TODAY, there were few workers in the vineyards or, such as there were must have been hardy souls and deeply steeped in the fatalistic philosophy of Old Europe--wars will come and wars will go but toil and the sweat of the brow remain forever. Apart from these few scattered figures straining tediously and slowly from terrace to terrace, there was no apparent activity about. This was ominously true. For where the surface was as quiet and peaceful as this the background must usually hold dangers artfully hidden.

The little white huts, some few caves in the rocks of these steep slopes, the wooded crests of the slopes themselves were all possible nests of enemy observation. And there is little doubt but that this was not just possibility but actuality.
The Blue battalion formed its long column early on the morning of the 11th. It was towards mid-morning that the two jeeps with men and equipment from the I & R platoon joined them and took up their places in the column behind the command group led by Lt. Col. Barber. Back in Wittlich was another I & R jeep--the platoon command jeep--also equipped with radio and with Sgt. Weiss at the "clearing station" controls. For the present this vehicle would remain right there and would "clear" all messages that came in from the two patrols--one with the 3rd and the other with the 1st battalions. As the messages from the battalions began to come in more faintly the plan was for the second jeep with each patrol to drop back and establish itself in a central position for relay back to the focal point in Wittlich. Then, still according to plan, as these messages began to grow more and more faint the central station itself would begin to move and would keep pace with the advance elements and link them up in turn with the regimental command post.
At 1400 on the 11th of March the regimental journalist records 3rd Bn. entering Wengerohr. Receiving mortar fire from enemy." At 1500 he writes: 1st Bn. as of 1450 in B|scheid and 396--505." The trails of the two battalions were diverging almost at a 450 angle, the one traveling almost due south and the other in a general westerly direction--but both of them aimed squarely at the Moselle. Coincidentally with Red arriving in B|scheid we read that the 3rd battalion command post had been established in the other town three kilometers away. As time progresses one can almost see the messages coming in periodically and being entered and methodically sifted and considered and weighed against other reports. By 1630 the town of Altrich south of B|scheid had been scouted by the 1st battalion and it had been decided to everyone's satisfaction that there was "No enemy in town of Altrich." (This, of course, being a somewhat ambiguous statement, often encountered in the journal, and merely meaning that enemy elements no longer were in that town. It never did mean, as it seems to convey, that the town was safe. The enemy might not be there. But his observation was, and the first entrance into any of these spots was always the signal for artillery to open up.)

BY the time that 1630 had rolled around the entire 3rd battalion had temporarily settled in Wengerohr, with the exception of L Company, which was "moving to Platten. Rest of Bn. will wait until Platten is taken." By the end of this first day the preliminary phase had been accomplished. The battalions had reached their appointed phase lines on schedule. From here the forward trek would more or less "splay and fan out." It was a safari, a beating of the bush to scare out into the open whatever might still be lurking there.
Progress can be traced from the diary of Capt. Ryan. Here he notes the fact that they had been in L|xem where "we set up in a large schoolhouse up on a hill. Very cold. The opposite room was a sauerkraut storage point. Corporal Burke, of Yonkers, loved that . . . At L|xem we could see an ammo dump hit, away off, with flares of all types and colors set off . . . The troops moved to Wengerohr and we moved along after them to a tavern (for an aid station) . . . We had a Buick parked in front of the station there." The stay here was short-lived for the diary follows on: "In Platten on 12 March. This town had been hard hit by aviation. There was a small church there which the Germans had used for a Hq. and signal set-up. 49 children and one priest were killed there . . . We inspected a tavern at the far end of town near a bridge and shortly thereafter a young kid walked off the road at that spot, hit a mine and had his leg blown off. L Company was set up in two pretty good buildings . . . said to be moving out so we received both of them. We moved up to the one on the side street . . . K Company going forward to attack Noviand and Maring that night and they ran into some fighting . . . many casualties that night . . . Noviand--on arriving there the bridge was out so we walked over with light equipment and took a building in the rear of the CP . . . Casualties were moderate here. I Company went out to the left side of the thumb and had some casualties including Gus Manzone (T/5, aid-man) who was shot (in the attack on Wehlen) . . . evacuated through Regimental Aid Station, which was now in Platten. Our troops went on to Lieser which they took initially without too much trouble. I Company went towards Wehlen . . . which was encircled practically by the Moselle River and I Company was pinned down right there . . . L and K Companies were supposed to go down on the right flank to Cues . . . All of this was being done while the enemy sat across the river and watched and shot at . . . targets."

PLATTEN had two roads leading out of it towards the east. Both of them wound around the edge of the heavy woods at the fringe of which Platten lay. One went almost due east and the other south and then east. Through Platten itself ran the Lieser River, describing an almost parallel course, with a railroad starting from Wengerohr. These two, the river and the rails, went almost arm in arm along the entire route through Platten, Noviand and Maring, parting company only when the one debauched into the Moselle and the other veered sharply to the east and north following the course of the larger stream and finally crossing it at Bernkastel. This, in general, was the route which L and K Companies took together with Easy Company from the 2nd battalion. Lt. Singleton gives a bird's-eye picture of the situation worth studying and repeating.
"The 3rd battalion had been meeting heavy opposition (March 12th) while cleaning up a pocket on the north side of the Moselle, and E Company was to be attached to them for the purpose of cleaning out this pocket. Joined K Company about nightfall and found out that they had taken the town of Maring but had to withdraw because of heavy sniper fire.

As Captain Maberry (Easy Company CO) was the senior in command he was placed in charge of the 'task force' of the two companies and was issued orders to clean out this pocket of the Moselle River. After careful planning he directed that we would attack Maring at dawn. Found billets and bedded down. (March 13th.) Awakened at 0430 hours and moved out towards Maring about 2000 yards east. E Company was to sweep the high ground east of the town and then move in while K Company was to attack the town from the southwest. Moving around the left flank, we were fired on by Jerry mortars, injuring two of our men, but the company continued its mission. No resistance in sweeping the high, ground and took the town with only a few prisoners. The birds had flown the coop.
"Saw enemy activity in the town across the Moselle from us (M|lheim) so we set up the radio and fired a mission, at the same time witnessing some very good observed fire by our 81 mm mortars. (M Company). Joined Capt. Maberry at the CP and found him awaiting further orders. Did not have long to wait, for orders came down almost immediately that we should proceed east and take the town of Lieser about 2500 yards down the Moselle.
"Captain Maberry called all the officers together; here, I was to witness the most beautifully planned attack that I was to experience in combat. After careful thought it was decided by the Captain to move out of the north end of town in columns of companies, from there to the high ground east and, taking advantage of the heavy woods, move south towards the town. By using this plan the troops would be exposed to enemy observation only for the last 100 yards before entering the town. Observers of the artillery, mortars and cannon companies got together, planning cross zones of observation and fires and of preparation . . . every factor was coordinated . We left Maring about 1430 hours. It was a long and tiresome trek up the steep hill but we reached the wooded area about 1530 hours and started moving south. We had beautiful observation to our east. At the foot of the hill where we were, was a bare valley about 700 yards wide in which the town of Lieser was located. East of the valley was another hill covered by grape vineyards. We continued south, concealed by the heavy growth of trees. Fired a mission on an enemy artillery piece which had opened fire on the first elements of K Company just entering the town. Succeeded in knocking out the Jerry artillery before it had caused any damage. Also fired on an ammunition dump and threw 2 Bns. of white phosphorous and high explosive into enemy troops on the side of the hill. Moved into Lieser behind the company about 1700 hours. Not a man was lost in the entire attack. Orders came down for us to attack Cues [Bernkastel-Cues - U.Koch], four thousand yards up the river, at daybreak. K Company was to return to Maring and L Company was to join us in the attack. Found billets and bedded down."

BACK at Platten, before and while all this was going on within the left flank sector, I Company was busying itself with the business of Wehlen, and to the south the Red battalion elements were having a merry old sort of a rat-race down along the extreme right flank of the regimental sector. Having started out on their travels from Wittlich on the 11th of March, it was possible for the regimental journal to record by 1240 of March 12th that: "1st Bn. reports A Company in Kesten, B Company in Monzel, C Company in Piesport; forward CP in Monzel, rear CP in Osann.

Some 88 fire in vicinity of Monzel last night." It needs merely a casual glance at the map to visualize the situation. The only possible objective remaining to the 1st battalion was the town of Minheim lying deep down in a pinched-off pocket of the Moselle River, dominated on all sides by the ground and objectives already taken. The rapid and comparatively uneventful advance here is attributable to the fact that the countryside west of the Moselle in this area commanded the ground on the opposite side of the river rather than vice versa. Artillery fire, however, particularly in the town of Monzel, was bitter and fairly constant. (Despite which it can safely and fairly be asserted that resistance in the 3rd battalion area was more acute--comparatively--than here in the southern sector.)
Early, on the morning of the 11th, an IPW report had revealed that the bridges crossing the Moselle at Bernkastel, Zeltingen and Wehlen were still in. The obvious mission of any attacking forces here must be, if possible, to seize these bridges; or, then if already destroyed, seize and command the bridge-sites till such time as new bridges could be put in. I Company set up its temporary CP in Platten and went to work with reconnaissance. On March 11th at 1815 the regimental journal notes: "I & R report: Platten taken by K and L Companies. Road between Wengerohr and Platten clear of mines. Shell crater at RJ44.0--50.9 but road can be used for jeeps. Bridge at Platten (across Lieser River) is out." On March 12th when dark had fallen the company went out as a patrol leaving only small reserve elements behind it in the town.

THEIR object was to investigate the road which went eastwards towards the Moselle River and which then ran along its shore through Wehlen and Cues and Lieser and Kesten, paralleling another road on the opposite bank of the Moselle passing through Zeltingen, Graach, Bernkastel and M|lheim. This route was substantially under cover and could be followed without too much fear of observation--until it came to within six or seven hundred yards of the river. A quick twist and bend of the road at this point, brought it right slap into the open with startling suddenness. The only alternative for reaching Wehlen was a "short cut" through the woods and cross country in a northeasterly way. In plain language it meant climbing like a mountain-goat, then a long hike over the crest of the mountain then, again, down the reverse slope and in towards Wehlen-and whatever might be left in that town. (It was of the essence of the situation that there must be something left in the town if the bridge was still in.)

Apart from the possibilities of being observed wherever they went there was the even more ugly possibility that the road up to this point might not be safe of itself, what with mines and other such neighborly little tricks. I Company worked its way along with a hopeful prayer and a "tender toe." The road had been swept for mines--that was all perfectly true--but sometimes Jerry did manage to lay little eggs around, which had no allergy to the ordinary treatment. The old story of "dancing on eggs" in this case was literally true. Then of course there were the shell craters. And finally that definite dead-end in the road--just a strip of white tape stretched across--but widely and respectfully skirted by any man with eyes in his head. This was where they took off into the woods. That was no more pleasant than the road had been. It was the natural spot for those clever little trip-wires with booby traps at the end of them. The company made its laborious way across the mountain along back trails and down the eastern slope into Wehlen. Here vanished all doubt which might have existed in their minds concerning the presence of enemy elements.
The objective was the bridge crossing the Moselle at the other end of town; the mission,--if unblown, and if humanly possible,--to secure it.

Regimental journal records this incident very casually by merely stating "13 March, 0930, S-1, 3rd Bn. reports that 3rd Bn. CO, (Lt. Col. Barber) reported the bridge at Wehlen was blown at 0145." The leader was the new CO of the company, 1st Lt. Katz, who had previously been company Executive Officer and succeeded Capt. Hickman when the latter be came Battalion S-3. Item Company had stopped in Wengerohr the previous night and slept there. K and L Companies had passed through them and proceeded on towards Platten and Noviand.