a freight train coming at us. Three crew members and I barely left tank for the entire 21 days. It was too dangerous to stay outside for any length of time due to the constant shelling from the Germans. We had to be extremely careful.
The ground around the tank was all torn up from shelling and the mud was a foot thick. Every time someone left the tank they would get about two inches of mud on their boots. I remember getting mud dropped on my shoulders whenever the tank commander, a schoolteacher, climbed back into the tank after checking our surroundings. I was seated at the machine gunner’s seat and there wasn’t any room to move. It was very tight quarters inside the tank. I also recall when the lieutenant was injured after a shell struck the side of the tank when he was underneath trying to cook a meal with a Coleman Burner. He was taken to the aid station.
We had an opportunity to take prisoners. Seven Germans waving a white flag tried to surrender to us. One of our crew members fired at them and they took off.
After 21 days in France we were on the move again, this time to Germany. We arrived to a location that looked like a park and were able to sleep outside on the ground. One morning when I awoke, I noticed the tank was leaking. I looked inside and saw about three inches of gasoline on the bottom of the tank. A new replacement had changed the fuel filters incorrectly on both Cadillac engines.
Our next deployment was to Bastogne for combat at the Battle of the Bulge where I remained for the duration of the conflict. It was winter, freezing cold, and I drove an open top half track 100 miles in the pouring rain to Bastogne. Somewhere along the way I drove off the road. I was very tired, soaking wet and it was difficult to see because there were no headlights. I accidentally backed into Captain A.Z. Owen’s tank. He hollered “get that man’s name.” I was afraid he would send me to jail. He didn’t do anything.
When we arrived at our destination near Bastogne we were exhausted and cold. We pitched our pup tents in the freezing temperatures and went to sleep shivering. What amazes me now as I think back about sleeping in soaking wet, heavy Army clothes with my shoes frozen to the ground is that I never caught a cold.
Our tank was parked next to a farmhouse. The family living in the home felt sorry for us staying outside in the cold and they invited us in to dry our clothes and get warm. We stayed with them for several nights. Unfortunately one of the soldiers flirted constantly with the homeowner’s wife. The husband got fed up and told us all to leave.
One time we liberated a couple of chickens and some vegetables from a Belgium farmhouse and I cooked it in a 5-gallon can. You cannot imagine how good this tasted on a cold day especially after living on K and K rations. It was the best chicken soup I had ever eaten. A captain from Georgia said to me, “Walsh where did you get the chickens from?” Another soldier spoke up and said he got a package from the states. This seemed to satisfy the captain who helped himself to the soup without asking any more questions.
Later during the battle I was asked to drive this same captain in a jeep to a command post set up in a house near Bastogne. When we arrived we saw the T/5 Sergeant who had flooded our tank with gas when he was assigned to our crew in France. He was on duty at the command post and did not salute the captain in my jeep. The captained yelled to the T/5 sergeant “Salute me.” He obeyed.
When the Battle of the Bulge ended, I was deployed to Berlin. We were the first troops to arrive in Berlin after World War II ended. I was transferred to the 12th Armored Division and sent to Marseilles, France where I prepared to go home. It was 1946. I am proud to have served my country, but I wouldn’t want to go through this again.
In the past, the term “combat arms” referred to the infantry, cavalry and artillery. Later, the “cavalry” was replaced by the “armor” branch.” Services such as engineers, ordnance, signal and others were considered to be supports for the combat arms. However, historians have recorded that many supporting troops became combat troops during the Battle of the Bulge. The same was true for administration personnel including those in combat arms units.
On December 16, 1944, Combat Command B (CCB) of the 9th Armored Division (AD) was preparing for an attack with the 2nd Infantry Division to capture the Roer River Dam. That mission was cancelled and, for the next several days and nights, CCB of the 9th AD and CCB or the 7th AD fought alongside in Belgium delaying the main enemy attack. It ended when both units withdrew on December 23, 1944 from St. Vith, Belgium.
During that period, CCB of the 9th AD had no contact with their 9th AD headquarters which was in Luxembourg. A part of CCB task force was the 14th Tank Battalion (Bn). Captain Frank Simons commanded the Bn Headquarters Company whose enlisted staff maintained the records of the battalion – the movements, locations, casualties, losses and the important Morning Report which is often a source for military history. At one point, Capt. Simons ordered his clerical personnel to exchange their pencils for their side arms (weapons) and join the tanks and infantry of CCB to stop or delay the enemy advance.
I was a tank platoon leader in the 14th Tk Bn with five tanks and 24 men. My combat orders and missions changed frequently during the combat as our higher command attempted to stop the enemy and armor attacks. On day I was ordered to protect our 9th Armored Engineers who were preparing a roadblock to halt an possible or anticipated enemy attack. This type of operation had not been part of our many months of training. How was it accomplished?
The platoon leader and the other two tanks in his section moved into enemy territory to select a location from where they could observe an approaching enemy and warn the engineers.. As for observation, only the tank commanders can observe since the gunners, tank gun loaders, drivers and bow gunners are inside the tank with their hatches closed. Consequently, tanks are highly vulnerable, particularly to infiltration by small groups such as an enemy infantry squad, So, the tanks were positioned to observe but also, that if hit by a surprise attack, the platoon leader could engage the enemy to cover the withdrawal of the other two tanks.
The tank platoon sergeant and his second tank remained with the engineers who were preparing the roadblock. Once the platoon leader had his tanks in position, his next action was to establish radio contact with the platoon sergeant, who could than alert the engineers. He made contact with his own tank and with another of this tanks to provide a back-up in case of a communication problem. Incidentally, higher authority had ordered “radio silence” which meant we could receive messages (such as orders) but could we could not transmit messages. Under certain conditions, there is a reason for this restriction. However, since the platoon leader was the “higher authority” in this combat situation he changed to orders to meet the need and the combat situation.
The illustration shows the engineers at work preparing and wiring the trees alongside the road so they could be blown to block the passage of vehicles.
The surrounding terrain was unfavorable to tracked and wheeled vehicles. This was an action under combat conditions. The engineers along with the tankers were engaged in a combat action. In this action, the tank platoon sergeant informed this platoon leader when the engineers had completed placing of demolitions. The three advance tanks then withdrew back to the engineer location and the leader reported the situation to higher headquarters. He was given another mission. It is not known how the roadblock was manned to detonate the charges since, to be effective, a roadblock should usually be covered by fire.
As a tactical note, when an enemy column is stopped by a roadblock, the defending unit should be prepared to first disable a vehicle in the rear which prevents the withdrawal of the vehicles between the disabled vehicle and the roadblock.
In a later operation during the Bulge, the engineers were placing demolitions on a bridge. This required them to enter the bitter cold water of the river. You can bet that tanks in their dry locations did not envy the engineers!
by Dee Paris, 9th Armored Division, 14th Tank Battalion
Warren M. Jensen, XIX Corps Artillery, 793rd Field Artillery Bn, A Battery
I was born and raised in San Francisco and enlisted in the Army’s Field Artillery at age 18 in 1942. Unlike many others who forged parental signatures until turning 21, the legal age, I finally got my folks to sign when I turned 18 in Oct. 1942 and enlisted Oct. 27, 1942. I trained at Fort Bragg, N. Carolina and embarked for England in December 1943.
We had no sense of time or calendar and knew the invasion was on due to the tremendous amount (10,000) aircraft overhead. We moved, we moved, closer and closer to South Hampton until boarding the LCT and embarked for France from South Hampton in flat-bottomed LCTs (landing craft tank). Much seasickness ensued that day.
By D+1 and D+2 the invasion fighting had moved off the beach and up into the hedgerow country. Can’t tell you exactly when we landed at Omaha “Easy Red” beach. I do know XIX Advance Corps Party landed like D+6 to set up the HQ people but we had nothing to do with them. We were Corps Artillery so I would guess we landed about D+10. We supported the 29th Infantry and 30th Infantry and 2nd Armored Divisions throughout the war.
If you Google up LCT (landing craft tank) you’ll see the flat-bottomed craft we came over in with two of our howitzers, the M-4 Tractors that pulled them and a jeep and 3/4 ton truck. When the LCT came to a halt we went off into four feet of water. The Jeep was covered over with water. All of our equipment had been waterproofed by us with snorkels for air intake. The Krauts were sending over occasional artillery shells. (Google up M-4 Tractor to see what we rode in)
When LCT beached we never left our howitzer and we proceeded up an exit way to the top of the beach, went inland a ways and fired the first mission on the roads leading to St. Lo that the Krauts were using.
We were involved in the battles at Mortain & Falaise Gap. I was a gunner and machine gunner on an 8-inch howitzer gun section, recognized as the most accurate artillery piece in the US arsenal. Our unusual howitzer accuracy allowed us to knock out enemy tanks and positions especially in the fighting in the hedgerows of Normandy. We were set up in an orchard so when we fired the green apples rained down. Click on the following link to see a video about the 8 inch M115 towed howitzer. www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhIoBhga2Zs
We moved to new positions constantly. Stay maybe overnight on missions or sometimes go into position ready to fire and the front had moved forward so, without firing a shot, we’d pack up and move to a new position. We never went thru the night with uninterrupted sleep—we either pulled our turn manning the phone to the Fire Direction Center or turning out for Fire Missions. That gets tiring after a while, month after month with no rest.
We passed to the north of Paris and entered Belgium Sept. 3, proceeded into the Netherlands and began firing on Aachen, Germany, from Herleen, NL. We were next involved in the bloody Hurtgen Forest battle where thousands of our lads were unnecessary casualties. This was late November/early December.
The Ardennes Offensive began on December 16,1944. The weather was bitter cold, foggy and dreary. All was quiet until Dec. 16 when the Krauts attacked. There was chaos that slowly resolved itself into grim determination, desperation and numbness…you got it.
“The Bulge” refers to the progress of the German offensive and to how far they pushed our lines back. Winston Churchill is quoted as saying, “This is undoubtedly the greatest American battle of the war and will, I believe, be regarded as an ever famous American victory.” Two million men were involved in this the largest land battle the US Army has ever fought.
We were brought down to the St.Vith area. Our missions depended on the targets spotted. We wouldn’t fire non-stop unless necessary. We were limited to the ammunition available to us. Sometimes we’d get a FIRE MISSION at various times day or night. At chow time half of the gun crew would go to the rear to get fed so the rest of us had to carry out the mission. Then, sometimes, by the time we had a chance to be fed, all the food was gone so our dinner was sometimes just a piece of bread and coffee. Or we ate combat rations.
As far as getting any hot food from December 1944 to February 1945 our cooks were able, once in a while, to bring hot food up in insulated Mermite cans. The US Army has a tradition of always trying to get a turkey dinner to the troops on Thanksgiving and Xmas with all the trimmings. Kinda hard to serve it up properly in that cold weather with everything served onto one’s cold mess kit all together with dessert slopped on top. That was special.
Night time could be beautiful. The searchlights would go on to create artificial moonlight for our Infantry lads. There would be flares fired and the magnesium flares would light up an area as they came down on little parachutes.. Machine gun tracers from our anti-aircraft guns would make pretty patterns in the sky because every 5th round had the rear hollowed out and packed with a chemical that glowed when fired. All this was to help the gunner zero in on his target.
And the sounds that filled the night: Of weapons firing by the Infantry machine guns, mortars going off and other artillery pieces firing. And then the krauts would send over “Checkpoint Charlie” at night. He’d come over, drop a few flares and take, we think, photos, drop a bomb or two, and with his distinctive engine sound disappear back to his own lines. Sounded like the engine needed a tune-up.
One memory I’ve had of this Xmas time was firing a mission and the FDC guys (Fire Direction Center) said, “You guys know that tonight’s Xmas Eve?” That’s how we found out during the winter of ’44.
Since our gun positions were generally in the open or at the edge of trees we were pretty well exposed to the chilling wind. Frostbite casualties were common due to a lack of proper clothing and boots. I wouldn’t know how cold it got without having a thermometer but it was the coldest winter in Europe in 40 years. Reords show that temperatures plummeted from 40 degree days down to minus 10 to minus 20 F at nite. Brrrr. Bradley and even Ike felt the war would be over by Dec. 1944 so they had the manufacturing and shipment of winter clothing stopped. Some supplies were in warehouses in France but the rear echelon guys got into those. All we had were leather boots and were supposed to massage each others feet to prevent frostbite. The medical Dx was “frozen feet” but in WWI it was called “trench foot”.
Not much more than commiseration with my buddies held me together mentally during times of hardship as we were all in it together. Our bedding was just a wool Army blanket each. Yes, just one blanket. In December they issued us a mummy style sleeping bag which was a blanket with an outer shell and a zipper. Eventually they got wool gloves, a wool scarf, a sweater and galoshes or overshoes to us at the front. It was joked that it was so cold that it would freeze the balls off a brass monkey. Don’t know where that expression came from but it always got a laugh.
After we would get our howitzer into firing position, next we would did a hole for the projectiles and powder charges, then dig our personal fox holes, then dig a small slit trench, the width of a shovel blade, and thus we could squat and straddle the trench, cover it with some dirt we had dug. TP was slid onto the handle of the shovel which was jammed into the dirt we had dug out. It was quite an experience to squat in icy cold weather and expose your butt to the cold.
The Belgians generally cleared out as they were fearful of the reprisals from the Germans. Those few who stayed opened their homes to the troops. If we stayed for a few days it would give us a chance to contact a farmer in France, N. Belgium, or Holland for cider, wine, or females. We tried to lure them to our area with promises of food, cigarettes. Not much success. We could not talk with any German for fear of a fine of $65 (a months’ pay for privates).
On December 23 the skies finally cleared and all we heard were aircraft engines and saw contrails and there was cheering at the event. Our guys parachuted in ammo, food and medicine to the encircled troops at Bastogne but unfortunately, the Krauts got some of the chutes. After the war a German soldier reported that that he found a canned Hormel ham hanging from a parachute and had dined with a Belgium family that Christmas. We pushed the Germans back into Germany and the Ardennes Offensive ended the beginning of February 1945.
When December weather comes in with its cold and fog, even after 68 years, my thoughts drift to the Bulge experience and I shiver as I remember those Bulge weather days of suffering. We moved eastward quickly and eventually found ourselves below Magdeburg, Germany in support of the 2nd Armored Division and the 83rd ID which both had bridges across and troops on the east side of the Elbe river until we were ordered to hold our positions. This is now April 1945.
We went “scrounging” in Germany but couldn’t go far. Some guys found weapons or other souvenirs. If we found food we feared it might be poisoned. Krauts knew we scrounged for wine and schnapps and would urinate into those bottles. Once in a small town in Germany I went scrounging for a door to put over my foxhole to prevent shrapnel from coming in. The house was untouched with even a beautiful crucifix on the wall and I spotted this grand piano. I was angry at the Germans so, in a fit of adolescent stupidity, I destroyed a good part of the piano with my carbine so the residents would have something to suffer with.
We prepared to move for occupation duties in Giessen, Germany. We liberated several German concentration camps and witnessed the results of the atrocities. Unfortunately we gave the starving inmates our high caloric rations which caused them distress and even death. This liberating of POW and concentration camps came in our drive to the Elbe River. VE Day came May 8 and the Russians on the east bank of the Elbe River were celebrating. We could hear them yelling and firing into the air with their weapons. Flares were going off and an accordion was playing. I decided to take a lone journey across the pontoon bridge one day and got a ride in a jeep. On the east bank of the Elbe I saw a column of rough looking Mongolian troops, female traffic cops, and their kitchens pulled by horses. I thought, “I sure hope we never have to fight them.” Ourselves, on the west bank of the Elbe River did no celebrating as we were due to ship out to battle in the Pacific.
In Giessen we guarded first the Polish and then the Russian DPs (Displaced Persons) or manned the checkpoints on the Autobahn. One time we took a trainload of Russian DPs packed into box cars into the Russian Zone. The four of us had a boxcar to ourselves which was loaded up with Ten-in-One rations. Our journey was overnight to the edge of Czechoslovakia. We’d distribute the ration boxes to each car at mealtime stops.
Our unit was broken up based on an individual’s point system and we were sent to one of the “cigarette camps” near La Havre for weeks of idleness while we waited for transportation home by ship. Finally I arrived home and was discharged December 13, 1945. Upon discharge I enlisted in the Army Reserve and the University of California at Berkeley and eventually received a BS degree in Business. My commission in the Army Reserve was from the battlefield according to the War Department Circular 32 for those who had been involved in combat. This authorized the commissioning of enlisted individuals who had high AGCT (Army General Classification Test) scores and combat experience. I had the 2nd highest score in the entire battalion. I was offered officer candidate school and ASTP (where enlisted were sent to a college in the US and lived there). I advanced through the ranks to become a Captain in 1950 with a total active and reserve time of 23 years.
I slowly healed from “battle fatigue” after the war (now it’s termed Post Traumatic Stress Disability) by repressing the memories of my WWII experience. I was wounded twice and the VA has declared me 100% disabled due to PTSD and wartime injuries which plague me still. I was awarded the Purple Heart medal and the European Theater of Operations medal with battle stars for Normandy, Northern France, the Ardennes, Rhineland, and Central Europe campaigns.
After seven years I entered San Francisco State University where I studied for and received two MAs in Psychology and Business, with postgraduate work at Stanford University. I taught for a number of years before being assigned as a Guidance Counselor at Woodside High School on the San Francisco Peninsula, and retired in 1964.
I belong to:
Military Officers Association
Military Order of the Purple Heart
Veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, Golden Gate Chapter, N. Calif. Bay Area
Third Thursday Veterans Lunch Bunch, Concord, Calif.
Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW)
Remembering World War II and the Battle of the Bulge
by Philip Walsh, 2nd AD, 66th AR, Co C
I was 18 years old when I got my draft notice from President Franklin Roosevelt. It was 1943. The notice read “greetings from President Roosevelt” and went on to say I was drafted to the US Army. I had never been away from home before and I wondered if I would return home to Maine.
I was sent to Fort Devon’s, Massachusetts, for a few weeks where I received my army uniform and medical shots. I recall walking down a narrow hallway and got shots in both of my arms. The fellow in front of me passed out after receiving his. I can still hear the guys who had already got their shots saying “you will be sorry.” They were right. They also warned me to watch out for the square needle that’s left in overnight. I found out to my relief they were just kidding because I was a new recruit.
From there I was sent to Fort Knox, Kentucky, for 21 weeks of tank training. I remember being homesick, went to see the doctor, a major, who gave me some pink pills and said I would be fine. I wasn’t. I was still homesick. When our training ended we were sent to Fort George Meade, Maryland, for advanced training. Then I was sent to Camp Shanks, New York, to board the Aquitania for Europe.
I recall when we landed in Greenock, Scotland some Scottish girls greeted us and gave us muffins filled with meat. I took one bite and threw it out. It tasted awful to me. We left Scotland by train to England. By the time I arrived in England I was no longer homesick. It was more than 6 months since I left Maine. The war was underway, and by this time I figured I’d never get home alive.
When I was sent to France I was assigned to Company C 66 Armored Regimen, 2nd Armored Division. Afterward I was deployed to Omaha Beach in June – six days after D-Day. When I landed I asked the Beach Master if many men were killed. He said if anymore were killed no one would have gotten ashore. I remember one solider, in particular who landed on the beach with me. He was from the southern part of the States and was assigned to another tank because tank commander, Lt. Johnson, also from the south, picked him for his crew because of the connection to the south.
This was the first day in battle for us. Lt. Johnson’s tank was heading down a road between a row of hedges rows and ran over a mine. The explosion blew a track off the tank. The crew climbed out of the tank, started to crawl on the ground and a mortar shell landed on the back of the soldier from the south. All that was left of him was a piece of his fly and belt buckle. It was terrifying. Later I was told that Lt. Johnson was planning to get married in Paris after the war and arranged to have his bride’s wedding dress made from a parachute. Unfortunately he was killed outside of Berlin at close range by one of Hitler’s Youth with a Panzer Faust bazooka after he stepped outside of his tank.
We were never told where we would be deployed or given any details. That was one thing I didn’t like about the Army. After Omaha Beach we were sent to another location in France. We were on the front line for 21 days with the Germans firing at us from a train with artillery guns. I remember it sounded like a freight train coming at us. Three crew members and I barely left tank for the entire 21 days. It was too dangerous to stay outside for any length of time due to the constant shelling from the Germans. We had to be extremely careful.
The ground around the tank was all torn up from shelling and the mud was a foot thick. Every time someone left the tank they would get about two inches of mud on their boots. I remember getting mud dropped on my shoulders whenever the tank commander, a schoolteacher, climbed back into the tank after checking our surroundings. I was seated at the machine gunner’s seat and there wasn’t any room to move. It was very tight quarters inside the tank. I also recall when the lieutenant was injured after a shell struck the side of the tank when he was underneath trying to cook a meal with a Coleman Burner. He was taken to the aid station.
We had an opportunity to take prisoners. Seven Germans waving a white flag tried to surrender to us. One of our crew members fired at them and they took off.
After 21 days in France we were on the move again, this time to Germany. We arrived to a location that looked like a park and were able to sleep outside on the ground. One morning when I awoke, I noticed the tank was leaking. I looked inside and saw about three inches of gasoline on the bottom of the tank. A new replacement had changed the fuel filters incorrectly on both Cadillac engines.
Our next deployment was to Bastogne for combat at the Battle of the Bulge where I remained for the duration of the conflict. It was winter, freezing cold, and I drove an open top half track 100 miles in the pouring rain to Bastogne. Somewhere along the way I drove off the road. I was very tired, soaking wet and it was difficult to see because there were no headlights. I accidentally backed into Captain A.Z. Owen’s tank. He hollered “get that man’s name.” I was afraid he would send me to jail. He didn’t do anything.
When we arrived at our destination near Bastogne we were exhausted and cold. We pitched our pup tents in the freezing temperatures and went to sleep shivering. What amazes me now as I think back about sleeping in soaking wet, heavy Army clothes with my shoes frozen to the ground is that I never caught a cold.
Our tank was parked next to a farmhouse. The family living in the home felt sorry for us staying outside in the cold and they invited us in to dry our clothes and get warm. We stayed with them for several nights. Unfortunately one of the soldiers flirted constantly with the homeowner’s wife. The husband got fed up and told us all to leave.
One time we liberated a couple of chickens and some vegetables from a Belgium farmhouse and I cooked it in a 5-gallon can. You cannot imagine how good this tasted on a cold day especially after living on K and K rations. It was the best chicken soup I had ever eaten. A captain from Georgia said to me, “Walsh where did you get the chickens from?” Another soldier spoke up and said he got a package from the states. This seemed to satisfy the captain who helped himself to the soup without asking any more questions.
Later during the battle I was asked to drive this same captain in a jeep to a command post set up in a house near Bastogne. When we arrived we saw the T/5 Sergeant who had flooded our tank with gas when he was assigned to our crew in France. He was on duty at the command post and did not salute the captain in my jeep. The captained yelled to the T/5 sergeant “Salute me.” He obeyed.
When the Battle of the Bulge ended, I was deployed to Berlin. We were the first troops to arrive in Berlin after World War II ended. I was transferred to the 12th Armored Division and sent to Marseilles, France where I prepared to go home. It was 1946. I am proud to have served my country, but I wouldn’t want to go through this again.
We were now fighting Hitler’s’ First SS Division. This was his best division which had direct orders from Adolph Hitler himself to kick our A’s out of there. We actually beat them up pretty bad in Mortain, France. I heard that Axis Sally was on the radio and said this time they were to annihilate that 30th Division. After we got done with them in Stavelot , the Germans dismantled their division. The Germans had about twenty-nine Divisions of their best troops that returned from the Russian front to throw in this battle, so there were many SS Troopers.
We came to the little city of STAVALOT, BELGIUM. The Germans gave us a hell of a fight and ran us out a couple times, and finally we went back in and stood our ground. It was about Christmas time. Fighting in the city was different. In the city we had buildings to go into get away from the cold and snow that was always there. We didn’t have to dig foxholes in the city. The temperature was from plus twenty to minus five for the entire Bulge Battle. I spent my twenty second birthday in this city, and it could have been on this day that a sniper almost got me.
We left Stavelot around the first of Jan, 1945. The other Companies caught up with us and then we were out in the field all the time, sometimes digging three fox holes a day. We did most of our moving at night so the enemy could not see us. It was so cold I would hock down in the fox hole on my heels, and shiver so hard that my teeth would rattle and my knee’s would get sore and hurt just from shaking. There were at least three nights I thought I would just freeze to death and not wake up. When morning came the honeycomb frost would be about three inches thick at the top of the fox hole, pretty and crisp. All we wore was our wool uniforms, wool overcoat, and socks, knit woolen cap, helmet liner, steel helmet and wool gloves. I had no real boots, only combat boots that were twelve inches tall.
One of the nights, we got into position and they talked about holding there for a day or so. I got a very nice foxhole dug, put twigs in the bottom and laid some pine twigs over part of the top which got it pretty warm. I was going to have a warm night at last. It was all ready, the best fox hole I ever dug. About ten in the evening the word came out, “We’re taking off.” I was so discouraged I didn’t care if someone would shoot me right then. This may have been a lucky break. We hadn’t gone seventy five feet and ran into an evergreen clumps; ever greens around a fox hole. I think six Germans were in there. They didn’t want to give up first and I thought we were going to have a little gun fire. We were all ready to let them have it when they finally came out and gave up. If anyone would have let one shot go we would have had a slaughter. The snow was so deep that we would trade off with the front guy to cut the track. We walked all night, and I told the officer we most probably were going behind the German lines. About four in the morning we came on a hill that overlooked a small group of homes in the valley. The Germans were eating their breakfast. I could hear their silverware rattle (that is close combat). We stopped to dig in. I told my foxhole buddy to start cutting twigs with his pocket knife for we needed a cover over. When the Germans find out we were this close they would have all kinds of artillery coming in. With this being in a wooded area, those shells would hit the trees and explode and send shrapnel down on us. After getting those twigs across the foxhole we would throw ground on top to keep shrapnel from hitting us. This was OK. I was on my knees, digging as fast as I could with my rifle standing against a tree about eight feet away. Someone down the way from me called out, “there are Germans behind you”. As we have done many times, we would kid someone even if we were to get killed the next minute. I never paid attention to this, though in the corner of my eye I thought I caught some thing. When I stopped to look around there stood three German SS soldiers with their burp guns and hands up. They were close enough that I could have shaken hands with them. The first thing I thought, “My rifle!” There it was eight feet from me against the tree. Right away they asked to give up, saying, “Comrade, comrade.” I’ve been lucky throughout the war. I have taken so many prisoners, I don’t know if I looked so forgiving. Later I found out that we dug our foxholes in the same area the Germans were dug in. After we found out about that we took a lot of prisoners.
On another night we marched most of the night coming to our position and the ground was frozen. This time I found a German foxhole. It was pitch dark and I got down on my knees to feel around in it to see if there was a German in there. It was empty, but he must not have had too much training on digging, for it was too wide and not deep enough. But I managed to squeeze under in it. This one had a cover with ground over it. This was my luck for the Germans shelled the area all night. I could hear and feel those shells go off all around this foxhole. I thought the only way they could get me was if one would land right in my hole. The next morning when it got light, of course the shelling stopped before daybreak; I got out of the fox hole. I had a hard time getting out. The ground on top had settled down with weight and it was smashing me. I managed to get out. When I did, I found a lot of my buddies that didn’t get cover lying all around in pieces. One look and all I could do was to walk away. The officer was getting the guys ready to march out; there were only eleven GI’s. We were standing in a group waiting for two guys that were still coming. After five minutes I got the feeling that we should spread out, for we were a perfect target for the Germans. So I walked out away from the group. The officer ordered me to come back to the group and I told him it was a good target for the Krouts; but he insisted. As I walked back a shot come in. An 88mm artillery shell, it was a tree burst about fifty feet away, and again I took off. I knew that the next one would be right on us. I have seen this happen too often. The officer insisted that we group up. Well I did obey his orders and I just got back when this 88-mm shell came in and exploded, maybe eight feet from me. I was looking right at it; just a big three-foot orange ball of fire. Thank God I was ok, my buddies not so lucky.
The days went on in those fox holes; we were gaining ground mostly in the night. There was less opposition from the enemy since they could not see us come. There were a lot of surprises though. The weather was our worst enemy as we were always trying to keep from freezing. I think I was out there two weeks at a time without seeing the inside of a building. It’s amazing how much torture the body can take.
Sometime during the first part of January 10th, 1945 near Five Points, they took part of the GI’s back off the lines to a town named SPA, Belgium. They took us to the bath house, “Spa.” It was the first bath I had in a couple months. It was the first time I had my shoes off, or any clothes changed during that time. This was a copper bath tub and mineral water was used. Our clothes were so dirty they could stand up. We got all clean clothes. This sure felt good, and the best part was that we could walk around without being shot at. What a difference!
One afternoon we got ready to take a small town. This was something different. It was the first day attack we had for a long time. Being about a half mile from the town, the tanks started to come up from the forest behind the infantry. One of the tanks stopped about fifteen feet behind my foxhole. I told him to get back in the forest since the Krauts would start firing at him, but no they let it there. It wasn’t long and the shells started coming. Our foxhole wasn’t dug big enough since we were only going to be there a short time. My buddy was in the foxhole. When the shelling started, there wasn’t room for me to get in. I dove in and layed across my buddy, figuring I would be killed anyway and maybe could save him. With hands over my head, I just said LORD here I come. I never ever heard so much shrapnel around my head. It was like having a hive of bees dumped on me, and to this day I don’t understand why this didn’t burst my eardrums. I think they shot about three shells at the tank. They did explode that tank and killed everyone in it. We were about fifteen feet from it. Again I was thankful for all those prayers going on back home.
On the front lines all your senses work better than ever. I knew the sound of each tank, plane, gun or anything. I knew whose artillery made each sound. It was called survival.
We got so far ahead of the rest of the units that we had to hold our position for several days sitting in those fox holes and freezing to death. It wasn’t so bad when we moved every day and dug a couple fox hole to keep us half warm. The Commander and Medic usually came around each day since so many men were getting frost bite. This time when they got to my position I felt like I was getting a cold, so I asked the medic for an aspirin or something before it would hit me. He told me I should give my BAR to my buddy and go back to Company aid. I told him I didn’t feel that bad and I wasn’t going to walk a half-mile in the snow. This situation went on and about an hour later the Medic and the Officer came back to me, and insisted I go back. When they come back to me it rang a bell. What do they know that I don’t? I thought I’d better follow orders. I gave my BAR to my buddy and took his M1, and headed back to Company Aid. I didn’t go far when I quickly learned what the problem was. I could hardly walk. When the blood started to circulate in my feet, it felt awful. I was in luck when a weasel came along bringing food to the lines. He gave me a lift to the Company Aid station, which was an old brick house that was partly shot away. I got inside and there lay a few GI’s. I’ve never seen people so tough and and brave as I have ever seen in combat. This was the 22nd of January 1945. I never knew this date until fifty years later and the people from the Anniversary Committee in Stavolot told me. I will always say that this saved my life.
When the doc got to me, I said my feet were hurting, he told me to take off my shoes. He took a pin and started to prod around and I couldn’t feel a thing. He told me to lie on a stretcher. I told him I could walk to the ambulance. He gave me orders right there that I was not to walk on my feet. (The only way you get off the front lines is for them to carry you off). That afternoon they took me to a field hospital, which was a tent. I was laid on a cot with white sheets. There was heat in the tent and hot soup. If heaven is better than this I got to see it. And if hell is as bad as the front lines, you better be good. I’ve gone through all but four days of the Battle of the Bulge. My number would have come up if I hadn’t got off the front lines. We were in the Dillburg Forest, not far from RECHT, Bois-D’Emmels, near Rodt and overlooking St Vith, Belgium.
In those six weeks of the Battle of the Bulge, Americans had over ninety thousand casualties, more than 2000 per day. Some guys only lasted a day in combat. It was the largest battle ever fought in the world. From this field hospital on the 24th of January, I was taken to a hospital in Paris, France where I was for nearly ten days. I was then transported to an England hospital. I reentered the war as a 1st Sergeant at a POW camp.
