Ni ga da e sa sdi (Onward)-Moving
East
Having captured their objective,
Metz, the 377th would find themselves a mere 25 miles from the German border,
they had fought hard for the past 2 weeks, the 1st battalion would be
recognized for they efforts with battle honors.
Thanksgiving day, 1944 would find
Eugene and Company C in the town of Pange for much needed rest and
reinforcements. To booster morale, the 377th would receive turkey and
reinforcements. The 1st bn would make contact with the 2nd bn to the left,
377th and the 2nd bn, 378th on it's right. This would become the
formation that would push to the Saar.
The 1st bn would move out on the
24th. Eugene and the 1st bn would cross the Nied River on a hastily
constructed foot bridge. After the crossing, the 1st would move north to
Vaudecourt and Conde for the drive east. Co C would spend the night in
Vandecourt. What supplies the battalion did receive would be slowed even further
by the makeshift bridges crossing the Nied, but fortunately, very little
opposition would be encountered as the Germans had pulled back to reassemble
for a defense further east. By late afternoon, word within the battalion
was that a "big plan" was coming. Indeed there was a "big
plan". In a coordinated effort, the 377th and 378th would take the
city of Boulay, a major highway and railroad to Saarlautern. The
objectives for the 1st bn were to capture the towns of Volmerange, Brecklange
and Roupeldange and move north into the Ottonville Woods.
Eugene and the 1st bn would meet
little resistance and easily take Volmerange and Brecklange. The flooded Nied
River would prove a hindrance for the 1st bn, bogging down the movement of
equipment and supplies and by 11:30, the battalion would reach Roupelange.
Here they would come under artillery fire, but most of the fire landed
south of their position. The river and marsh would prove to be their
greatest obstacle.
Eugene and Co C would move out
of Roupelange on the 26th and join up with Companies A and B for an assault on
Ottonville. Companies A and B of the 1st bn would move on Ottonville from the
southeast, were they would come under fire from the German defensive within the
Maginot Line, Co. C would move to the northeast tip of the Ottonville Woods and
set up the Command Post for the battalion in a pillbox on the Maginot Line.
A and B companies were able to take Ottonville and Co. C would move into
in the morning. From here, Eugene and the 1st bn would start the push
forward to the north and to the towns of Brettnach and Tromborn.
With a section of heavy machine
guns, Eugene and Co C. moved out of Ottonville toward Valmuster and took the
town unopposed. From here they would rejoin the rest of the battalion and again
move north through the town of Teterchen to Brettnach and Tromborn.
Eugene would move into Tromborn. Here the 1st bn would be placed in
regimental reserve. Further movement by the 1st bn would place Eugene in
Villing on the 28th, where he and the men would come under artillery fire. The
next day would be gloomy, overcast, cold and foreboding, a precursor to what
was to come. The 1st bn would again be on the move, this time to the east and
the Saar River. Here they would be tasked with taking the German towns of
Guisingen, Niederlimber, Wallerfangen and St. Barbara.
The 1st battalion would enter
Germany, late morning, on the 29th and rejoin with the 2nd bn on the edge of
Guisingen. Eugene and the 1st bn would enter the town and be met by artillery
and sniper fire, suffering some casualties. By 2:45 pm the 1st bn would clear
the town of enemy combatants and push on to St. Barbara.
St. Barbara
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| St Barbara looking toward Saarlautern |
St. Barbara sits on a high ridge
above the Saar River and overlooks the Siegfried Line. It has a single street
which stretches for 1,000 yards on the eastern edge of town and drops 300 ft to
Niederlimberg in 2 hairpin turns. St. Barbara is key to controlling the
Saar River crossing. It is defended by Mark IV Panther tanks of the 21st
Panzer Division and the 21st Panzer knows the importance of St. Barbara and are
prepared the defend it the last.
Eugene and Co C would approach the
town along with Co. B as artillery and mortar fire fell around them.
Company C would move into the town
about 100 yards. The 3rd Platoon of Co C moved further into town and was
meet with tank and Machine gun fire. Men scattered for cover as the Mark IV
continued to fire until it had spent it ammunition and then pulled back into town.
Two anti-tank guns were brought up and one positioned on the edge of town.
The men barely got the gun into position when 3 rounds were fired and 2
of the men were injured. Now the 21 Panzer Div had their target and moved
forward with supporting infantry and concentrated on the 2 guns. Enemy
infantry took to the streets and houses and a pitched back and forth battle
ensued. Most of the 3rd platoon and part of the 1st platoon would be
captured or killed.
AS the tank withdraw back into town,
men began to survey the damage, they had one remaining jeep, the gun was
wrecked by the tank fire.
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| 21st Panzer Div. Mark IV Panther |
The men re-positioned the remaining
gun in a garage and waited for the tank to return, which it did, every hour on
the hour. At this point the Eugene and the men of Co C would take cover
in a house on the edge of town. Because the tank could not elevate high
enough or depress low enough to hit the second floor or basement, this is where
the men would concentrate.
Throughout the night, the German
commander would call for their surrender, telling them that he had 200 infantry
troops and 8 tanks in defense of the town. This would last the entire
night until about 4:00 am when the troops would pull out of their foxholes and
withdraw to the woods outside Guisingen. At dawn, Co A and B would out
from the woods when Co. A brought up it's tanks.
During the early morning, the single
anti-tank platoon was able to stop a Mark IV with bazooka fire and although the
tank could no longer move, it did continue to fire on their positions.
Once Co A was in position, the tanks would be able to knock-out the Mark
IV. With the tank no longer an immediate threat, a new push was made to
take St Barbara. The enemy would continue their defense, using their
tanks and artillery effectively to keep the troops and tanks from massing on
the main street and out of range.
On November 30th, Eugene and Co C.
would be sent to the high ridges south of town to allow the anti-tank guns to
do their job and take out the enemy tanks. AS December first came, the
situation looked bleak, the 1st bn loss many men. With this evaluation,
the new plan would be to evacuate all friendly troops and by the 2nd all
friendlies were out of St Barbara.
Once the troop had withdrawn, five
battalions of artillery would open fire in a time on target mission which would
put all shelled on target at the same time. Fighter support would strafe the
town in conjunction with the artillery barrage. At 11:00, mop-up operations
began. The barrage was so effective it took let than 2 hours to clean up
the town.
The attack would continue at 9:00 am
on the 3rd. The 1st Bn was in Niederlimberg by 10:30 and on its way to
Wallerfangen and on the banks of the Saar River by 11:00. The Defense
Platoon HQ Co. was assigned to the 1st bn because they were very
under-strength.
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| Saar River Bridge - Saarlautern |
After a day of rest and clean up,
Eugene's Company is sent to protect a vital bridge over the Saar, while the
rest of the battalion moved into Saarlautern. Here they would break into
assault team and train with satchel charges and flamethrowers. This was
to prepare for an attack on the Siegfried Line.
Company C was relieved at the bridge
on the 10th and would rejoin the battalion at Fraulautern by 8:00 pm.
While the German's shelled their position in Fraulautern, the 1st
battalion would continue to clean-up pockets of resistance throughout the city.
By this time, many of the enemy soldiers could be talked into surrendering.
The fighting of the past few days
had taken heavy toll in the 95th Division, particularly in the ranks of the
377th and 378th. The effective combat strength in four of the infantry
battalions was reduced to 55 percent or less. Very few replacements were
available. At the close of 2 December the 95th Division G-3 Periodic Report
called the division "tired," and for the first time in its record failed to carry the notation of
"Excellent" or "Superior" under the Combat Efficiency
heading. When more complete reports arrived in the division headquarters the
efficiency rating of some battalions was changed to read "very
weak." Such was the condition of the division which had yet to force
a river crossing in the face of a fortified line. The fortunes of war, however,
were about to favor the 95th.
At this time I would like to interject
another story. This one comes from Eugene's daughter and grandchildren.
At some point in the 10 months that Eugene spent in the ETO, he was involved in
a battle where he was the only member of either his squad or platoon to
survive. Again, because Eugene didn't share much of his experience with
anyone, we do not know the particulars, but in researching the 377th and
reading many accounts of the fighting in St. Barbara, this would seem a logical
battle for this to occur. The tale goes, they entered into the fight and
as mention everyone but Eugene was killed (or captured, I assume) and that
Eugene survived by "playing dead" and wedging himself under the
wheels of a vehicle (as we learned, there are tanks, jeeps and self-propelled
armor units all over the town of St Barbara. We also know that the 21st
Panzer Division is defending St Barbara with tanks, machine gun and infantry.
Eugene would tell that the Germans came out and walked up to the soldiers
lying on the ground and would shoot them to make sure they were dead.
Amazingly, Eugene survives this slaughter, however not without breaking down.
He said that he was so hysterical that when Allied troop can into the
town, they had to carry him out (either in or on a duffle bag). Eugene
would struggle with this for the rest of his life, never understanding why he
was the one to survive. At some point Eugene also comes home on a
furlough. Again, this would seem to be a logical time for this to occur.
On a side note, my brothers and I
just learned of this event and we were completely taken back as we had never
heard this before. Again, I don't think this was something Eugene shared
until later in life and then only with certain family member and not with his
daughters or grandchildren. I'm not even sure if he ever spoke about it
with his wife after the war.
Action to the North
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| Bastogne |
On December 9th, General Patton
meets with his G-2 intelligence officer Col Koch. In analyzing maps and
other information, Koch is convinced that the Germans are planning something
and he believes it will be a withering Christmas offensive, but no one will
listen to him. He reviews his information with Patton. Patton's
planned route into Germany and to the Rhine is defended by small and vulnerable
forces and he points out that to the north there is a tremendous German troop
build-up. Koch has discovered that, during the night hours, the German
have so far moved 13 infantry division into the area around the Ardennes,
200,000 more enemy troop than anticipated in the area by the SHAEF, a quiet
zone, full of new, inexperienced Allied troop and where the Allied defense is
at its thinnest and weakest. He has also confirmed 5 Panzer divisions
(500 tanks) are being moved toward the Ardennes. With this information
and the lack of strong resistance in the fighting in the Saar, Patton begins to
formulate an Emergency plan to rapidly sent troops into the Ardennes to rescue
the First Army if needed. Patton is ready. He meets with Eisenhower
in France on December 19th and when asked when he can begin a
counter-offensive, his reply surprise everyone and no one. Because he is
audacious it probably doesn't surprise anyone when he reply "As soon as
you're through with me", but no one at the meeting, including Eisenhower
believe he can get 3 divisions, mobilized by the the 4th Armored Division, the U.S. 80th Infantry Division,
and the U.S. 26th Infantry Division north toward Bastogne. In
all, Patton would reposition six full divisions, U.S. III
Corps and U.S. XII Corps, from their positions on the Saar River front along a line stretching
from Bastogne to Diekirch and to Echternach. He plan works
and he is in Bastogne by the 26th and relieves and resupplies the forces in
Bastogne. As soon as he leave the meeting he issues the code phrase to
initiate the operational order that start moving the
Because of the Battle of the Bulge,
the 95th ID received a bit of a rest from advancing. Had the SHAEF
listened to the concerns and prepared for the offensive, Patton would have
continued his advance and initiated Operation Tink, his plan to drive to the
Rhine.
The 377th would again be placed at
the Saar bridgehead as to relieve the Fifth Division so that they could start
heading to Bastogne and on the 21st, the 1st and 3rd bn relieved 5th div.
troops.
New Years Day
While Christmas remained relatively
quiet for the 377th, on New Year’s Day the Germans counter attacked the 1st bn
in Fraulautern, but withering fire from bazooka's Rifle grenades and small arms
fire would end the attack and the 1st would be relieved and move back to
Saarlautern. After a period of rest, the 1st bn would move back into
Fraulautern and Co. C would be assigned as defense for the Saar River Bridge.
By the 27th, the drive to the Saar
was concluded; the next objective would be the high ground and the Siegfried
Line. (Next East and Germany)
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| Siegfried Line |
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