At Le Mans a bridge over the Sarthe was captured intact on the 10th. The battalion was already
constructing a floating bridge just north of the city and both were used to speed the division in a drive
northward.
Le Mans was the first large city to be liberated by the 90th and the French welcome surpassed all
previous ones. Flowers, eggs, cognac, cider, tomatoes, wine and bread were offered and frequently
tossed to (and sometimes tossed at) the troops by the hilarious frenchmen. Here the mademoiselles were
even better than before, simply because there were more mademoiselles. There were the bearded
frenchmen who insisted on bestowing wet whiskery kisses on the cheeks of each and every American
who came within his range. But the mademoiselles were shy and coy yet not too shy and not too coy.
But Le Mans was soon left behind. The battalion with the division had rolled 140 miles since
breaking out of the hedgerows, much by-passing of German columns had occurred and many head on
collisions had resulted in sharp, road junction battles where the perfectly coordinated troops battered
down the heavily armored German forces. Now the 90th was surging northward in a move to seal off the
retreating Boche armies.
The lettered companies were moving with their respective CT's and the units swiftly liberated
Alencon and Sees. Then moved on to Nonantpin and into an area to become famous as the Falaise
Pocket.
German columns were desperately trying to escape. The engineers built and manned road blocks
and especially at a road junction just east of Le Bourg St Leonard the 2nd platoon of Company C
engaged in very heavy fighting on the 17th and 18th against repeated attacks by panzer columns. The
frenzied attempts to break out were stopped on the 19th, Company C, with the 359th Infantry, moved
into Chambois to make contact with the Poles and British of the north. In the other regimental sectors
Companies A and B were engaged in the same type of operation and the trap was sealed.
Never before had such a mass of destruction been seen. The artillery had a "field day" as
thousands and thousands of rounds were poured into the trapped armies. Desperately the Germans beat
themselves against the sides of the wall that engulfed them but the 90th Infantry Division held fast.
Prisoners poured into the cages. Guns, equipment and vehicles beyond number littered the valley floor.
It was with enthusiasm that the engineers moved in to clear paths through the wreckage. By 1800
on the 19th Company C, with assistance from the tankers and TD's, had cleared from the streets of
Chambois: 26 burned out tanks (including 5 mark VI's), 203 vehicles and 63 dead horses.
For several days the clearing of roads continued but primarily it was a sort of ghoulish picnic for
the men who spent much time scrounging among the vehicles for trinkets and for the prized P-38's and
lugers. But the mission was accomplished and it was time to move on. The engineers had played another
important role in the division's operations. In this one, in four days, the 90th had captured 13,000
prisoners. Killed another 8,000 of the enemy and had destroyed more than 300 enemy tanks, 250 self-
propelled guns, 164 artillery pieces, 3270 vehicles and countless other items of enemy war material.
All American dead and most of the German bodies had been collected but by the 26th of August,
a week after the trap had been sealed, the stench of a thousand dead horses and the general carnage of
the battlefield in the warm summer heat was terrific.
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