Morale was high as the victorious 90th again loaded up and rolled to the east. On and on --
through Mortagne, Chartres, Etamps, Milly and Fontainebleau – more than 160 miles in one day.
Tactical maps were out of the question and road maps (carte michelin) were generally used. Corps maps
were so far behind that essential prints were flown up and dropped for distribution.
After an overnight bivouac in the great forest of Fontainebleau, where kings of France had
hunted and played at their summer palaces, the battalion pushed on. Crossing the Siene at Montereau on
27 August the 315th less the CT platoon attachments assembled at Nangis then pushed on toward
Montmirail and to Dormans on the Marne.
The French resistance forces were saving many bridges from destruction by the rapidly retreating
German forces. However, in this area most large bridges were temporary structures and they were easy
to destroy. In fact in many places the bridges had been destroyed by the retreating French in 1916-17
then rebuilt again. At the beginning of World War II they had been destroyed again by the French,
rebuilt by the Germans and now they were destroyed by the Germans to be reconstructed by the
American engineers. Everywhere Free French were eager to help. They had spotted mines and assisted
in their location and removal. They helped procure bridge repair materials and helped in reconstruction
work. But near Dormans the gap in the span across the Marne was too great for expedient repairs.
Company A built the battalion' s assault boat and rubber float bridge and the division rolled on to the
cathedral city of Reims in the Champagne District in the heart of France.
Reims, which had been devastated during World War I, fared this one much better. The airdrome
had been heavily bombed and some of the bridges in the center of the city had been destroyed. But the
wide boulevards, the sidewalk cafes, the supplies of champagne and the famous cathedral were
unscathed. In spite of the light enemy resistance the dash across France suddenly came to a halt. The
famed Third Army had run out of gasoline. It was on 31 August 1944 that the battalion halted near
Bourgoyne on the outskirts of Reims. They had stretched the supply lines beyond their elastic limit.
Company A engaged in bridge repair work in the city and elements of Company A and Company
B repaired bridges along the Aisne River near Pontavert on the division's left flank. The main task,
however, fell to Company Cc.
Before the 90th could roll again gasoline had to be supplied. So, Company C moved to the
Reims airdrome and turned themselves into aviation engineers for a week. Runways were cleared of
mines and repaired and soon C- 47's were roaring in with loads of petrol flown directly from bases in
England. The stock of that rare and precious commodity was built up to such an extent that on 7
September the division and the battalion rolled again.
The route was to the east – on through the still pock marked World War I battlefields near Ste
Menehould and at Verdun. But again the supply lines snapped as the division halted at Etain then slowly
pushed on to the outskirts of the fortress city of Metz and to the Moselle.
At Briey, a huge cold storage warehouse filled with choice beef for the Wermacht was liberated.
For the first time since in the hedgerows, where the fine Norman cattle had stepped on tellermines, the
battalion had choice t-bone and sirloins.
Immediately plans were made for an assault crossing in the vicinity of Thionville but a
continuing bad supply situation forced a long deferment of this operation.
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