thousands of mines had been installed – mines of all types. There were Schuh mines designed to
amputate a foot and there were wooden box Mines to blow off a jeep wheel. There were Hungarian
mines, Italian mines and there were glass mines and asphalt mines, which the detectors could not detect.
Of course there were huge numbers of the now very familiar tellermines and "S" mines.
But in spite of the "hell and high water" the old 90th slugged on and with the 5th Division closed
the pincers around Metz, and on 19 November the fortress city fell. Of the operation, General Patton,
Third Army Commander wrote to General Van Fleet, Division Commander:
"The capture and development of your bridgehead over the Moselle River in the vicinity of
Koenigsmacker will ever rank as one of the epic river crossings of history. Please accept for
yourself and pass on to the officers and men of your valorous division my high commendation
for the superior manner in which you and they preformed this truly magnificent feat of arms."
There was no halting to gloat over the fall of the fortress – Metz. For the sacred soil of the
"Vaterland" was now only a few kilometers ahead.
Using great numbers of slave laborers the enemy had dug miles of huge antitank ditches across
the countryside in this frontier area between the Saar and the Moselle. The ditches were opened across
the roads and trails as well as the highways. Then on the principal routes hasty timber bridges had been
built over the ditches to carry the retreating traffic. In the face of our advancing infantry these structures
were blown and the "Engineers War" ground on as the 90th crossed the boundary into Germany.
The international frontier was marked only by small monuments on some roads, but on the
highways the remains of blasted port of entry stations saluted the invading Americans.
The country didn't look much different. The civilians looked about the same although the houses
and the towns seemed cleaner and neater. But now, instead of the troops pitching pup tents in the mud,
the German civilians "gladly" moved out of the best houses in town so the invaders could be sheltered.
Over the Nied River at Niedaltdorf an almost unopposed "assault" river crossing was staged. The
infantry was ferried across, then the 315th built its floating support bridge and a corps battalion moved
up and constructed a double-triple bailey. Company B then pushed a bailey across the Nied at Kerprich
Hemmersdorf. The 90th pushed on and patrols reached the Saar on 19 November 1944.
After the successful completion of the Moselle crossing the Saar looked like it could be a cinch –
a cinch if it weren't for the fact its opposite shore boasted one of the thickest sections of the famed
Siegfried line.
Enemy observation of the few possible crossing sites was perfect and his prearranged artillery
fires were precisions of accuracy. Furthermore, as on the Moselle, the Saar was approaching flood stage.
The 6th of December was the assault day and again, in the cold foggy pre-dawn hours, the 90th
silently moved by assault boat and caught the enemy unaware.
Portions of Companies A and B crossed with their respective regiments to fight and do engineer work
amid the Siegfried fortifications – Company C built a footbridge near Wallerfangen, which stayed in just
long enough to allow reinforcing troops to cross – then a well placed round of heavy mortar fire neatly
clipped the bridge and the bridge and the wreckage went swirling down the stream.
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