Task
Force Bacon
Eugene and the men of the 377th who
survived their initial encounter with the Wehrmacht had no time to rest. Their
last action occurred in the towns of Bertrange and Imeldange ended on the 15th
of November. On the next day, as a part of the newly formed Task Force
Bacon, they headed south.
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| Col R.L. Bacon |
Eugene and the men of the 377th who
survived their initial encounter with the Wehrmacht had no time to rest. Their
last action occurred in the towns of Bertrange and Imeldange ended on the 15th
of November. On the next day, as a part of the newly formed Task Force
Bacon, they headed south.
Task Force Bacon would be led by Col
Robert L Bacon and would be comprised of the 1st bn of the 377th (Eugene's
battalion); 1bt of the 379th and the 2bt.of the 378th. They would advance
in 2 columns with tanks and tank destroyers leading each column, travelling
down parallel roads. The men would march or ride in trucks. The next
objective was Metz.
Metz
Metz is 16 mile south of their
current position and is a centuries old city surrounded by a series of
interconnected forts. Located at the confluences of the Moselle and Seille, it
is also near the borders of France, Luxembourg and Germany. Over 3,000
years old, Metz is a gateway east and west and whoever controls Metz controls
access to Germany and occupied Europe.
Metz has long been sought territory.
It was first a Celtic fortress city. In 52 BCE, the Romans took
possession and Metz would be part of the Roman Empire. By the end of the 5th
century, the Germanic Franks gained control and in the 15th century, by virtue
of the treaties, came under control of the French Kings and was officially
ceded to the French in 1648.
After France's loss in the
Franco-Prussian Wars, Metz would transfer back into the hands of the German
Empire, where it would remain until the end of the First World War through the
Treaty of Versailles; Metz would revert back to French control and with the end
of the Great War came the Maginot Line. The Maginot Line was built by the
French to protect its borders from further invasions. After the Battle of
France in 1940, the German again took possession of Metz and the Maginot Line
and further fortified both positions. This city is key to the invasion of
Germany and Patton's objective of Darmstadt-Frankfurt
and Berlin.
The 16 miles to Metz would not be a
cake walk. This was still a German frontline, there were occupied towns,
skirmishers, mines and machine gun nest. TF Bacon would move fast on November
16th, roaring through the towns of Tremery, Ay sur Moselle, Guenange, Bousse,
Rurange and Montrequienne. Next day, six additional towns would fall to TF
Bacon. Eugene and the 1st battalion would race past the halfway point to Metz.
At Guenange, the 1st battalion, with
Eugene and Co C in the lead, attacked and took the town in a coordinated effort
with the 2bn. of the 378th. Eugene, Co. C and the 1st bn would then move to
take Bousse and then turn east to Rurange to assist the 2nd bn /378, who had
met strong resistance. The advance began at 8:00 am and was completed by
3:00 pm. TF Bacon's next stop would be Montrequienne.
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| Montrequienne |
The road approaching the town of
Montrequienne were mined in a fashion as to funnel troops into a channel, where
machine gun positions would make waste of them, however, with tanks in the
lead, TF Bacon would surprise the soldiers of the 19th VG Division, 1216
regiment. The enemy was chased into the surrounding woods and machine gun
nests destroyed. At 4:00 pm the town of Montrequienne was in the possession of
TF Bacon. This would be the overnight stop for Eugene and Co. C.
At 7:00 am on the 17th, Eugene and
TF Bacon would resume their drive south through Flevy, Ennery, Charilly,
Antilly and were in Rupigny by 2:00 that afternoon. Next, Co C would make a
quick strike on the town of Chieulles, where 4 German 105s were raining
artillery on the 378th in Malroy. Eugene and Co C, riding on tanks, would
make a frontal assault on the German position while Co B entered from the east.
The enemy was caught completely by surprise and the 1st bn would take 110
prisoners, the 4 105s, an 88, 5 AA guns and a cache of ammo, signal equipment
and 10,000 blankets. The 1st would hold up here for the night and be
reinforced, for tomorrow they would continue on to St Julien and assault Fort
Bellecroix.
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| St Julien |
St Julien and Fort Bellecroix
November 18, the 1st bn is moving
onto their next mission, to capture the town of St Julien and Fort Bellecroix.
Eugene and the 1st bn, begin the assault on the town of St Julien.
Mortar shells and a platoon of tanks attached to Co. A did their job so
well that no other elements were need to take the town. Several hundred
prisoners were taken and passed back through Co C. as Eugene and the men
marched forward to the north end of Fort Bellecroix. As both companies A
and C were regrouping in the area, at about 3:00 pm, two terrific explosions
tore through the fort, sending portions of the heavy masonry walls raining down
on the area where Eugene and Co. C were gathered. Chunks of wall, breastworks
and trees fell onto the men of Company C. Descriptions indicate that the
rear wall of the fort appeared to be blown over the front wall and onto the
street. Eight men were killed instantly and 49 injured, but the final
tally would be higher with a total of 17 men from the 1st battalion dying from
injuries and 59 total wounded in the blast. No doubt this would change Eugene,
while he may not have received any lasting physical injuries; the injuries to
his psyche would become deeper. There is little doubt that many of the
men killed and wounded would have been his friends and acquaintances, maybe
played cards together or shared stories of home, either way, the war wouldn't
wait and Eugene would have to push any feels down and move on.
With many of the men who survived,
including Eugene, I'm sure, stunned or unconscious from the concussion of the
explosion, reorganization was slow. Tank destroyers were moved into
position for an expected counterattack that never happened. The battalion
would evacuate the wounded and rest here for the night.
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| Fort Bellecroix |
After the explosions, a priest came
forward and informed some of the support staff from Co C. that the Germans had
wired the entire city to be blown up. The Germans had used different
groups to wire the city so that no one group would know the whole project, however
one person had worked on the entire project and knew there was a master switch.
He had conveyed this to the priest. Down in the bowels of the city,
following cables and looking for booby traps in the pillboxes, a switch box was
located and the cable cut to render it useless.
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| House to House |
The 1st Battalion was to enter the
city of Metz by crossing the Seille River on the south end of Fort Bellecroix.
Assuming that the bridges were blown up by the German, assault boats were
moved forward, but they wouldn't be needed as the German fail to destroy the
bridge. Co B would be the first of the battalion to enter Metz and by
1:00 on the 19th, the 1st Battalion was in the City of Metz. Now the mopping up
and interviewing of the citizens would lead the battalion to Gestapo
headquarters and much needed gasoline dumps.
The fighting for Metz would end on
the 20th. Eugene and the 1st battalion would encounter only slight
opposition. By 2:25 on the 22nd the battle officially ended. The 1st battalion
would now assemble east of Metz and prepare to move to the Saar River...(next
St Barbara and Saar River)
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| Saarlautern Bridge. |
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