Scott's Thoughts: Crossing the Moselle, A Memorial Day Tribute - Eugene H Kessler, Pvt. Co.C,377th Infantry Regiment, 95th "Victory" Infantry Division

Char, Eugene's daughter, reminded me yesterday, that Eugene celebrated his 24th birthday with a trip to England. The USS West Point set sail for Liverpool on August 9th, Eugene's birthday. What a gift! Lifeboat drills and seasickness (not that Eugene suffered from that).

Prelude to the Dance

General George S. Patton, arrogant, pretentious, determined and a warrior. Much has been written about the man, both good and bad, but the one truth that stands out, among his peers, he was an outstanding tactician. He could look at a battle map and know what the moves were, on both sides. He showed his tenacity and tactical prowess during the Italian campaign, moving his troops with unbelievable speed across the country and achieving what he set out to achieve. Patton felt that he was always a warrior, even in past lives and that in those lives; he had been on these same battlefields.

Arrogance was his downfall. After accusing 2 G.I.s of cowardice, striking them and publicly humiliating them, he was passed over for his fourth star. He now answered to his former subordinate, Gen. Omar Bradley. He was charged with the First US Army Group, the "Ghost Army", prior to D-Day and sat out the invasion in England, in command of balloon and lies. The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) understood the liability brought on by Patton, but also understood the respect he commanded from the Axis and used it to their advantage in preparing for D-Day.

After the invasion and with Patton keeping a low public profile, he was given command of the 3rd Army. The 95th would come under the command of the XX Corps under Patton's 3rd Army.

Patton's European objective would be Berlin. The quickest route, through Darmstadt-Frankfurt. To do this he would have to cross the Moselle and capture the French fortress city of Metz, push to the Saar River and control the bridgehead at Saarburg. Besides the fortress Metz, the 3rd Army would also have to overcoming the battlements of the Maginot and Siegfried Lines.

Eugene and the 377th would be leading the 95th into what would be their "baptism".

The Baptism...

The 377th was chosen to be the leading element of the 95th to cross the Moselle. With the weather not cooperating with the battle plan, the Moselle had swelled to the worse flood stage in 29 years. The 377th jump off points for the crossing would be at Uckange, the Hannibois Woods and the Maizieres-les-Metz. Eugene and the boys of the 1st battalion would be crossing at Uckange.

Operation Casanova

Part of the crossing was to fool the Wehrmacht into believing that the main crossing would take place at Uckange. Removing all identifiers that the 95th was the division making the crossing and allowing the Germans to believe that the 90th ID was the leading division making the main thrust at Uckange and rehearsing the crossing to the last detail, the 95th prepared for D-Day, November 8th.

After several days of back and forth artillery barrages, Eugene and the men of Co. C; 377th IR marched up from St Hubert Woods to the city of Uckange and assembled for the crossing. At 9:00 pm, Eugene and Co. C was on it's way to the east side of the Moselle and to the bridgehead. Their baptism had begun.

Moselle River

Using assault boats and paddles, each boat loaded with a dozen men, Co. C paddled its way across the 200 yards, Co. C completes the crossing at 9:40 pm and pushes inland 300 yards, just south of Bertrange. Eugene is now on the east side of the river. He and the other members of Co. C would take a defensive posture to protect a supply route to the Moselle. The fighting was light for C Company at this point. German artillery had targeted the bridgehead behind them. This near perfect shelling would put an end to the 377th's attempts to bridge the Moselle. Without a bridge, supplies and reinforcement for Co. C would be hindered.

While the 377th's first offensive was tough, the battle was only beginning. Over the next week, the battle would push back and forth. Rain would hamper movements and the 1st battalion was completely isolated from the rest of the 377th. Taking cover in a German communication trench, Co. C prepares for further enemy action. German squads would probe their position, but Eugene and the riflemen of Co C would hold strong, repelling the German attacks. Co C was in need of supplies, and without a bridge across the Moselle, it looked bleak for them.

Piper L-4 "Grasshopper"

Air dropping supplies

Determined to get supplies to the isolated stronghold, the 377th used the last route open, the air. On November 10th, the skies filled with the noise of small aircraft over head. Eugene and the men of Co. C were now being supplied by air as L-4 aircraft, flying at 25 ft above the ground, hand dropped ammunition, K and D-rations, medical supplies and toilet paper right into their foxholes. They also supplied creature comforts such as cigarette, matches, candy and gum.

Before going on, I would like to again share a family tale about Eugene. This came from my mother to me and I assume that Eugene had shared this with his parents and siblings. While Eugene was a rifleman in the 377th IR, he was also a messenger or "Runner" for his platoon. Each rifle company (his being rifle Co. C) is comprised of approximately 190 men from 3 platoons of 41 men and a weapons platoon (containing 2 machine gun squads, and 3 mortar men squads). The platoon is comprised the 41 men of 3 rifle squad of about 12 men each. Each platoon has 2 runners.
The story going like this, and again I can only speculate as to where and when this happened, but the Moselle / Bertrange area seem as fitting a place for this to occur as any, Eugene, as platoon runner, was on a communications mission, walking along a path in a wooded area. While walking, he felt a tug on his pants, but thought nothing of it, he went for his cigarettes and reached into his cargo pocket for his lighter and found that both the lighter, a gift from his wife Adelaaide, and pocket were gone. Evidently, at some point during this mission, a sniper took a shot at Eugene and hit his pocket. Mom said because he was deaf in one ear, he never heard the shot. Now to the best of my knowledge, mom only shared this story with me. During the crossing of the Moselle, there were wooding areas, radio communications were basically non-existent and many accounts of enemy sniper activity, so again, this is speculative, but this could be one of the areas that this happen.

Bertrange

Resupplied, new orders were handed down, Eugene and Co C were to move on Bertrange. Beginning on the 13th, Co C would move on and secure Bertrange. By evening, Eugene and Co. C, with 80 men at this point, moved into and secured Bertrange, but a determined Wehrmacht was just beginning. Well supplied and armed with heavy armor and well reconnoitered, the Germans knew that the 1st battalion was isolated and limited on their supplies. The enemy would take the roads and street of Imeldange and split the two towns. The German would focus their attentions on Imeldange, systematically destroying all Allied occupied buildings. This focus by the Germans would mean that Eugene and the boys would not be facing strong opposition, as the Germans hadn't penetrated as thoroughly in Bertrange.
Reorganized into a defensive posture with the support of the machine gun squad from D Company, C Company prepared for the German attack. As the German column of the 19th VG Division came into town, the machine guns opened fire. The German took heavy casualties, quickly broke and scattered to encircle Bertrange. The fighting would continue into the night, German tanks and half-tracks in support of the 19th VG would moving to the town and the men of Co C would make short order of them.
The 1st battalion of the 377th stood firm in their position and on the 15th, additional men and armor of the 95th entered Bertrange to relieve Eugene and Co. C. Together with their reinforcements, Eugene and Co. C moved on to Imeldange and flushed out the remaining enemy, capturing 50 prisoners. After Imeldange was secured, and the remainder of the 1st battalion was reorganized and was informed of its new mission as soon as the battalion was back in shape. Task Force Bacon would move south along the Moselle and to the next objective, Metz.

Eugene survived his first offensive action and completed his baptism under fire. 70 brothers in arms in Co C. would not. After action reports showed the 1st battalion, Company C would survive the action with 110 men and 2 officers. On November 16th at 8:00 am, Eugene would be on the move again. This time they would be attacking the "impregnable" fortress city of Metz, a city that has withstood the test of time and defeated many attackers over the centuries... (Next, the Battle for Metz)