7/23/2019 656th T.D. Battalion World War II
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AFTER ACTION REPORT
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656TH T
D . ' B A ~ I O L i f l l l " .
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HEADQUARTERS
656 H
TANK
DESTROYER BATTALION
APO 230,
U.
s. ARl\,1Y
19
April
1945
SUBJECT.
After Action Report.
TO
I The
Adjutant
General, Washington
25,
D.C.
C.ttentiona
Historical
Section)
(Thru Channels).
.
. 1. In compliance with AR 345-105, 18 NOTember 1929,
changed by
Change
4,
dated
10 August 1944, the
After
Action
Report
of
the 656th
Tank
Destroyer
Battalion for
the period 1-31 March 1945 is forwarded herewith.
For the
C o ~ a n d i n g
Officer.
; ~ o ~ ~
Captain
S-2
(Historian)
2
Incls .
1.
After
Action Report
656
TD Bn.
2. Maps.
. . , ~ ~
' 51
.
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.
. hEAD
~ U A R T E R S
656iH T A ~ ~ DESTROYER D ~ T T A L I O N
APO
230, U.
S. Army
2 April J.945
~ R
ACTICN
REPURT
Section·!
.1. (.;am:paign \CIlI"l'er..t vam,faign n l1esterl1 J:/l.lrope)
2. £Lap .neferellcee:- GSGS 45\17 Sheets
20,
40 60, 6J.'f 80,
81, lvO, lOll GtGS ~ 1 6 ~ h e e t 8 Q3,
R2, .1(3, S2, ~ 3
} . uo i t and
vomwanders of ~ r o u p s : -
En
uO
-
~ t
COl. ~ o h n ~ Meador
Hq
Co CO -
Capt Archie
~
Benegar
.ncn (.;0
CO -
2 n ~ ~ t
J 0 8 e ~ h I .
v ~ a r ~
A
GO
uO
-
uapt
~ a v i ~
v.
C.leary
~ Co CO - Capt
~ h a r ~ e 8
u.
D r i s c o l ~
v Co
CO C a ~ t .n.ichard n. Tugg.le
.,ection-J.I
S t a t i s ~ i c a l
~ a t a
a .
Personuel. ~ o s ~ e s :
KIA
DOr VilA
MIA.
CAPT
NBC.
Date
C
Elli
oElli
o EM
oEM oEM oEM
.J.. Mar
45
0 0 0
0
0
1
0 0 0
0
0
0
2
u 0
0 0
0
0
0
0
0 0
0 0
3
u
0
0
0
0
1
0
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0
4
0
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0 0
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7
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v
0
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9
u
0
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0
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0 0
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0
0
10
0
0 0 0
0 0
0
0
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0 0
0
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u
0 0
0
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4
12
v
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0 0 1
13
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0
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0
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2
14
u
0 0
0
0 0
0 0
0
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1
15
v
0
0 0
0
4
u
0 0
0 o
0
16
u 0 0 0
0
3
v
0
0
0
0
0
17
v
0
0 0
1
4
u
0
0
0 0 0
18
u
0
0 0
0
2
v
0
0
0
0
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1 ~
U 0
0
0 0
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
2u
0
0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
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2
-.
2.1
U
0
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0 0
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\
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R F ~ ~ R ~ r . n : n
Personnel .LO
sseos
tCont d)
Date KIA
nO!
WIA MIA
cAM
N3C
o
EM
o EM
o EM 0
EM
o
EM
o
EM
23 Mar 45
0 0
0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1
24
{)
0 0
0
0
0
0 0 0 0 0
2
25
u
0
0
0
0
0 0
0
0
0 0
0
26
{)
0
0
0
{)
0 0
0 0 0 0
1
27
u
0 0
0 0
3
u
0 0
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0 1
28
u
0 0
0
0
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0 0 0 0 0
1
29
u
0
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0
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0 0
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0 0
1
3u
0
0 0
0 0
0
0 0 0
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0
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31
0
0
0 0 0 0
0
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0 0
0
0
b.
PersoJ.11.e1
. 1 1 e ~ l a c e m e n t a :
Date
u EM
Bete
U EM
Date
u
EM
1 u.ar 45 0
0
.12 mar
45
0
0
23
Mar
45
0
0
2
u
0
13
u
0
24
0 0
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0
0
14
0 0
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0 0
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0 0
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19
21
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0
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u
0
22
0
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...
~ .
Pis Taken -
398
Aotual
Count
200 Additional
(Estimated)
ci.
Vehicular
Replaoements.
--
-- .
- - ' .
_.--
-
... -,
- . ,-, '
..
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l,<>:-.T.
, ~ - 8 .
~ 1 8
_)4:-.20,
)1-32
M-36
1
_.
T,
1 1
0
Y4
Mar
-4:5
2
o
0
0
0
1
0
000 0 0
13
0 1 0 0 0 0 0
19
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0 , . 0
0 0
20
o
0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
28
1 ~ ___~ O __ ~ O ~ __ __ ~ O ~ ____ ___ ~ ~ O ~ ~ O __ ~ O
Note: C Company did not
: t ' ~ c ' ? ~ T e
one
M-18
repl<.,;.cement. Company
tUX'J·e
11,
10
: -18s a l l ( ~ l:'E c e:i
ve <i
12
M-36s
in r e tu rn .
e .
Vehicular
Loaseal
,-
-,--: ;'
- - - -
V4-T 3/4
IV
V lo-T M-8 K-18
K-20 K-32
M_36Tra11
_ _ _ _ _ _ 1 _ U10 VI-
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e.
Vehicular
Losses
(Cont'd)
---_._-- ------- -
------_.
__ .
-
. .
f .-T 3/4 10/2 20/2 l8 r
M-8
M-lS M-20 M-32 M-3S Trailers
._________._________. . 1.-T_M-10 0
45
26
1
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o o
o o
t .
Ammunition Expended:
7
Smm HE
.,
Sma APe
76mm HVAf
90mm HE
-- .33
'2
12 ~
§.ectioJ1 I I I
The
organization
tor
combat
t
the
656th
Tank
Destroyer
at
OIOOOlA
March 1945 waa
aa
t o l l o w ~ t
~ t h TD
Ba
to 9th Armored DiYision, Company A with the 3rd_Rca
a t t a c h e ~ to ComQat C o m m a n ~
AI ComFany C with
the 2nd
Platoon,
attached
to
Combat C o m m ~ d B; Company B with the
Rcn Platoon,
Headquarters
Companj
a D ~
the
c o m p e ~ y headquar
of Reconnaissance Company
remained under battal ion
contro
Battalion
CP
and a l l
the elements under i ta control
waa
to C C ~ ~
III order·to
mLiJ1tai.
close
l iaison
between the
Co_anding
t
the 9th Armored
Division
and the Commanding Otficer
the
656th
Tank
Destroyer
Battalion,
the
command
group
of
organization was diTid.d into two elementa, the Batt_lioD
CP
which m.oyed
with the DiTision Forward CP
C d
the
Rear
CP which
remained.with Headquarters Co.paay.
Forward CP
Group waa,comprised
t
the
Battalion
Comaaader,
Communications
Officer
and the
CO t
Reconnaissance
while the Rear CP
Group
consisted
of
the
Battal ioa
S-4 and
5-1. . .
At010001A March 1945 the
Bn
CP was located at GKY, GermaRy,
haTing 1l0Ted there
the
preyious day f ro . SPRIMOH,
(K5301.0).
Wire
com.
,unicaticn
waa
established,
with
Armored DiYis.1oD upon
arriYal
at
GET.
The Liaiso. Officer
this or&-.ization
'with
the 9th Armored D ~ T i 8 ~ O D reporte4 to
B. Forward CP
completing
the
ph7aical l ink betweem
the
two
In order to maintain close contact with
the
0 0 . -
the
Batt_lion Commander l e t t
the
CP
at
OllOOOA March
to Tisi t the Commuci Post of Combat Command B· aad the co.
vost
t
C Company. The
Bn
CO
returned
to t ~ e Forward CP
the
afternoon
t the
Same day.
At
Oll4.5A
the
BaA4jutaat
the BJ1'Forward CP aJld reported that
Headquarters
Co"':'
the
Battalion
Rear
CP
were
' located
i t ntIE5ElffiO'l'H,
(1902351). I t waa
l ~ a r n e d at thia
t i .e_tbat :18
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G e r m a n ~ t (11437) in preparation of aupportine the attack of CCA
towards WOLLERSHEIM (F1730). After
.atablishing
the Company CP
at DROVE, ~ ~ e cpmpanY,commander reported
to
the
CO
of the C o . ~ '
bat ,Command where
he waa
informed that the 1st
Platoon would be
attached
to the
60th
Armored
Infantry
Bn,
the
2nd and
3rd
Plat
oons'would remain under
the
company commander's
control
and
would constitute the
antitank
rea.rTe of the Combat Command.
Upon
the company commander's
return
to the
Company
CP
the
Com-
pany commander
informed
the
platoon leaders of
the
platoon a t
tachments.. The 1st platoon leader reported'to
the
CO 60th Armd
Inf Bn at 010200 March 1945 and waa giTen the
order to
be readl
to mOTe at 0530A to Ticinity of
BERG. This mOTe
was made. The
remainder of the company
r . m a l A e ~ in
posit ion throughout the
day. There waano eneml aotiTity
in
Ticinity of the c o m p a ~ ' a
positions.
B
Company
closed
n
at
FRIESENROTH,
Germany (K3334) 282230A
March 1945 and took up
d.fe
• • ~ T . positiona with f ielda ot f i r .
to
the'S and. SEe At this time B C O D l p ~ t a
mission wa. to reach
FRIESENROTH and await further oJ'dera for commitment. At 011830
March 1945
i n t o r m a t i o ~
wasreceiYed at the company CP
that
e .
emy t ~ .ere
in
an unknown location to the S
and SE
ot lRIES-
ENROTH. The Rca Platoon attached to Companl B waa SiTe. th .
mission of recoanoitering the road
network
ad
poaaible
tank
as.embll area. to the S and SE of the company positions. The
misaion
waa
dull
executed
but
no t a n ...ere found..
the
o o . ~ . , .
r e ~ a i n e 4
ia i t . location tor t ~ reaa1Ader
of.the
dar.
Compan1 C arr1?ed at
SOLLER.
Germaa1, (r1837) at OlOlaoA
March
1945.
' Uader co.-r ot 4&rkaa• • at 02QQA
tnt
three platooa
mOTed into
direct f i re
po.1tioa. .
At
the
f i r s t
l ight
of daWa
the gun
cOllDlaadera of the alld.
and 3rd
IUIla ot the b.d
P1atooa
mOTed
their guna to
poait10ns
affordiag better t i r14 ot
t i re .
he compul
oOlllDlaader ot
Coapuy
C
upoa
Ti81t1Jac.
the
of
~ . b a t Co_and B wa. 111formed tha t h1. coapaJQ' would form
the
~ r . s e ~ .
of the Co.bat
commael. - .
At oa0950A Mareh 1946 a
tel.phon
• • • • •
ag••
aa r .o.1ye4'f .aa
Lia1son
Officer Ho
1
that
Ba Forward
CP
would aOT.
w1th
DiTii10a
tOrWird'CP
f ro . QBY
to
BOLLIa
(X177aaO)
a t
1400A.
Later
the ti. of .oftm.nt wa. chaage4 ' 0 - 1 1 0 0 A ~ h o v . r . .
the
Ba
CO and s-a l e t t tAe Ba Cp'to Ti.1t A aDd C ComPan1e. aDd
did,
not retura unt i l
the,
CP
opened i a
the new'loca\loa
a t
aoLLla
•
.it 1600.1 the B» CP cloaed.
at
GET
ud. under f,h. ooaaancl ot_
the
B.
8-2 mOTed
with th.-biT1.l0. CP to aOLLiR. Shortly
at ter
openiJ1g'of the C ~ - a t aOLLBR at ~ 7 a O A ~ n . _ B a
CO,
aDd. . . .1 arri.ecl.
Iatoraatioa accu l a t . t , u r l - a ~ h e Tiait . , w.. p10tte4 oa
the
Situat io.
aIld 0p.rat-1oaa
Mapa. Routi.e Ti . l t . bl' t i. L1a1aoa '
Oft1cer
.ere made
4ar1ac
~ b e
d. , .
.
At 020800A Maroh 1945
the
oOJapaA7
co_aad.r
ot
Coap
_ _
A
reported to .
the
CP of CCA. 'the tollow1a&
attao:bae.ta weN
..
4 .
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I a t u t r J Re,iJlent 1a tbe attack Oll
WOLLEBSBllli
(r1730).
the
2nd
.,l-latoo.
w
..
put
i. direct appor t ot the. 3rcS. JL SlOth
I.t
and the 3rc1
Platoon i.
dir .c t
support
ot ' the
2nd.
~ B I l . · ' 110th, I . t .
Strong
resistance
wa. encoant.re4 at ter the
jump
t t
a t OaoeooA
Maroh
19'5. The to
. .
ot
.OLLEBSHEIM t e l l to
the
attack1_,
toro
• •
by
1700A a d
~ h e
attack
w ~ s 9arr1.4.
oa
to
LANGEIDORr
(ra031) . .
the
a:ad
Platooll, Coapuq
A.
1a
coajanotloa, with
Co
It
~ r d
Bat
:5l0th··Iat oaptued
the
to. . .
ot
LANGEllDOar bt
2000.6. l).ours.
a
this e.gagement
la
pr isours we" t u , a
Q7
the 2id
Platoon. the
TD
.Pla.tooa ill
the
attack
oa
UNGSNDORl' was
emplo7i4
i. the to -
lQw1ng manner. ' roa a rang. 9t 800.to.1OOO yards the 4• •
troyera
t i red HI a h e l ~ . ~ i n t o tGe buildi_,_ ot t ~ e t o w . a uader
attack
•
. l t t . r this preparation. the aupported
Iataatr7
aOTe4 ia &ad took
the t o _ . J. to ta l ot
26
round.
ot
HI
tmauaitioa were expeaded
.
auriag the ~ N G E N D O R F operatio
• •
The
l . t -and 3rd
Platooa.
did not
e.c&&e i •
.., t i r e t ight
duriDg
the period
012400A
to oaa,ooA Karohla4S. a order to
keepclo.e
to
the
thr .e Tn
Platoo._
the
Coap..,
CP.at
0I2100A
..
arch 19'6 1Il0",ed
to
HUIl. (1'160131)
~
_ .
o m p ~
B
roa1Jled WId.r bat tal ion ooatrol during
th.peri04
012400A
to Oaa,OOA Karch 19'6.
The ooapaJly reaa iud
ia po . i t l0 .
ia yicini ty
ot raIBSENRotH uatl1. IOIOA whell a
.0
........
ua4.ertalt
• •
tor d1aplac....
to
NIDKNEAU
( P 1 8 8 ~ ~ ) .
B
o a ~
a r r l ~ a t
NIDENBAU
2330A
and
aOTed iAtO t i r iag
p o s i ~ i ~ . . .
.
At 020130.1 Karoh 19'5 the CO
eoapaay
C reported to COB CP
as'requested.
the CO
Compa., C wa. dir .c ted
to
mo",.
hi .
coap--r
to the TiclllitY,ot
l?I
~ E R N I C H ( r a " 5 3 8 6 ) . ~ U p o . h l . r e t v a to
the
compaq
CPt
th.Qoapuy
ooaa.xu1er
d1rected h i . coapaay rear
CP
to
reaa1a.
at
SOLLER.
The
r . u l . i a s thile.
platooll. d.part.el
trom
SOLLER
a t
0230A
hour.
aDd arri", .4
a t
DISTERlICH
at 0300£.
Direot f l re poaitlona w.r. take••i th t le14, ot t1re to the _ .
Since the pos i t io - • •
re aubjeoted to i a tera i t tent ar t i l l . rJ
t i re a l l peraonnel
dug tox
holea.
At
about
~ O O A C Coapa.,. .
sutfered i t a
t i r . t
casualty whe.
a sun
ore. meaber
reoeiTed a
s l ight ..
ok would
troll
enellT SP
art i l l .P7 t i re .
·'The·
au.pect.4
10cat1o& of
the
SP
~ wa. takaa
und.r
t i re b7 th . 1st gul l ~ t
the
2nd
Sect10. ot the 3rd Platoon.
ri",e
rounds ot
HI
were t l red .
The
resul ta
ot
the t i r ing • •
re not"
ia",e. t isat .d but the
8P ar t
i l le ry
t i re stopped.
At 021100A March
19'5
CoapaDT C coamander
waa put
i.
commaDd
ot
aTaak
F o ~ c e ooaaiatias ot h l . owa ooapa.r.
CompaDy
D,
14th
Taa][
Ba,
assault
gua
platooa,
o ~ t a r
platoca
a .d
.
Olle
platoon of . ~ h 1
task
torce constituted
the
reaerYe ot
C o m ~ & ~ C o ~ a n d
B. The
t a ~ ~
o ~ c
not committ.d as such aa4
waa
disbanded
030200
Karch 1945.
The
l a t Pri80• • ~ wa.
takea
b.J
C
Company
whea a
Germaa
Ordaaace L 1 e u \ ~ t
surr• •
dared
to the
company
mail clerk and
a
compaBY headquarters aect io. dri
....r
a t
2300A. The
prisoner
waa
turned
o",er
to ..
lIP. The
COJllPaD¥
rear
CP
mOTed from SOLLER to VETTWEISS (F197385) a t
0 2 0 ~ O O Karch
11'1
.
EtfectiT8
032400A
)larch
1945
.Batta11oaH.adquarter. o d llCl
CompaDJ ~ e l ' a
l:'e1ie",.d
t ro . COR
control &JU.i ;.,laoed Ullder coatJ'ol,
ot DiTlaion Headquarters.
One M-18 waa
r80. i..
4 031020A Maroh /
. . -
-rn
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~
.
;-
~ ~ .
1
~ ~
L
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and
deliTered
to A Coapaq.
This brought
the total llumber
destroyer.
t.o
36.
Vi . i t .
to
A
pd.
C
\';oJlpuie.
. e re
mad. by
Bn CO and the
Bn
8';':3;
Visita
co t1:e Bn CF "9:" '8 mad. bT the
ExecutiTe Offioer and
the
Bn
Surgeon.-
At 1530
the
Ba Liaiso.
reported
the
location
t
B
COl1pall7.waa
to
be
at.
KJUPD
(F202359). . .
At 030800.1. March 1945 Co.bat Command A aad the 310th I . t
Rec
aa attack t ro . LANGENDORF (12031) ia a BE direotioa
MERZEJlCH
(F2231).·
L i g h t · e J l . ~
oppositioa was encount
u d bY' 103O.A. YERZENICR fe l l to our fo roes . ' fhe 2Dd and
Platoons t Co.pany A,
656th TD Ba, supported this
attack
aided material ly in the to
' a capture. The taot ios emploT
were the aamaas preTioualy m e ~ t i o n e d . Sp9radio a r t i l l e ~
and small
arms f i re was
directed a t
the
taak
d• •
t royer••
th ia
engagement a
sua
commander
t
the
3rd
Platoo.
re
injuries
f ro . mortar tir. aDd wa. eTaouated to aa a14
Ad the . to
the
13th Hospital . At lSOQl
tba'3ad
Platoo.
i.
the
takiag t
FLOREN.
I. the
aotioa
agai
• • t MERZ-
and
FLORSH
30
rounds
o fR l and
11
rouada
t APe were t1red
1st Platoon remai.ed attaohed to the SOth Iat Ba which
in
CCA reaerTe
at WOLLERSHEIM ( 1 1 7 : : ~ ~ .
!h . C Q I l p ~
CP
THUIR (1'160331) aDd arriTed a t W HElM
(1'17.308)
a t
Since cca
remaiaed ia
re • •rYe tor
i t h Arm
DiTia1011, CoapallT
ia
no
aot io .
but
adTaaoed
w;th
i .
Coabat
Co
....
d
the DiTiaion reaerTe mOTed forward.
.1t OaOO1OJ. Maroh
l i4S
,w.. directed to mOTe to
VE fDI8
(Pli711 ). the mOTe-
wa. du17 exeouted ad
tn .
o o ~ c l o ~ , ~ oa t i ! t l l l i 8 0310A
1 thi8 t.o e r . ocollpl.cl
uatl1
15S0 whea t _ . o o . p ~ .
directed to IEIrlPERHOF (raOIa&e). B C o ~ ~
.oy.d
ad 00__
positiona
ia .Ticiai t7 ot
IBMPlRHOF
wltht ie ld .
o t
t1r . to
B
aad SB.
The
poa1t10aa
at KEMPBRHO' a r e Goo1lpied uatl1
11.&.
Ia
a l l .OT....
t.
t
B
CoapaaJ the
attaeke4
Rca Plat.ooa
executed
the n8c
• •
8 r7
ro.4
r .ooanai......
...
the
area
1a
whioh
the
Qompaay
had
tak• •
t1r1ac
po.t t1
...
At 030200A Maroh
1; .5
the
00Jap B7
oo_ander of c Coapaa7 . ..
that
tM
f at:
1'01'0. he co_-lIded.
had bee. Uabaad.d..
COJl llaac1 B 09at ia_d i t s
attaok
toward. ramSBUK
<"240) .
m1.sioa
of C CO.P a7 upoa
di8baadaeat
t
th . a8k.Poro
..
proTide tn. ~ T .re..n e tor
Co.bat
Oo
....
d
B
Ia 1ta
clr1
.... to
B, Co.bat
Coam.-d
B
waa not oontroated w i ~ h .., arao.-4 'hre
CoapiD7 C took
up
poalt1ona
to the I'ear t
ceaa -
ale.eats . At 030800A Karoh le ..S Coa, . . , C o ~ t roa D I
to FBEISH Ii (1'3140).
he
cO.PIUq e. t .Hel
PBZtalDJIII.
a t
Platoon
p o , 1 t £ ~ _
were
reooanoit.red a i 4 t k _
oonp1
. . . .
tank approaohes
. . .r . 00"re4 'b7 at 1eaat 0 . . .oti.a of
Ba .
attached Rc. Platooa p.r tor..d the road "ooaa&1....
o . t ~
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At 041230A March
1 ~ 4 5
Coapany B • • • directed
to mOTe trom
K E M P E R H ~ r
to ~ E S S E N I C H
(1'238354).
The company cleared KEMPERHOF
1230A r e a ~ h ~ ~
B ~ S S E N 1 C g
1430A
•
Direct
t i re
positions
. e re
takea n an
o p e . · t i e ~ ~
• Siace . ~ cOTer was aT3ilable, tor holes
were dug. Theae poal.tiona were occupied
for
tour
da1'a. 'fhe mia-
sioa ot the company dUI'ing
that
period was
to
remai. as the A'f
r e s e " .
for
CCR.
Sillce
CCR i t ae l t was 1a
Di vi.ioll
reserTe B Co__
p ny
had
not.had action
a,ainat
the
enemy
•.
B Company
remai.ed
at BESSENICH unt i l 0707l5A March
1945.
.
At 030800A March ~ 4 5 · · C COJlpaDY' receiTed orders to mOTe to
DILBR AUF D' .EBENE ( F 2 5 3 ~ 7 ) . 'fhe compa.y departed
i r o .
rREIS-
HElM
(F319400) 0830A
tDd
mOTed
a ~ o n g the
route
F R E I S H E ~ , BORR
('301381)
SCHERB
~ F 2 8 8 3 8 2 ) , WEILER AUI'D' EBED. The 2nd
Rca
Platoon mOTed at the head ot the compaay Qolumn
aDd
marked
the
route. C C o m p a ~
closed
at WEILER Atrr Dt EBENE at 1230A and re -
mained
i bi l le t s
i a the
SW
part
of t ~ for the reaaiader
ot
the day. . . .
The
5th of
March marked the
f i r s t
day ot
tunctioniag of the
CP
Group
aa
one
uait .
'fhe Ba
CO
learned
at
the
DiTiaion
CP
that a new Bn
Fwd CP
Group would accomp&ni
the
D1Tiaion
Fwd
CP.
The n. . . Bn CP Group would
consiat
of' the Bn CO, .one additioJLal
eft icer and
s8Teral
enlisted men.
This
plaa was to go i_to
i t -
'fect on the' next diaplacement
of
the DiTisioia..
Pl
. . . . . . .
ere
made
to haTe a Liaison Officer
accomp..,
the JL co
aDd
four
enlis ted
men
trom ~ e s s a g e center.
At 05092SA March 1945 a
representatiTe
from 8th TD Group arriTed to coordinate the
act iTit ies ot
th ia
battal ion and
other
TD
organizations 1 . the
I I I
Corps. Plaa
•
• ere alao discussed regards to
establ ishi .g.aa
Ia te l l i , e .c .
radio
ne t • The Bn CO
made
a
Tis
i t to EUSKERCHE f -..c:t A Company.
The
Bn
CO
returned
to
the
Bn CP at 14551.. Other rout i
Tiai ta
were made
bW
the B.
staf t
o t f ~ c e r s to tI:w' GUJil Companie ~
On 05000LA March 1945 A Company was
disposed ia
the tollow-
ing mannerl
Company
Hq attached to 19th Tank Bn at
NEMMENICR
(F259329)5.
1st
and.
3rd
Platoons
at EUSKIRCHEr { ~ 3 3 2 9 ) i
a t Plat-
OQa attached
to
60th
Armd
Inf
Bnl 3rd Platoon attaohed to 3rd
Ba, 3l0th
Inf
and
the
2nd
platooa
ill posit ion a t NEMMENICH. At
0730 CCA
j ~ m p . d off
attacking
to
the
Eaat. Atter
cros.iag
the
ERFT
Canal
elements of the 310th Ia t
attacked
ROITZHEnl (F3427).
HeaTy resistance was
encountered
trom the enemy withi . the
to
and in ground
fort i f icat ion
on the
outskirts .
The 3rd Platoon
of A Company supported elements
ot
the
3rd
Ba,
310th ID.t, in
this at tack.
Tactics of
the sup)orting
TDs
were
the , a s .
aa
preTiously m e n ~ i o n e d .
Atter
the TDa had , ~ p e D . d e d to rounds of
HE,
th.
Infantry
adTanced
into
t o ~ n .
The enemy
launched
two
c o u n t e r - ~ t t a c k . but
both
were driTea
back.
ROITZHEIM was
f ia-
ally cleared
at
19301.. The 3rd Platoon thea
mOTed
iato the to
and took up der.nsiTe
t iring
posit ions with
f ields
ot
f i re to
the
East. Elements
ot the 2nd
Bll,
310th Inf, at 13001. attacked
in
the
di rec t ionot lfEIDBRSHEIK aad CUCHENHEIK ("528) .
aeaT7
resistance
was
also
encountered ia this .ec tor . The nd Plat-
oon, CompaD.Y
A,
gaTe
ciose
support
to
the
attacking
Ia t
aDd
b y ~
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1830A
both
towns were take. .
Ia the
attack
on CUCHENHEIM
con
tact
was lost betweeA the sUpPQrtiDg TDa and
the
a t t a c k ~ A g
Iafantry. After
f i r ing
a 25
round pr,paration iato the to
the 2nd Platoon adTance1
towarda
the
objectiTe
but could not
find ny iatantry.
The
platoon neTertheless entered the tow.
cleared
out
some snipera
and then took up posi t ions. The la t
Platoon
remaiAed at
EUSKERCHEN
~ o u g h o u t
the
day.
Ia
order
to
keep
close
contact
. i t h the platooJl the cCM1any Cp le f t
N E : ~ L ~ l n C H at
l600A and
arriTed at EUSKERCHEN
at 1800A..
B Company
remained at
BESSENICH (F238354) 5 March 1945.
CCB
reTerted
to DiTision co. t rol 050600A March 1945 and
attacked
across
the
F;RFT CANAL ia
a l l Ea8terly directiJn. Ea
e ~ resistance waa l i g ~ t aDd
the
to
ot
LUDENDORF (F406300)
was take. at 2200A At l7S0A C Company a t t a c ~ d to CCB was
giTe
the order to
mOTe
to
KLEIHBULLESHEIM
(F368309).
The
compD7
mOTed out
ot
WEILSR
AUr
D' EBENE'(F274389)
at
1920A proceediag
to NIEDEBERG (F318378). SiDce t h e ~ e
was
high o.ercast and
no
moon
the
road march OTer the
road
was extremely
dif f icul t .
At
2030A
the
coap&a7
c o a m ~ d e r
halted
the
columa
and
summo.ed
t ~ e
platoon
leaders
to
his
Tehicle.
The
platooa
leader
aDd, h i .
driTer
of
the
2nd Platooa while
p ~ o c e e d i g to
the head ot
~ e
company columa was
injured by
a
2V2-ton truck towtag
a
cwa.
The towed gun ran OTer the
platoon
leader
and his dr iTer .
The
platoon
leader 'a collar bone was brokea while the driTer .u t te r -
ed internal
ia juries.
Both ae
ere
e.acuated to the
Combat
COlllll d s Aid Statio::>n. the C O I l l P ~ clo.ed at KLBINBULLlISBBDI
060l00A March li45 and mQyed
into
positioJls
w i ~ ~ f ie ld t t i re
to the liE
nd
1i.
The B.
O ~ d
party l e t t
the
B. CP a t 061060A Karch 1145 to
r e p o ~ t
to D ~ . i . i o . CP to t i l l hi
••• a s a i s a a ~ . ~ a ~ the D1.1s10.
ATO.
the
Ba
Executi.e Officer
aaauaed
responaibili tT
t o ~
the
functiQRia, ot the rear CP Group, Headquarters Company
and
Roa
H e a d q u a r t e r ~
a .c t io . .
Future mOTe
ere to
be
m a d ~
b l a l l .
_lements as one uai t .
A-represe.tatiYe t ro .
8th
D
Group . 1 . -
i ted the B.
CP . i t h addit ional
i . tormation i r e S r ~ .
to
the
proposed
G ~ o u p I . tel l igence
Net. The 656th TD B.
r e p o r t ~ iato
the net at
1930A. At 1116
the CPwaa aler te4 tor aoyement to
EUSKIRCHBH (F3330).
Preparatio
tor
mOTemeat
were 1 a a e d i a t ~ l y
u n d e ~ t a k e .
and
at
1230A the
Bn
CP closed at·ZULPICH (F233333).
A
quarteril lg'partl under the. eOIa iland of
Rea
Co.
CO
l e t ~ ZULPICH
at
1100 hours and :net
the CP
Grou.p 019.
arl"iTat at
the o L l t s k i ~ t s
of
EUSKIRCHEN. The
Bn
CP
o ~ u d at EUSKIR HEN
at.-06150OA
Karch
1945.
During
tbe
day
the
B.
Kotor
Ott io , r .Ba
Surseon
and
the
Bn
3-4.
Tisited
the'
g·iln-
companies. .
Atter consolidating
i t s
Dositions E of ODEBDORF (F3928) CCA·
launched an attack
at
0700A
to
the E
with BHBIKBACH
aa
the
ob
jaetiTe.
The 1st and 2nd Platoons of
C O l l l p ~ . A · s u p : ? o r t e d
the
.attaok. Resistanoe allcouatered
waa
8 t r o n g ~ ~ l e m e n t s
from th&
a t t a o ~ i n 6
toroa .era diTerted N to attaok O B E ~ B E E S (Pl22?).
The
2nd Platoo. supported this attaok
a6aillst
~ t r o n 6 ~ n a m l r e s : r
istance. 3 n e ~ y
mortar
and a r t i l l e r7 t i r e wa. extremely
h e a y Y ~
. ~ ~ ~ 1 ~ 1 r . l r n
. _ 9 - v [U
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o . n ~ ~ T R r r T ~ o
The 2nd PlatooD. ad Y anced on
t.a.e tOVin f f . ~ o s e . . ) r ' : J : x : ~ : u t y to the
_
1 . . J ~ . n · t ~ - 1 IL.: uL.t ·;,-.
At
liJOOA with t:le
a t t aok
wal l under wa.y
tl 1 e 3 r t
la$tro,fer ·) f
t.l: .e 2nd.
-:>13t) n beoa.ne
i ~ o b i z e d
due
to
a faulty generat·.)r.
l he
deatroyer
cO;Il:aanrler
and his crew ~ . · k d
U:
••
;.3r
Cjij,3t&.uc.. , r t i : l ? r . / an:l
j lo r ta r f i r e contil111ad f ir ing into
t i to l1l1
. l , l t i l t b ~ e u e u l . l ~
· ~ I C l . S
d.riven oack.
The
Intantr1
took
the
town
a t l200A. A to ta l
ot
.1 rounds OE w e r ~ r i r ~ d . An
aak:no\fJl
JluIBber of ene:uy
....,ere
~ i l l e d
and
all
unknow.
number of
e n e ~ y homes da...llaged. The
2nd Plato.)R
contiJlued the
support
duriac the attaok OR RaEIRBACH. FiriRl a the7 adTaaced the
2nd
Plato:.). e. tared RHEllfBACH
1400A.
The
supported l a t took
the
t o ~
at
1320A.
the.platoon
then
mOTed to the E ,ad
ot tow
~ ~
formed a
ro::
C l block
cUlllnand1D£ -
the road intersect ion at
di'v5l254). A
to ta l of 74 rou.n.cis of
a:s were
expanded.
rhe 1st
~ l a . t f J ) u
]1\)Tel
froJl
::rJSKIRCamr
to
ODENDORF (1'398280). The com
pany
~ p iUuTea. f rom ~ t J 3 K I ~ ~ · . : r 3 1 i
leaving
_
the
tQ .m
at
1700Aand
a r r i v ~ n b a t ' J 3 . ~ R J : B ~ S 06180:)& ~ I a r c h 19,(5.
There -was
no
chant,e
in B·
Company
8
dif31Josit1on
er attacbme
C Co.pany
remained in
ILEINBULLESHEIM (1358309)
untl1 06-
0730A.
March
1945.
A.t
that_time
the
company.comman¢er
wa.
, iTe
trJ.e order
to
dis: V , ~ e
his
company
to LIEDENDORF
(F406289).
Sin
CCB
was advancine acai .a t the e A e ~ w ~ ~ h
0&17 , 1 ~ l h t
re .1 . taac
Co_pany C attached to CCB was
kept la
clos .
proxlmitT to the
combat
eleaeata
of
the
Combat CommaBd
but Bot coaalt ted to
act io . .
The Coapaay CommaDder
of the
Coapaay
decided to
keep
his CP at KLEINBULLESHEIM and
mOTed
his coapaa7 aa
directed
to LUDENDORF. The compB.lly less CP
departed
trom XLEINBULLBS
HElM at
060815A March 19.5.aad arriTed
at
LUDENDORF'at l200A.
The
platoo.s l_ed ia te ly mOTed
ia to f i r i .g
p · o s i t i ~ . s .
COB.
ele .ents
kept
oa
adTanci.g
ala i . s t l ight realata .ce aad
at
2400A
the
compaay cOllDlaader waa sUllDloned
to the
Co.bat
C._aad
CP.
Routlae
s t a f t actiTit1ea were
performed dur1.g
the period
070001 to 072400A March 1945.
he
Ba
motor
off icer Tisl ted
the
oompaaiea.
The
outstaadi.g
eTeat of
the
day waa
the recei
of the &aws that the LUDENDORF
BRIDGE OTer
the RHINE RIVER
was
captured ia tac t . This information
was
brought to the
Ba CP
by
the
B. CO
wheD
he
Tis1ted
the
Ba
CP
at
1820..
I t waa
turther
disclosed that
the
9th Arad
DiT was
to
aOTe
to MECKEHHEIM
(P49
5255). .
CCA
. . . . . .
i a w t d
the
a t tack to
the
SE
af ter taltiag
BOLINGEN
(F5319) ~ : t h e attack;
conti.ued to
the high
ground. of BAD
NEUEN.AP..R (F5716). The at t , ck on ~ t:JEUENAHR got ume rwq
at
071200A March
1945.
The to
. . .
was
heaTl1y
deteaded
with'
l a t .
SP
guns and taaks.
The
3rd Platooa
whila
s u p p o ~ i a g ele-
ments of the 3rd B.
t
3l0th Iat ia the attack
on BAD
NEUENAHR .
was under constaat
ar t i l le ry
aad
small aras aad
aor tar
t i re .
At approximately
l600A
the
f i r s t
gun of
the
3rd Platooa rece-
iTed
a
mortar hi t on
the
rear of the turret .
The
platooa . e r -
geaat
aad
ODe
gunner
were
ki l led aad
two
other ore. meabers
injur .d . The
rell1ailli.g TDa
of
the
3rd Platooa coatiaued the
attack.
The towa was takea
at
1630A. 42 roullda ot
HI were
f ired.
Three
prisoners
were takea aad aa
eat iaated 25
e.amy
were kil led.
The disabled
de.tro1'er was:eTacuated to BOLINGElI
a d turaed ia to OruDce. he 1st Platooa
of
A Coapaay aup-
. , . · · f " ' · ~ ~ ) ' " r ,
ro . ~ ; , .
1
7
..
J
1
•
f· \
., [11."
'
-
10
_ . .
'.,
\
.
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port8d 81ea8ats of th8 60th Armd
Ia t
Ba ia the
at tack
from
RHEINBACK
to
BAD NEUENAHR.
The
supported Ia f adTaaced
agaiast
l ight
oppositioa cODsistiag ~ o s t l y of small
aras aId
SP
a r t i l -
lery
f i re A colum.
of
eDemy was sighted E ot BOLINGEN aad im-
mediately attacked. IA this eBgag8meat OAe 50
AT
gua was
destroY8d
by
the
1st
Platoon. The platoo. the
adTaaced
ia the
direct ioa
ot BAD
NEUENAHR.
Duriag this
adTaace
a 20 aemy
ia s ta l la t ioa
coasis t iag
o t
5
AA
guas
was
f ired
oa
aad
oTerrua
aear LANTER
SHAFEN
.(F555l75). Cae maa was ia jured by small
aras
t i re
a t
Boliagea.
Presum8d to b8 a iper
f i r e
The 2ad
Platooa was mOTed t ~ o
RHEINBACH
to HEIMERSHEIM. The road
march was uaeTeatful aad theplatooa
closed
at
HElMERSHEIM.
A
Comoaay's CP mOT8d trom
OBERDREES
(F.2127.) to BOLINGEN
(F537-
189).
The compaay
CPopeaed
at BOLINGEN at 071320A March 19.5.
At 0707l5A March 19.5 the coamandiag oft icer Coapaay B re -
ceiTed Terbal orders to mOTe his compaay troB BESSENICH to Lon-
ENDORF (F.06299). COBpaay B departed
f ro
BESSENICH aad a t te r
aa uaeT8atful road march reached LUDENDORF at
1020A.
B Coapaay
cOBstituted the AT reserTe ot CCR. Duriag the road aarch
the
1st
Rca
Plat
attached to
Co.paay
B
preceeded the
guacoapaay
ia
i t s road march aad secured the to
upoJLLarrlTal at i t s deala . -
t i o B Co.paay
reaaiaed
at
LUDENDORF
ua t i l 11 March
19.5.
The stay at
LUDENDORF
was
uaeTeattul wlth the
exceptioa t the
capture o t
oAe priaoaer
by
a Rca Plat guard
durlag the
aight
ot 11 March 19.5. The prisoaer was
dressed
ia ciTi l iaa
clothe.
with
his
aray ua i tor
uaderaeath.
Upoa
quest ioaiag
the
pr i soa
reTealed
that he
deserted his
uai t
to
re tura
to h i
hoae which
was.aearby.
The followlag moraiag 12 March 19.5
the
prl oaer
wa.
turaed OY8r
to the MP detachmeat tor co.duct to
the
PIE.
Upoa repor t iag to the Coabat Co_aad CP the Coapaay Coamaad
8r Coapaay C was iatormed that
he
would moy. hisco.paay te
STADT
MECKENHEIM
F.95225).
The
tollowiag
attachaeats
were
aada. 1st Plat attached to 52ad rad l a t
Ba.
2ad ad 3rd Plat -
OODS attached to la t
Ba,
310th la t • The 2ad aad 3rd Platooa.
&ad
the 1st Ba
3l0th
Ia t
constituted
the
reserTe
ot
CCB.
The
co.paay
oomaaader
returaed to his co.paay aad mOTed Gut t • •arda
STADT
Y E C K E ~ r l E I Y The attached
2ad
Rca
Plat was ciT.a the a l a lo
ot
•• curiag the road. Wnile the rout . takealed through t r r i -
tory
co.t rol led
by
the ea
• •
y 0
reais taace
or oppos1tioa was
se t ad the three platooas arriTed a t STADT MECXENHElM a t 07-
0539A March 19.5. The 2Bd
aad
3rd Platooa.
t09k
up po a i t l a l
the
NW sector ot
to
while the
1st Plat
coatiaued the aarca
to ADENDORF. (F5252.2) ia support ot the 5aad
Arad
Ia t Ba. Tae
52_d Arad
Ia t
Ba cOBtiaaed i t s adT.ace
towards
SIHZIG
(P655l65)
with the
1st Plat ,
Coapaay
C,
1&
support.
While
adTaaciac
te -
ward. 'he object iy . aloBg
the
BAD NEUBNAHR - BADENDORP
road,
the colusa was t ak .a
uader
eaeay or ta r t i re ia the Tiola1t7
ot HEPPINGEN (F595l70). The adTaace wa. held up. Upo. requeat
by
the sup
orted
Ia t a suspected OP, a
church ateeple
a t
(P515-
170) was takea uader t i r he t i r s t
rouad
h i t the tower.
two
addit ioaal
rounda
e re t i red betore
the
steeple
toppled. Wlth
the de.t ruct ioa ot the steeple the aortar
t l re
ce• •ed
aad the
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t i
~ I ~ · l : ~ , . j '
adTaace coatiaued. The platooa leader ~
t J : j ~ l ~ a t
led h i .
platooa
ia a quarter
toa. Upo. rouadiag
a bead
ia the road ia
the
Ticia i ty of (F608l67)
the
platooa leader
raa ia to a
• •a l l
• • emy half- t rack. The target was i • •ediately take . uader ~ i r e
with
a
~ 3 0 cal .achtae
gu.
at
a
ra.ge of about
100
yards.
Three
3.e.1 soldiers
leaped
out
of
the
half- t rack.
The
platoo
leader toased a greaade i . to
the
Tehicl a he passed by. Two
of the \hree
e.e .y
raa iato the
path
of the 1st
destroyer
ad
were
ki l led
by the
tracks. '
The
1st
Plat
alao destroyed
3
e .
e.y aachiae gua aeats ia subsequeat
actioas.
he
objectiTe
wa
reached
a.a take. by l600A.
The
1st
Plat expeaded ,7 rou.da t
APC
aad
17
rouada
HE.
At 0730A the
c o ~ p a a y
c o m a ~ e r
se . t
the
securi ty sergeaat
back
to
KLElNBULLBSHEIM to briag the
coapaay CP
torward
to
STADT :.IECKENHEIM.
The
CP
Group
l e t KLEINBULLESHElM
a t
0930A
.ad arriTed at
i t s de8t iaat io . 071500A March
1945.
At 1930A
the
coapaay
coaaaader
waa
ordered
to
adTaace
his
coapaay
to
SINZIG. The
2ad aad
3rd Platooas
departed t roa STADT
MEOIIB
HElM towards
SlNZIG. While
oa
the road
the
c o a p a ~ o
...aBder
receiTed a
radio
.essage to report to the
CP of
the
14th Taak
B..
Upo.
report iag
the
compa.y
coamaader . a s ia tor••
d
tha t he
was
attached
to
the 14th
Taak Ba
aad that
he would
proceed
to
R ~ ~ G N
(F644200).
This iaforaat ioa . a s cOATeyed to the two
platooas which proceeded to REMAGEN.
The
1st Plat reT.r ted
to compaay
control aad the platooa
leader reported
to the
CO
at
2400A. The
2.d
aad 3rd Platooas
arriTed
a t
HEWAGE. a t
2300 aad secured bi l le t s for the aight .
At 081048A March 1945
the
2Dd
Plat
Leader
C o p a ~
B
report
ed
to the
B. CP
s ta t iag ia
eftect that
B
C o m p a ~
waa relleTed
f ro . assigament
to
CCR
aad
had reTerted
to Ba coatrol . A a.a
sage f ro . the
CO
was
receiTed to
_oTe
the
Ba
CP aad Hq Co to
ELSDORF
(1484220) or
ALTENDORF
(1490218). Upo.
receiTi . , thia
iaforaat ioa the Ba
S-3
ordered
l ia i80a established with
B
Co.
paay. A quarteriag party coasist iag of the Adjutaat, aad Hq
Co
CO ad seTeral
e . l i s ted
aea were dispatched
to
the
aboTe
aentioaed towas tor
bi l le t s .
The
B.
ExecutiYe Officer l e t t
the
Ba
CP
at
0815A
to
aake
a
tour of the
coapaaias.
While ia
the Ticia i ty of STADT MECKENHEIM the
B.
Executiye
reported to
the
CO.
UpOD.
his retura
the
Ba
Executiye
i_for .ed
the
Ba
S-3
that i t
was
impossible to
aOTe
the OP aad rear achelo. because
of
the
t raf f ic c o ~ i t i o n s The Ba
S-2
was to ld to
report
to
the
Ba
CO ad
giTe the l a tes t
disposit ioa
of the compaaies aad
thea
report
to ~ i T i s i o
G-4 for
road clearaace.
The
iaatruo
t ions were
carried
out
by the S-2
a.d upon returaiag to
the
Ba
CP
the
S-2
reported
that
road
clearance
could aot be aecur
ed tor the preseat . Plaas
were made
to sead the
Ba S-'
to che
with the G-4 for road
clearaace oa the followiag
day.
After
the
capture
of
the LUDENDORF
BRIDGE
the 310th ( -)
chaaged
the
direction of
the
attack
to
the
South
wide.iag the
bridgehead.
The
1st
Plat , Coapaay
A,
ramai.ed
ia
SINZlG
(F655l64) foraiag
a
road block OD the
road rUJUliag
paral le l
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Jt:Si
niGTfD
Platooa reaaiaed
ia
BAD NEUENAHR (F580166) aa a .
AT
det
aay
e.eay armored
couat.r-attack froa
the
South. The
CP
departed froa BOLINGEN
(F538l88) l ~ O O A
ad arriwed
BAD NEUENAHR l510A.
B C O ~ / a a y remaiaed at LUDENDORF F ~ 0 5 3 0 0 ) duriag the
period
19.5
to
0 8 2 ~ O O A
March
19.5.
or
attachaeata.
No
chaage
ia
dispos
At 080025A March 1 9 ~ 5
a ruaaer tor the
l ~ t h TaAk Ba summoaed
Coaaaader to the CP ot the l . th Teak
Ba.
Iastructio• •
receiTed that C Coapaay would
cross
the LUDENDORF BRIDGE
soo.
a8
pos8ible.
Upon
his retura
the Coapaay
CO co.veyed
ia toraat ioa
to
the
Platooa Leader of the 3rd Platooa
d
actiag platooa leader
ot
the 2ad Plat .
Both
Platooas were
be attached
to the l ~ t h aak Ba upoa
reachia,
the t a r
shore.
the 2ad
Plat
reached the bridge aad . i ac . i t
waa
ex
dark aa
e.giaeer
g u i ~ e
led
the
destroyer.
oato the
The bridge
i t ae l t
was uader
ia tera i t tea t
ar t i l lerT,
AA aad autoaatic aaal l
a ~ t i re .
5iace
the
plaAkia,
the bridge was
barely
wide
eaough
to coatai . the destroyera,
aoross
the bridge
was
extre .ely slow.
Whea
about
of the
way across the leadiag destroyer ot the 2ad·
Platooa
through
plaBkiag la id oyer
a
previously aade ahell hole.
breakthrough
iamobilized the
destroyer aad
halted
a l l t ra t -
oa the
bridge.
The actiag
platooa
leader
directed
the
.x -
ot
the iamobilized de.troTer which wa. f iaal ly pul l
oa
to
s o ~
footia,
at
0530A. The
act ia ,
platooa
leader thea'
seft ral
ot
his
platooa ' .
aea
ia
aidi .g
t ~ e
. a , i aea r .
plaak
over
the hole. The 2ad
Plat
resuaed i t a roh aeroa.
bridge u d
upoa croseiag
at
0600A' the act ia ,
platooa
le.d.·r
to the
CO,
Coapaay A, 14th Taak Ba, tor laatruct10• •
regards
to
·• •
ployaeat.
A
road block
was
set up oa the
BRPBL
road 500 yards I ot
ERPBL.
h is road block wa.
aaiata1ae4
about 081630A whea the actiag
platooa
l .ader rece1ved
to take his platoo. to
ERPEL
(P 645205)
d
repapt
the
c o ~ a . y CP. While
occupyiag the
road block posit ioa the
t i red
om
e ~ e E y ai rcra t t
attackiag
the
bridee.
Soae
aras
t i re was
receiTed froa the h i ~ h grouad to the
N aad
BO
casualties were sustaiaed. Upoa
repor t ia t to the
eoa
CP the actiag platooa leader was
iaformed that
he would
the
attack ot
the
27th
Arad Iaf
Ba
i the dlrect ioa
ot
F 6 3 ~ 2 2 ~ ) . At 082300A March 1 9 ~ 5 the 2.d Plat l e t t
IRPIL
the
direct ioa
of
UNKEL. Atter crossla , ~ h e 3rd P l a t ~ o . took
roadblock
positioBS oa
the ed,e
ot
BRPEL coamaad1a,
the
hishway. At 0800A a r iver boat cue arouad the
ia the r iver t raTelia , up8treaa.
~ e
platoo. leader
ot
3rd
Plat
identif ied
a
aaa i_
a
Germe. uaitora oa the boat
.
ordered
the f i r s t
~ a o f
the
platooa to
opea t i re .
Due
to
i the l iae of t i re the t i r s t ~ could
BOt
t i re ,
d
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hi t
hoae aad
"the
Germa.s raised eTerythi- .
they
had
that
• •
s
white". One NaTal Officer a.lId oae s o l d . i e r ~ calle ashore u d . e re
takea.prisoaers . the
boa,t se t t led aad
aa
a ~ i a e e r boat
went
out
to get ~ h e
r e l l l . a i a i ~ priso .ers .
Six
pr i sne r s were b r o u ~ h t aaho
The Platooa remaiaed ia the road
block posit ioa
unti l
about
l800
whea the plato,.a leader was directed"to report to the Coapaay CP
The 3rd Plat was ~ 1 T e a
the
.1asioa of direct support of the 311t
Iaf
i
the
at tack
to
the
North
ia
ealars1a&
the brid,ehead.
h i
platoo. leader
recoaI01tered
tor pos1t10a. a t the i a t . rsec
t ioa of the
UNKEL-RHEINBREITBACH
roads
(F6392l ') .
At 2 ~ 3 0 A the
platooa
leader receiTed word that the ~ l l t h Ia t at tack
was beiag
held up by eaemy
machiae gua
t i r e . akimg t ~ o destroyers
the
platoo. leader l e f t t r
thelocatioa
of
the
e.emy
machi.e
guas.
Atter c o m p l e t 1 a ~ i t a act10. at SIRZIG the 1st
Platoo.
reporte
to
REMAGEN
where 1t
crossed
the
brid€e
t 081300.1 Ma'rch'19'(5.
The 1st Plat was
uader
compaay co. t rol
ad
waaasaigaed the . i a -
_ioa t
set
t ing up a road block o .
the
ORSBERG-ERPEL
road.
The
1st Plat
remaiaed
therefor
the
reaaiacier t the da7. • • •a7 p l u
at tackia t the b r i d ~ e
• •
re take. uader
t i r e .
the Co.paay
CP
aOTed
f ro .
STADT
MECKENIIEIM
to
REMAGEN.
The
CP
departed
fro_
ST DT
MECKENHEIM at 1230.1 u d arriTed at
REMAGD
at
1""5.1.
. A a ~ art i l le
ad aa a i r attack
waa receiTed by the CP Group a t 1800.1
aad
be
tore haTia\:.
time
to
disperse i t a
Tehicles
aad aa M-20 rec . i f td
a hi t aBd begu to bur . . The aaauBitioa
ia the bur. iag
hicle
b e ~ a J l
exploding f ro .
the heatot the f i re . AA M-20
parked
close
to
the
oae oa
f i re begaa to bur
•• The
secoBd
M-20
had
attached
to
i t a M-10
t ra i ler tu l l
of
76J1l1l
aamuait io.. A. u lTer t ro .
CompanJ
Hq
section
got into
the
second M-20 and drove i t to the
far
edge
of
the f ield where he extinguished the, f i r e . In tera i t
tent ahel1ing was received during the remainder t the
day.
The following
changes
in A Coapany'_ order t bat t le were
aade
9
March 19451
1st Plat
relieTed
trom
attachment·
to
60th
A r ~ Inf Bn, reverted
to coapany
control; 2nd
Plat ,
rel ieTed
f ro . attachment
to
2nd Bn, 3l0th Int , and reverted to company
control; 3rd Plat rel ieved froa attachilent to the
3rd
Bn, 3l0th
Int ,
and reverted to CO l lPany
control ,
Coapany CP relieved t roa
attachment to 14th Tank Bn
and
reverted to ceA control . There
was no change in
location
in any of the
platoon
posit ions
or
in
the 10cat10n
of
the company CP.
B
Company
haTing reverted
to battal ion
control
as
of
082400A
March 1945
remained in
lJ1ace. However,
upon being aler ted
to r
movement to
ERSDORF f4B4220)
a
bil le t ing detai l
was sent
forwar
to
secure bi l l e t s . Tiae was
spent on
motor
maintenance and the
maintenance
of
arllS
and
eqUipment
I
'While s u p p o r t i n ~ the at tack
of
the 27th Arad Inf Bn
along
the
E R P E L - U N } ~ L
road, the 5-2, 27th Arad
InfBn, sent for the
platoon ser&eant,
then
a c t i n ~
platoon leader, requesting him to
temporar1ly
support
a coapany
of
Inf
f ro .
the 311th R e ~ t which
ran into aachine
guns in
the
town of UNKEL
(F836229).
the actg
platoon leader reported to the
CP
where
he
receiTed
instruct ions
to proceed. down the road unt i l he
aet
a
~ i d e .
This was done
and
the
guide
led
the
platoon
serteant
to
the
s t ree t where
the
~
aachine guns were .aplaced.
Two
guns were aoved into posi t ion
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I t ~ fllfil tl1
1·
,
he night was extremely dark as there waa no
aoo.
and the aky
was
overcast.
Upon pull ing
irJto position
the
destroyers
becan
r e c e i v i n ~ automatic saal l arms
f i re .
The enemy saal l arms t race
f i re was coming
up
so
i t
was presumed that the machine guns were
in the cel lars of
the houses.
The
platocn
sergeant ,could not ~ e
p e r i ~ s i o n to f i re HE into the suspected machine ~ emplacement
as i t
was suspected that
there were several injured friendly
troops
on
the s t ree t . Both
tuns
beganfiring APC
into
the house.
8uspected
of
containing
the
11achine gun
posi t ions.
L J.ter
on
several
Int men crept down the
s t ree t
and
set ot f phosphorus
grenades. The phosphorus
grenades
revealed that the s t ree t was
clear of
fr iendly
troops.
The platoon sergeant"was
then granted
permission to
use
HE. However both guns jaamed
and
the .50
cal
machine
guns were brought into
use.
The .50 cal aachine «una
were t i red unt i l a l l
aaaunltion
was exhausted.
Three
of
the
sua
pected five
machine gun
nests
were neutral ized.
Just
about the
t iae the .50 cal machine gun aaaunit ion
gave
out
the
~ r d
Plat
destroyer
c u e up
aDd
continued the t igh t . At about 0320A the
p l a t o ; ~ n sergeant, 2nd Plat ,
reported back
to. the CP of
the
3l1th
Inf and reported the
si tuat ion.
Upon completion
of th i s
aiss ion
the
2nd
Plat
aoved
into
UNKEL
and
occupied
bi l l e t s .
A
to ta l
of
24 rounds of
APe were expended.
Unknown number
of en• •y
were
ki l led . The 2nd Plat remuined in UHKEL unti l OB20A when
the
acting platoon leader r e c e i ~ d instruct iona
to aove back to
U N K E
The platoon spent the remainder of the
day
at
UNKEL
After
being giTen the aiasion of
supporting
the
at tack of
th
3rd Bn, 3l l th Inf , to
the
N the platoon leader
reported
to
the
Regimental CP 1irhere he waagiyen an addit ional
aiss ion
of
.e t t in&
up a road
block.
The posi t ion was
occupied
at 082030. The
to .n
of UNKEL
was
under
at tack and
the supported Inf
could not . a t e
aDJ advances againateneay"machine guns 10cate4 in buildinc
••
At
090010 the
platoon leader
was
requested to reduce strone point .
in
the
t01t'll
of UNKEL
Taking
his
platoon
the
p l a t o : ~ n
leader led
the
destroyera
to f i r
in ,
posi t ions.
Upon his
arriTal
a t
the
scene the 3rd Plat leader
learned
that the 2nd Plat jus t finishe
f i r ing a aiss ion in
the
aaae location but was forced to withdraw
due
to aechanicsl
trouble with the
guns.
The
3rd Plat
took up
the t ight
f i r ing both
HE and APe into
the
buildincs houainc the
eneay aachine
~ n s
The ready rack
of
the
destroyer
waa
t i red
a
a
range
t 15 tee t . The f lash t the
gun
coapletely
blinded the
ent i re crew.
Aa one
destroyer pulled
back to cover the second
d e s t r ~ y e r moved into a
t i r ing
posi t ion. The
f i r s t
deatroyer the
reloaded i t a ready rack. he
3rd
deatroyer sprayed the buildings
with
.60 cal aachine
~
t i r e .
All
three destroyer
ere
under
amall
arms
f i re .
ET.n
with
th is
close
d i r . c t
BY
t i r e
the
ene. ,
would
not
abandon hia posi t ion. The
destroyer.
withdrew f ro . the
f i h t during the
reaainint
hours
t darkne • • aad reaa-ed the
act
at d a y l i ~ h t Additional
round. t HE . e re
t i r .d .
11chty ene.y
prisoners
were
force4
out
of
one atreet aDd a to ta l of 200
out
o
the town. No caaualt ies were . u t te red in
the
platoon in
th ia
en
~ a g e a e n t A
to ta l of
108 rounds
of
aamun1t1oa . e re
expended.
Three aachine gun
.aplaoe
nta
destroyed,
a nuaber t ho 4e
troyed
or . e t on
f i r e .
At
the coaplet iaa of
th is
a1s.10a aDd
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the Inf
cleared
the town the 31'4 Plat
d ~ n c e d
to RHEI'
(r643244). The
platoon
closed
at
RHEINBREITBACH
a t
hours.
TheIst Plat remained in i t s or iginal posi t ion.
ai r
act iv i ty
over the br id e 'was
intense.
The 1st Plat
rounds of
.50 cal machine
~ u n aamunition
t i r ing
the at tacking planes. The Cospany CP soved f ro . REMAGEN an
the
RHINE
RIVER
to
RPEL
a t
1330A.
While
crossing the
enemy a i rc ra f t
attacked
with bo.bs. AA
~ s
were manne
f i red . No bomb hi t s
were
aade on the br id le .
The
outstanding
event
of
the
10th of
~ r c h 1945 was the re
of
reenforpementa.
The bat ta l ion received as i t s
f i r s t r
1
off icer ,
1
Staf f S ~ t
1 Cp1, and 17
P ~ t s .
The
were
brought
to the
Bn OP by tl.le Personnel Officer
a
1945.
The off icer replacement was a former
mea
th i s
organizat ion.
The Bn 8-3
af ter
an
absence of one
day
to
the
Bn
CPo
Since the
5-3
went
acro .s
the
RHINE
R
soae
di f f icu l ty
n returning.
Road clearance to move
t
Hq
Co
and B
Company
could not
be
had th i s
day. The coa
commander
of
B Coapany arr ived
a t
the Bn
CP
to coordinate
of his
company
once
road
clearance
was
received. CO
B returned to his company at 1400A.
A
Cospany'a
disposi t ion
a t 100001
March
1945
was aa
tollow
Plat at SINZIG ,(F655l64); 2nd
Plat
a t HEIMERSHEIM
(F603l63
Plat
and
Coapany Hq
a t
BAD
NEUENAHR
(F577166). The aiasio
the cospany during
th i s period was
to p r o v i ~ e AT
defense
on
S
f lank
of
the
Corps
boundary
ala inat
any
enemy
armored
f ro . the South.
With
the advancement of the T
front to the - . bank of the
RHINE
R , t h e threat of an
ene
was nul l i f ied . The
2nd
Plat of
A
Company a t 09
from
HElMERSHEIM to BAD
NEUENAHR
There was
no
other ac
durir1b the
reaainder of the
day.
No change in B Coapany'. attachment or disposi t ion occurr
period 100001A to 1024COA
March
1945.
There were
no
unusual act iv i t ies
in
C
Coapany.durint the
100001A
to
102400A
March
1945.
The
locat ion
of
the coa
elements were
as follows: 1st ,
2nd Platoons
and
Coapany C
ERPEL
(F646205);
3rd Plat
a t RHEINBREITBACH
(F643244). The
Plat
remained
in that pOSition for three
days.
There was
consicerable aaount of a i r ac t iv i ty over
the
b r i d ~ e
but
no
fe l l in the vicini ty of any coapany ins ta l la t ions . Enemy
were taken
under
.50 cal machine un
f i re .
The new off icer
replace.ent vis i ted tbe
Bn CO a t
BAD
NEUEN
his re turn to the Bn CP
inforaed
the
Executive Office
be was
assi lned
to C Company. Road clearance was final17
to
move
Hq
and
the
Bn CP,
Hq
and
B
Coapcny
to
BAD
NEU
B Company
CO
reported
to
the Bn CP and was given the
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the Bn
O aet
the Bn
Executive
and
5-3 and informed thea tha t th
Division
CP was
located
in the saae
town.
The Bn CO
then
checke
the company
b i l l e t s
and returned to the Division CP.
Upon report ing to the CP of
CCA
the CO A Company w ~ s rel ieve
of
attachaent
to
CCA and
attached to
CCB. At 111445A March 194
A Company was aler ted to move across the K IKI R. No
dest inat io
was ~ i v e n a t tha t time except that the company CO was
to
report
to
O 899th
TD
Bn
t r
disposi t ion.
Since
two
platoons,
2nd and
3rd
were a t
BAD
NEUENAHR i t was necessary
to
move the 1st irtD a
posi
t ionwhere
i t
coulc. join
the ' remainder of the
company. The
3rd Rcn
Plat
was a t
that
t iae with
the
1st
Plat
a t SINZIG.
An
order
was
dispatched to
the 1st Plat to jo in the company
a t
REP
PINGEN
(F595170) for the _arch to REMAGEN. The Company Hq, 2nd
and
3rd Platoons l e f t BAD NEUENAHR
a t 1700A.
The
1st
Plat and
the 3rd Rcn Platoons joined the company a t
the
der
i@;nated spot
as scheduled.
While on the aarch
to
R E ~ ~ G E N the cowpany column
was s t ra fed
by
enemy planes. The • 50
cal
MGs f i red on
the
plan
with
no i .mediate resul t s
There
were no casualt ies in
the
coa
pany froa
the
straf ing
at tack. Due
to
the congested t r a f f i c
co
di t ions
the
ra te
of
Ilar.ch
lias slow
with
constant
stol,s.
The
le
ing
e le ents
of
A
Coapany
crossed the
LUDENDORF
.BRIDGE .at 11240
March 1945.
B Company re .ained in pOSition a t
LUDENDORF
(F405299) tor
t ur days
operationally
inact ive. At 111154A March 1946 Coapa
CO received the order to
move to
BAD
NEUENAHR
and assemble ther
with Bn Hq and Hq Co. The co.pany departed
f ro
LUDENDORF 1815A
and af te r a
dif f icu l t
road march
reached i t s dest inat ion 120130
March 1946. The road march was aade
di f f icu l t
b¥
the
t rave l
over
secondary
and
te r t ia ry
country roads
d u r i n ~
the hours of
darkness.
The Company
CP
a n ( ~
the
1st
Plat C Company
remained
in
ERPEL
during
the period
11000lA
to
112400A Karch 1945. Eneay a i r ac t
iv i ty ~ a s
in
evidence most of the day and was taken under
t i r e
by the company CP ins ta l la t ion and the .50 cal
MG.
t
the 1st
Plat
The
52nd
.Arllu Inf Bn was giTen a mission to
. rel ieve
e le-
ments
of
the
Z95th
Inf at D A L T E ~ 1 3 E R G (F676174). The 2nd Pla t
le f t ERPEL in sU,t port
of
the 52nd Arlld In t Bn
a t
1820A and
ar r -
ived a t DALTENBERG a t 2130A. Upon
r e o h i n ~ the
dest inat ion
~ n s
were aoved
into t i r ing posit ions
with f ie ld
of
t i r e to
~
N and NE. The town
was shel led
by
the eneay throughout.
the nl.g
but no caaualt ies or d ~ e
to
e q u i p ~ e n t was sustained. The
1s
Pla t
C
Coapany moved
to
BRUCKHAUSEN
(F659226).
Routine
s ta f f
functions
oarr ied
on
a t
the
Bn
CP
during the
period
120001 to122300A Maroh 1945. The ATO Officer Corps
and a representat ive trom
the
8th
TD Group vi 's i ted
the Bn P
as
well .
Visi t s to the oompany CPs 'were aade
by
the 5-4,
aotor
and
medical
off ioers The CO of Rcn Co was evacuated to the 9th
Armd
Div clearin& s ta t ion on account ot i l lne sa
Upon crossing the RHINE R a t 120130A March
1945
the co.pany
coamander A Coapany assembled his coapany in
ERPEL and
r e p o r t e ~
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r
'T ,.. •
. .
..
K \
the CO
899th
TD
Bn for
ins t ruct ions. The co:upany ther,taoved
ll SBACH
(F664203)
where the company CP was
set
up. The 1st
2nd. Platoons .noved. to OHLENBfi;RG
(F678212)
deepenin.g
the
of the· 899th TD Bn • The 3rd Plat moved to O K ~ ~ N F E L S
• These pos i
t ions
weI e maint ained throughout
the day.
was no enemy
ground act iv i ty
although enemy a i r
act ivi ty
quite extensive.
B Company closed a t
BAD NEUENA.. iR
at
l20l30A
March 1945 com-
i t s road march from LUDBNDORF. The vehicles were dis -
in
open
f ie lds
and the
men
moved
into the i r
b i l l e t s
daybreak a l l vehicles were draped with shrimp nets. The
re
of
the day
was
spent performing
maintenance on vehicles
ar:ns.
The
l3 t Plat
of C Company
remained in
f i r i n ~ posi t ion at
throughout the day. The posi t ion
o c c ~ p i e d
covered
RJ at
the NE end of town against any
armored at
tacks. The
serE;eant
then
acting
platoon
leader reported
at
120800A
to the
CP of 27th Armd Int
Bn for fur ther instruc
Orders
were
given for the
9latoons return
to UNKEL under
platoon sergeant 's
control and await the
arr ival
t
the
27th
Inf
Bn. At 1400A the 2nd Plat was rel ieved from assign
to
the 27thArmd Inf En and reverted
to
company control .
platoon sergeant upon arr iving at the Co Cp was told to
his platoon
to BRUCKHAUSEN
(F659226) and take up
f i r ing
on
the
lffi sector of
town.
The Company CO
accompanied
'platoon sargeant to
his posi t ions.
Upon
the
arr ival of
at
BRUCKHAUSEN
the
platoon
command
was
assumed by
off icer
replacement.
The
3rd
Plat
of
Company
C
remained
the
road
block
l)osition
in the
vicnity
ofRHEIl ffiREITBACH.
The CO, 8th
TD
Group, was given
cOmilland of
TD bat ta l ions
Corps control . In anticipat ion
of attachment
to
the I I I
and
in turn
reassi«nment
to the 8th TD Group,
the
Bn CO
the Group CP for a
conferenoe
on
employment
t
th is
The Bn
less A
and C
Companies
was
aler ted for
across the RHINE R. Arrangements for road
clearance
move
the bat ta l ion was to be made by
the
I I I Corps.
In
an
of the move a bil let inKparty was organized to move
the ~ I N E on the morning of
14 March
1945.
I t
was
an
that
A and B
Companies
would rever t to bat ta l ion con
~ h e n
the Bn CP
crossed
the r iver
The Bn CO
v ~ s i t e d
the
CP and
informed
the S-3
to anticipate making plans for
the
of
the bat ta l ion Routine
vis i t s to companies were
by the Bn
3-2, S-4
and lotor Officer .
Due
to the crowded conditions
at KASBACH the Company CP
Co A moved to OCKENFELS 13 March 1945. n enemy
counter
was expected fromthe
East .
The
2nd Plat
was moved to
and occupied positions covering the RJ at F69ll99) since
three
g.lns
were
available for
the
2nd
Plat
a
·section
of
3rd
Plat was moved
to
LINZ
(F670l86). One section of the
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P ~ S T R I T E D
ground
a c t i v i ~ . . . in
tlie vicin i ty
t
the
pCJ
. l tion occupied b7 A
Company's plat;)ons.
The a i r
act iv i ty
w quite intense.
Enemy
:jlanes were engi:1ged by
.50
cal
MGs but no
di rec t
resul ts can
be
at t r ibuted
to
the f i re .
B Company remained
a t BAD NZUEN HR during
the period l30001
to 132400A March
1945.
Routine company function carr ied on.
The attached
2nd
Rcn Plat was
. ,ivided
into two
secti.ons;
1st
sect ion
attached to 3rd T
Plat ,
2nd sect ion attached to th
1st
Plat .
The
311th
Inf
maintained i t s
at tack
towards
the
East
The 2nd Rcn sect ion was given the
mission of
maintaining contac
between
the
advancing
Inf
and
the
3rd
TD
Plat .
Moving towards
the East the Rcn element was
f i red
upon by enemy In at
F691242
The f i re was returned.
One
enemy was observed
to
be h i t .
This
action was reported
to
the
supported
Inf . A patrol was sent ou
to clean
up
this
of
resistance
but
the
enemy
withdrew.
An
OP was es 'abl ished
by
the Rcn element at F646233 but no enem
act iv i ty was reported. There was no enemy aot iv i ty of the
1st
Platoons 's
gun posit ions
a t BRUCKHAUSEN.
The
2nd Plat
C Compa
maintained i t s
position
in
the
HE sector
of.BRUCKHAUSEN.
There
was no enemy
active during
the
13th
of March 1945.
At
about
IOOOA
the
3rd
Plat
was
attached
to
the 311th
Inf
t
support i t s
advance
to
the
North. The attached Rcn element re -
connoitered
a
route up
to
the
forest
l ine
around HONNEr
F6427)
The
3rd
Plat l e f t
i t s
road block
position
of
RHEINBREITBACH and
assembled on
the
~ r t
of HONNEF awaiting
the advance. The ad
vance however did not material ize . At 1900A the
platoon
was
rel ieved from i t s attachment
to
the 311th
Tnf and
returned
to
i t s original positi-)n. This
position
was aaintaine,d unt i l
the
followi:lg
day.
In
antic ipat ing
the muTement across the
RHINE
R the Bn CP
sent
the
S-l and a bi l le t ing party to reconnoiter tor b i l l e t s
in the
vicini tyof UW£EL
(F633225).
The bi l le t ing party le f t
BAD Ih UEiTAHR
140927A March
1945. A
verbal
order
was
received
at l010A that
the
656
TD Bn
would be attached
temporarily to th
8th
TD Group for operati:)nal control . A
confirmatory
writ ten
order
was to be
published la te r . All companies would
revert
to
Bn
control and the Bn would be
gi'ren
missions in the Corps
sector . The
Bn
CO c o n f i r ~ e d
th is
order at1200A. The Bn CO, 3-3
ana.
the Liais'Jn Officer
No
1 1 eft
for
the
8th T Group
to confe
with
the
Group c o m m n d e ~ o At 1419 in response
to
a
telephone
ca l l the 3u
S-2
reported
to
G 4 I I I
Corps
and
received road
cle arance
to
::nove the Bn CP, Hq and B Companies and the Rcn
de
tachment.
No dest inat ion was
given.
The column was to have
Jloved across the bridge over the S pontoon bridge. A represent
ative
from
the
8th
TD
Group was
to
have
met
the
head of
the
Bn
colu:nn upon crossing the
r iver .
The En CP closed at l419A at
BAD i8UElLcHR.
Order
of march for the move: 1st Rcn Plat
B
Com
pany,
Bn CP and Hq Co. The
Bn crossed
the
RHINE
R on
both brid
3 COJapany
eros sed
on
the
North bridge while
the
remainder of th
bat tal ion crossed
on
the South bridge.
The Bn
then proceeded t
Ul\.i :SL where i t assemoled and awaited
the
arr ival of the Group,:
)
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;
R:STRICTED
representative.
At
1930
the Bn CO arriYed
and directed the
B
to
move and occupy bi l l e t s in
RHEINBREITBACH (F633256). The
CP opened
a t
142000A March 1945.
Hq
Co
occupied bi l le t s in
t
vicini ty of the Bn CP. B Comoany moved North
and
went into p
t ion in the vic ini ty (F632260).
A
and
B
Companiea
reverted t
Bn
control
as
of 141100A March 1945.
A
Coapany
w s
put
in
su
port otCompany B, 899 TD Bn, deepening
the
AT
detenses
in th
9th
Inf
Div
sector. C Company was
to
'remain
in
place
and
dee
en the T defense in the 78th Div
sector.
B
Company waa
a le
ed to move a t a moments
notice
to
rel ieve
Company C. The 656
TD Bn consti tuted 1/2 of
the AT
reserve in
the
I I I
Corps
sec
Orders
for employment of the 656 TD Bn from 8th TD Group were
that
the Bn was
to support
the
action
of the 78th
Inf
with on
company
and
sup;Jort the act ion
of
the
9th Inf Div with one
co
pany.
One
company was
to
be
kept in reserve ready
to move to
any part
of
the
Corps sector upon
the
Group Commanders order.
n
enemy
counter-attack formed
in
the 9th Inf Div
sector
the morning
of
14 March 1945.
In
order to
block the
avenue
approach towards
the
bridge
a ainat
an armored
break-through
the 1st Plat
Company A
upon the
request of the CO
899
TD
Bn,
was moved from OHLENBERG
(F6721)
to support
the
2nd
Plat
a t
LINZ
(F6819). The
counter-attack
was
repulsed and
the Inf
ad
vanced to the East . At 1200A
the
company commander received
the
order
that A Company was
under
bat ta l ion control
attached
to
the 899
TD
Bn. The
1st Plat
was
aler ted to
move
to
HARGA
TSN
(F7l20).
A daylight
reconnaissance
of the route to the
posi t ion was made by the
platoon leader .
The
Platoon
moved o
at
2300A
and under the
cover of
darkness occupied posit ion
a t
PJffiGARTEN at 142330A March 1945. The
2nd
Plat
remained
at
LI
(F672186)1
The
3rd
Plat moved
to posit ions in
ST KATHARlNEN.
B Company
performed
normal
duties
on
the
morning
t
14
March 1945. At about 1245A one
man
was ki l led
and another
jured when a
grenade
accidental ly
discharged in
the 'pocket
the man who was ki l led At 1420A
the
company was aler ted to
move with the Bn
elements
across
the RHINE
RV
The company
moved out at 1530A and
closed at
an assembly area
in the vici
i ty of
RIIEINBREITBACH.
B Company was
aler ted to
move
at
a
mo
ents
notice to
r01ieve
C Company, however,
the
company remain
in i t s position
unt i l
the following
day.
C Company
reverted to
company
control
at 1100A 14 March
1
C Company was given the mission of supporting the at tack
of
t
78th
Inf
Div.
The
1st
and 2nd
Platoons
were
put
in direct
su
port t the 309th Inf Regt
while
the 3rd Plat
remained
in sup
port of the 3l l th ln f Regt. A warning
order
to move was
sent
to
the 2nd and
1st
Platoons. The objective
of
the 309th
Inf
Regt
was the
high ground
in
the vicini ty
of
HIMBURG
(F695281
The
order
to
move
to HIMBURG was received
a t
l800A. Upon re
ceiving
that
order
the
1st
and 2nd
platoon
leaders and the Rc
Plat attached
went
forward to
reconnoiter
routes of
approach
to th is area.
~ suitable
roads were found on
which to
move
the platoons. that
night .
Roads
were blocked
with vehicles
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.
~ i E S T R I C T £ D
that
had b o ~ ~ e d down. A
t r a i l
WBS
found but
at that time i t
was bein€ usee. by the
Medical
detachment
of
the 309th
Inf
for
evacuation ;;urpose;:-,. Another t r a i l was tound. Upon completi
the
reconnaissance platoon leader returned to their flatoons
and moved
out
towards their dest inat ion. The t r a i l
used
was
hardly
wide
enough
to
accomodate
a deBt110yer
and
since the
ground
w&s
soft ,
t ract ion
was
dif f icu l t .
The platoons moved
along the t ra i l
with the 3rd
Plat l e a d i n ~
I t
was
decided th
•
thjBroute
couldnot
be
used to
reach
HIMBURG.
At
l42300A
"Marc
1945 the platoons were ordered to assemble
at R IEINBREITBACH
unti l the
road
through RONNEF to
P.I1ffiURG
became opened. The
2nd and 3rd
Platoons
re[lched RHEINBREITBACH 2345A.
The Bn
CP displaced
from F633256 to F64 249 at l51130A
March 1945. Upon occupation of the new CP.plans were drawn u
for the employment of the bat ta l ion. Based upon a conference
between
the
Bn
O and the
CO
309th
Inf
the
following plan
was
put into effect: Elements of th,e 656 TD
Bn
would support the
advance
of the 309th
Inf unt i l
the platoons
of Band C Compan
could
occupy
positions on high ground covering the
REICHAUTO-
BARN h i ~ ~ h w a y This p ~ a n was put
into effect .
C Company was
to
support
the
at tack
of
the
309th
unt i l
the
desired
posi t ion
were cleared
of
enemy
troops.
Company B would remain in rend
ezvous
in
vicini ty of F688280
unt i l
such time
a ~
B Company'.
position
could
be
occupied.
A Company
would
remain
in suppor
of Company B 899 TD
Bn
unt i l such
time as
A
Company's
posit io
could
be
occupied. The plan was put into effect . The O 899
TD Bn upon request of the CO 78th Div requested
one
platoon
to
sup:
or t the 2nd
Bn,
310th Inf
in it at tack to the
East .
Aft
discussing this request
with-the Bn
CO, 2nd
Plat
Company B wa
ordered to render direct
cupport to
the
2nd
Bn, 310th Int .
The Bn 5-3 l e f t the
CP
at 1438A for
Band
C Companies
to
dis
cuss the
deta i ls
of the
plan.
The Bn CO at 1810A
le f t tor 8t
TD
Group
to
confer with
the
CO,
8th
TD,Group
onfuture
employ
ment of the bat ta l ion.
The 9th In Div cont inued the adVance
to
the East. As
th
advance
position&
occupied
by Company B 899 TD Bn became
vaca
platoons of'
A
Compuny moved into the vacated posi t ions . in
ord
to
keep
close
to
the supported
TD
elementa. The 1st Plat Com
A
remained
in posi t ion at
RARGARTEN
(F710206) and
the
2nd Pla
remained in posit ion at LINZ (F677188)
d u r 1 ~
the 15th of Mar
1945. The 3rd Plat moved trom
LINZ
(F678189) to
ST
KATHARINE
(F231212).
There
was no enemy
activitY'
in A
Company's platoon
areas.
Upon arr ival
of the
Bn
S-3
at B
Company's
rendezvous area
the
company commander
and the
Bn
~
discussed
the
plan.
as
,it
pertained to B Companyo At the departure of the
Bn
8-3 B C o ~
pany l e t t i t s
assembly
l e t t i t s assemLIY' area
at
151615A
Maro
1945 to move into posi t ion. The company moved
out
with
the 1
Plat
leading
t
llowed by the
3rd
Plat wi th
the
2nd
bringinr;
u
the
t a i l
of the column. The 1st Rcn
Plat
secured the route.
The 1st
Plat reached
i t s
assigped area at
ROTTBITZE
(F700225)
at 151930A March 1945 • Upon reaching i t s
dest inat ion the
pla
oon
tock up positions covering the roads leading into
the
tow
The 1st Platoon' a
leader
established l ia ison
with the
CO, 3rd
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R F ~ T R J r T f D
Bn" 309th Inf l hl,-use CP was in the same, to. . .
·•
The CO ;«ave the
p l ~ t o o n
leader
the de ta i l s
of
his troops disposi t ion and warn
ed the
platoon leader of
the proximity of
the
enemy infantry.
The town was
heavily
.bel led a t
n i ~ h t but since the men had
taken cover
in the
buildings
no
casual t ies were
suffered. The
~ r d
Plat
t Company B,
follo.ed the 1st
and ::ou!-'ied
h i ~ h
«round.
1n a
quarry
to
the
S of
ROTTBITZE (F696275).
The reserve
slope
was occupied as
the ,forward
slope and the cres t
were under en
emy
observation
and ar t i l l e ry f i r e .
The
2nd
Plat
moved
out
with
the
company but
dropped
out of the column
and
went
into
a
rend
ezveus at (F655282).
The
platoon leader
established l ia ison
with the CP of the 2nd Bn,
3l0th
Inf , and was told to remain in
that posi t ionunt i l the Bn was
committed. Theplatocn remained
in
the
~ e n d e z v o u s for the remainder
of
the day.
Upon reaching RHEINBREITBACH
the 2nd
and 1st
Platoons
joined
the
3rd
Plat
of
C Companr l60l00A March
1945.
The company moved
out
for
HIMBURG (F69528l) on the road
runnint;
N
to HONNEF (F6427
then E to HIMBURG. Instruct ions were received to move on the
P.ONllliF
-
HIMBURG road unt i l
a road block
consist ing
of mines
covered
by
two
tanks
was reached. The company moved
out in the
following
order 3rd,
2nd,
1st
plat.oons.
The Rcn
Plat
remained
at
tLe Company CP. At
1503l5A
March 1945
the
leadin« platoon
reached the road
block.
The platoon
leader could not
contact
the
company commander
in order to inform
him
that the road block
had been reached. The
mine f ie ld
had been reported to be clear
ed. Nevertheless
af ter
fa i l ing
to
contact the company commander
'by
radio, the
platoon
leader of
the 3rd
Plat. drove to HONNEF and
contacted the
O
by phone.
Upon his
return to the road block
the
3rd Plat leader hnd
the
platoon
sergeant
dismounted
and in
sIJectej
tLe mine f ie ld .
No
surface
mines had been
round aDd so
the
platocn
leader af ter being
assured
that the
mine
f ie ld had
been cleared
led his platocn
across. The leading ,quarter ton
and
the
f i r s t
destroyer
crossed
the
mine
f ie ld
without
detonat
ing
any
mines.
The
second
destroyer detaonated two
mines blow
ing both t racks
off . None
of the crew
was
injured.
The
crew
dismounted
from
the immobilized
destroyer to ret r ieve the i r
helmets which were
blown
off by
the
explosion. At
that time
the Engineers at the
road block motioned a
quarter tonfrom an
ether
org&.nization
to pass through the
mine
fie Id .
As
the 1/4
ton p ~ s e d
the
destroyer another
mine was
detonated.
Three
of
the crew
members
were
injuaed
by the blast and flying fragments.
The
Engirleers
swept the road
and
guaranteed that
i t
was
cleared.
In the confusion
at
' the mine
f ield
one 1/4 ton was
squeezed
between
two destroyers but no
one
was hurt . The remainder of
the
company
passed through
the
mine
f ie ld
at
l5l000A
March
1945
and
proceeded
to
an
assembly area in the
vic ini ty of
F684284.
TLe ll1atoons then spl i t
up
in order to reach the i r specif ic
objectJves. The 1st and 3rd Platoons
remained
in
posi t ion
unt i l
the i r assigned areas
had been cleared.
The 2nd
Plat
moved
into
EIMBURG.
The
platocn leader
reported
to the
Bn
CO, 1st En, 309t
Inf
and was
ordered
to take up posit ions with
f ields of
f i re to
the
and ~ ~ . The platoon remained
in
the
posit ion
for the re-
mainder of the
day.
The
3rd Plat
was in support
of
the 2nd Bn,
~
309th Inf , and the 1st
in
support of the 3rd Bn, 309th Inf .
Liaison was established with a l l CPs
of
the sUPi;orted uni ts .
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~
f T ~
.,.,.
The 1st and .Jrd Platoons remained
in
the-- at-sYm'o'lY area unt i l
the mornirlg of 16 March 1945 when both platoons
sUpported
the i
respective battal ions. D u r l n ~ the
stay
in the assembly area
th
platoons
were
under constant
ar t i l l e ry
and
mortar
f i re . No
ca
ual t ies were
sustained
in this posit ion.
The En
received
infol'mc_tion regarding;
the
change in Corps
boundaries.
With the new
ooundary
taking effect the C Compan
ies
were
operating
out of the
I I I Corps
area. The En CO
calle
the
CO,
309th
Inf
R e ~ t t
in
reference to
the
new
Corps
boundary
Upon the vis i t
of
C Company commander to the En CP the Bn
O
oriented
the company commander
in
regards to the new Corps
bou
.
ary.
C Company was
~ i v e n
the warning order to prepare to
dis
place
to
new positicns upon order from th is Hq. At
l6l049A
,
March 1945 the En
O
received
a
cal l
from the CO, 309th In f in
reference
to
the
2nd
Plat posit ion
on the AUTOBAHN. A
po.sibl
armored
attack
was imminent and
the CO, 309th
In t was gravely
concerned with his
position
on the highway. A
request
was mad
to
keep
the
2nd Platoon, Company C in
that
positj.on unt i l re
l ieved by TDs of the
893rd
TD Bn. The Bn
CO
conoarred with th
request .
A
r e ~ u e s t trom the
SlOth
Int
CO
requested the
2nd
Plat ,
Company B remriin in posi t ion
and
n
support
of
the
2nd
En,
SlOth
Inf . The Bn
CO
concurred with
th is
request
also.
I
antje ipat ion of movin6 out of the I I I Corps area a b i l l e t i n ~
party was sent to LINZ
(F677186). Band
C
Companies
were aler
to
reconnoiter routes
to position to the
South
in the
I I I Corp
area. The En S-3
with
the 8th TD Group aid
arranged to
have a
plane available
for
aer ia l reconnaissance. The pi lo t of the
:t:1ane arr ived at the
CP
a t 1400A. The
Plat
leader of the 2nd
Plat , Company B was to
f ly the f i r s t
mission.
Ground
haze se
in
and
the
f l ight
had to be
cancelled. In accordance with
the
plane was to be
available for
future
f l i ~ h t s
under
the control
of 8th
TD Groupo
The 9th
Int
Div advanced to
the East.
he 899 TD En was
attached
to
the
9th
Int
Div.
Aa
~ h e
Int
a ~ v a n c e d
TD Platoons
of the 899
TD
En moved
to forward
posit ions in close
support .
Since A C o m ~ a n y 856 TD Bn, was in support of Company B 899
TD En, coDY
posit ions
vacated
by
Company B 899 TD Bn became
available
for occupation for Company A. At 16C001A March 1945
the
1st
Plat ,
Company A, at HARGARTEN
(F707206),
2nd Plat vic
Ini ty LINZ (F688198).
. The 3rd Plat moved from ST K A T H R I ~ E N (F7212Il)
to
LORSCHEI
( F 7 3 0 ~ l 8 ) . The
3rd
Plat
since
i t moved durin,
day11,ht
houra
was under considerable ar t i l l e ry and
shel l
f i re .
No
casual t ie
were
suffered. The Company CP moved
from
OCHENFELS to LINZ.
At 160900A March 1945
the
Bn
CO
of
the
supported
Inf
B n r e
quested the
Plat leader of
the 1st
Plat , Company B a ~ d in
re
pell ing
an expected enemy
counter-attack
~ y an estiaated. compa
of
enemy
infantrymen.
The enemy was
in
a wood.s 500 yards to
t
East.
The Inf Bn requested the TD. to f i re on anything that
moved. At approximately 1000A movement waa noticed n the woo
The
TD
Plat immediately opened
f i re
with
shel l set
a t
fuze
qui
Tree bursts were
secured. A
to ta l of 52
rounds
of
HE were ex-
pended.
In th is
action
two enemy
MGs
were destroyed and an un
known number
of
enemy
kil ledand
wounded. The ~ C ~ ~ P ~ ~ s e d
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- - ~ E S T R ~ C T E D
at
l200A.
The-' enemy
counter-attack 'was s'{opped. At l500A
the
pl to', n
p o ~ i t ion
was
f i red
on
several time
s by enemy
snipers
from the
N sect ion
of the town. Observation placed
the
sniper
in
one
or a l l of the houses.
The
Plat leader
moved one
des
troyer
in
a
posit ion
covering a l l
three houses. E i ~ h t
rounds
were
f i red. Inf
immediately
followed
the preparat ion and
oc
cupied
thehouses. Two snipers were
found
dead and
5 enemy
taken prisoners. ~ r i n g the
remainder of
the day
and
a t
nigh
the
town
of ROTTBITZE
(F700275)
was
under
enemy
shel l
f i re
o
~
2nd Plat remained
in i t s a8sembly
area inthe woods. The
expe
ted committment of
the . 2nd Bn,
3l0th Int,
did
not take place.
The
3rd
Plat
remained on
the reverse slope
of·
the
high h i l l a
F696275. Individual
guns
weremoved
to
the cres t several
time
but in each instance e n ~ m y ar t i l l e ry f i re
was drawn. The
Pla
however suffered no
casualt ies.
The
Plat
remained
in
that po
tion for the remainder of
the
day. The Plat Sgt and driver o
the 1st Plat
upon
making a reconnaissance
along the road
runn
to
the
East
and the enemy became
temporarily
oat off from
his
unit
when
the Inf
and
TDa
pulled back
to
town.
In the e v e n i D ~
f i re
f i ~ h t
each
of
the men
ki l led one enemy
infantryman
and
th
covering
one
another,
the
two
men
tought
back
and
rejoined
th
platoon.
At about 160930A March 1945
the
1st Bn,
309th
Inf , at tack
N
from HIMBERG
t h r o u ~ h
a co
• • re
draw,
then East
by
passin,
AGIDIENBERG
(F694294),
seized
HOVEL (F693302) and cut the UT
BAHN
Highway running West
of
HOVEL. The town of HOVEL waa
tak
by
the 1st Bn
but
not cleared. The
2nd
Plat
in
i t a movement
,positions in the vicini ty of
HOVEL was
divided into
two
secti9
The 1st section
under
the platoon leader moved by a cover rou
to a position in the woods F686307) where i t remained for th
remainder
of
the day. Firing
posit ions
were reconnoitered
gi
ing f i e l dsd
f i re
covering the AUTOBAHN highway but not
occup
because
of
enemy
observation,
ar t i l l e ry and
SP
ar t i l l e ry f i re
At l200A the
Plat
S t began moving his guns ' towards
his
a s s i ~
posi t ion
E of
HOVEL. The Bn
8-3 requested the
Plat Leader
to
clear
out some
M nests that were holding
up
the
taking
t
HO
Instruct ions were
given to
proceed down a
road
where a luide
would meet him and lead him to the M
posi t ions.
On his way
down with one destroyer the Plat
S ~ t passed
two
M 4 tanks
on
the
side of
the road waiting
for
the resiatance tobe cleared.
Coming out from behind a buD d1ngthe destroyer was taken und
f i re by enemy
bazookas,
MGa and SP
ar t i l l e ry f i re .
One bazoo
hi t the turre t
carrying away
a l l of the eqUipment
attached to
i t . The
destroyer stopped and b e g ~ n b ~ c k i n b up
when
another
bazooka
h i t
t ~ e
front
of
the
tu r re t .
A
th i rd
bazooka
hi t
the
drive sprocket.
There was no penetrat ion
from
any
of the
h i t
Three
rounds
were f i red into the
bazooka
and M
posi t ion.
Th
tn.ee bazooka
teams, two
MG. and a SP
75 were
destroyed.
In
this
action
a l l of the
enemy
were ki l led.
Moving down
the
ro
and m a k i n ~ a aharp r ight turn the destroyer was taken under f
by a SP
gun at
a range
ot
50 yards. The blas t
carried
away
th
driver s s teel helmet
but didnot injure
him. The crew
f i red
two
HE and
one APC at
the blas t of
the gun ~ n d
then
backed up
behind
the
turn.
The destroyer
then
pulled up
again
and
f i r e
3 more
rounds
of HE.
There
was no return f i r e from the
gun.
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1 .· , I> IJ.
l 'S
r'-E
f ;
........
_,
\ ~ . f
,
~
; . ..
t · < · ~ · . ·
.
' , .- . . .
.
, P.
Twenty-five prisoners were taken and turned over to the Inf .
The destroyer then proceeded to f i re HE into the b u i l d i n ~ of
EOVEL unti l a l l ammunition wa3 expended in the ready rack. T
.50 ca.?-iber MGs were then
employed. Some
tanks and
TDs
appea
ed on the scene and
the Platoon
Sgt covered
them
as they
went
into position. The sergeant
then
rejoined the
other
gun in h
section. In
his absence the
second
gun t i red on
a machine gu
in
a
chimney
across
the
highway which
was
preventing
the
In
from crossing the highway. HE
and
APC
were
f i red into
the
hou
neutralizing
the
MG. and forCing 15
to 20
enemy to
leave
the
house. The
section then
took up
posit ions coverinL
the highw
This posit ion
subject
to enemy obs8rvation, mortar and
ar t i l l e
f i re was
maintained
for the remainder of the
day.
The 3rd
Plat
jumped off tosecure AGIDIENBERG (F694294) wi
three
medium tanks and two M-IO destroyers
from
the
893rd
TD B
J/hen about 200 yards N of
HIMBUHG
(F695281) the leading
tank
and an
M-IO
destroyer were k n o c ~ e d
out.
The road on which
the
vehicles were advancing ran along a
high
ridge open to
the
Ea
and
subject to enemy
HV f i re .
The platoon leader of
the 3rd
Pla
t
di rec
ted
the
P l a ~ o
. :;0
S ~ t
of the 2nd.
Rcn
Plat
to
reconnoi
er
for
another route. At that time
an
M-18 driver di$mounted
from his destroyer
and
began ext r ica t in ,
wire
trom
his deatroy
e r s
suspension. An
enemy shell
hi t about
25
yards
away
and
wounded the man. The driver was evacuated
to
the aid s ta t ion
of
the 1st Bn, 309th Inf. There were
several
buildings on
the
East side of
the road
on which the
vehicles were stopped
when
taken under
enemy HV
f i re .
Each
vehicle
halted
behind
one
of
these buildings.
The
enemy apparently knew th is and
began f i r
iD.t through the buildings. One round. penetrated a building an
knocked
off
a road wheel of one
of
the destroyers . The Platoo
leader located the ~ which was f i r ing on the road. Through
his f ie ld glasses
the
Plat leader
could
see
a tank
parked
against
a
b u ~ l d i ~
at
F702290.
One
destroyer
moved
into
a
f i r
n ~ posit ion and fired three rounds. The f i re
of this
destroy
er was
coordinated
with
an Int
57mm
in order
to distract
the
enemy at tent ion trom the M-18. The f i r s t
round
hi t the tank
and
penetrated the
armor, the second glanced off
while
the
th i rd penetrated and made a sizeable
hole.
X
aecond
destroye
pulled into a f i r ing posi t ion
and
fired. two rounds of HVAP
at.
the corner of the house behind which
the
enemy tank waa parked
The rounds hi t
the
corner of the
houae penetrated
the masonry
and
hi t the tank. The f i r s t gun
then
f ired
three more rounds
t APC. The posit ion occupied by the guna
was
being
shelled
continually. Five men
were
injured s l ight ly by
ahell
fragmen
including the
platoon
leader
and
platoon
sergeant.
These
men
received t r e a t ~ e n t but
were
not
evacuated.
The Rcn
Sgt
return
from his mission and
the
platoon leader taking his two operat·
ional
destroyers
moved
through
AGIDIENBERG. Upon
arriTing
a t
HOVEL
the
3rd
Platoon
leader found
one ~
of the
2nd
Platoon
under
the platoon
sergeant 's
command engaged
in
a
t ight
in .up
port of Infantry. The
3rd
pla t ,
medium
tanks
and M-IO
deatroy
ers
joined in the
f ight .
Upon
clearing
the town the 3rd Pla t
moved into posit ion at F687295, a high
dominating
p r o ~ t o r y
5
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· io,
- - . . . . - . l r ~
#;
J..
. .:
'
~ ~ . , I .:
L
. .
' t : . r
overlooking
tne- AUT<)6fu -iN l1ighway. The
pla"oon
lIloved
into -.:osi
t ion
at
16l700A
:vlarch 1945 and remained there for two days:
The
at tack
of the 9th Inf
Div
slowed do:m to a
slow
march.
Enemy
o p p o s i ~ i o n
was s t i f f and the terra in dif f icu l t . With the
establi:3hment of
the
new
Co_·ps boundary two
c o r n p ~ . 1 n i e 3 and
the Bn
CP were out of the Corps sector . Due
to the
slow
advance
of
the
attacking
9th Inf , desired
posi t ions
selected for future
gun
posi t ions could
not be occupied.
P e r m i s ~ i o n
was
received
to
allow
Bond
C
Companies
to
occupy
the i r
respective
pos i t ions
unt i l
such
time when
the desired posi t ions became
avai lable.
The
3n
CP
was
to have
moved
South on the
17th
of March 1945 but
d ~ e to the t ra f f ic conditions r e s u l t i n ~ from the crash of
the
LUD:JNDORF
BRIDGE
road
clearance o o u l ~ i
not
be secured. Company
Comrnanders wei'e
directe,
to make reconnaissances
for
routes to
tfie new posi t ions . Band C Companies af te r attemJting to occupy
thei r assigned
posit ions
reported
that
new posi t ions
could not
oe reached as f ight ing was s t i l l
in
progress in tha t
area.
The
co panies
were directed
to maintain
the i r posi t ions unt i l order
ed to move by
th is Hq.
There were
no
changes in
A
Company's dispos i t ion
or
ass ign
~ e n t
during
the
period
170001A
to
172400A
March
1945.
The Bn
CP
and the 2nd
Plat ..
ere
a t
LINZ (F654244), 1st Plat
a t
H A R G - ~ T E N
(F708205), and the
3rd
Plat a t LORSCHEID (F730218).
After the action of the
previous day. the
1st Pla t
Company
B
on 17 March 1945, remained
in
i t s posi t ion. Sporadic a r t i l l e ry
t i re
was
received. One quarter ton
wassprayed
by shrapnel but
no casual t ies were suffered. The 2nd Pla t remained in support
of
the 2nd
Bn,
310th
Inf . Since the 2nd Bn's expected
commitmen
fa i led to
materialize the platoon
remained
in i t s bivouac posi t i
expecting· re l i e f of a
TD element
of
the
893rd TD Bn• The re l i e f
arr ived at 170830A
and
the 2nd Pla t
reverted
to
company cont ro l
The
platoon
was then ordered to move to
HIMBURG in expectat ion
of
movement
to the South.
The
2nd
P.lat
arrived
a t
HIMBURG
(F695
281) at 1400A. The platoon remained in H I ~ m U R G
unt i l
the fol low
j.ng
day.
The 3rd
? la t of
Company B
remained
in
i t s posi t ion
on
the high ~ r o u n d
a t the
quarry
South of HIMBURG. There however
was no ar t i l le ry
f i re
on the 17th of March 1945.
Besides receiving sporadic
ar t i l l e ry
and SF a r t i l l e ry t i r e
the
1st Plat , Company C, remained
inact ive
on the 17th
of March
1945. After
the action
a t HOVEL
the
2nd sect ion
mOTed
in to
pos
i t ions covering
the R ~ I C H A U T O B A H N
highway. This
pos i t ion
waa
maintained
unt i l
171100A
March
1945. During the night and morn
ing of the 17th
the
enemy
counter-at tacked the In! holding the
highway. Each
c o ~ t e r - a t t a c k
was
broken up
by
the a r t i l l e r7 .
As night
fe l l
the
1st
sect ion
of the
2nd
Plat moved
to
pos i t ion
on
the A U T C B ~ i N .
A
detai l of eight
Infantrymen
and the TD . ec -
t ion were the only holding force in
that
viCini ty .
The
sect ion
r e m i n e ~ on
the highway un t i l 171100A
March
when
r e l i e t by
a
platoon from
the 893rd
TD
Bn
arr ived.
The
platoon leader then
assembled
his platoon
a t HOVEL
and
moved to an asaembly area
a t
F679289 • The
? la t
leader l e f t his
platoon there
and
reported
S
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. . , . ,;
: :
.• , f
~
,.
: .
.. l . . . . ; ;
,
, l
to
the Bn
CO for
i n s t r ~ c t i o n s . The 2nd Plat remained
in
tha
,; OS i t . i ) ( l un t i l
thefollowing
day. The posi t ion occupied by
t
3rd Plat
at
A G I ~ I E N B E R G (F687294)
provided
excel lent
f ie lds
f i re and observation
deep
into
the
enemy t e r r i to ry . Enemy I
were
observed
digging in,
MG
emplacements
were also observed
The ~ l a t o J n leader of the 3rd Platmade an
overlay
of his
pos
t ion and
sent it to
the
Inf Bn CO. The Inf sent an ar t i l l e ry
who establ ished an
OP
in
vic in i ty
of the
platoon
CP. ~ susp
ted
enemy
tank
posi t ion
was
discovered
a t
170800A.
The
tank
was taken under
f i re
by the
3rd Plat . Hits
were made
but sin
the range f i red was about 1600 yards the
APC
projec t i le r ico
cheted off
the
f ronta l armor. A
higher
sight pic ture was
us
and
i t i s
believed
that
the
tu r re t was jammed as there was n
react ion
from
the enemy
tank.
At 1700A the a r t i l l e ry observ
poi nted outan enemy tank and the
3rd
Plat took i t uI l.(.1erfire
' } , ~
~ : r d
.?r:d · ~ t h l v ~ l d h i t th,e tank and i t wa. observed smoki
Another tank
was
taken under f i re
but
since
i t
was
growing d
no h i t s were
secured.
The P,L (; : '
cJ
osed a t
RRE
IKBREITBACH (F630249) l80840A
Mar
1945 and
moved
to
LINZ
(F684192).
The movement
of
the
BneP
Pq Co
and
the CPs of the Rcn and B Companies was
the
~ i r s t
o
the
necefs ary
moves to Bet the
elements
of the 656 TD Bn
into
the I I I
Corps sector. At l150A the En CO in conversatioa
with the CO,
8th TD
Group, asked. for permission to move
13
an
C
Companies
into
the
I I I Corps sector .
Since the
desired
po
t ions had
bean
cleared of enemy forces,
permission
was ~ r a n t
Companies
Band C were not i f ied to move the i r platoons
into
posi t ions
in
the 78th and 9th Inf sector . Information was
r
ceived thDt the Bn woulc.. have i t s M-18s replaced py M-36s, in
the
near future.
The Bn
5-4
was ins t ructed to
contact
the
Crdnance
organization
and coordinate the effor t s of
r e c e i v i n ~
and
turning
in
of
the
vehic les . The Bn
O
and
s t a f f
off ice r
made routine v i s i t s to companies and the i r posi t ions .
The
1st
and
3rd
Platoons
of
A Company remained
in
the sam
posi t ions on the 18th
of
March 1945. The
2nd
Plat
l e f t the
road
block
posi t ion
at LINZ (F688198)
and
moved to
an
Cl,ssemb
posi t ion
inthe
vic in i ty of LORSCHFaD (F730218). Since th is
ros i t ion
was subject
to
enemy observation
and
a r t i l l e ry f i re
tlle plateen
remained in
the assembly
area
un t i l
darkness.
Fi
},osit.ions
were
reconnoitered
during
the hours of daylight an
were o c c u ~ i e d
durinb the hours
of darkness.
Upon his vis i t ·to
the
En CP
20 March
1945 the CO Company
received
ins t ruct ions
to
move : t is company in to
an
assembly
area in the I I I Corps sector in
the
vic ini ty
of
SCHWElFELD
(F70426C). The
three
platoons assembled at ROTTBITZE (F7112
and
moved down the
road
to the i r ,des t ina t ion . On
the
march
down
to
their assiened area the
2nd Plat
f i red
on
enemy
a i r -
craf t . The plato,ns
closed a t
SCHWElFELD
at l645A.
The pos
t ions occupi?1
were shel led by the enemy
but
no
materiel
dam
aF:ed or
casual
t i e s were sustained by B Company. The company
relLuined
witb tbe
En
CP and
accompanied i t on i t s movement
fr
RT SINBREITEACH
to
LINZ.
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Company C
displaced i t s
three p l a t o ; ~ n s
on the 18th of
Marc
in
the general
move
of
the bat ta l ion iLto
the I I I Corps
sec tor
The 1st Plut moved into posi t ions a t
KALENBORN (F706248).
The
1st Plat was
in p o s i t ~ o n by
l500A. C Company s
2nd
and 3rd
Plc-toans
moved
to NOTSCEBID (F7l8226), the
2nd and
3rd
Platoon
were in posi t ion by
l6l0A.
For
th is move
the
1s t Rcn sect ion
was
at tached to
the l s tP la t and
the 2nd
Ren sect ion
at tached
to
the 3rd
Pla t
The enemy
f i red
some
h i ~ h AA
bur s t
over the
2nd and 3rd Platoon s posi t ions but the f i re was inef fec t ive
In order tocoordinate the exchange of the
M 18
for the
M 3
destroyers with the l eas t amount of
confusion
the
Bn
S-4
vis i t
the Corps
G 4
on
tbe 19th
of March 1945.
The Bn
CO in
confer
ence
with
the 8th TD
Group
CO discussed
theplan of moving
B Co
pany
from the assembly
posi t ion
a t 8CHWElFELD (F705260)
into
posit ions
covering
tank approaches
in
that area. Since the a r
in
the
viCinity
of
SCHWEIFELD i s
hi l ly
with deep gorges i t was
decided
to
employ
the company by
sect ions .
Upon the Bn
COs
return to the
Bn
CP the detai ls
of
the plan were given
to
the
Bn
S-3.
The Bn
8-3 vis i ted the CP of
B Company
and
gave
the
deta i l s
of
the
plan
to
the
Company
CO.
A
request
from
the
899
TD
Bn was
received requestinb
a re l i e f
for
a 899
TD Platoon a t
S T O C ~ l A U S E N
(F734289).
The
request was not complied
with
as
B
C0mne.ny
was in posi t ion covering c r i t i c a l
tank
approaches.
The
Bn CO
and
Motor
Officer
made
routiLe
v i s i t s to the companie.
on th i s day.
There was no chan€;e
i ~ Company s
posi t ion or dispos i t ion
for the
period
19000lA
to
192400A March 1945. Location of
platoons as follows;
1st Plat at
EARGARTEN (F715208), 2nd Pla
at
LCRSCHEID (F7292l9), 3rd Plat N of
5T KATEARINEN
(F723214).
The
mission and attachment
of
A Company:
s u p ~ j o r t i n g
Company
B,
899
TD
En.
B Company moved
into
an
assembly
area in
preparat ion for
movement
to f ina l posi t ions
19
March 1945. Based oh
a
confer
ence between tbe
CO
8th
TD Group,
and
the Bn CO B Company
was assigned an
area
of respons ibi l i ty in
the
vic in i ty of the
company
assembly area.
The En
B 3
on the
19th
of March 1945
vis i ted the
CP
of
Company B
and discussed
the deta i l
of the
p l ~ n Based upon
th i s
discuss ion B
Company
was
disposed
as
follows: 1st Plat
moved
the 1s t sect ien to
REDERSCHEID (F715
275),
the 2nd
sect ion
to WATTENBACH (F721269);
the 2nd Pla t
moved
to H l ~ N
(F735253);
the 3rd Plat
moved one
gun sect ion to
FROMEN (F729257)
and
another sect ion to WILLSCHEID (F719248).
All ~ u n s were in posi t ion
by 19l540A March
1945.
The
AT defen
in
that
area
was
then
coordinated
by
l ia ison
with
TD
elements
of the
899
TD Bn.
The company
CO
establ ished
his
CP
withthe
39th Inf Regt. B Compsny posi t ions received some ineffec t ive
a r t i l l e ry
f i r e
The enemy
remained
inact ive in
the area
occupied by C Com-
raP Yo Routine
co
pany
funct:ions
performed by
the
company.
The
attached 2nd
Rcn Pla t
was sub-at tached.
The
Pla t
Sgt
and
two 1/4-tons
were assigned to
the 3rd Plat ; one sect ion Sgt
and
one
1/4- ton
attached
to the 2nd PIE:lt and the Rcn Pla t lead
er and
two
1/4-tons
with
tbe l s t
P la t No missions had
been
h
assie;ned
to
the
Ren Flat
during the period
190COl-192400A
March 1945 . ' ·
28
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--r
r
\'T ,""j:' r { T t ~ f i
'-' , f ,:
i
. '
\
The
request to
furnish a re l ie f
for
a platoon
of tbe
899
TD En was repeated,
20
March 1945. The En CO
conferred
with th
CO
8th
TD Group and i t was decided
that
E Company, 656
TD En,
would furnish
the re l ie f
platoon
for
the
899 TD
Bn
element
at
STOCKJIAUSFJN
(F734289).
Company B was aler ted to move
platoo
for STOCKHAUSEN.
At
20l840A
March
1945 a mesEage was
received
a ler t ing
the
Bn of
a
possible
enemy
paratrooper attack
in
the bridgehead
::ires.. This info:rma. t ien rece i ved immediate a t ten t ion
and
was
disseminated to
a l l
companie
r; The
Bn guard
was
doubled.
No
oaratroGper attack
developed t h ~ t night or the following morni
The Liaison Officer with the 8th TD Group arrived at 2150A wit
the information
that C Company, 656 TD
Bn, was attached to
CCB
~ e r verb&l order of the CG, I I I Corps. C Company CO was not i f
of th is
change
and
told
to
report
to the CP of CCB for fur ther
instruct icns. The Bn S ~ l e f t with
the
C Company CO
to
v is i t
the CCB CPo Both off icers
r t u ~ n e d
at 2400A.
C
Company was t
at tach
one platoon
of TDsto
the 27th
Armd Inf Bn
and
move
to
an
assembly area
a t HONNINGEN (F7013) at 0800A
the
next mornin
Enemy ar t i l l e ry aetion in A Company's area was quite
inten
during the period 200001A
to
202400A March 1945. Four rounds
landed in the vicini ty of the Platoon CP 1915A. No
damage
resul ted.
The 2nd Platoon's posi t ion received
approximately
200 rounds of
ar t i l l e ry . There
again
was no damage.. Upon re -
ceiving the
paratro"per
at tack a le r t
the
secur i ty outposts
were
doubled
o
No
paratrooper at tack developed however.
There
was
no change of-
posi t ions
by any of the platoons
or
the COlllpa
CPo
On
the
20th of March 1946 B Company rem:ined in the
posi -
t icns occupied the
previous
day.
Some
enemy a r t i l l e ry
fe l l
in
the
platoon posit ions '
but
no
damage resul ted. Upon
receiTing
the
paratrooper
at tack
warning,
securi ty
was
doubled
and
the
MGs were
set
on
ground
mounts.
The
paratrooper
at tack
fa i led
to
m a t e r i ~ l i z e
C Company
carr ied
on
normal
company functions
on
the
20th
of
liarch 1945 unt i l receiJ:,t
t the attachment to CCB. The Com
pany
CO reported
to
CCB CP
where
he was
to ld
to
at tach one
platoon to
27th A r m d _ ~ n f B n The 1st Plat
was attache
..
to the
27th Armd Inf
Bn.
Upon his
re turn
to
the company
CP
a t 2400A
the platoon was
alerted
for movement
to
HONl'aNGEN (F70l3) •.
In antiCipation
of
movement to
the V Corps
sector , the ATO
V Corps aDd a 3rd TD Group
representat ive
arr ived a t the Bn CP
21 March
1945.
Future
operations
and
the
Oorps
AT
SOPa
were
discussed. B Company was
ordered
to move a platoon
of
TDs
to
STOCKHAUSEN.
This order was fu l f i l l ed . A representat ive fo r
the 817
TD Bn vis i ted
the Bn
CP
in
quest of information
r e ~ a r d
ing the M-18
which his
organizat ion was to receive. All infor
mation
available
a t
the
bat ta l ion
was
furnished including f i r -
ing
tables computed
in par t by members of the 656·TD
Bn.
Daily
v i s i t s to
companies. w r made
by
the Bn
CO and s t a f t off icers
21 March 1945.
,
• • • . q fT >{; t
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I
.......
~ l l [
1 ~ 1 f T [ n
: \ I [t
A Company moved the 1st Plat to
NOTSCHEID
21 March 1945
to
replace two platoons of C Company. The 2nd Plat dug in
the
l e t t
flank ~ since i t s posi t i0n was on forward
slope.
There was no
other
ac t iv i ty in A
Company's posi t ions.
The 1st and.
2nd Platoons
of
B
Company remained in
the
posi
t ionsoccupied the previous
day.
Atter
receiving the order to
turnish
re l ie r
at STOCKHAUSEN,
CO
Company
B,
ordered the 3rd
Plat
to
displace.
At
2ll300A
March 1945
the
3rd
Plat
assembled
at
WILLSCHEID
(F'7l6249)
and
proceeded to STOCKHAUSEN
(F734289).
When about one-halt mile trom the dest inat ion the platoon
l e a d ~ r
3rd Plat , directed the
attached
Ren sect ion to contact
the 2nd
Plat , Company C, 899 TD Bn, to
see whether
or
not i t
was advisable to make the replacement during daylight hours.
Since
the
town
t
STOCKHAUSEN was under enemy
observation
the
movern"ent
to town and. pos l t ion was
not attempted
unt i l about
l630A.
The platoon moved
into
posit ion at
l630A
under cover
of darkness. Despite the poor vis ib i l i ty enemy a r t i l l e ry began
fa l l ing as soon as the movement was
detected.
OUtpoata
with MGs
were immediately
posted.
Liaison was completed with Company B,
1st
Bn,
39th
Inf,
9th
Armd
Div.
Liaison
was·
also establ ished
with an
ar t i l le ry
FO operating in that sector .
Upon reporting to
the
CP t CCB, C Company .received orders
to
at tach one platoon to 27th Armd In t
Bn.
The
remaining
two
platoons
were to
be held in reserve under company control . The
1st Plat was
attached to
the 27th Armd Int Bn. The company was
ordered to move to
HONNINGEN (F698l30).
C Company departed tr
•
. the vic in i ty of NOTSCHEID (F7l8226) 210810A March 1945
and
a r r i -
ved
a t
the assembly area at
HONNINGEN
0900A. The
2nd
and
3rd
Platoons aasembled
there
while the 1st Plat
continued
on
to
LEUTESDORF (F751059)
where
i t went
into an assembly
posit ion
in
preparation
for
the at tack
SE towards NEUWEID (1'8003). All pla t
oons
remained
in posi t ion
the remainder
of
the day.
The Company
CP moved from LINZ (F678l85) to HONNINGEN. .
I t
was
learned
that 36 M-36s were def ini te ly available
for
the 656th TD
Bn a t
221550A Maroh 1945. The information waa
brought to the Bn CP
by
the Liaison Officer with the 9th Armd
Div. Upon
receipt
of the A-36s the M-18s were
to beturned
OTer
to
the 817th TD
Bn.
At 2054A the Liaison Officer with
the
9th
Armd
Div
reported
tha t the 656 TD
Bn reTerted
from
operational
control
of
the 8th TD Group
and
.3.ttached to 9th Armd
Div
ef tec
t ive 212400A. March 1945. I t was now necessary to move the ele-
~ e n t s of the
656th
TD.Bn to the V Corps
sector .
Bn rel ieved trom
operational control ot 8th TD Group effective
212400
March
1945.
There was nothing
to
report in Company's sect'or tor
the
22
of March 1945.
The 1st and
2nd
Platoons of B Co remained in the previously
o c c u p i e ~
posit ions. The morning
and
afternoon. of the 22nd March
in
the 3rd Plat posi t ion
was
quie t . At about 1800
the platoon
leader
of
the
3rd Plat
received
word that the 104th
Div
was
to
replace the 9th Div in his
sector. Elements of
the
39th
In! Regt
withdrew
at 1815A from the
3rdPlat
sector. At approximately 184
the
enemy
la·unched an at tack from the
SEe Firs t reports came in
frum the TD outposts of
the
3rd Platoon. The attacking enemy Inf
were
immediately
taken
under
t i r e by the .50 cal outposts. T h e ~
platoon
leader
of the 3rd Plat
requested
the
ar t i l l e ry FO
to
""
-
30
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" I H ,
'. #'
b r ~ n g f i re
upon the enemy. The
a r t i l l e ry responded with im-
mediate concentrat ions. The
ar t i l l e ry
f i re lasted for 30
minutes. The 3rd Bn, 104th
Inf
took up posi t ions
a t
1945A
and joined
the
f ight .
At the
cessat ion of the fr iendly
ar t -
i l l e ry barrage enemy f i re b e ~ a n f a l l ~ g in
the 3rd Platoon
sector
o
The
at tack
wa:3
repulsed
by
2400A.
Hearing
that
tanks
may be used in
support of
the at tacking enemy
the
platoon leader of the 3rd Platoon requested the supporting
Infantry
to
· f i re
s ta r shel ls . No t .nks wereobserved. During
t 19
f i re
f ight the 3rd
Platoon leader
requested the Command.-
ing8ffJ..cer
to
bring di rec t
TD
f i re
on
the attacking
enemy
but
the
requests
were
turned
down. I t was fe l t
that
there
was suff ic ient a r t i l l e ry f i re avai lable and that the
TDs
should not reveal thei r posit ions as there
was
the possibi l -
i ty
of
an enemy armored a t tack .
At 220700B March
1945
the 27th Armd
Inf
Bn launched
an
at tack
to the
SE
with
NEUWEID
F805034) as the
object ive.
The
at tack
progressed
against
l ight
opposit ion.
IRLICH,
F795048) was cleared by 1400 B. The attacking infantry
continued across
the
par t ia l ly
destroyed
bridge
across the
WElD RIVER to the object ive. The
1st
Platoon, Company C,
attached to o m p a n ~ A, 27th Armored Inf Bn,
departed
from
LEUDSDORF F684l65) at l200B.
Radio
con.tact
between
the
rD
P l a t o ~ n
and
the Infantry
bat ta l ion was los t
on
the road
march.
the 1st
Platoon
continued to IRLICH and not
bein«
able to find
a
crossing across
the WElD RIVER the
platoon
leader
directed
f i r ing posi t ion be taken on the high ground
to the
North
of town. Since
the
t i r i n ~ pOSitions were under
observation the guns
were kept under
cover
and
were
only
exposed
when a ta rge t
presented
i t s e l f .
The
posi t iohs
were under mortar and
machine
gun f i r e . The platoon leader
located
an
enemy OP in a church steeple
which
evidently was
direct ing the mortar f i re . The OP was taken under f i re
and with
the
second round the church steeple toppled. The
mortar
f i re
ceased and. was not resumed thereaf ter . A
machine
gun
located
across
the
r iver
was
taken
under f i re
and destroyed.
Eight
prisoners
were
taken in
and around
tne
gun
posi t ions .
Theplatoon
expended
two rounds of 78mm
APe
and
21 rounds of HE. Contaot with the Infant ry was
establ ished at
about l630A.
Since
the
Platoon
could not
get
across
the r iver the posit ions were occupied unt i l the
bridge was completed the following
day.
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R S T r ~
rT I
At 231200A March 1945 an order was
receive·l
to move
the
elements
of
the bat tal ion to the
V Corps
sector.
The Bn
CP, A
and
B Companies
were to assemhle
at HON
NINGEN (F696130). The information
was
immediately
deliTered to A
and
B
Companies.
The Bn CP,
Hq
Co,
nd
the
CP
of
B Company
departed
from
LINZ
(F6 7718S)
at
1300A
and arrived.
t
HONNINGEN
1410A. The new Bn CP
opened
at l '20A. A
and
B
Companies
:followed the
b t-
tal ion to
the.
assembly area. Since the
M-36s
were to
be
received shortly
permission
was
requested to keep
the two
companies
inactive unt i l
the
conversion was
comple ted.
A Company moved from
posit ions t NOTSCHBID
LOR
SCHEID
and
ST KATHARNIN to the
assembly p o s ~ t i o n t
HONNINGEN.
The company
closed
t 1515A.
B Company
upon
receipt of
the
moving
message le r t -
ed each platoon.
The
1st and 2nd Platoons departed
from the
i r posi
tions wi
thout
any
dif'c ieul
ty . The
3rd
Platoon
at STOCKHAUSEN had to withdraw
one
gun
t
t irne sine e the wi
thdrawal
was
owing
made du.rl·ng
the
d ~ l i g h t
hours under eneJIl.y
observation. The 3rd and
l s t platoon
closed
at HONNINGEN a t
1340B.
Upon
completion
of
the
bridge across the WEID RIVER
the
1st Platoon
crossed at
231500A
"arch
1945
and
moved
to the
East
sector
of
NEUWEID (F807030).
The
platoon
took up posit ions
on
the NEUWEID-HEINBACH road and
re-
mained
there
forathe
remainder
of
the day.
The
2nd
and
3rd Platoons and
the Company
CP
moved from HONNINGEN to
IRLICH ~
1330B.
The two platoons
were
under
company
control
in CCA reserve.
Since the
receipt
of
the- M-36s
was expected on
24th
of March
1945,
the
following plan
was
drawn up:
A
Com
pany w0uld
receive
the
f i r s t
12
destroyers.
Upon eom-
plet ion
of the conversion and wi th the. concurrence of
9th Armored
Division,
A Company would rel ieve C
Comp·any
of
attachment
to
CCA.
C Company
then would
come
under
Battalion
control
and convert .
B Company
would remain
under
bat tal ion control
and be
a.vailable for commitment
with
any combat
command
of
the
9th
Armored
Division i f
t i l need
arose.
The
f i r s t
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, · P ; ~ i f ~ : \ T f n
six
M-36s
were
delivered to
the 656
TD
Bn 24 March 1945. The
M-36s
were turned over
to Bn maintenance for a "TI" before
issuance
to
the
companies.
The
remaining destroyers
were
to
be deliTered to the bat ta l ion on
the
following day. Routine
staff functions
were
carried
on
at the Bn CP. The Bn
8-2
and
5-3
made vis i t s to
Companies.
After arriving at the assembly area A Company
CO
was ady1
that
his
company was
to receive
the
M-36s
f irs to
The ent i re
of
the
24th of March 1945 was spent on
rreparing
the M-18s fo
turning
in.
B Company spent
the entire
day of the 24th in preparation
o
turning in the M-18s for M-36s.
At 240800A March 1945 the 1st Pla t , Company C, reTerted
to
company control. Company C remained in
CCA
reserve.
In
orde
to
keep his
three platoons
as close
together
as
possible. wh
possible, the O Company C m o v ~ d the 2nd and
3rd Platoons
across the
WElD R
to an
assembly
area
in
NEUWEID.
The
platoo
closed a t the assembly
area
at 1360B. The company CP
remaine
at IRLICH.
The remaining M-36s. 31 in number, arrived at the bat tal i
location, 25 March
1945.
One of
the
M-368 had to be
r . turned
to Ordnance
for
repairs . The
f i r s t
12 M-36s were
given
to
Company
A
the 2nd 12
to
B
C o m p a n ~ and the
remaining
11
. e re
reserved
for
Compan7 C. Since the
destroyers
came combat
~ o a d e d
and
equipped i t
. a s
onlT necessary
to
perform the "TI
The receipt ot 35 destroyers oyerburdened the bat ta l ion main
tenance fac i l i t i es so i t waa
directed
that
companies would pe
form
the
"71" under supervision of the bat tal ion maintenance
personDel.
~ t
262300A March l i46 i t was learned
that
one com
pany would be attached to CCB. A Company was
attached i
p1
to
CCB
effect ive
2400B.
Since
a movement
order
. a s
expected
tor A Company, preparation
of the
M-36s . en t on into
the
nigh
The
Bn
CO and
the
an fwd CP
. e re
~ e r t e d for mOTement with th
Di.,
Fwd CP.
A Company receiTed·12 N-36s 25 March 1945. The nec.s .ary
technical inspections
were performed
by
the
company personne
under the supervision
of bat ta l ion
maintenance.
the
company
worked on the M-36a without cessation af ter being aler ted ~ o r
attachment
to a combat command. At 2306A the company comman
was
given the instructions
to
report
to CCB
CF
tor tnatruct io
in regards to his attachment and movement. The attachment
o
Company A to CCB became effect ive at 252400B March I t46.
C Company
remained
in
reaerve
for
CeA.
CeA
launched an
attack to the SB at 260200B March l i46
and
advanced
~ i n s t
no opposit ion.
In
order to remain
clo.e
to
i t a
Coabat Comma
Company C aoved
froll
ntJUID (1'806032) to
EBGERS
(1'856033).
The Company CP remained
a t IRLICH
("96049). C e o p ~
did
not
participate
in
aD7
action th is date.
Normal
ataff
functions were
carr ied
on in
the
Bn
CP
on
26
March
1946.
Information waa
received
in
reference
to m O T e m
of the
Bn
CP to NEUWElD. Baaed on th is information the Bn V
- 3 - ~ ' ~ T ~ ~ { ~ r ' ' ' ' ,
~ ~ 1 ~ ,
t f
.
. ;
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.
,
.; ..
' ~ E S T R f f T r n
Execu
t ive
with a bi l le t ing P·art7 l e f t tbe
Bn
CP at l310 s for
t ~ W E I D to arrange
tor
quarters . The Bn
CO
and the Bn Fw4 CP
Group l e t t the battal icn
to join
the Division CP •
Upon
reporting to
CCB
CP the
A Company CO wa.a informed that
his
company
would
move to LEUTESDORF (F752057).
he
l a t
Plat
wae attached to 52n4
Armd In
Bn, the 2nd
P:at
remained-under
compaUT
control
and
the
31'4
Plat
waa
attached to18th tank
Ba.
The company departed t roa HOlnaNGEN
("96128)
260400B
Karch
1945
and arrived at
ELZ
06GOB. The
l a t Plat continued to
WIEN ERBURG
(F9020l6) where
i t
arriYed 0630B. Upon arr ival
at the
CP 52nd
Armd Int Bn the 1st .ec t ion was attached to A Compan7 and the
2nd sectiolJ. as rear guard toOl the Armd Inf Bn. The
platoon
moved
to the attaok with LIMBURG (G205005) as the objectiTe. he route
ot adTance 40HR-GRlHZHAUSEK, (ri56040)-HILGERT '(P97'084)-BAUK
BACH (Fi80065)-ESCHELBACH (r058054)-HEILIGEBROTH ( G 0 8 3 0 6 5 ) ~
KLBINHOLBACH
(G120052)-GORGESHAUSEN
(8158014). LIMBURG waa
taken at 2157B.
In this
adTance the
la t
Plat knocked
out
two
MGe wita
50 oal
t i r e .
Approximately
200
prisoners
were
taken.
The
3rd Plat
mOTed to LIMBURG without any'opposition. he
a t-
tached
3rd
Rcn
Plat
executed reconnai• •
anoe missions
throughout
the da, . At
about
l300B while on ~ reconnaissance miasion
alone
the AUTOBAHN highway a reconnaissance section under
the
oommand
of the Plat leader
on
approaching RUPPACH (G10306g) noticed '
enemy soldiers arout4 a bridge. The enemy waa immediate17 taken
under f i re and driven away from
the
bridge. These men . e re
la ter taken
pris:>ner8.
Upon
inTestigating the
bridge i t was
~ o u n d that demolition
charges were in
place set for demolition.
The explosives were removed
by
the
reconnaissance section.
Dur
ing
the
maroh to LIMBURG Rcn Co was acting as a connecting t i le ,
between
the
2nd and
3rd
TD Platoons. At about 2000B, in the yio
ln i ty ot MONTABAUR (G065042) one
ot
the quarter tons
ran
off
•
part ia l ly
destroyed
bridge oyer'the
AUTOBAHN
highway.
Two
men
from
the
Rcn Plat and one from A Company were injured. All . en
were
evacuated
by the 9th Armd Diy
medics.
The Company CP
con
tinued to move
in
wake at
CCB
and
arrived
at ELZ (G2l30l3) at
234513.
Company B
remained
in HONNINGEN
(1701125)
26 March 1945 and
completed
conversion
from M-18s to M-36s.
C COi1lpany :noTed i t s
CP
from
IRLICH
(F793049) and.
joined
three gun
platoons
at
ENGERS
( '865025).
CCA
jumped o t
at BEN
DORF (F888028) a t 26l500A March 1945 with DIEZ
as
the objective.
The company
OP
remained
a t ENGERS while the three
gan platoons
accompanied
the
Combat Command. The
mission
ot
Company C was
to
consti tute the AT
defense
of the Combat Command and to
pro
Tide AT securi ty on the march.
After haTing
several ohanges in departure time the'Bn CP
closed at HONKIliGEN
(F649127)
and departed for NEUWEID
(F805
032) 270900A March
1945.
The order of
~ a r c h
was
1st
Rcn
Plat ,
'Sn
CP, Hq Co, B Co
and
C Company M-36
destroyers.
The
Bn
S-3
;>receeded t:.e column
to
N". IDWEID in order to
contact
9th DiT G-3
tor possible change in
the
uni t s
destination.
The column ar-
ri 'Jed a t NEUWBID at
l030A.
Tue En
8-3
met
the
column upon
i t a
t
-
3f.-
. .
- - ~ r - .
~ ? .
,
-
.
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arr iva l
a t l{':;U'SEIJ
aIld.
~ c t v e ins t ruct ions
to
proceed
tllrough
t:D.e
town
t o ' i l a r d s . A L L F ~ I m A R (F9l2002). Furtl1er ins t ruct ions
were
received while on theroad.
The des t ina t ion of the ba t t a l
j on
(-A
& C
Cos)
was d e s i ~ n a t e d
as
~ L T ~ ~ D I E Z (MI79928). Tbe
ba t ta l ion (-A
& C) arrived
at A L T E N D I ~ Z
1520A
af te r
an unevent
f
1
..l.1
road marcc. The
bi l le t ing par ty ull<.ier the command of the
3n Adjutant 'preceeded the column by one-half hour.
Upon
a r r iv -
ing
at
ALT::::;-rDIEZ
sui table
bui ldings
could
not
be
found
to
house
the personnel of
the
bat ta l ion . The bi l l i t ing par ty a f t e r leavin
a
gUide
a t ALTENJIEZ departed
for
a
neighboring
vi l l age of HIES
T ~ N B A C H
( ~ a 2 8 9 7 9 ) one
kilometer NE of
ALTENDIEZ. Upon reaching
ALTSNDIZZ B Company
detached i t s e l f
from thS
bat ta l ion
column
and took up quarters in
that
vi l lage .
The
remainier of the
coluon
proceeded to
H E I S T E ~ ~ A C H
where i t arr ived a t
ln35A.. The
Bn
CO af te r conferring with the CG, 9th
Armd
Div,
recei'leri.
per
mission to rel ieve C Company with B Company for
the
purpose of
convert ing
e Company
M-18s to M-36s. At 271600A
C Company
was
re l ieved
from attachme.nt
to eCA
and reverted
to
bat ta l ion
con
t ro l .
3
Company was at tached to CCA effec t ive
1600A.
Since
t p
R56
TD
Bn
was
the
senior
uni tpresent
in
~ E I S T E N B A C H
and
the
Bn
Executive
Officer the senior off ice r
present , the ba t t a l ion
assumed
responsibi l i ty
for the
v i l l age ' s
a Q ~ i n s t r a t i o n unt i l
such time
when
the vi l lage Came under the j u r i sd ic t ion
of
the
f u ~ G . Liaison
was
establ ished with the loca l mayor
and
the
res t r ic t ions as contained in of f i c i a l MG publ icat ions proclaim
and enforced. The Bn CO made a v i s i t to the Bn
CP
at
1600A.
A Company
remained inact ive
during
theperiod 27000lA
to
272400A March l ~ 4 5 .
The
1st
Plat
remained in
LIMBuRG
(G237983)
.
at tached to 27th
Armd
Inf Bn. Orders were recelve:.i to
move
out
with the
27th
Armd
Inf
Bn but betore the movement got under way
counter-orders
were rece ive l . The
platoon remained
in f i r ing
posit ions
a w a i t i ~ e
fur ther
o r d e r ~ o
The Company
CP
and
the
2nd
Pla t
remained
a t
ELZ
(G213003).
No
change
or act ion. Platoon
under company
control ;while
a t LIMBURG the
3rd
Pla t
suffered
one casual ty .
One
crewmember received in jur ies .around the
eyes froman unknown source of f i r e . The
3rd
Pla t
moved from
LIt.fBuRG to HADA,\1AR (G22II55). The platc>on, at tached to the 19th
Tank Bn,
occupieQ
posi t ions a t H D M ~
at l430A.
There
was no
enemy act ion
in
the 3rd Platoons' area.
B Company
upon
completicn of conversion departed from HON
N I ~ G E N with
the Bn
column and arr ived a t ALTENDIEZ
(M129928)
271530A
March
1945.
At
l600A
B
Company
was
attached to CCA
thus rel ievin&
C Company.
CCA, 9th
Armd
Div, was
to launch an
at tack
on
GEISEN.
This att&ok
however
was
cancel led
and
B
Com
pany
remained
a t ALT3rmIEZ.
C Company
rever ted to bat ta l ion cont rol
a t
271600A
March
1945
when
re l ieved by
B Company. C
Company's
M-36s
ere
dr iT
en to HEISTSNBACH by bat ta l ion maintenance personnel . At HEIS
TENBACH C
Company's
personnel
took
over the M-36 des t royera .
The
day
was
spent jn maintenance of the
new
des t royers .
During the morning of 28 March 1945 the Bat ta l ion
ExecutiTe
through
an
in terpre ter held
a
conference with the mayor of the
vi l lage . ~ u e s t o n s
ar is ing
from
the
promulgation t
AMG publ i -
~ 1
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IfLSIR/eTl
cations were
discussed and
se t t led .
The
Bn
Executive
Offic
made a
vis i t
to A Company
at
ELZ (G214012). At 1945A
the
b
ta l ion
(-A
& B)
received
an
0.1ert for
movement
to VOLPERTS
{AUSEN
(G577144).
pl ~ A n 3 were
made for
the
movement.
Since
movement was
to
be made
in conjunction with the
Division t r
the Bn S-3 l ef t for the CP of
the
Division Trains to coord
ate the movements.
The bat ta l ion
C-A &
B
Cos)
was
rel ieved
from
Division control
and
attaohed to Division
TrainE . t t ec
t ive
282400A March
1945.
The Bn S-3 was
appointed securi ty
officer
of
the
Division Trains
and attached
uni ts .
The 1st
Plat
of A Company moved from LIMBURG (M233987)
OFFHEIM (G232022).
The
2nd Plat which was under
company
co
t ro l
was
attached to
16th AFA Bn.
The
platoon
moved
into i
d i r e ~
f i re posi t ions
in
the vic ini ty
of
HASSENBACH (G13409
and
t ied
into
the
16th FA survey.
The
platoon
did
not
reg i
nor did
i t f i re any missions.
The
3rd
Plat remained in HAD
M R
(G222055). There was no enemy
action
in A
Company's
po
tions
but
the
1st and 3rd Platouns occupied
direct
f i r e pos
t ions. The
3rd
Rcn Plat
was
given the mission
of
patrol l in
the AUTOBAHN between MONTABOUR (M065042) and MENTERHAUSEN
(M144024).
The
mission
was performed trom 280300A
to about
280900A March 1945.
Nothing unusual occurred during
th i s
period. Upon
completion of the
mission
the
Rcn
Plat
on
re
porting to the
A Company CP
tor
tur ther missions.
No
furth
missions were assigned to the
c ~ Platoon for
that day.
CCA moved from vicini ty
of ALTENDIEZ
(M177968)
to vicin
,
of GIESEN (G6621).
B Company was
given
the mission
of prot
t ion
of the Combat Command t ra ins . The
1st
Plat performed
march guard
mission for
the Ser. ice
Company,
14th Tank Bn,
Plat
performed the march guard
mission
for
the
Service
Batt
3rd
AFA
Bn and the 3rd
Plat
performed the march guard
missi
for the
60th
Armd In t Bn. The' column departed
from ALTENDI
281530A March
1945,
and
arr ived a t the dest inat jon without
cident.
B Company
upon
completion of
the
mission
moved
to .
DEHRN
(G281830) and
arr ived
there a t
l800A.
The platoons m
ed i n to direct
f i re
positions on the
perimeter
of
the t01rll.
C Company remained at
HIESTENBACH
(M178978)
completing
conversion to
M-366. The Company
CP
moved
from ENGERS
to
HIES'l'3NBACH.
The company
CP arr ived a t HIESTEN"rlACH a t
28084
March 1945.
Information
was
reveived
at
the
Bn CP
that
the
Bat ta l io
-
A
&
B) wou2.d move
to
WEIDENHAUSEN (G577l27).
The bat ta l
(-A & B) would
act
as
the march
guard for
the Division
Trai
column.
Coordination with the
Division
Trains
Commander re
sul ted
in
d i s ~ e r s i o n of C Company's t l ~ e e
platoons
througho
the
t r a i ~ s column. 2ince the
En
8-3
was d e s i g ~ a t e d
as
the
Train 's
Security
Officer
much
of
the S-36 time was
spent at
the
CP
of
Division
Trains.
The
Bn closed the
CP
at
HIESTEN
EACH (M178978)
at
291430A March 1945. The bat ta l ion
column
intercepted Division Trains at AUMENAU
(G368C07)
aLd
indis
persed i t se l f in the column.
The
march ~ r o c e e d e d without
i
cident
and moved
int.o an open f ie ld
lY2
miles
NE of WEIDEN-
- 36
h f r .
.
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~ r ~ - , : ,
" .. . ~ ft
i crJ
R A U 3 £ ~ j G577127) at 2400A. A
to ta l
of 35
miles
was covered.
The Combat Commands
of the
9th Arllld.
l)i
Ti
advanc
ed N agains t
slig;ht
enemy
res js tance
In most c&,ses the
adYance
was only a
road
march.
CCB
to
w h i c ~
A Company was attached, l ef t the l i ~ e
of departul·e and pushed
to
the
};o'th. A
Company accompanying
i t s
combat command depart.ed from ELZ (G213015) at 29C800A 1, arch
1945.
Cne
crew
member
of
the
compuny was
injured
when a
f i re -
arm was accidental ly discharged. The casu lty was evacuated.
Other-;:ise
the
march
proceeded
in an orderly manner. A Company
arr ived a t SCHWEINBERG (G8624l8)
at
2345A. The platoons took
up defensive
f i re
positions on
the outskir ts
of town.
A com
pany covered
a
dis tance
of
70
miles
on the road march.
CCA kept abreast of
the advance of CCB. Company B attached
to CCA had the mission of
providing
march guard for
the
column
in
i t s
advance
North. Company B departed from
DEHRN
280745A
March, and
af te r
an uneventful
t r ip
arr ived
a t
SCHWEINBERG (G862
418) a t
2345A.
The company moved the
three
gun_ platoons
to
d i-
rec t f i r ing
posl t ions
providing
securi ty
for
the
elements
of
CCA
in the
town
of
SCHVBINBERG.
Company C
provided the
march guard for
the bat ta l ion
and
9th
Armd Div
Trains
29 March 1945. The Company af ter
intercepting
the
Division
t ra ins column a t AUMEN AU (G368007) was disposed
in the following manner: 2nd Rcn Plat
leading
followed by a
platoon of
TDs.
One platoon of TDs
was
in the cent rof
the
column and one
a t
the t a i l
end.
Upon
arr iving at
~ ~ I D E N H U S E N
(G585129)
the
platoon placed i t s
guns giving
an
a l l
around
de
fense for
the
bivouac
area.
The Rcn
Plat
posted l i s tening posts
on
the roads
leading
to
and
out
of
the
bivouac
area.
Leading
elements of C Company arr ived a t the bivouac area at
2345A.
The Battal ion (-A & B) was aler ted to move in one
hours n o ~
t ice while in
bivouac
at WEIDENHAUSEN (G577127).
The elements
of the
b a t ~ a l i o n moved
into posit ion
for the continuation of
the march but the column did not
get
under way unt i l 30l030A
March 1945.' The Division Trains column adVanced
to
the North
with
no
defin i te location as the
terminus
for the da.s march.
DurinE
the road march hal ts
were
frequent
las t ing from a few
minutes to oyer an
hour.
At 1820A
the Division
Train ' s Command
er
cal led
for bi l le t ing
off icers
to the head of the column. The
column
proceeded
to
i t s
destination for
the
days
march
a t
FLORSHEIM (H983579). The Division Trainsoccupied the high
ground South
of the
town. The
Bn CP
and
Hq Co
moved
into
the
vi l lage
and
secured b i l l e t s
there . The Bn CP o p ~ n e d a t F LOR
SEA.IM l835A. Some movement of enemy was noticed
in
woods 500
yards W of the
bivouac
area. At 2210A two prisoners were
b r o u ~ h t
to
the
En CP. After questioning
the prisoners
w r
turned over to the
Division
Trains for
dispos i t ion.
A
Compuny cOlltinu,_d
the advance
to the
l ~ o r t h with
CCE. The
Combat
Command
advanced
North
against
very l igh t res is tance
Mission of A Company' 30 March 1945 was to provide march
guard
for
combat
comm2nd on
the
march
North.
A
Company
departed
trom
S C H W ~ U ~ S B E R G
(G8624l8)
at 3C0700A 1:arcb: 1945
and ~ r : : i ved at
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RESTRI TED
des t ina t icn
the
comlJany moved iuto
f i r 1 q ~ ;
posi t ion with a l l
around f ie lds
of f i r e .
The Company moved a
distance of 38
miles.
No
chante il: the company's
or platoon's
attachments.
Company B continued the road march to the
North
in support
of
C8A. The cOlf,pany W8S
disposed as reported for the previous
day 0 :.';hile on the :na:rch the column was stopped.
by
enemy a i r -
cra f t .
~ . r : J
cl:pualt ies or d a m < 1 ~ e "uffered by
Company
B.
The col
umn
Cirri
ved
at
GRC"SSS -:Ei';GLIS (H077765) a t
301800A
March 1945.
At the
completion
of
the
march the
1s t
2nd
and 3rd Platoons
were re l ieved from uttach :lents to Service,Company, 14th Tank En
Servlce
Bat tery, and 50th Armd
Inf
Bn, resIJect:lvely. Verbal
orders were received for ·the
company
to
move to
ROrrlHEIMSHAUSEN
(H045794)
with
the mission of protect ing CCA's CP. B Company
d e ~ a r t ~ 1 'frc T1
G R O S S . ~ N ; : : ; l ; G L I S
at 1830A and
ar r ived
at RJTlIEELIM
SEAUSSN a t 1945A. Upon
arr iva l
at the des t jna t ion the p l a t o ~ n s
took
up posi t ions covering a l l ro,--,ds and
tank approaches lead
ing into
tOwn.
Sporadic UG f i re was heard in woods 500 yards
from
the
biv
ouac
of
Div
isir;n
Trains.
Two
destroyers
moved
into
ass is t
s ~ m e Ordnance
men
who went in
to
inves t iga te the
cause of the
s L o c t i L ~ . Fourteen
enemy
p r i s o n ~ r s were taken by the Ordnance
elements.
The
dest royers did not
f i re any
ammunition
and
re -
turned tv t · e i r formerly occupied pos i t ions .
The
act ion began
0.
t 07 0 t ~ and
ended
a b o ~ t 310830A March 1945. At l020A
the
Bn
-A
~
B)
was aler ted
for
movement
to ZWESTEN.
The
Bn elements
w e ' ~
assembled
and moved out a t l040A. The march was marked
by
stops d u r i n ~ the road march. ~ ca l l for the
q u a r t e r i ~ g party
was
received
a t
l630A.
The march was
resumed
at 1645A
and
~ h e
En
ele:r.ents
moved.
into
a
bivouac
posi t ion
in an open f ie ld
500
yards N of NEUBERICH
(B9351l3) a t
1835A. C Company
establ ished
peY'imeter
defense by
occupying
posi t ions
on
commandingground
surrou1J.diEg,
the bivouac
9,re .
The
2nd
Rcn
Pla t
executed
a
re -
conr..ais
s
'.nc
e
of
woods
800
YClrds E
of tha
bi
vouac
area. No t rac
of
tlle
enemy
could be founri.
The En
ele:rlents
rema:bed in th is
~ o s i t i o n
for three days.
A
distance of
55
miles
was
covered
31 1 ~ a r c h
J915.
Company A cantiLued to
a d v a ~ e North with CCB rgainst
s l igh
opposit icn. COJl1P ny
A
d e ~ a r t e d from
vicir . i ty 0':'
BAD '\iILDUNGEN
310800A Iv:arch 1945. In the
advance
on approt:.ching
of
WBTHEN th
1st Plat
Company A
attached to 52no
Armd
Inf Bn was rey,uested
to destroy
a s l ~ 3 p e c t e d OP
ir-the town of
WETlIEN (B930223). A
to ta l
of IE rounds
of
HE
were f i r ~ d . The
suspected
OP, a
towe
was deztroyed. The march
continued
without fUrther inc ident .
A 80mp
..
ny
arrived
at
I i O : - : ~ i ~ L l i
17IDCDA (B97l204)
0
B C o m ~ a n y
contirued to
a d v ~ n c e
North with CC
against
s l igh
resist3. 'ce.
At tree re. uffiytio l
of the march
31 :"iarch
1945
B Com
I'any r:CiS Y'elieved frcm attacbment
to
CCB. The r n i ~ s i o n
d.uring
t 'C '1ld.rch flclG
to
protect the
Combat Ccmmand
Trains.
The
1st
r1u t was attached
to
the
Service
Company,
14th
Tank En, 2nd Pla
to
the
Service Bat tery, 3rd hFA, and tee 3rd to. 60th
Armd Inf B
The company , teparted fro ']: P . c . . T : I E E L M S E . i ~ U S B K 31
t
J800A March. During
- '
.' I
-
38
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.
i
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tlJe
Gi::.rcl:.
20 ;-,rj
sener's
were tCiken. The
c'.::rrrp<.:ny
arr ived
at
~ ' ; ' . R
3 ~ j l ~ G
(b0
30220
•
lJ;)OL arrivine:, a t
' , ' L ' ~ R B U R G the bUf);:; reve r ted
to
c O i l l ~ a n y
c;)r.tro1 ~ r ~ d were posted for
tl::e s'3cul"ity
of the
Comoat
C ~ , . n ; ; l a l ( i .
At abuut 31C730A
~ a r c h
1945 ~ G f i re was heard in woods
300
yards ~
0f the 2nd
Flat ~ o s ~ t i c n iL the Train ' s B i v ~ u a c
a t
FI-O::SEATIJ;
H9
ZE
79)
•
~ , n ( >
se
ction
moved
to
the
vicil!
i
ty
01'
tl
e
:;uods. The
ac t
i on
ce ased
s1 ort
ly the reaf te r and
tbe se c t io!)
ret"J.Y'D€ tu i . . t ~ o r i ~ i n < : l pos i t icn . C CO.;lpany
departed
from
F L C ~ l S : : ~ \ I i , , : \'·i
tL
)) ivi sieD Trains
and
a f t er
Gn
unevent
fu l
march
a r r i ~ ; p . d a t
l ' ; : . ' ; U i j ~ R = C : : =
(B935113) at 1835A. .
The r1cnth of ;ii::.:.rcb 1945 ::narke d the f i r s t month of ac t ion
for the
6f)Gtt V
};at tal ion. Although the perscnLel
of th i s
o r ~ a n i z a t i o n wjth a few exceptions, had no b&ttle exper ience ,
dlce
com
, i t ted,
t'rJ.e
men
'perfol"med l ike veterans .
I t c<;n be sai
that the
6 ~
TD Bn went into act ion a t the
closing phases
of th
liar i l l ~ u r o p e agc::in.'3t determined enemy but
weak
in reserves and
iJ& t e r i e
1 •
The
par t ic ipa t ion
of
t h j s
organizat ion
can
be
broken
down
jnto two, somewhat dis t i l .c t campaie;ns; the campaign East of
the
RJ3R RIVER and, the campaign East
of the
RHINE RIVER.
While
sU}.;,orti!.lt, the action
of the
9th Armored
Division
East of the
RJEri R I \ ~ R ~ n enemy weak in mater ie l s t rength
but
f ight ing
stubbornly
ard holding tenaciously was met and
defeated.
With
the, capture of
the
LUDENDORF BRIDGE
the act ion was carr ied
across
the
P . . : ~ I l . : ;
R:lVER where tlte enemy
at tacked
continually
trying
to
elimiLate and then contain the bridgehead. Elements
of th i s
organizatiGn
were f i r s t t roops of t ~ e TD arm to cross
to the East banks of the' R H I 1 ~ RIVER and par t ic ipa ted in ac t ion
duriLb a c r i t i c a l
period.
hi th
the crossing
of
the remainder
of the ba t t a l ion ,
the
656th
TD Battal ion
functioned as ;. :.n independent B:lttc.11on
under
operat ional control
of
the 8th TD Group. During th i s period
the organizat ion
converted from
M-18s to
M-36s as thei r
baaic
\':eapon. After the enemy spent hi s
force
on counter-at tacks,
the
~ c t i o n turned in to
a
pursui t .
The
656th TD Bat ta l ion
w s
: l ~ ~ i n
at tached to the 9th Armored Division
and par t i c ipa ted in
tpe pursui t .
In
one
month of
act isn
the 656tb TD Bat ta l ion
covered
ap
proximately 300 miles
distance,
took over 600
enemy
pr isoners
a n ~
destroyed
tb'!!
following equipment:
2 tanks, 1
hal f - t rack ,
1 SF Gun, 2
AT
Guns,
1
Boat
(Tug
type) ,
18
MG
emplacements,
5 AA Guns, 2 Bazooka e m 9 1 ~ c e m e n t s
and
4 enemy
OPa. In addi t ion
2 SP 3uns were
probably destroyed.
- 39
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.......
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. .
.
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o
~ . , . . "".-
...
.....' r .,..,
D01'IOI IV . , , . ~ · ~ · . f 'T
.
I-
\
.:
. "
"
'
/r p.
Em.plolDl• •
t
I
. . ;
: t i
The Tank Destroyer ara waa orlan1zed with
the
p ~ 1 a a r 1
a18s10.
t
de.troy1nl enemy
araor. I t
waa
,1.en
••
econdarT
ai8.1on t reintore1nl art111er,.
and.
a th1rd t d••
troT1n.
f1xed
tortitio&t1ona.
Durin,
the
per10d co.ered by this
r .port . o n l ~ a
t.w
tan
oame into
the
platoon ••
otor. ot
this or ,
..1.at10. .
Only a
tew p111box•• w.r
••noouat.r.d. t1nallT
b . ca" .
ot
a
ahort
t
h1,h-.xplo.1Te
aamuait10D (11-
ant
.0-
..
.
the
us.
t
t a n k · ~ d •• t roy.r . tor indir•• t t1r . waa
a1aoovae.el.
Co•••
qu
• •
tlT. our
d
• •
t roy.r pl . ,oo• •
ha
• •
b .e . C1••••aD,
a. ,au l
ai .aion. . Th•••
a1
••
10
• •
w.r. i .prop.r aooord1Dc t . fD 400
r in.
but
th.y w.r.
prop
• •
tor
the
.1tuat10
••
two •• r , iaportan' fuu l....
ta l
•• h. . . . . . . . ha•• b• . • • •10
la t .4 i.
the
• •
pl0Ta
• •t
ot
fD.
duriD,
tao p.riod
t
th1. rep
F1r.t
wa.th.
priDc1pl.
ot
..
1Dt.1D1Bc
. . . . .
rT.,
••
00n4
. a .
the
'priJlc1pl.
ot • • iAt.iniD" the
in t . .p1 ' ,
t . . .
11
lUl1t••
In the
tank
d• • troy• • coapaR1.a, 1t h
• • b• • • •
oamOD
p• •
.
t10.
tor
al l thr• • tir1Dc p l . to . . .
t .
D. • • .a i ' t .A. H.d h a
b• •n
UlJ'
.1144• • ·
eall t o ~ t aU
d.• • t ro ,••• 1 . ,h .1 . pr1a.r ,
role aan.UT• • woulA aaT
••••••
l .w. A t
. . . .
1d.
h a ~ b
•••
ta,ai--b.oau
••
tank
d
• • , . o , . r•••re not d.
• •
1ca.4 to
.1
• • l'
out w1th .n •.,
t .uk. .
. . . . .aolL.,
..~ .
d.• •1 p . d '0•••'
to the
coabat.
U •• , tUB ••
it
t u r e 1Jl
0 0••••le4
po.1 tiona
unt11
the
..ao. 0
....
i tll1a .Uc.. faDJt cle. t .o, . r ' •• t1• •
are tho
t ~ e t 1 0
ot .....a.
Y101a,10. ot
\kG t a t . c r i t , ot ...
l l ~ .
would. ba, . \ be
.... r
• •
u lt
• .
In a t l • • • t OD•••••
, •
t1r1Dc pl . 'ooa .aa . p 1
aa4 .ub- . t ta lk .d - - ODa ••• ' 10 . t
•••ek
ot ,
. . . . . .u1 '
~ l
eo.paDl...
Ba4 t ~ r ..........
10.
tor ~ p 1 4 aatl taak
4 .t
• •
thl platoo.
l.aGer
would
. . . . . .
t ...4 the • . t i0R w1t. k1a e .
...4 at
h . l t
. t . e..th.
CO¥¥OJIICAZIO .
The prOD 1
•• of rad10
CO_lUlU IiltloD
1Jl ' .
J) orl
..
1• •
' 10 .
attaohed t .
al l a
..or.cl
d1T18loa wa. u .....
h117 .01
....
4.
1M
rad10 probl
• • wa. two t .14.
Co_lUll
• • '1• • _t
• • • • • ~ a a k
0.lan1
• •
t10.
and
the
. t t aeh .d
!D
.10
...
' .
and.
Co
....
t..\l
• •
b . '....
th .
TV
Ba er &ad
t ~ cl.'a.keel !D • • •
paai
•••
Th. t1rat probl.a • • • pa.t1allF .o l.... ~ ., a1TiRe . a ~ o
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ra41.. .
o . . a 4 ~ o ••••
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paD7 e o _ 4 0 ' and the . th . r tlar
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!h .
a441t10.&1
l ea
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:tfSTRICTED
In
the
0.3. gt Aayin,
botk • •4108 1a an »-ao, . . . . . .
i e . ' l• •
w.. c• • tra11s.4, prv.141A& t ~
~ o
414 not
be.o• •
iaa._l11
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4
Du.
to 1t .
1qerea ' .haraot
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~ a 1 n ~
tbl M-aO in
op.ration.
w.. and.
1. a h a a a r 4 ~ a rlak.
Ih.
iamob111s.tlon of
the
M-IO
~ l d
~ t • •
1J 41.pmpt
b . '
.....1
ooawunioat1ona betw• • •
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nd
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tbe SCI
110 1a
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SE TION
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--
\
\
.
;.
:
H E A D ~ U A R T E R S
656TH TANK
:DESTROYER BATTALION
A.FO 230, U S. A R I ~ Y
7 May 1945
SUBJECT: After
Action Report.
TO : The Adjutant General,
Washington
25,
D.C.
Attention: Historical Section)
Thru
Channels)
1. In
compliance with AR 345-105, 18· November 1929,
as
changed by Change
4, dated 10 August
1944, the After
Action
Report of the
656th
Tank Destroyer Battalion for
the period
1 - 30
April
1945
s
forwarded
herewith.
For the
Commanding
Officer:
~ ~ ~ . ~
ICTOR
A.
FANOWICZ
Captain,
5-2
Historian
2 Inc1s.
1.
After
Action
Report
656
TD
Bn
2., Maps
·
CLASSlFICATiON CHANGED TOt
CANCELl ED
n r t ~ •;.:T
czrreR L
£
r t
f t f d : ....7 :..
:
, 1 l
.
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.
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H E A D Q U A R ~ E R S
656TH TANK DESTROYER BATTALION
APO 230,
U. S. ARMY
7 liay 1945
AFTER
ACTION
REPORT
Section
I
1.
Campaign (Current
Campaign i:p.
/lestern
Europe)
2.
Map References : '-
GSGS 4416,
Sheets
Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6
Q7
R6
and R7.
3.
Unit
Commanders of
Troops:
En 00
-
L4i
Col JOr-ill C. Meador
Hq Co CO
- Capt
Charles
D. Driscoll
Rcn Co
CO
-
1s t
Lt Lawrence R.
Beard
A
Co
CO
-
Capt
Clarence
1i..
Thieme
B
Co CO
Capt Archie
S. Benegar
C Co CO
-
Capt
Richard H. Tuggle
Section
I I
Sta t is t ica l Data
!:.
Personnel Losses:
KIA
DOl WIA
MIA. CAPT
NBC
Date
OEM
OEM OEM
OEM
OEM
OEM
1
A.pr
45
0
0 0
0 0
0 0
0
0 0
0
2
2
0 0
0
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0
0
0
0 0
0 0 0 0
0
0
0
4
0
0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0
0 0
5
0
0
0
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
0 1
6
0
0 0 0 0
0 0 0 0 0
0 1
7
0
0 0 0
0
0 0 0
0
0
0
1
8 0
0
0 0 0
0
0 0
0
0
0
1
9
0
0 0 0
0
0 0
0 0 0
0
·0
10 0
0 0 0 0
0 0
0 0 0
0
1
11 0
0
0
0 0 1
0 0
0 0 0 1
12
0
2
0
0 0
6
0
0
0 0
0 0
1
0
0 0 0 0
0
o·
0
0
0
0 1
4 0 0 0 0 0
0 0
0
0 0 0 0
15
0 0 0 0
0
0 0 0
0 0
0 0
16
0 0 0 0 0
0
0
0
0 0
0 1
17
0 0 0 0
0 0 0
0 0
0 0
1
18 0
0
0
0 0 0
0 0
0 0
0
1
19
0 0
0
0 0 0
0 0
0 0
0
2
20
0
0 0
0
0 0 0
0
0
0
0
1
- 1
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?ersonnel Losses
(Cont d)
KIA
DOl
WIA
MI
C PT
NBC
Date
~
OEM
OEM
OEM
OEM
o
EliI
21 Apr 45
0
0 0 0
0
0
0 0 0
0
0
0
22
0
0
0 0 0
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
23 0
0
0
0 0 0
0
0 0 0 0 0
24
0
0 0
0
0
0 0
0
0 0
0
0
25
0
0
0
0 0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
26
0
0 0
0
0-
0
o . 0
0
0
0
3
27
0
0 0 0 0
0
0 0
0
0 0
0
28
0
0
C 0
0
0 0 0
0
0
0
1
29
0
0
0 0
0 0
0
0 0
0
0
0
30
0
0 0
0 0
0
0 0 0 0
0 0
b.
:PersoIlllel
Replacements:
~ t e
0
D§:te
0
EM
Date
0
Efl
1
Apr 45
0
0
11
Apr 45
0 0
21 Apr 45 0 0
2
0
0
12
0
0
22 0 0
3
0
0 13
0
8
23
0
0
4
0 1
14
0
0
24
0
0
5
0
0
15
0
0
25
0 0
6
0
0
16
0 0
26
0
3
7
0
0
17
0
0
27
0
4
8
0
8
18 0 0
28
0 0
9
0
4
19
0 0
29
0 0
10
1 0
20
0
0
30
0
0
c.
PWs
Taken -
381.
Approximately
200
civi l ians
were
turned
in
to
010 for screening.
do Vehicular
Losses:
~ r i l e r s
Date
1/4-T 3/4
11/2 21/2
10
MB
M20
M32 M36
1-T
MI0 174
Apr 45
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
0
1
0 0
0
e. Vehicular Replacements:
Date1 /4 T
3/4 11/2 21/2 10 M8 M20 M32 M36
: T i i ~ O s l 7 :
.A.pr
45
16
0
0 0 0
0 0
0
0 1 .
0
0 0
t .
Ammunition Expended:
9 mm
HE 9 mm APe
27mm HE
218 4
42
-
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Section I I I
fhe
Battalion CP,
Headquarters Company and C
Company
remained in the
open
field 500 yards North
of
HEU
EERICH
(B935113) during the period
OlOOOlA
to 012400A April 1945.
At 1200A the Bn mail clerk reported to the Bn
CP
on his re
turn
from
9th
Armd
Div,
Rear.-
During
the
t r ip
the
cler
took
two enemy
prisoners
and turned them over to an MP. Sl i t
trenches were dug by
personnel.
lIo
other act ivi ty
took plac
a t the
bivouac
area on the 1st of April
1945.
CCB
of
the 9th Armd Div continued to attack North in i t
zone of action 1 April
1945.
A Company attached to
CCB
sup
ported the attack. The
1st
Flat 'at tached
to the 52nd Armd
I
bn
had the 1st section supporting Company B
of
the 52nd Armd
Inf
Bn and the 2nd section support Company C
of
the same
org
anization. In the advance to the Horth, the 1st section de
l ivered indirect f i re on a suspected gun emplacement
in
the
vicinity of EISSEN (B990316).
The
f i re
was
adjusted by an
ar t i l lery
FO. Due
to the
distance
at
which
the
enemY gun wa
taken Qlder
f i re
and the diff icul ty of observing the burst,
f i re
had to be discontinued without any defini te results ob
served.
A
to ta l of 20 rounds
were
expended.
The 2nd
sectio
f i red
a
direct
preparation on
the
to\¥n
of GROSSENEXDER
(B986
290 .
A
to ta l of 25
rounds were
f i red
from a range
of abou
1000
yards af ter which
the supported
infantry advanced
and
took
the town. At
the
completion
of these actions
one
sectio
Lloved to and occupied
positions
a t
PECICELSP...EIM
( B964342) and
th.e other
section
moved to and occupied
positions
at
SCHONTE
(C003338).
~ e 2nd
Platoon
moved
to
the vic ini ty of LOWEN
946320)
with
a m i s s i o ~
of
covering the
cross
road a t
(B926
319).
The
3rd
Plat
moved
to
HOHENWEPEL
(B97l270).
The com
pany
CF d ~ p a r t e d
from
NETHEN (931223)
1000A
and
arrived
at
HOHENWEPEL
at 1100A.
CCA with B Company, 656th TD.Bn, attached continued the
attack
to the
North against moderate
resistance, enlarging
the bridgehead
across the D I E b ~
R. B Company
with the thre
p l a t o ~ ; n s
under company
control hadthe mission of providing
the security
for the Combat
Command
A, a t
WARBURG (B9822),
1
April
1945. At 1330A verbal
orders were received to move
to
LUGENEDER
(C019278) to
take
up defensive
position
at
the
p ~ r i m e t e r of the t o ~ n The Co CP moved to DOSSEL (B993258)
a ~ r i v i n g there at 1400A. Effective
l430A one
platoon,
the
3rd,
was
detached
from Company
control
and
reverted
to
Div
control.
The 3rd
Plat
was
given the missibn of securing
VOLIQiIARSEN (B960685) and the 9th
Armd
Div
CP
in that town.
B
Co did not see
any action against enemy 1
April 1945.
o Co remained
in
position 1
April
1945
in the
vic ini ty
of
BERICH
providing
security for
~ i V i s i o n
Trains.
The En 5-2
l e f t
the
Bn
OF at 021415A April and moved
to VOLKMAHSEN. At l435.A. the Bn
CO vis i ted
the OF and gave
the information that 9th Armd
Div
OP
was mOVing-to
WARBURG
(B980220).
The En S-3 was directed to formulate
plans
to
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move the Bn
-
A B to WARBURG. The En CO
af :er i n s ~ e c t i ~ g
C Company's gun
P9sitions returned
to 9th
Armd
Div. At about
lSOOA two enemy
planes
flew
over the
area. The
planes
were
taken under f i re . Results could not be observed
since
the
planes flew into the low overcast.
CCB had takenup
de=ensive
positions 2 April 1945. A Com
pany s
Platoons
were
disposed in
the following
towns:
one
section
1st
Plat
at
P E } ~ L S H E I M
(B964341) and one
section
at
SCHONTHAL
(E003338)t
2nd Plat at
LOWEN (B946320),
3rd P,at at
HOHENWEPEL (B971270J.
All three platoons
had
taken
up
AT pos
i t ions in the vicini ty of the above mentioned towns. At abou
021000B April
the
2nd Platoon s position was t ~ c e n
under
f i re
by enemy foot troops. The
f i re
was returned
with small
arms
and the enemy withdrew. One officer and five enemy
enlisted
men were taken prisoners in this action.
There
was no enemy
action
in
any
of
the other platoon positions. The 2nd and
3r
Plats reverted to Company
control.
.
The ~ and 2nd Flatoons remained at LUTGENDER (C01927S)
There
was no enemy
action
in
this locali ty. The
3rd
P,at
und
Div control moved ffom
VOLKlliArlSEN
(B96ll34)
to
W RBURG (B980
220)
providing
securi ty for
the
Div CP on
the
march. Upon
ar
riving at
W RBURG
the 3rd Plat took up positions covering the
roads leading into W A R B u ~ G
Two
enemy planes
flew over
the Div
Trains
area 2 April
which
was being secured by C Co. The planes were taken under
~ i r e but results could
not be
observed. Otherwise there was
no enemy
act iv i t
yo
A Bn
bi l le t ing party
l e f t
the f ield at
1 ~ U BERICH
under
command of the En S-l 030725B April
for
WARBURGI At 0842B
the
CP
group,
Hq
Co
and C
Co
were
alerted
for
movement. TheBn OF
closed a t NEU BERICH at
1000B and joined Div
Trains
col
umn
for
the road march
to WARBURG.
~ t e r an uneventful road
march
the destination was reached. The
Bn
OP
opened
a t WAR-
BURG
at
1l30B.
Since
the Div
CP
mOTed
out
of
VOUOfulRSEN,
the
town,
astride the
Div
MSR,
was le f t devoid of friendly troops
The 2nd Rcn
Plat attached to
0
Co
was
aSSigned
a
mission
of
establishing
a motor patrol
through
the town. The 2nd Plat
was in
position
and performing i t s assignment at 2330B.
There
was no act ivi ty in A Cos 1st and 3rd Platoons
3 April 1945. Enemy patrols were
Sighted in
the vicini ty
of
2nd Plat
position.
Three. enemy were sighted in vicini ty of
CR
a t
B926319
at
1940B and were
taken
under
f i re
with
ruGs.
Theenemy were observed
to fa l l .
There was
noother activi ty
af ter
that
incident.
B Cos 1st and 2nd Platoons remained in
their
previously
mentioned
positions
2
April.
There was no enemy
act ivi ty in
ei ther
of
the platoon
positions. The3rd
Plat under. Division
control l e f t V O ~ ~ S E N (B961135) a t 1350B accompanying t h
Division to
W RBURG
(B980220). The Plat
arrived
a t i t s des
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,,-',
a t 1400B ansi
took
up posit ions covering
the
roads
into the to':in.
TheIst and
3rd
Platoons
of Co C re:._ained
in
o ~ c i t ion in
ty of
the Div
Trains 500 yards
1 of
NEU BERICH (B935105
April
1945.
12
infantrymen
were attached to the 3rd Plat .
Flat was in
road
block
posit ions
at
VOLKMARSEN. Two
of Inf were
attached to the 2nd
Plat
as
protection
enemy foot elements. The attached 2nd Rcn pla t se t u
road
block
covered
with a
3 7 ~ n
and
bazookas a t HERBSEN (B91
This '()lator.n was the only fr iendly element in that
vic
unt i l
about 2400B when elements
of
the 2nd Inf
Div ar
At 0230B, C
Co
was
alerted
for movement to WARBURG
a t
The
three
platoons assembled
in
the vic in i ty of VOLK-
at 1230B
and
proceeded
to
WA ... lliURG where previously rec
posit ions
were
occupied. Liaison was established
Co
C
and
the
89th
Rcn
Squadron.
At
1800B
the
at tach
Rcn Plat was given the mission of patrol l ing the MSR throu
This Vias
done by
having a two jeep patrol go
the town every f i f teen minutes. The 2nd Rcn Plat re
in
posit ion and performing
mission
at 2330B.
At
040800B April
1945 the
656
TD Bn ( -
A & B) was reliev
attachment to Div Trains and reverted to Div control . I
the 1st
and
3rd Rcn Plat (reverted to
1) were detac
A and B Cos respectively and reverted to
Bn
control .
TD
Bn
( -
A
&
B)
~ a s
gven
the mission
of
providing
se
for
the Div CP. In order to do
th is
the Rcn Platoons a
to gun companies
were
detached
and
Icn Co was
reconst i
One plato
n of
TDs
(2nd C Co) was attached to Div Trai
provide
securi ty
for
that element. In order to make up
th
of the TD Plat , one Plat of l ight tanks (1st Plat , Co D,
attached to C Co. The Rcn Plat assembled a t
(B980220) by 1100B.
After
spending about 2
hours on
of arms
and
material
the
platoons moved to
the
p
of the
tOVnl
where outposts
were established. Enemy a i
were
taken
under
f i re
by
Rcn-Plat
guns
at 1130B
but
re;
were not observed. Rcn
Co CP
was established
a t WARBUR
Enemy ground
act iv i ty
in A Cos sector dwindled to sporad
arms
f i re .
Enemy planes flew over the
2nd
Plat area
a t
(B946320) straffed and
dropped
one bomb. No casual t ies
or materiel were suffered. All other elements of A Co
inact ive.
At 041400B April the 3rd Plat , B Co, was
rel ieved from
c o n t ~ o l The
platoon l e f t WARBURG
a t 1430B and rejoined
company at
L U T G E N E N D ~ R
(0015275).
The
1s t
and 2nd
Plats
in place.
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Planes were
fi.red
on but due
to
t le low o:Jrcast resul ts cou_ld
not
be observed.
In order to provide the Div CP v ~ t securi ty on
the
march
plans were drawn up which amounted
to:
attachment
of the
l ight
tank platoon to Rcn Co; Rcn Co
reconnoitering
the main road and
two paral lel
roads
along the axis of
advance and C
Co
indisper-
sed
in
the column with
the
main body. Upon
reaching
the
des-
t inat ion, a l l elements would
move to
the perimeter of town and
set u p o u t p o s ~ s
Through
the aid
of 9th Armd Div two M-36s were
secured.
One,
each,
went to B and C Cos
respectively.
These
l ight tanks
were drawn
in addition to
M-20s
in the organization
One l ight
tank was assigned
to
each of
the
gun companies.
Rcn
00
continued with
the
m-Lssion of
securing the
town
5 April 1945. Since the rapid
advance
of our forges
cut
off
large
and
disorganized large
numbers
of
enemy
uni ts ,
enemy
sold
iers
discarded
their uniforms
and moved about
in
civi l ian cloth
es
behind
our
l ines. In order
to apprehend these
individuals
orders
were received and disseminated
to apprehend
and
search
a l l
civil ians
leaving or
entering
the town of WARBURG. 36 such
individuals
were apprehended 5
April 1945.
These were
turned
over
to
the
9th
Armd Div for
screening.
There
was no act ivi ty
in
A Cos
1st
and 3rd
Plats sectors,
5
April 1945.
The· 2nd Flat moved from the vicini ty of LOWEN.
(B947320) to position in
the
vicini ty of HOHENWEPEL(B970270).
The area
was
straffed by
two enemy planes but no damage was
s u f
fered. Time was spent on maintenance of
vehicles
•
.
B
00 remained in p o s i t i o ~ in the vicini t¥
of
LUTGENENVER
(C029278) performing maintenance 5 April 1945.
Thelst
and
3rd Plats
remained
in
posit ion
a t WARBURG
5 Ap
r i l
1945. At l700B the 2nd
Plat
moved with 9th Armd Div Trains
to WORMELN B970202).
The
Is tFla t , Co
D, 2nd Tank Bn, assumed
responsibil i ty
for
the
area
vacated
by
the
2nd
Flat .
Upon reac
ing
i t s destination
the 2nd
Flat
moved into posit ions
forming
a
perimeter
AT
defense for
the Division Trains.
Enemy aircraf t '
flew over the company area
several
times during the
day
and we
taken
under
f i re .
Information
in reference
to
the expected displacement by 9
Armd
Div
was r e c e i v e ~ at the Bn CP 6 April
1945.
At a confer-
ence
between
the
Bn
00,
ax, CO Rcn 00, 00 Co 0, the f inal plans
for the protection of the
Division CP on the'march a n ~
in
biT-
ouac was drawn up. This plan was then pre$ented to D1vision an
accepted.
Routine visit& to
companies were made by
the SX and
s taff
officers .
Elements of CO moved
into
an assembly area
in the
vicini t
of
LONDAU (B938057) and
WOLFHAGEN
(B999040J, in preparation for
an
attack
to the East. A Co accompanied i t s Combat
Command
in
this
move. The
1st
Flat departed from SCHONTHAL (0004339)
a t
060l00B
April
1945 and
arrived a t
BUHLE (B950300) at 1930B. The
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l s tPla t
was
rel ieved
from attachrncnt
to
the 5211d Armd Inf
1700b and reverted
to
company control .
TLe 2:r-:.d
and 3rd l
L
and
the
Co
CP depc:.rted from HC;F : ~ ' l i E : F B L
(B970270)
C60C:O and
arr ived at BUHLE OgOOB. The
p12
toons,
upon
arr i vtnc';
8.
t ~ ~ l :
~ o v e d
to
the
outskir ts
of town and
set up a perirreter
AT d
ense.
In p r e p a r 8 . t ~ o n
for the attack to
the
East B
Co
moved
wi th i t s Combat Command. :B
Co
departed from L ' C T G : : : . ; r . ~ ~ D ' : : ;
-
(C
278) and
arrived
at
V I E T ~ E S n \ G E N
)EO:7180)
a t 1530B. ~ i i e
C
OJ? moved
from DOSSEL
(B992258) 150CB and
arrived
a t
, ~ : r ? ~
GEN
a t 1600B. Since CCA
es tab l i
shc:d i t s CF
in
the same t U ' i
Co s platoons
moved to the per:i.met'3r of
town
and
establisce
an AT defense.
The 1st ,
3rd Plats ,
Co
CP, C Co, remaineu a t
V l A P J 3 U i ~ G
6
April
1945.
There was no enemy
act ivi ty
of any sor t . 2n
Plat remained
at NC :,kELH (B970278) providil-:.{s'
securi
t:.r for
Div Trains.
There was no unusual act ivi ty in
the
En CP 7 April 45
Routine
s ta f f
functions were
carried
out. Routine vis i t s
companies were
made
by
the
Bn
CO
and
Executive
Officer
o
Rcn
Co
continued
to perform
the securi ty mission a t W
BURG.
There
were
no changes in
posi t ion or c
i sposi
t ion.
C o ~ ; , p a n i
es
A B C
remained in
place 7 April 1945.
Advance
informaJion on the
movement of the
Bn -
A
was received
at
the
Bn CF
a t 081023B A ~ r i l 1 9 4 ~ Rcn
Co
w
assigned
the mission
of making a route
reconnaissance
to S
LiliRSHAUEN
(B239097) and to check O B _ ~ R S C H E } E N
for possi t l e
l e t s . Other
normal
s taff
functions were also ca: ried on.
Rcn 00
continued with
the
assigned mission
of securin
WARBURG
8
April
1945.
A
to ta l
of
22
prisoners
were
Dicked
a t
the outI)O s ts and delivered to CIC, 9th Armd Di vo -:he R
Co
00
was
given
the mission
of reconnoitering the
road
from
WARBURG
to. SIl1MERSHAUSEN. The
m ~ _
ssion was duly performed
and a report rendered on
the
f indings. One
aduit ional l ig
tank was received
by
Rcn
Co
th i s
date. This
tank
replaced
the 00 OO's M-20.
A 00 remained in
place
8 April 1945 awaiting CCB's
mo
ment
to
the
E Maintenance of
arms
and
equipment was carr
on through the day.
B Co departed
fromWETTESINGER
(C007l80) a t 081530£ Ap
r i l
with OOA.
The
mission
uuring
the
march
was
to
furnish
the
securi ty
for OCA OP.
Upon
arriving
a t the dest inat ion
OBERSCHEDEN
(0389199)
a t 2345B, the company moved to the p
imeter
of the
town
and se t up an
AT, de: ense.
There was no
enemy action during
the
march.
o Co - 2nd Plat) remained a t
WARBURG providing
secur
i ty 8
April
1945.
The
Bn CP
closed a t WABBURG (B9282l7) 090730B April a
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joined
the
Div CF
column in
the
move towards the
East. Aft
an uneven'Gful march
the destinati.on, OBE ::{:3CE3DEN
was
reach
The En OJ opened at 1100B at the new
locat ion.
The:On CO
vis i ted the Div CP ruld upon
his
return the
following
chang
were
made.
Effective
1300B C
Co
- 1
Flat)
was attached
to
CCR.
The
1st Plat Co
D, 2nd Tank Bn, was
detached from
C
and attached to
Rcn Co. One
plat
:from A Co was
detached
from
CCB
and
reverted
to
Bn control .
One plat
from
B
Co
w
detached
from
CCA and reverted
to Bn
controlG
A
and
B Cos
were
not i f ied to dispatch the platoons to
OBERSCH1DEN.
Upo
arr ival the
platoon
leaders
were
oriented as
to thei r new
mission.
The two new platoons took up the i r posit ions in
locations vacated
by C Co s platoons.
Rcn
Co departed
WAill3::aG 090600B
April with
the m:i.ssio
of reconnoitering the main route
and
paral le l roads from
WARBURG to OBERSCHEDEN. The
road
r e c o n n a i s s ~ ~ c e was com
pleted without incident . Upon arriving a t
O E R S C F ~ D E N
1100
Rcn
Co proceeded to outpost the
towno
At
1300B
the 1st Fl
Co
D, 2nd Tank Bn, was
detached
from
C
Co and attached to
Rcn Co.
Three
prisoners
were
taken,
2
by
the
2nd Plat ,
an
one b,y
the 1st
Plat . Prisoners were taken
to the
Div
P W ~
COB
departed from
the assembly
area
9
April and
heade
towards
the East. A Co
l e f t HOHBWffEPEL
(B971270) 690600B
April.. Prior
to the
move
the
following
attachments were
made: 1st Plat attached to 52nd Armd I ~ ~ Bn, 2nd Plat unde
company
control,
3rd Pla t attached to the 19th Tank Bn. U
completion
of
the
road march the 1st Plat took up position
GROVE
(C501287),
the
2nd Pla t and
Co Hq at
DRAUSFELD (C408
the 3rd
Plat
a t
P ~ L G E R S H A U S E N
(C478286)0
At
091l30B
A
Co
was
notif ied to
send
the
2nd
plat to
OBER
SCHEDEN.
The 2nd Plat was
attached to the
Bn
CF. Upo
arriving
a t
O B E R S C H i : ~ D l : ; N
and af ter an orienta t ion by
the
S-
the platoon leader moved his platoon
to
posit ions
vacated
C Co.
Co B departed from OBER SCHEDEN a t 09l000B in a m o v e ~
to
the East.
After
an uneventful
road
march
the c o m ~ a n y
closed
a t VOLKERODE (C4742l2) a t 1930B.
At l300B the
3rd
Plat came
under
Bn
control .
C
Co - 1st Plat)
departed WARBURG with the Div
CP co
umn. The
mission
of C Co was
to provide
march securi ty
fo
the Div
CP.
After an uneventful m2rch the
company
arrived
OBER SCHEDEN
and
moved
to
defensive
posit ion
at
the
perime
of town. At 1300B C
Co
- 1
Plat)
was attached
to
CCR
and
ordered to
move to
LIPPOLDSHAUSEN
(C387152). C
Co departe
OBER
SCHEDEN
at l330B
and
arr ived a t i t s
destination
at 15
Themarch was uneventful. Upon reporting
to the
Combat Com
OF the Co CO was informed tha t he was
attached
to the 3rd
273ra
In f ,69 th Div4 which was
the
main element of
Task
Fo
Shaunnesy. The other
elements comprising TF
Shaunnesy we
1 Pla t
of
tanks from the 777th Tank Bn and one Plat of
TDs
from
0 Co, 661 TD Bn. The march was resumed
and
the compa
arrived
a t
GERTENBACH 0439108)
at1830B. Upon
reporting
t
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the 'rask Force CF at G . t i : ~ ~ T B l r B A C H the CO
C
Co
was
informed
that the
pla t
of
tanks was attached to his company. The
remainder of the day was
spent
on maintenance of the vehicl
Upon
reaching
the
LD
at the WESER R, the 9th Armd Div
attacked in the Corps sector with the three
Combat
Commands
committed.
The
advance to the East
was
resumed on 10 Anril
1945 with
Div CP
moving
along the axis
of advance of
CCB.
Rcn
Co
was
given
·:he
mission of
reconnoi
ter ing
and
securing
the
route in
advance
of
the Div CP
main
body. The
Bn
was
aler ted to move
at
0830B. The time of
departure
was changed
and
the En CP plus Hq
end Rcn
Co and the
2nd
Plat , Co A,
and
3rd Plat , Co
B,
did not leave OBER SCHEDEN unt i l 1100B.
The
road
march was
uneventful.
The
Bn
elements nulled
into
a f ie ld 800 yards
Eastof
GROSS
BRuCETER
(D035075) at
1900B.
Hq
Co
did not arrive
at the
bivouac unt i l 2330B. The plan
a t
that
time was to s)end the night in the bivouac and re
sume
the march
in
the
morning.
At 100800B
April
Rcn
Co
departed
from
OBER SCBEDEN in
continuance
of
their
mission
of
reconnoitering
and
securing
the road for the Div CPo
At 0830B
the leading elements
of
RCll Co reached the
t a i l end
of
CCBs elements and
halted.
After several other halts
the
company arrived at
and
secure
the bivouac area in the vic in i ty of GROSS
BRUCHTER
(DO'5075
at
1930B. Fifteenprisoners
were found in
the
vic in i ty
of
the
bivouac.
The prisoners were
turned over
to an M P for
internment.to the Div
PW
enclosureo
. A Co
o n t i n ~ e d the
road
march
Eastward 10 April 1945.
The company
( -
1
Plat).
departed
from the vic in i ty
of
GRANS-
FETID and af te r an uneventful march arrived a t KLEINFURRO
(DI071?7)
1900B. The 2nd Plat , A Co,
accompanied the
En
an
Div
CPs.
B
Co
( - 1
Flat) conlinued
t ~ advance
to the East with
i t s
Combat
Command.
B
Co
l e f t VOLKERODE (H634983)
l00800B
April
1945 and
af te r an
uneventful
march arrived at THALEERA
(DI39053) a t
2400B. The
3rd Ii lat accompanied the Bn
and Di
CPs.
C
Co advanced
to
the
East with
i t s Combat Command. At
approximately
100900B
April
C
Co ( -
1 Plat)
departed
from
G3RT":;NBACH (C440110) for an unknown
dest inat ion. At
2000B
CCo
arrived
a t
18SERSHEILINGEN
(J035935)
and
moved to the
perimeter
of the town and set up an AT
defense.
There were
no
incidenJs of
any
sort
curing the
march.
The 2nd
Pla t ,
Co C, moved
with
Div Trains.
The Eastward march was resumed 11 April
1945.
The En
closed at GROSS BHUCHTER
(D0350?5)
a t 1315B.
The Bn
column
joined Div CP column and moved towards the East . After
·tra
eling several miles the column
moved
into
a
f ie ld
500yards
East of
K L ~ C H E N G E L (D220038) a:t
l500B.
Rcn Co, the 2nd Pla
B Co, and the 3rd Plat A Co, formed a perimeter defense.
q
Co did not arr ive
a t the f ie ld unt i l
1610B. Two prisoners
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\
were taken by gun section from A Co. ~ Bn OF departed
from the
f ield
at KL :CHENGEL and moved to
KIlrDELBRUCH
(D340
338). :::he
En
CF
opened
at
KIUDELERUCH
at
1750B. Eq Co
whil
on the
move
to
KINDERBRUCH
was bombed and st raffed by enemy
.planes. The
planes were taken
under f i re but resul ts
were
not evident. Hq Co
did
not suffer any casualties or d r r ~ g e
to equipmento .
Rcn
Co
performed
the
usual
mission
of
security
during
the march and at the
hal ts .
Rcn
Co
upon arriving a t KINnER
BRUCH
posted
outposts at the
perimeter
of the
town.
There
were no
unusual act ivi t ies
during the m.arch
or
upon
arrival
at KINDBRBRUCH.
CO
continu.ed i t s advance to the East 11 April
1945.
The
1st
and
3rd
Plats A
Co departed BARNSTADT
(D720120) Apr
1945 and
arrived
at
GROST
(D810037) at 1200B. There was no
action against
t h n ~ m y during
the
march
•
The
Platleader
of the 1st Plat was
evacuated-when
his arm was
broken by
a
.50
Cal
MG which
hit a low
branch,
sv:ung
around
and
hit the
platoon
leader
in the arm. The Plat Sgt assumed
command
of
the
Plat. The
Co CF
moved
from
KLEINFURNA to
EPERSTEDT
(D39
110)
arriving
there a t
l300B. The 2nd
Plat
remaine d with
th
Bn
OF with the
mission
of providing security ror
the
Di v
CP
0
At 110300B April while a t THREBRA (D120005) the 2nd Pla
Co B was attached
to the 14th
Tank Bn. The
1st Plat
was
given
the
mission of providing
securi ty
for CCA CP, provide
the advance
guard
during
the
march
and
maintain
contact
with
the
14th
Tank Bn• The Co C remained
with
the 1st PlataCCA
continued the
advance to
the East
against
nesl igible opposi
t ion. W ~ i l e
approaching
SACHENBURG (D390045) elements
of th
14th Tank Bn ran into a strong enemy
force at
1500B. The ta
deployed in the f ield West of town with the TDs to .the rear
in
support.
The
posit ion
occupied
was
under high
velocity
f
from the high ground
East of LOUHENBERG. Mortar f i re
was
al
fa l l ing -in the area. The
1st Plat took
two OPs under fire-a
ar ter expending
16 rounds
both
targets were
destroyed.
The
pany commander requested
to
f i re on a
third OP
but
the reque
was denied. One man was
sl ight ly injured by
m.ortar
f i re .
A
l700B the 2nd
Plat
was detached from the
14th
Tank
Bn
and
a t
tached
to
the
60th Armd
Inf
Bn. The
1st Plat
was
also attach
ed
to
the 60th Armd In Bn. The platoons spent the remainde
of
the
evening and night in the f ie ld West of SUCHENBURGo I
termittent high velocity f i re fe l l moat of the night.
C
Co
(-
1
Plat)
with
Task
Force-Shaunnesy
departed
mSE
SHEILINGEN
ll15B in
the movement
to
the East. The method of
employment was
as followss TD Platoons
would
lead off
a t
th
head of the
task
force column on the resumption of the march
Upon reaching a town the TDs would
move to the flank
sectors
of town
and
take up f ir ing positions. The
Task
~ o r c e would
then proceed through
the town when
the
column
passed
thrOUgh
the TDs
would proceed
to the
head of
the Task-Force
where
th
advance guard role
was resumed. Upon
reaching the next
town
the
proceedure
would be repeated. Enemy ai r was very active
11 April 1945. Planes were ~ i r e d on by
a l l
TDs but no plane
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ia
.......
were
knocked dOVin. C Co ( - 1 Elat)
arriveci
at ...WIDI.:.:LIBBN
(J550925) at l800B
where i t bivouacked for
the n i ~ h t .
The Bn CP accompanying Div
CP
L10ved out of EI,l/i;...UUL-CK
(D340338)
into an open
f ie ld
North
of the
tov.n.
:""1.'ec08i
t ion was occupied unti l 1300 when the march was resumed.
T
column
pulled into
a f ie ld
at
D473l03
where
t remained un
t i l
l700B.
The march '..as then
resumed.
Di v and Bn CP mov
into
a
f ie ld
S
of
STEIGA
(E744072) where t
bivouacked
forthe
night.
Rcn
Co
l e f t
H I N ~ E R B R U C K
at
l20730E
April and moved to
the high ground
North of town.
Thibarea Vias
securec!.
in
an
t ic ipat ion of the
occupation by the
Div OF
g r o ~ p .
upon
re
sumption
of
the
march Rcn
Co
moved out to
perform
i t s roo.d
reconnaissance mission. The pla"toon of l ight tanks attache
to Rcn was detached
to the
2d
and 3rd
Rcn
Flats .
The Liai
son Officer acting as a bi l le t ing at :J.'icer
accompanied the
3rd Rcn
Plat .
During
the
road Rcn
mission the pl8.toons l
ed
through towns
that
were
by-passed
b,. e l e m e n ~ s of CCE.
In
the town of
ROSSLEBEN
(D525052) the 3ra PJat
took
31
prison
erso One was ki l led while t rying
to
escape. The tovms of
WE1l>EI
STEIN
(D602043)
and
KLEIN
W GEN
(D659040)
were
also
cleared. An airplane factory was
taken
in tact
in
the town
of KLEIN WAGEN. During the
halt in
the f ie ld at (D473l03)
Rcn
Co
performed the
usual perimeter
securi ty mission.
Afte
departing
from
the
f ie ld at D473l03 and
securing
the ~ r o p o s
Div
CP
Group bivouac
e.rea
and'
the
2nd Plat took 15 prlsoner
Rcn
Co
Hq sect ion took eight prisoners that day.
The advance was resumed 12 April by CCB. 'vTr:ile procee
ing along the
road
between SCHAFSTALL (D8l0l70) and B D LAU
CKSTADT (D875l75) tanks
of
Co B,19th Tank Bn, were ~ a k e n
under f i re by
88mm guns
guns. These
gW1S
were being use
against
foot troops sn(.
armored
vehicles. The j rd Flat in
support of
Co
B,
19th
Tank
Bn
followed
direct ly
behind
the
. rea r tank of Co B; Four of the tanks preceedin[ t t e leadin
destroyer were
hi t .
Theleading
destroyer
of
the
3rd ? la t
was also hi t
b
an
88mm
HE shel l .
Two
men were ki l led, two
injured
seriously,
also
one
crewman was injured
l ight ly .
T
man who received
s l ight
injuries returned
to
duty af ter re
ceiving treatment.
During the
fight al l
eight
guns
were ei
destroyed or
the
crews
surrendered.
~ h e Column then contin
ued and went into a
bivouac
in
the
vic in i ty of· 3Affi}STiJ)T
(D720l20)
•
The in termit tent shel l ins ceased at about 120045:8
~ r i
1945.
B Co departed from SAUHElillURG (D390045) a t l015B mo
ing
in
an
Easterly
di:cection.
The
1s t
Plat
and
Co
Eq
march
ed with 60th
.A.rmd
Inf Bn and the 2nd Plat with l 4 t t '.rank .o
Co B
( -
1 Plat )
af ter an
uneventful march went into bivouac
in an open f ie ld in the vic ini ty of
ZUCHFELD (D085508) at
l30300B
April .
C Co
departed
from ROLDISLEBD (J55092,) 12 April wi
th
Task Force
Shaunnesy.
Five
tanks of
772nd
TD En attached
to the
company were los t
during the road
mal'ch
on
accou..n.t
o
mechanical . fai lures . One company of Inf was carr ied on the
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. - - -
TDs. The compc::ny: moved to U I : T E R 1 ~ S S A DIPPELSDORF (J995920)
arr iving ~ h ~ r e
a t
1930B. The Task Force :r:loved out again
a t
2130B tra111ng Task Force Devers unti l a
driver
in
27th
Arm
Inf
Bn
fe l l asleep West of ZEITZ
(D085815).
Elements
of th
Task
Force halted
in place. Time
shel l
f i re was
delivered
on
the column but no casualt ies or damage was
suffered
by
C Co.
The En
CP closed
at
STEIGRA (E744072)
131150B
April
and accompanied the Div CP to a f ie ld a t (J950905), where i
remained
unt i l 1700B.
After
being alerted for movement
a t
1645B elements of
the Bn CP
moved on to the
road.
The march
was resumed at 1700B. A
bi l le t ing
party was dispatched
to
H O H E ~ O L S E N
(F050930)
in anticipat ion of sett ing up the CF
there. Upon arr ival a t HOHENM:OLSEN the CP opened ,?t 1800Bo
In anticipatiGn ,of a move to the S licn Co was given th
mission
of reconnoi
tez:ing
a
route
to
NAUJ.lEERG (J845915).
Th
3rd
Platmoved
out
of i t s posit ion at STEIGRA at 130800B Ap
to perform the route reconnaissance. The mLssion was
acco
plished
without
incident.
Upon
the
resumption
of
the
march
by
the Div CP group,Rcn Co preceeded the column
providing
advance
securi ty.
Upon movement into the
f ie ld
a t J950905
Rcn Co took up the
usual
posit ion set t ing up
perimeter
sec
uri ty
outposts. The
1st
Rcn
Plat while
performing a rou-:;e
reconnaissance
in
the
vic in i ty
of KOSSLITZ-
WLEDBBACH
(J965
940) received direct 88mm
f i re .
The leading vehicle, a l iG
tank, took the gun under f i re . After securing
several
hi ts
the 88mm
gun emplacement
burst
into flames
se t t ing
off
the
amm\llli t ion sto:r:e. The 2nd
88mm
gun, located
nearby
was
als
taken under f i re and knocked out. A to ta l of 20
rounds
of
37mm
HE
was
expended.
In the afternoon
of
the SaI: :e day, Rc
Co
was
given the mission
of
reconnoitering the
road network
towards HOEElaOLSEN. While
in the
vic in i ty
of
LANG-ENDCTh
(J954950)
the platoon - M20s) and
attached l igh t
tanks was
taken
under
small arms f i re . The f i re was resumed. Four
enemy were kil led and 10 were
taken
prisoners. The r e ~ t ?f
the
road reconnaissance
mission
was performed without
1nc1d
ent .
CCB continued the
advance in
a general easterly direc
t ion against moderate enemy opposit ion. Most of
the
enemy
opposition
in the
LEONA sector
came
from
AA
guns depressed
to
f i re on
ground
forces. The 1st section of the
1st Pla t
ran into diff icul ty n the vic in i ty of NALENDORF D 9 1 0 0 4 0 ~
while
supporting
A Co, 52nd
Armd Inf
Bn.
Light
Inf
R ~ o s 1 t
moderate
ar t i l l e ry
f i re
and aconsiderable amount of
h1gh ve
ocity ar t i l lery f i re consti tuted
the
oain obstacle. At abo
131000B April the
1s t
Section was r e q u e s ~ e d to
take
four
towers
inthe vicini ty of NALENDORF under
f i re : All
towers
were f i red on and destroyed. Several buildings
were taken
under f i re also. The sun,orted infantry
took
the
o b j e ? t ~ v e
by 1115B.
The
1st
section
took
21 prisoners
in the
v i c 1 n 1 ~ T
of the action. The
3rd Plat
departed from
SCHAFSTADT (D810
170)
0630B and
arrived in
the
vic in i ty
D840000).
No
action
against the enemy. The 2nd Plat A Co moved
with
Div
and
Bn
CPs. The Co
CJ? departed from BARNSTADT and
arrived at
GROS
D870038)
at
1200B.
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Co :0 -
1 ..::lat) moved
out of : l J E U C H i ~ L D
(D855008) fol
l o ~ i n g
CCRs route
of
advance. The 1st Plat and Co
Hq
ad
vanced
with the 60th Armd
Inf Lile
(;11e
2nd
advanced;,:i th.
t.te 14th
·:rankl3n. Upon
arr iving at , iBlillEN
(K136919)
the 1st
l l a t was
requested
to f i re
onemplaced
88mm AA guns. The 1s t
sect ion
f i red
7rounds and
got
3 hi t s on one
gun.
The emplac
[.1ent
began to
smoke and
'then
burn. S:he supported tanks took
care
of
three
other
guns s i ted nearby. At 1700 the advance
contincJ.ed
co
GROSS-.jTORKNITZ
(X167974)
where
af te r
spending
about 30
min in that location orders were received from
60
Arwd Inf 13n to supnort 1 Plat of Inf in
taking
the town of
· i { B I D ~ R C D A Ct.16
5964)
• The
Inf entered the town a t
1800B wi th
out oP:Josi t ion.
The
Co rear
elements Hloved
from NIBI1'..ITZ to
S I ~ ~ E L (K132.992). Upon arr ival
the
town was taken
under
hea
ar t i l lery f i re .
An ammunition truckfrom
the 60th
Armd
Inf
B
was
hi t
and began to burn.
Two
men, a T 5 and a Pfc
from
B
Co, WId one man fromHq Co exposed themselves
to
the f i r e
in
order to
nove
the burning truckaway
from
other
vehicle-s
that were
parked nearby. One prisoner was taken by B
Co
13 April
1945.
At 120800B
Task
Force
Shaunnesy
advanced
towards BEERSD
(K145920).
" '{hen about 600
yards from
the
objective,
the ent
column was
taken
under time f i re . T.ne Plats deploy8d
and
th
Inf
dismountea
from
tanks
and tank destroyers and assaulted
ALi:BNGROITZ
:; a
70920). The 3rd Plat f i red
approximately
15
rounds of HE
into a high building
in
ALTENGRCITZ which was
suspected to
be
an
enemy OPe
With
the
destruction
of
the
building
the
f i r ing
stopped.
The Inf
then
advanced and
took
the town. ~ h e
3rd Flat
then
s u p ~ o r t e d Co
L,
273rd
Inf,
in
attack
on
Gl-:.OITSCH (K175840).
From a
range
of 600
to
900
yards the 3rd
Plat
f i red
a preparat ion of 30 rounds. The
areas
occupied
by our forces were
constant ly under enemy
f i re
20nsequently
i t
was
necessary to
ctange
posit ions
con
t inuously.
TInon
completion
o f ~ h e
preparat ion
the 3rd
Plat
withdrww
to BEERSDOI-iF where t
bivouacked
for
the
night .
The
platoon
arrived a t BEERSDCRF a t 1600B. The 2nd
Pla t ,
Co C,
remained
attached to Div
:::rains at
~ E L D I T Z (J935885). Four
enemy pllanes bombed
BEER3DO.HF
a t
1930B. No
damage
or in jur
ies sustained by C Co.
Normal s ta f f
functions
were carr ied on a t Bn CP
14
Apr
1945. The
Bn S-3
vis i ted
the
company
posit ions and
returned
to
the
CP
at
1927B. Two prisoners
were taken
in
HOHENlliOLSEN
(K050930)
by the
3-2
Sgt. Several
enemy
planes flew over
th
CP
area,
were
taken
~ I d e r
f i re
but
no
resu l ts
were
noted.
~ l a n s were
drawn
upfor the reconnaissance
of
roads
in
case
the
march
was
to be resumed
on
the
morrow.
TLe Rcn
Co CO
was informed of
the
details of
the
plan. The bat ta l ion was
aler ted for
the resumption of
tne
march on the following
day
Rcn
Co
continued to perform
the securi ty
mission on
the
perimeter
of
the
tovm of H O ~ N l u O L S E N A
section
of Rcn 00
was posted at a l l
roads
leading into town. Due
to
the
possi
bi l i ty of
resuming
the march
on
the 20th
of April , Ron Co
CO
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•
upon visi i,ing the En CP was acquainted wi
th
the
tentative
road
reconnaissance
,:)lan. Seven German solcliers and
eight
civil ians were picked up by
the
outposts. The prisoners we
turned
in a t the P\V E
while
the civi l ians were turned over to
Div
OIC for screening.
. COB
continued
to advance to the
East a g a i n ~ t moderate
resl-stance. The 1st
section, 1st
l: lat, advanCing in
su:ppor
of
52nd
Armd Inf Bn
in
the
vicini ty
of
NELLSHUTZ
(DOIS8) wa
taken under time f i re by dug in 88mm AA guns. Two of the fo
guns were
taken
under
f i re . Hi r;s
were
secured
on
hoth
guns
Twenty of
the
enemy crew members
were
ki l led. The 2nd
Plat
remained in the location occupied the
day
before. :rhe Comp
rear CP moved from Gl-{OST (D870037) to
LLCHA
(K035970)
ar r iv
ing
there at
1100B. The
march
was uneventfulo
Co B remained
inactive
during the
morning
hours
of 14
April 1945. Time was
spent
onmotor
m a i n ~ e n a n c e and repairin
of equipment damaged by enemy ar t i l l e ry
f i re .
At 141130B
April 1945 the CO 00 B departed for CCB Hq. Upon learning
the objective
of
the
command the company was assembled
and
moved
out
in
an
easterly direction.
~ r o
the
outset
the
mo
ment was slow with frequent halts . The column was
halted
o
a
hi l l
in the vicini ty of PIEGEL (K216953) by heavy and ac
curate ar t i l lery f i re . While held up
in
th is posit ion, the
Co
C O ~ s
l ight tank was used
to
round up16 German
prisoners
in a
f ie ld near an
AA
posit ion. An order
was
received to a
vance through the
zone
covered
by
enemy ar t i l lery . Vehicle
raced
through the zone by
, inf i l t rat ion.
The column then
advanced
through
KIERITZSCH (K245949). Whenabout
3/4
of a
mile
past the t o ~ n
the
column was again taken under f i re by
enemy
ar t i l lery .
B Co - 1 Plat)
turned around
and
returned
to
KIERITZSCH
a t 2130B At 2400 the CoCO was summoned to
the CP of
CCA.
a t
TRACHENAU
(K266965)
to receive
further
orders.
While awaiting further orders a t BEERSDORF (K145920).
14
April
1945 a
Polish
PW volunteered information
a t
the Co
CP that
English,
Polish and Russian PWs
were in
a faotory
cel lar in town• The securi ty
sections
of the 1st and 3rd
Plats under the command of the Co
Executive
and
the attache
Rcn Plat leader
were
sent to investigate. As a resul t , ·19
German enlisted men and 1 officer were taken
prisoner
and
over 100
English
paratroopers
and
300 Polish and Russian
PWs l iberated. C
Co
was aler ted
to
move a t 1200B. At 1225B
C Co departed from BEERSDORF performing the point
mission
for
Task
Force
Shaunnesy column.
After
an
uneventful
march
the company
-
1 Plat)
arrived a t
WEIDENHAIN (K247873)
a t
.
1500B and set uproad blocks on roads leading into town. At
2300B
three
Hit ler
youths
were oaptured. These boys
upon
questionine, revealel that they were AA
gun crew
members
from ZEITZ.
One
Plat of tanks from the 777th Tank Bn re
joined the
·Company. The 2nd
Plat
of C Co moved with Div
Trains.
In anticipation
of
the D ~ v
OP s
move forward, Rcn Co
was given the mission of reconnoitering the road from HOHEN
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.'
.
1 / i O L S 1 ~ N to B R E I J 1 I X G ~ N (.K285865). .he n was alerted to move
a t
l6l30GB AJ)ril but the time
of departure was
C l ~ W 1 f , E d
to
l j15B. 1 he:an CF closed
at
HCL..d'J..CI0Eii 1,2013 and joined th
Div
CP
group for the march to B.R.BI . L : G ~ N .
Hq Co
ren:ained a
HOEEN1,CLSEN
awaiting
movemen t
of
Di v
ar t i l l e ry . Tl e
Dn
CF
opened a t
Bfu;ITL·)GEN
at l7l5B. Rcn Co and the attaclled pla t
oons outposted the perimeter
of tovm. At 1730B infol'L'la
t ion
was received at the
CP
that one
of the factory chimneys
in
the
outak1rt,
of
town was
being
usee:.
as
an
OP. A
sec·cion
o
guns was
dispatched
to destroy the OPe The report was foun
to
be
groundless
and
the
guns
returned
to
the i r post at the
perimeter of town. Hq Co arriyed and took up bi l le t s a t
BREITINGEN
a t 2320B.
At
l50830B April
Rcn
Co received the
i l l
:.ssion of recon-
noi ter ing the
road
from HOEEHKOLSEN
to
B r u : ; I ~ E . G E H . ~ h e
1s t
Flat performed
the
mission without incidento When the Div
OP
moved out, Rcn
Co
secured
tLe main route and
para l le l
roads to the destination. Upon arriving
a t
BIlliITIWJEN :i.cn
Co
posted securi ty outposts on the perimeter of town.
The 1st Plat A
00
was relieved
from t t c r ~ e n t
to 52nd
Armd
Inf
Bn
and
reverted
to
company
control; the
j rd Plat
was
rel ieved from
t t c ~ ~ e n t to
the
19th Tank En and revert
to
company control
at
L A U C } ~ (K030970) 15
April
1945. A Co
however remained
attached to
CCB. Co A departed from
LAu;';E
at
l500B and arrived
at
BLUURODA
(K310880 r
1800B. ~ n L e
Co
- 1 Flat)
then
set
up
road blocks on roads leadin,)
in to
tovm
The 2nd Plat remained and moved
with
the Bn CF.
Upon
reporting
to the
OJ?
of
CCA
a t
THACEENAU
(K266965)
the Co
CO
Co A was informed that the Combat
Command
would
move out at
about
150300B April with
H A I N l m ~ E N
(K368990)
as
the objective.
A Co - 1 Plat)
departed from TRACEEl-;AU
a t
0300B and arr ived.at NBURIERITZSCH (K284950) a t 0530B. The
.
1s t
Plat
se t
up
road
blocks
on
the
Southern
par t
of
town.
At
0920B CCB
resumed
i t s
marchto the original
objective.
·;'/
apr,ro:::ching ·:rHIBRBACH (K349966) the column was taken under
intense
ar t i l J
ery
and mortar
f i l ~ e The column remained on
the road from 1100B unt i l about 160CB when it was
decided
./
to
make a run
for
the
town.
The f i re l e t up a
bi t but as
soon
as
the column reached THIBREACH the town received a
heavy
barrage
of
ar t i l l e ry
f i re . Vehicles were
pulled
unde
cover
and the mentook
cover
in
buildings.
No casualt ies or
damage to vehicles was suffered. After
the
ar t i l l e ry f i re
l e t
up the company
proceeded
to se t up roc.d blOCKS. The Co
rear CP and the attached Hq vehicles arrived at i : I E R 2 t \ . C H
a t 1900B.
Task Force Shaunnesy
moved out
from '/,'ILDENEAIU
a t 15-
0900B April . One Plat of tanks from the
777th ~ a n k
Bn lead
the
column.
Co C
-
1
Plat)
followed the l as t
Co of
Inf.
The head of
the
colwnn
arr ived
a t L1 .1JPAHN (K515896) a t 1620:
While
at
LEUPAh N C Co was ass. .gned mission of s u p ~ o r t i n g th
3rd
Bn, 273rd Inf,
69th ]liv, in the at tack on
C O L D I ~ Z (K549
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The
plan of attack
was
to have
the TDs
and
tanks f i re
from
the West
to the
East into COLDITZ
on any
act ivi ty
that
was
noticed
while the
In assaulted
the
town
from the
South.
C
Co's
1st and 3rd Plats and the attached platoon
of
t a c l ~ s
took
up
:positions in defilade
and against
houses in HCHN13ACE
(l:C533917
J.
The
TDs ~ e g a n f i r ing
befol. e
the
Inf
got
under way
S1nce
the
range atwh1ch the
TDs
were f i r ing, 1,600 to
2,000
yards,
target
designation
was
extremely
dif f icu l t .
This difficul ty was
solved
by
u8ing the 20
power
te le
scope.
The Plat leader set up his scope at a vantage
point .
\fuen a target was
picked
out the platoon leadsr
would l e t
a
gunner
and
TD commander
observe
the
target
through the s c o ~ ; e
and then take i t under f i re . In
one
instance,
two enemy
were observed against
( .11
enbanlanent. ~ h i s target
was
taken
under f i re .
The
follcwing
day,
the spot
taken under f i re
was inspected
and the only evidence found
of
the
two enemy
was a
cap. A tota l
of 45 rounds were
f i red into
suspected
MG emplacements, f ie ld f o r t i f i c a ~ c i o n s a l1d houses. Two
emplacements were d e f i n i - : ~ e l y destroyed
and
an
unknovm number
of
enemy
ki l led .
After
dark
the
destroyers
werepulled
back
into town
and the men b i l l e ~ t e d
Upon
vis i t ing the Div
CP
the
CO learnedthat
the
Div
OJ
was
to
displace
to BAD LAUSICK
K426940) 16 April 1945. Rcn
Co
was
given the mission
of
re,connoi
tering_ the route
and
securing the
town of
BAD LAUSICK.
Since
no
previous report
was
received
as
to the
town
disposi t ion,
one
section
of TDs
was attached
to
the Rcn
Co
executing the mission. ~ h e town
was reported
cleared
by Rcn Co
at 1330B.
The En
CP
closed
a t BREITINGEN a t
1530B
and af te r an uneventful march opened
a t BAD LAUSICK a t
1735B.
The 1st Rcn
Plat
l e f t
BREITINGEN at
160730B April in
the
execution
of
the
road
reconnaissance mission.
One
aband
oned 76mm
gun
was found in
the
vic ini ty
of
B D LAUSlCK. Sinc
the gun was
inact and
ready for use, a few thermite
grenades
were
thrown i n - ~ o the tube.
No
resistance
was
encountered a t
BAD
LAUSIOK
but
96 enemy
enlis ted
men
and
4
off icers were
rounded up in
clearing the town.
The
1st Plat then posted
outposts in their
sector of
respons ibi l i ty on the
perimeter
of the
town.
One
section of
Rcn
Co accompanied
the Bn S-2
in moving
to
BAD
LAUSICK.
The remairiaer of Rcn Co
executed
i t a mission
of
march
securi ty when
Div
CP made i t s move from
BREITINGEN to BAD LAUSICK.
Upon
arr iving
a t BAD LAUSICK the
remaining
elements outposted the i r sector
of responsibil i ty.
A Co
-
1 :i:: lat)
spent the
early
part
of
the
16th
0
f
April
on
motor
maintenance.
At 1830B A
Co departed from
BL {JMROD E a c c o m p a n ~ i n g
CCB on the
move
to the
-North
with
WETEWITZ (E355241J
as the objective.
The
march proceeded
wi thout incident
and the
Company
arri:ved at AL J. ENHAlN (E450
100) a t
2359B. The company
secured bivouac for the night .
At 0830B,
16
April B
Co
departed
from
TElERBACH (K350970
with
CCA
on the
move
to
the
North.
Elements of
the
14th Tank
Bn
provided the
point
while
the
TDs
lead
tLe main body.
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soon
as THIEill3ACE
was cleared
the
column was
taken
under
f i re by enemy
88nn
gUllS Vlhich wei"e f i r ing a i r
bursts .
Sev-
eral of the 36s \'lere t wi th
shrapnel
but no damage
re
suI
ted.
T . : ~ e to','fIl
of Or::."rERVIISCH
(E000001) was cleared by
tl1e
i'D
:i?lats.
Co:E
remained
in
O:::TERWISCH unt i l
the
ta.i1.ks
which were Dlaneuvering
in
8 flanking operation arr ived a t
the
tmvn.
upon arr ival of the
tanks
the march was resumed
to
ALT:t:i.ITL:..IN (E455105).
The
tanks
and
Inf
went ahead
to
clear the
woods while B Co remained in
town. In
the engat;e
Denes
one tank was
knocked
out.
:E
Co's recovery
vehicle
wa
sent
into
the
woods
to retr ieve
t>e
tank.
There was some
s ~ a l l arms
interference during the tank recovering opera-
t l0n but
no one was hurt and the
tank
was pulled back into
tovm. The
march
was tllen
resum
d and the Company reached
LELLITZ
E 4 3 ~ 1 5 5 )
a t 2140B. The road network leading
into
tovm was
then outposted
o
During the early morning hours
under
the
cover of grou
haze the 1st , 3rd Plats and the attached. tank platoon re
turned to
their
I ' iring positions
in
the
vic in i ty of HOI:NBAC
(K532917).
:2ositions
with
more
defi lade
were
taken
however
since
posi t ions of the day before
were disclesed
by the pre
vious
day's
f i r ing
and
a
considerable
amount of
small arms
f i re
was
being received. Fir ing
was
not resumed because
e l ~ H l e n t s of the 69th
lnf
Div had reached
the
town
of COLDIT
C Co ( - 1
Plat) l e f t the posit ions
a t
HOHN:EACH
a t
1330B,
16
April
1945
and moved
into the town
of
COLDITZ where road
blocks
were set up Tile Company arrived
a t
COIDITZ a t ·1530B
without
any incidents
o
In anticipat ion
of movin€ the Div CP North, .Rcn Co was
given
the mission of reconnoitering a route to and the
town
of G r t n 2 ~ (E483045). Since the area wasn't thoroug1LW clea
ed
of
enemy a
section
of TDs
were
sent
as
a
supporting
ele
ment. Flans were undertaken to rota te platoons of A & B Co
which
were under
bat ta l ion c o n t r ~ l roviding secur i ty for
,
Div
and
Bn
CPs.
~ h e plan
was completed
and submitted to Div
for
ap,roval. Routine v i s i t s
by:En
s ta f f
off icers were made
to the
companies.
:rhe 2nd Rcn Ple.t was assigned
the mission of reconnoi
erinr;
the route
to
G R I l ~ One section.
of TDs (1st sect ion
3rd
£lat , Co B) was attached
to
the 2nd Rcn Pla t . The
miss
w.as routine unt i l
the
object ive was
reached.
The. enemy had
1 eft the tOlm of GRIMh:A
the
previous
day and took
up
posi-
t ions
in 'Hoods
xross
the
1 TI TLDE R
Harassing
small
arms f i re
was directed
into
the
town and
on the roads
leading
North.
After establishing
contact
~ i t h
elements
of the
89th Rcn :En
~ a s k Force
Eibel
moved
into
posi t ion
to
eliminate the
pocke
of enemy a t E482037. The woods and
vis ib le
entrenchments
were
raked
with 90mm, 37mm and .30
and .50
Call.'iG f i re . Tree
bursts were
sccured.
T ~ o
enemy
were
def ini te ly ki l led . Ob-
servat ion into
the
woods was l imited.
I t
i s presumed
that
=ore of
the
enemy were ki l led . After the
completion
of f i re
by ~ h e TaskForce Eible, enemy f i re ceased to come from
the
;voods. '.;0 ta l of' 40 rounds of 90mm HE
and
35 rounds
of
37m
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.
was expended. The s..'ask FO:L'ce then
re turned
to BAD L A u S I C ~ :
wi
thout
fur ther
inc ident
. : L h e ls t
and
3rd Fle t s
rer.laine0
a t
EAD
LAUJICK outpost ing the torm.
A Co's sec tor v:as quie t 17 Apri l . CCB VlaS providj,n.g
an
armored screen
to
the Bast Gi' L ~ n p Z I G .A
Co
dt;epened t h i s
screen.
The
company moved _:orth tonew pos i d o n s . Compan:.r
( - 1 Pla t )
depar ted
LbULITZ a t 1430B and
a f t e r
an u n e v e . n ~ f u l
Llarch ar r ived
a t
VfEL'rEtfITZ (E355241)
arr i , ; ing there a t 1630B
Read
blocks
were
se t
up
on
roads
leadinG
in to town.,
B Co
spent
the morning of
17
April lS4-5 on r::aintenance
and outpost ing
the
tovvn
of
LEtJLITZ • At 150CB E
Co
w ~ s given
the
mission
of taking the town of L ~ i > C ~ i E R : r
(3405175).
The
Task Force
was
composed of
a P la t from Service COLlP an:,' , 60th
Armd Inf
Bn.
A sec t ion
of Engineers ,
one
l i {b t
tank and two
1-:-20s.
The Platoon leader
of
the I s
L; I l a t
Co B
was nlaced
in
command
of Task F.orce
Zap .
~ h e
town vias
taken wi
thout
opposi t ion
and held
unt i l 2030B
when r e l i e f
furnished by
Co
C,
60th Armd Inf ' Bn ar r ived.
The
Task ]lorce
then :ceturne
to LEULITZ.
At
1700B, B
Co was
given the
mission
of
running
a contac t pa t ro l between LEULITZ and
B I ~ , N O W I T Z (E464184)
every
two
hours.
This
missL.m
was
duly
executed.
The
1s t
P la t maintaine.d road block -posi t ions in
GRETEN.
o
Co
OF remairted in COLDITZ 17
Apri l
194'5.
The
1s t Pla
moyed
to
and occupied posi t ions
a t
ZSCHADRASS (K554942).
The
3rd Pla t moved to and
occupied
pos i t ions in HAtJSDO.i:iF C
566
922). Botb of the platoon pos i t ions
were
on the f ront l i nes
as elements
of
the 3rd Bn, 69th In f
Div,
were dug
in
on
the
f l anks of the
destroyer
po s i t iona .
The
3rd P la t cap ~ u r e d
eight
pr i soners on
tre
17th
of
Apri l 1945.
The plan for
the
ro ta t ion of the platoons of A,
13
C C
upon
subm.', ssionto, Div wes
not
accepted. I t was s t a t ed tha t
~ h i s
plan would receive
SGme
cons idera t ion a t
some l a t e r
da
Normal
s t a f f
funct ions
and v i s i t s
to
companies were
car r i ed
on ~
made 18 Apri l 1945.
Rcn Co performed the ass igned miss ion of outpost ing BAD
LAUSICK.
There were
no unusual a c t i v i t i e s 18 Apri l 1945 •.
/
Oos A, B C
performed
t h e i r ass igned miss ion 18
Apri l
•
Time
was
spent on maintenance o vehic les ,
arms
-and
equipme
The secur i ty miSSion
ass i tned to
the
elements
of
the 65
TD
Bn were
pefformed
in a rou t ine mariller i9
Apri l 1945.
}:q
00 and
Rcn
OF mov,.d in to a
f i e l d
in
the ', 'j'estern
par t
of
BAD
IA
USICK.
,
Routine
funct ions
car r i ed
out
by
En Hq,
Rcn,
A
BOos .
The Bn CP was a le r ted fo r
movement to
LCBSTADT
(E295820).
Rcn
Co turned over
;8
Germans
to
ele
fo r
screen ing .
Task
Force
Shaunnesy
was disbanded
20
Apri l 1945.
Co C
was
re l ieved
from attachment
to the
3rd
En, 273 In f , nd
a t tached to
the
2nd
Tank Bn.
The
pla toon
o f tanks
from
tt .e
777th
Tank
Bn was re l ieved from attachment arid at tached
to
the 3rd
Bn, 273
In f Regt. C Co departed from CCLDITZ (K545
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·931)
at
1330B and moved to
GROSSERL.L.TE
(K528958)
arriving
there at
1500B.
The 1st ~ l a t
moved
into
posit ion with a
m ~ s s i o n
of
guarding
a Cl 70 bridge, the
3rd
Plat moved into
position covering
a Cl 40 bridge. At 1640:3 enemy movement
w ~ s noticed in woods in
the
vicini ty of the 1st Plats posi
t lon.
Four rounds
of HE
were fired
into
the woods. The re
suI ts were not observed' nor was an
investig,
t ion made of the
results
of -the f i r ing.
The
Bn
~ P
c l o s e d ~ a t
BAD
LAUSICK
(E426941) 210825B
April
and accompanled the D1V O to LOBSTADT where i t opened at
1030B. At 1655B word was received
that 25
German officers
and 180
enlisted
men in civil ian
clothes
were in the town of
lWTSCHUTZ.
Rcn
Co
was
given the
mission of investigating
this report.
Rcn Co performed the usual mission of road securi ty
during the march from BAD LAUSICK to
LOBST-ADT.
Upon arrivin
at the destination the usual 'outposting was performed. Four
20mm and two 88mm AA guns
in
positions
in
the
vicini ty of
LOBSTADT were destroyed by demolitions- and incendiaries res
pectively.
At 1700B Rcn Co was g i v ~ n t h e mission
of inves
t igating
a
report
of
enemy
officers
and
enlis ted
men
in
i v ~
i l ian clothes
in
the town of NOTSOHUTZ. The 2nd Rcn Plat
performed the
inis.sion.
No
traces
of
the
reported
personnel
were found. The
1st
Flat turned
in eight
civi l ians to
the
CIC for
screening.
In the general displqqement
of
the
9th Armd Div
from
·the
front l ine positions
to the
rear,
A
Co departed
from.
WELTEUWITZ (E356247) 240800B
April
and arriving a t DOBITZ
(E320200) at 1845B. Road
blocks
were
set
up on
the perimete
of
town.
B Co displaced from LEULITZ (E435155) to
NEUKIERITZSCH
285451)
a r r ~ v i n g
a t
i t s
destination
at 1800H.
Usual
road
biGck positions were occupied. The
1st Plat
was detached ~ r
the
60th Armd
Inf
Bn and was given
the mission
of
securing
the Combat Command
O at NEUKIERITZSCH.
The 2nd
Flat
occu
pied positions
at, H : ~ U E R S D O R F (K258900).
Co
0
moved from GROSS SERMUTH to H L u ~ O D A (K308879) ar
riving at i t s
des'tination a t
1600B.
0
Co' ( - 1 Flat)
outposte
the town
of BLUMRODA.
Routine staff functions carried on
in the
Bn OP 22 Apri
There
were no changes in Rcn and C Co that day. A Co moved·
from DOBITZ (E330200)
to
ROTHA (K295923)
arriving
there a t
1040B.
Outposts
set
up
at
the
ou1kirts of
town.
The 2nd .
Plat Co B was relieved from attacbment to the 14th Tank Bn
and
reverted
to company control. The
platoon then
moved
and
joined
the
1st
Flat
at NEUKIERITZSCH.
The 656th
TD
Bn with the 9th Armd
Div
reverted
toVII
Corps control as of 23l700B
April.
A to ta l t 45 Germans
in civi l ian clothing
were turned over
to the CIC
for
screen
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ing during the period
230001B to 232400B April .
There were
no
other act iv i t ies in any of the
company
locat ions.
Routine
s ta f f
functions
carried on at the Bn
CP
24 Auril .
Rcn
Co
tu:cned in two
PWs
in civi l ian clothes to
Div
PdE ~ d
10 civi l ians
to
CIC
for
screening. No other a c t ~ v i t y reDort-
ed
on this
date.
The Bn ins t i tuted a t raining program 25 April . A to tal of
7 civi l ians
were
turned
in
to
the
CIC
for
screeninG. Ho
ot ler
ac t iv i t ies reported.
All companies performed motor maintenance t raining in
addit ion to
performing
the i r
outpost
mis:..:,ion.
Two civi l ians
were turned in
to CIC
for
screening
26 April
1945
Allcompanies
reverted to Bn
control
272400B
April
1945.
~ u r i n g the day scheduled t raining
was
conducted by a l l
compan
leSe
The
1s t
Flat
of
B
Co
replaced
the 3rd in i t s posit ion
m',ssion of securing the CPs. The )rd pla t rejoined
i t s
com
pany a t ~ ~ U K E R I T Z S C H
Companies
upon
revert ing
to
Bn
control
272400B
April
re-
mained in
the i r
posi
t ions
with the same mj.ssions 0 At 1430B
28 April the Bn was
alerted
to move in
six hours
to POIDA
(J656771).
Companies A B & C - 1
P+at
ea) were assigned to Combat
Command B, A and R
respect ively
a t 1800B, 28 April . There
however were
no changes in posi t ions or missions. No
act iv-
i t i e s
were
reported by
any
of
the
companies.
Elements of the
9th
Arllld Div began dispLcing to the
vic
in i ty
t
APOLDA
J650765) 29 April . T h e ~ n CP, Hq, Rcn and
attached platoons remained
a t
LOBSTADT.
A
bi l le t ing
party
under the c o ~ ~ a n d
of
the
O of
q Co l e f t LOBSTADT to arrange
for
bi l l e t s .
A
Co
did not
move
th i s
day.
B
Co
-
1
Plat)
l e f t NEUKIERITZSCH
290600B April
and arr ived
a t
KiULJ?ERDORF
(J679709)
a t
1200B.
The company
outposted tlje
town upon
a ~ r -
ivaI.
Co
C moved
from B L u b ~ ~ O D
(K308879)
with CCR
and
arrlved
a t
lJM:PERSTEDT (J580705) a t
200CB
hours. The tov.n was
outposted
upon arr ival .
The En OP accompanying DivCP
departed from L013STADT
300830
April 1945 and arrived
a t BOLD
1530B.
Sinc·e
the
town
of APOL
DA
was
the largest which the
656
TD
Bn outposted, 2
Plats , the
2nd and
3rd,
Co
D, 2nd Tank Bn, were attached to the Bn. The
addit ional
platoons
were
attached in
turn
to Rcn Co. The
to t
a l
outposting
far
ce controlled by En at this
time consistecl
of the
1s t ,
2nd
and
3rd
Plats ,
Co
D, 2nd Tank Bn, Rcn Co, 656
TD "En,lst
Plat ,
Co
B and the
3rd
Flat of Co A. Tlis force
wae responsible
for the
securi ty of AFOLDA. At 2400B the 656th
TD 3n reverted to
Firs t
Army
control and
was attached to the
VIII Corps for a d m i n ~ s t r a t i o n
;
Rcn
Co
mov d
as the advance guard for the
Div
cr column
in the
move
from LOBSTADT
to
APOLDA.
Upon
arriving at the
dest inat ion
Rcn
Co
outposted the town.
In order
to suprlement
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-'.;l:e out;os-cing fo:cce :::lle 2nd and 3rd r l a t s Co D, 2nd Tank
~ n were attached -'.;0 ~ c n Co. The
platoons
were then f i t t ~ d
i n ~ o
the general
outposting
scheme.
A Co moved with i t s Combat Co.rnm.and from aOTHA (R.265991)
to
, r E L L I N G ~ N (J768667). The ro ad march was uneventful ani
the company upon arriving at i t s destination lLloved into road
block posi t;ions.
COLloanies B and C
performed
maintenance and t ra in ing
in
addit lon
to
outposting
the i r
respected
towns.
C
Co
d ~ -
tained and turned over to
the
CIC one
f O l ~ e r
German sold1er
and
two
\'IOl: len
of
-:he
G ~ r m a n
Women's
Corps.
The f i r s t few days
of
April found the 656th Tank Des
t rover Dattalion with the 9th Armored
Division
terminating
the"FIRGT Army's drive
to
the North and Northeast
l inking
up
with the
NINTH
Army
to
form
the
RUHR ~ O C K E T . With the
formation of
the
Pocket Combat Commands of
the
9th Armored
Division
defended
the flanks of the Right
Pincer
and exerted
force to the
North against l imited object ives . The
action
then changed
to
a holding operation. Positions gained were
defended against counter-attacks
by
German Armored and o t l ~ e r
miscellaneous
elements hast i ly brought down from Denmark.
Elements of
the
656th Tank Destroyer Battal ion aided in the
defense of
the newly
won posit ions. With
the establishment
of
a new
Corps
Zone
of
c:'.ction
towards
the
East
with the
~ l b e River as
the
f inal object ive,
the
9th Armored Division
w·i
th
the attached elements of the 656th Tank Destroyer Bat
ta l ion
withdrew from posi t ions North of
WARBURG and
assemble
in the LANDAU-WOLFHAGEN
area
in preparation for operations
to the East. Leaving.the
assembly
area and crossing the
l in
of departure at the
VVESER
RIVER, the
9th
Armored
Division
attacked in the entire Corps Zone
committing
the three
Com
bat Commands. A Company of
the
656th TD
Battal ion supported
the actions of
CCE
in the Northern part
of
the
Corps
sector,
Company sup,iorted
the
actions
of CCA
in
the center sector
and C Company supported
the action
of
CCR
in
the
Southern
sector.
Resistance
from
the
offse t
varied
from
s t i f f
in
the
Northern sector
to
l ight in the Southern sector . The advanc
was p u s h ~ d re lent less ly against heterogeneous enemy elements
Upon
arriving South
of the liALLE-LEIPZIG area the main enemy
resistance came from AA defenses. They however const i tu ted
no
organized
force and did not impede the
advance.
The Corps Objective was changed when
the
leading
ele-
ments of the Southern
sector
reached
the
MULDE RIVER. The
9th Armored
Division
provided
the
armored screen West of
the
l ~ l j L D E RIVER while the 2nd Infantry Division assaulted LEIPZI
from
the West and the
69th
Infantry Division
from the
South
and
East.
With the capture
of
the
new. Corps
objective, a l l
elements
of
the
V
Corps
remained
in
place
awaiting
the
comin
of the ~ { u : : . s i ~
forces.
The 9th Armored Division af te r the
c a p ~ u r e
of
L ~ I P Z I
went
into
Corps reserve. At
the
close
the mon ch
the
9th Armored Division accompanied
by
the 656th
Tank Destroyer Battalion went
into
Army
Reserve
and
displace
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to an assembly area
in
tIle vicini ty of
APOLDA.
T ~ e
s e c o n ~
month of
action
for
the
656th Tank Destroyer
..::sattallon conslf3ted mostly of advances in support of the 9th
Armored Division
elements.
There was no opportunity for the
battal ion ~ o be used in i t s primary
role, nevertheless
a
con
siderable amount of action was
engaged
in. A total of 381
prisoners
were taken. Over two
hundred
civil ians were appre
hended and
turned over
to the CIC for
screening.
The
follow
ing enemy
equipment
was destroyed in
combat:
3
88mm
guns,
3 OPs, 2
MG
emplacements and a number
of houses.
In
addition
four possible OPs
were fired on and destroyed and one
MG
cap
tured.
SECTION
IV
Target designation at great ranges in-execution of di
rect
f i re
missions
proved
di ff icul t
a t times and impossible
whentaking
moving t a r g e t ~ ~ d e r f i re . The
stereotype
method
of target designation i S a ~ ~ q u a t e and generally has to
be
supplemented by a mo re or less detailed description. of the
target .
The
following approach
to s o L v i n ~
this
problem was
employed by this
organization:
German
e
scopes
were set
in
the center of the platoon posit ion for observation
pur
poses.
Wilen
a target was
picked
up a gun commander identifi:d
the target
through
the
scope. The
gunner
also ident i f ied
this target. The target was then taken under f i re . In the
COLDITZ
operation,
targets
were
f i red
on
a t
a range
of
26
yards.
Hits were generally secured
with
the f i r s t or second
round
0 This method of target designation is slow
and
cannot
be
used
when speed
i s
the cri ter ion. However, t certa inly
should
receive consideration
when small
stat ionary targets
are
engaged
at .great ranges. The twenty power telescope
can
be
used
as
the
observation
instrument.
The ~ 5
caliber
machine gun
proved
to be
a
very
valu-·
able
secondary
weapon on both
the M ~ 1 8 and
M-36
destroyers.
The posit ion of the mount and gun was not sat isfactory
on
the
M-36 destroyers. Upon receipt of the M-36 destroyers as re -
placements
for the M-18s and
prior tp release to
the gun com
panies,
the
position of
a l l
machine
guns
was
changed so
tnat
the
gun
was more readily
accessable. This
change
was not en
t i re ly satisfactory but t was
bet ter
than the original posi
t ion.
The .50 caliber
machine
gun was used against a i rc ra f t
personnel and buildings. The gun
proved satisfactory
against
personnel
and
exceedingly
so
when
used
against
bUildings and other inflamable materials. In
the attack
on
villages and the subsequent f ights
within
the vil lages con
f ines,
the
50 caliber machine un was used to spray the
-
22
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s t r ee t s to clear the s t ree ts of
enemy
personnel. Spraying
the
s t ree t general ly resul ted in one or
two homes
catching
f i re and
burning. Direct
f i r e
into buildings
also resul t -
ed in se t t ing the buildings a f i r e
Enemy
-personnel driven
. from
burning buildings w r ~ then f i red uron by the .50 cal-
i er
machine
gun
In one instance both
primary
guns
of one
sect : on
jamne
The
.50
cal iber
machine
guns
Vlere
then brought
into
use.
Tarbets taken
under f i re located
in
buildings were neutral-
ized or
destroyed
•.
g
- i
I
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01"
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to
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tyr..
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ien
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an
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'h
'he J\,;
• 506
tor
oommand
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•
. , . ..weib le
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4. ~ u t i n g
down
~ f · H e . d ~ u a r . r .
Coapan,
r .raonnel.
Tbe d1tterence
in
the radio ••
r i
,.
n.o
• • •t ta tee
addition
t
an
extra
radio
ln
....
~ h .
rat i
.....
'"
be
. 8 1 Q ~ . l n e .
between the
armore4 41.1.1oa
and t.he
TlJ
ale1'1f!nt.. I t
the
600 • •r l••••ta
f lO ~
E
eqtlipr.,ent,
Ull
••441 t lon would DOt M
D
••__
The r ap l t i t ,
of aO"_eJl'
:..n4 di . tanc • • ~ o l Y - . - .
the
alement. ot
an Armor• •
Dlylaloa
with
th . l r
7D
elf:1Dent., mRke. the JCh
608
waaatlataoto17
a 00Jl1:'1",n4 rad.io. I' 1••ugr,eat.d thfjt
.aGb
GOar-1lI
r ) r o Y 1 4 ~ c l
wi
th
a l l SOH 50£.
and
op. ra 'or .
to
op. ra ' .
t
t .
Durll1B
tile entire )lerlod
ot
.oak'.
t h . reoonnale- .
co.pany ot
t h i . orCuUaatloa
Aa..r tUft.tlon• • 1a
role tor ~ h i o h l' • • • orcan!
•••
aDA ' ~ D . ! b .
o t •
iioA
~ q u . a C l r o A pr• •1M• •
the
U.
o t • ,. _
Cumpan: . . a D1Y1.1oD
Rea
.1...
n t .
S1:lce
!ill
.up!)17 ne... an t l lm1eh
•••
, Goa. . . .
t 18 t e l
t that o .na1a p.raoane1
_
'"-
e l l a
1nS.ad,uart.rw Oo.paa,.
5C
...
J a l L ~ l . ; A m l .
,
.dr.
COIl ; oatlLA prcw" t l ~ lIO.t t l . ~
..tol7
__
oOJ3O;IWl1oatloD.
General17, OoII. . .t 0._'"
1&1.
wi
. . .
'-
n ~ OJ-. vroY141, that t 1 . . an.4 the t ae . l ea l a1he t t e a
~ i t t e 4 . CoDt
• • •
to aoapan1• •
troa
Ule CU
...
......
t i . ' , .up
the
i>1riaioa ... OoaKt eo-. . . . .1
. . . . . . . . .
;.rot.·
• •
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GOllld
ao't
1M t o l l o . " 6U'iJaI a . . , 1 ~
.1 t t le t loa o r whell area'
t iataneee
. . . . .
t . t .1Yel .
Durll18 the per lo . 14 IIaJ oIa .. n
IIaftIl
19.'
. . .
: V
Battal ion
operaM
Gorp.
'mopa
IU
i l l •
two
D1y1.1oll ...tor. 81 . . . 'Ut.e _pMi
....
bat ta l lon ooa'rol w 1 ~ 41
...,
. t ~ . ~ , .
an,. , o t l ~ r
orcan1zatloll ,
wiN __ t ..tl_ p.......a l
. . .
problea.
3q.t.:men' and
, . - .ean.l
wen !lOt
p. . . , ....
the T/O
•
I
tor
extenal. .
wire
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. .
~
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' a .
• •
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1ft'.
tM ,
In tu '17 ew1"oh'bo. . . .
!h l
wil l _n . .
,he, th . lilt_a, 1 . wtl1ta,: te . . . . .1 . D tNtf t .• •
t.J"Jl1n;il
po. t
1
11. '1.
a'
the
t
... .
8Wite l l" ' "
the
b . t t : ' l loa ..
1toll..... laM o o a ~ .1
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·
•••
; "
V
HllyM
.; X»MIII
I' 1.
f . l
t tbat tb . p rob l_ of . to..... f . , d , . . a t
aboard
tank
ci• • , r o J eN ohou14 re
..
in •
eon.l
....n .
amCl1l1.t
o t .t\14 wl
t i l "he
obj . c t l• •
o f
a441DB ....
t r ~ Q K
to the
T/O
&
&
ot the ... &D4 reeonnal8..a.. ....
. ~ .
:;
1'111&
the
p.1'104 o t
..
tIOA
...
lat
t h . . . . . . . .
.
a l l TIL i equip• •n"
. . . .
11
.. p. raonal
e1o'Ud...........
ine and
equip.aent . . .
iiuTl
OIl the
nb l e l . . 111
wId._
the
.r... ·zo4..
31n.e
epa
• • • • •
l im i t "
1a
\be t ~ - I
o o n ~ · . r ' m . n "
a l l
pere()nal
.qu ·p .e . ' hat to 'e
~ 1 1 .
_
the o ~ t e 1 d e of .ebiele. . .e a r
• •u l t o f
th1a, .... I
the el'1i11;>lIlent wa.
loat la,
f a l 1 1 ~
ot t
wbil . otbe. _
d•• troy.d b l ehrapnel an4 emall .... fire. The ....., t . i
o f
ln1 ' lLt_ble mat. r iala , bed
n l l . t _ tu tn . ~ t i e l t
~ ; 8 . t i . , etc , pl'e.,.nt.4 11. ad41 t lonal n r e t l uu4 . 1a . . . . . .
e ra l
l lstano• •
,
. t .e l l t raau' ,ata and
Inou41U'J
~ t l _
aet t i r e to the attaot..d i aped l_ ._ . »urine
'Ile
laeat t
bRt t le there w.. but one cholo. , ~ . t t l . o n l n g
ot
tbe
......
1:l.4S
. : ,
a1
;.:::.ont •
. Bclu t10n to
t b .
problem o oaJ"171q penou1 . . . .
otlu:r « j 1 \ l 1 p ; ~ I , . n w
• • a ~ J ; J O . o h e t ln
'tbe
t o l l o w i ~ menng .
8;·eeinl racks • •N
COJUStzou.'e4
to
0&1'17
auoh 1_,..'-_
and.
nl
l :eraonnel turned.
ill
a l l clo 'tbinc w1
th
t l le -
t ion
of
()fie <:D Wl1f'ol"ll, one t1e14 3_0k. ' , O f t
'
. . . . .
lew
: ~ i r 8 of 80ok8. 11
waa an'1cir .ate. that
c l l ~ al
forma 01. :.14 be exohanae.
tel '
c l .an oae.
at
abare,. paill
. . . .
t ow' Tor, dl1.t'1ng the . p p r o x 1 m a ~ . 7C 4 7- ot ..UOIl, t i le
op'or tuni ty neTer
r
n.t.d i t . e l f to 40 th1e
•
..
:1
crder
to iJerfolll 1 te acooll4&rJ lI1.a10I'1,· tba t of
jnc:'i.rf·ct
f i r e
And • •
ftddl
t iona l a1.4.
iD l).l"toJ'lliDC
I_
. rimp.-ry
: : iseian,
oer ta in
t
teme
of
equ1:.aen1.
weN
. . . . .
to
t t t l /0 .'l:
; ' ; ,
nam.ly,
ranl:e
f1nden anel a1m1.ac e in l_ .
str ce ~ ( ~
:
'n81derf:tt1one were
.... fOI '
the
• •
rry1Dc of
t:,8Be i
1 4j
.8
o .qi.l1:,ment. T.h• • •
1 tame
re.etT8d
eo_
....
eft : ~ d fc.;.r
hard
w.ar.
· ~ t : 1 e b,
t t s110n
dId
n o ~
rerfor l l
-.ny 1:\d1reo' tiN
. ~ ~ H ; l \ } t l ' . ~ ; . l t l l . r w• • the range t inder \ l . e ~ l 11l 4el1. . .
" ( ' i l ' ect t1 re . :.ever1.t.ele.s, c l ~ . to tL laok ot otb• •
t r ' l : ' , · · ; ' ta t lon
both
o f t l , . t ~ e
1no
s..nuo,.en't.a hlUl to b oazol'1• •
, . •raTer
t t , .
combat .eh Lole. "ea t .
Ased r'n t i ,e
abo
• •
1 t
18 f e l t
t1.81 an
a441tlon.a1
CLrf-i v t,,:,' ...cj{ Clr;g811ic to the oompanl• • would be ~ a . u n
. . .
; .;;
tJ:'
c ~ .
w:..;u.ld
be
11
d
~ o r
the
o&rrJ1na
ot ap
• •
l a l l...
f . h l ~ 1 i ) U e n
wbloh 18
n ' ; u i r . d
oftl , when sp .o la l 111• •1. . . .
ere e r t o r r [ : ' ~ c t . t i l add 1 t ioD,
a l l .XC
• • • p."Clna). ecaUp-
' lent y;;;ioh 18
not
immediately
r .qui red .ould be
. towed
~ r l d t ~ ~ t H ' ·orted in t h l e ••t i c l e .
-1
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~ .' . t l ~ Sl ~ , . , . •
~ ~ ' l ; <"I , ,
'· '1 . . . . . . . . f'\A V-
> {
...
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& _.1;.1'.
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.
, . , ) ~ ; 11
J "
...e HI
: ~ G . _
. '-.
.
i
tEl. OI'Ianls.t1';)A baa not pertonec1 I U l ~ incbo t
tll'l1tc a l• •10n. , the
tol1,').1""
O O ~ I l · - . are
ba.ed
OR ot••r
. . .' l o u
• •4. of other
't;- ani
'a. I t 1.
t . l '
tba ' ' h . ',LJ ana
u a l..
un
. ,
on. ai •• lon, tbat
ot
cl•• tl'Uct1oll 01
enemy
anaor
"
tln.' ' t l r . .
Tbe
to110..11\4 re..on.
ar.
m.4. in
eu
pon
t t!ae ....r t l . . .
.
1.
1 .
tIae
pu '
1
t
bee
b
• •
D
no ,"
,bat
-tank
A)e.troyer
. ., ..allona z.ualAecl ., ' h . tront w b ~
1 .
'he Intantl
~ .
wMob
'b., ."PtO"" were
palled
baok tor.
~ ,1a
. a
ot ' h l .
natt ln_
th. tJ:, un1
t • •
er
_
.... - ' 1 11 • . , • •" p o n l q
tin
al • • lone. Thl•
••S....., C - n l 1 7 preol""" ,be
pert 'onance ot
_ t a t
...... and th. . . .
' lAC
of p.nolUl.l
'.no
••
1
....
;-..,
peJ1.04
.t 'he
trOnt.
I . ~ r e 18 a . . t t leS
..
, nua'. . .
of
a r t l l l . r r un!' .
to
p e r r ~ al l ~ S l l . r . r ...
lgaa.at
••
,. ~ . \ a ~
o f •
TD Battal ion to
•
'1.14 Ar'1ll
•
Bat.tallOil or
Oro.p,
thro
an
I14dl,1onu bu4en
o
tbe
anl11_. . ,
wa1
t t l
'
. ' ' j !
to ctt:
",
.
:
0..
Peft .n• • • of
the
l a a ' .
t h . 1 t
1 .
t.l' u..,
faak
De.tnJ. '" .bo\ l4 . . . . . . . . . .
181 aov.nted
.5
. a l I l l tb . .O oan
..
. . . . . 1a
the
to l l" . I , . .
..,.
1 .
1an&1
..
1 .
Oil en. -...11
u 4 o 'he ,
approrl1.. ' . t ~
,.u.
'
2. _ ..1_ k . r ,e4 .ao ' w a r ~ l n c t i l. . .-plaln.n'
t
UIe
; r l . . . . ,
...roa wl1iho,,' e
x
r .oal . '
any la_hI '
of
ta..
,.
.1
. . . I
• •
,
aoy1q .1
t _ t 10 .
wholl
1n the yNeenoe
of
••
. "
to
plll
towa
.n
•
.,
t roop.
whl1.
!lsfte1&nrlnc
la 'o
~ . 1 ' l o D
t
. . . . . . . . ~ l a a I J .arget.
J l C R H U I I t ' i l ~ I S I
. t . ooao
M810.
l ' 1 .
t.l,
that the tollowlng chane" b•
. . .
It.nt
11l
tbt
o ....aalS. ' iOIl ot Ti:
1I.tt..l10
••
'1. ...1&JUIU'" Tn Bat. allons
' \0
DlvlaloAII • • 01'.-1.
parte at Dly1810na.
2.
l;oa.lbl•• 1 1 a t J l f · ~ 1 0 f t 01 tbe
Heoonna1.eatlc.
Company.
,. Aidl ' l oa . t ••ire
••• '10n v. r
.oaraDl.
4. Sa. t l t . t iD.!
~ ( ; C
radl0
• •1'1• • tor
60c • •
ri• • nell
• •
ta TD " ' t .a l lone • • •
1pt t \ l
to
an
ArmoNd D t ~ t . l o D .
5.
a....
t1 ' " t tn , JOi( 608 .1
th
tho
;)01. 5C6
• •
• oo,r.:ran4
radio.
6. " ." tSul l of • oarlO truok tor e.oh ooailanJ.
7 . w l . ~ M t l o 1 1 ot
t i l sea .n4U'J .1_1oa
ot Tanll
o..'ro
ar . ,
n n ~ e l l ' lAdlrac'
i l re
•
. 8 .
Addl t10l l of •
50
• •
1 oo-altl l l ilG
la t8nk
4 1 · a t r o ~ . n
9. AClcll1.1oa ut
. . . . . :al . t r . , t .e olen
in the .:'-1
' lon.
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,
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