The Siegfried Line . . . (continued)

Kaleidoscope

TOWARDS evening of February 24th artillery began to go to work. The regimental journal, at this point, reads like a news story out of Time Magazine and battle progress can be followed in a sort of breathless stream of events. "2320, 24 February. OP 4--two fires started this evening, out. Fire of this afternoon still going. Shelling in area ceased. Shelling now to right across the river. MG fire to the left"; and at 0010 of the next day: "OP 4 reports shelling in front of his position on high ground. Some white phos. falling"; twenty minutes later, "OP 4 reports shelling--sounds like mortar-falling in Holsthum"; at 0245: "Messg. from Div. from CO, Co. C, 808th TD--Rpt. TD Bn. Attchd. to our Comnd. effct. immediately"; "OP 4 Rpts. MG fire 700 yds. azimuth 45 degrees from OP; also heard by OP 3." And an hour earlier the following entry had been made: "Rpt. to CO, 3rd Bn. on plan to establish smoke screen at dawn by placing floating smoke pots in river at Prümzurley. Pots to be delivered by Regtl. S--4. Order to execute this mission later." Then in rapid succession between the hours of 0345 and 0825 on February 24th these entries were made: "1st Bn. to start in 1= hours . . . 3rd Bn. Rpts. about 20 rounds of mortar and arty at 464--444 at 0500. Also scattered shots of SA fire in vicinity Holsthum . . . Half of 1st Bn. E of 5824 . . . OP 4 sees our MG fire going from N to S at enemy . . . 3rd Bn. Rpts. B Co. at Coor. 0515--4480 going S . . . OP 4 Rpts. 5 rnds. mortar fire on entire front since 0700. Visibility very poor . . . OP 4 Rpts. observe men coming into town of Holsthum, meeting some resistance. Friendly arty putting down fire . . . OP 4 Rpts. our trps. entering on fringes of Holsthum pinned down by MG fire. Arty. observers at OP 4 trying to locate point of enemy resistance. Trps. 75 yds. from buildings of town . . . Heavy fire 10 minutes ago . . ." And finally at 0903 we find this terse comment: "1st Bn. 35 yds. inside Holsthum." Another two hours and it was possible to report that the town held 500 civilians and 65 PWs but there was no possibility of estimating how many soldiers were in civilian clothes. This report holds a slight note of exasperation at the civilians and the "embarrassment" of defending a position while they were floating around. How different the sound of this was from what the normal Nazi reaction to such a situation would have been! Civilians!--they were not human beings; they were not even cattle--for cattle are food and important to the machine of war. These were just pawns and pawns may be sacrificed to a behemoth at will and almost indiscriminately. If it happened they were in the path of the machine--well, the machine just kept on rolling.

This running account of the attack movement impressionistically drawn by the regimental journal does not give anywhere near the complete picture. But it does serve to provide an idea of the coordination and timing which went into it. There are many, many bald spots which the journal entries do not cover. These are to be found in other places. And some of these voids are worth filling in.

LITTER-BEARERS

S-3

FOR example, take the regimental journal itself. This was one of the unsung jobs of work in a regimental history. It is prosaic, humdrum, run-of-the-mill stuff at first glance. But when one stops to consider what really goes into this work and what it truly signifies the opinion changes. Messages coming in from all directions at once. Not one OP reporting in but four. Not one battalion attacking but two. There is not just the Infantry to consider but all the allied units . . . the Engineers . . . the TD's . . . Artillery . . . Medical Battalion. . . . AAA . . . IPW . . . CIC . . . and a hundred other details. In turn there are the elements from other friendly outfits to the flanks. These have to be considered and carefully plotted out. When a Commanding Officer calls for the record it must be ready for him on call and not ten minutes later! The men who manned and worked this Operations Section of the Regimental Command Post deserve every iota of credit which can be accorded them. Their "journal" today stands as a record of clear thinking, efficient recording and timeless patience. Theirs was the part of inner workings of the machine. It proved to be a well-tempered and well-oiled mechanism, all the way from Maj. Griffis, in charge of it, down through M/Sgt. Emerson (who had succeeded Bob Williams as Operations-Sergeant), and S/Sgt. Dornseif, T/5 De Coster and Pfcs. Maier and Strom.
Third battalion's part in this action (at the beginning) was static--but important. Their line was the diameter of the half-circle which the 1st and 2nd battalions had drawn around the enemy. Theirs, actually was the buffer, the bolster against counter-attack--which was always a lively possibility. Behind all this, in Ferschweiler, both the regimental and 3rd battalion command posts had been set up--and this shattered town was a bee-hive of activity. Attached artillery was located behind the town. The concomitant, naturally, was that enemy fire was drawn as if by a magnet. Life, contrary to the illusions of some, was never necessarily a bed of roses in a command town or billet.
K Company men, having moved up on to the river front, sat looking across some seventy-five yards of river and river bank, turning over in their minds the question of reaching the other side without benefit of bridges. Eventually, there would be bridges there. In fact, the engineers of Company A, 301st, were there looking over the situation. In charge was Lt. Butler whose face was to become more and more familiar and welcome to the men of the 304th in spots like this. But, as rapidly as the bridges could be thrown across, it still would not be rapidly enough for the move which had to be made by nightfall. (Capt. Bottjer had already received the alert that such a move was imminent.) The 1st battalion, flanked by the 2nd, would keep on moving a little northwards but mainly east.

Closing a Pincer

AS one reads the account of the 1st battalion's moves in the prosaic journals and records, the progress in attack seems as simple as eating apple pie. A more accurate and vivid picture is provided by one of the eyewitnesses. "We came in contact with elements of the 10th Infantry of the 5th Division who had thrown a foot-bridge across the Prüm at this point the previous day. At dawn there was a dense fog of mist lying over the river and hanging low in the valley through which it flowed. As we approached, Jerry artillery began to come in and we could hear the Jerry machine-guns chattering, for our benefit, across the river. Baker and Able Company dough's, however, made their way to the river's edge and succeeded in pushing their way across the foot-bridge--and kept on driving. Charlie Company followed us but they veered off to the west on reaching the other shore in order to join the 2nd battalion to whom they had been attached in support of the attack on the high wooded area in that sector.
By now the enemy must have wakened to the fact that a major attack was being launched upon their positions. Their artillery began to cut loose, concentrating on the site of the river crossing. Fortunately for us they chose to zer in on another bridge-head further upstream--so that most of this fire missed us as we went over. The battalion CP received the brunt of the barrage which was intended for us, being subjected to a heavy concentration of white phosphorus for several hours. Jerry snipers were another bane, their system being to wait until the main body had passed by and the command group was abreast of them.
"Baker Company's advance was along the river bank. Able's advance through the higher ground, whilst part of the battalion's specific mission, served even more as a keystone for the entire attack. This was particularly obvious to the men themselves from the frequent thrusts aimed at the 2nd battalion's right flank which they had to turn back and eliminate. From their position they were in place to be of assistance not only to the sister battalion, but to keep a brotherly eye, as well, upon the progress of Baker along the river front.
"Getting into Holsthum and occupying it was no indication of the end of a fighting day. Having lost the town, the Germans naturally decided to shell it. Charlie Company, also, having occupied the prominent terrain west of Holsthum, discovered that it was excellent for enemy counter-attacks and spent most of its breathing moments thereafter beating these off. On one hillside three men were shot while trying to crawl into a position from which they could observe and give warning of these counter-thrusts.
"After a long arduous day such as this, night should have been a blessing. Its only significance to the 1st battalion was the setting up of security outposts, digging in positions, fox-holes and observation posts. At 2300 Charlie Company moved out again in the attack. Their mission was to capture the high ground about 1500 yards west of Holsthum."
Back in Ferschweiler another lightning word picture was being painted of conditions there, recorded in the diary of a battalion surgeon: "We proceeded right on through to Ferschweiler. In Ferschweiler we first were in a cellar on the edge of town and on a hill towards the Germans, under observation. Sort of dungeons. CP there too. 25 men slept in one room. 10 feet square. The Fifth Division, 2nd Bn. was relieved by us there. A tough outfit. The next day we moved back 200 yards to take over a Fifth Division aid station and met Captain Wahl (?) from Chicago, Cook County. Got set up O. K. . . . Collecting Company moved in next door . . . Had one bad casualty and several minor injuries. One TD man with jugular vein and others cut in the neck. Sent him straight through with clamps and packing on neck, with Monty (T/3 Montgomery) . . . Jimmy O'Neill (1st Lt., Exec. Officer, K Co.) down at river looking for bridge site when rock fell after shell landed and hit one of his toes fracturing it. Was going to keep him with us but the situation prevented it. He ended up back in England . . . Artillery behind us drew fire while we were changing load on truck. Still haven't caught up with champagne. Stayed at Ferschweiler about 3 days."

Home-Made Bridge



 WATERSOAKED

WHICH brings the story back to the river's edge again. K Company still had the crossing problem. 1st battalion was in the town and some slight resistance was still being experienced. Artillery was coming in. But the command was that K Company would relieve the 1st in the town as that battalion moved out. The bridges were out and the stream fairly deep--too deep, in any event, for fording. The problem was whether or not one of the previous bridge sites could be used for a temporary, make-shift structure.

Lt. O'Neill and a detail of men went from the Castle and upstream for a short distance to where the old structure had been in order to investigate. Well, it would be possible--but the result would be a somewhat rickety, precarious span. Could it be traversed by a company of men?--yes?--then put it in!
Odd bits of lumber, such as ladders, planking, house sidings and even a few steel beams were available. The artillery, unintentionally had accomplished that much for them. Here and there a house had been pretty well slapped around and the net result was that whatever was needed could be picked up. The big question was to put the first span across, from the west bank of the river to the pier in the middle of the river. It had been a good pier and still looked fairly good, although somewhat crumbly in spots. Lt. O'Neill started to wade through but never calculated on the current and before he had done with this part of the venture found himself swimming to the middle pier. At this spot he stayed as a sort of pivot point, with one part of the detail handing material to him and himself handing it on to the other half of his men for the far end of the bridge. It was in the middle of this operation that artillery began to come in very accurately on both sides of the river. It was not aimed at the bridge site or the men working there. By "geological coincidence" some rounds must have landed precisely on spots connecting directly by strata with that section of the river bed. Before anyone knew what was happening part of the old middle pier began to crumble even more than before. Heavy masonry rolled here and there and Lt. O'Neill never had a chance to jump out of the way. His luck was with him to this extent, that he straightened out a knee swiftly enough to avoid being hit there. Instead, one huge piece of masonry landed on his foot and pinned him down. As quickly as possible his men extricated him and made to the west shore with him. He insisted on stopping long enough to be sure that work on the bridge was sufficiently organized and would proceed. But, from that point on, he was permanently lost to the company. The job, however, had been done and a bridge which could be used--with caution--by foot-troops was in.

. . . Cover the Waterfront

ALL these events were laid out here, spread like a map in front of the I & R observation post. Quietly and methodically they were taking in all events reporting them, checking back, observing, and reporting in again. It was they who called in the accident of Lt. O'Neill and made contact through channels for his evacuation. It was they who did most of the alerting concerning the road and bridge conditions and requirements arising therefrom; it was they also who were given the job of contacting 1st battalion across the river when communication lines went out, so that regimental CP could remain informed of the tactical situation of the various units in Holsthum. This was before Lt. O'Neill's bridge was put in. One of their members had to crawl to the edge of the river below the Castle in order to accomplish this, waiting until a friendly GI hove into sight on the other bank, shout to him (all the while hoping that he too would be recognized as a friend) and send him back for the required information and overlays. The man on this job waited for an eternity till someone showed up again on the other shore. This time it was a non-com from the battalion CP to ask specifically what was wanted. All this while artillery was coming in regularly and in quantities far from negligible. Then again another wait, digging a hole with his nose into the shale at the river's edge whenever another barrage started. Finally, the welcome sight of the messenger returning with papers in his hand; hunting for a rock to weight them down; finding one and tying up a neat bundle and measuring the distance from shore to shore by eye; then letting go with a terrific heave at precisely the same moment as some "screaming meemies" let off from somewhere at the enemy rear. Both landed on the west shore of the Prüm at the same moment--the one a scant ten feet away and the other fifty feet beyond. But the message--for which the Regimental Commander was waiting--had finally come through and within, the next few minutes it was back to him over the lines from inside the Castle.
It was they also who monitored those lines incessantly for four days while the artillery kept pouring in, and who added line after line to those which they already had when other lines of communication were cut by enemy fire. Not just once, but over and over again this little group of men had the experience of sitting with a telephone in each hand and relaying messages which were coming directly from the Colonel himself and were intended for battalion and company commanders--then waiting for the answer and relaying to the other end. To them after the first day it became a job of work to be done and nothing more than that. But the long and the short of it was that the job was done--and well done. It was no less and no more than could be expected of them. They took no particular pride to themselves for what they were doing. They were too close to the picture not to know what the real score was. It was these other men, the boys in the line outfits they thought about the most. These were the ones, they knew, who were really taking it on the chin. Their own work up front was such that they could not but be aware of all this. And gradually their consciousness of these facts, their awareness of the constant comparison between the lot of the "dough's" and the comparative "luxury" of their specialist work brought with it more and more an intensity, a devotion to duty, an avid eagerness to achieve all their missions--for out of this work must come, frequently, the information which might spell life or death to many of these others.

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