FALAISE POCKET
So we waited in our positions at Cathelmais chafing at the bit to join the chase which we knew,
by the radio news, was going on. We know also that, although we were not in the war, others were; for
waited saying the 6th and 4th Armored Division’s streaming down the Normandy highways to Brest.
What a site they were! Mile after mile of Shermans and half tracks, thousands of machine guns and
mobile cannons ready to chase the Krauts clear across France.
During our brief rest we looked around us and realized that this Normandy we had been fighting
in was beautiful when you had time and inclination to look around. However we were not to rest long.
The 2nd of August found us on the road again. The highway to Avranches was the best that we had seen
so far. Scattered along the road were German tanks and vehicles, evidence of the swift passage of our
armor. At one point near La Haye-Pesnel the battalion column was forced to detour around the muzzle
of a Panther tank which was squarely in the middle of the road. General Patton was on the road that
day, and as he passed the column some of us got our first glimpse of our Army Commander.
As we passed down that long straight highway we wondered about the mighty German
Luftwaffe. Where was it? Except for fast-moving reconnaissance planes and occasional hit-and-run
ground attacks we had seen nothing of the German Air Force in the daytime. The few planes that did
get through our air cover were kept away from us by our own antiaircraft outfit, the 537 AAA (AW). C
Battery of the 537th had been attached to the battalion and we were happy to have them. Those Bofors
and multiple 50's looked mighty good to us and we welcomed the additional fire power of Captain Joe
Levin’s outfit.
The 345th halted at the little town of La Charrurie11000 meters east of Avranches for the
afternoon of the 2nd and moved again that evening to positions near its base Le Bourget. The march to
Le Bourget was made from 2200 to 0115 on a beautiful moon-lit night. The sound of enemy planes and
the sight of the crisscrossed tracer streams reaching up into the sky are memories that are forever in
minds of the man who were riding on they trucks that night. The battalion reconnaissance parties
sweated the batteries out as they saw the occasional shadow of a bomber in the sky and heard the distant
chatter of strafing attacks and the answering machine gun fire. The Battalion rolled in safe as usual led
by Major Guthrie, map in hand and standing on the running board of his command car.
At chow time the men gathered around the kitchen truck to eat and listen to the radio. We
learned that the armor was racing across the base of the Brest Peninsula practically at will, that German
resistance had broken. On August 6th the battalion moved into position near St. George Butavent under
cover of darkness in support of the newly formed Task Force Weaver (our assistant Division
Commander). The task force was split into two parts under General Weaver and Colonel Barth, CO of
the 357th Infantry, and was directed to proceed by two routes to seize Le Mans as quickly as possible:
The 345th received the mission of direct support artillery for Task Force Barth. Our route of advance
was to be Mayenne, Monteur, Ste. Suzanne, Bernay, Chauffour Notre Dame, Le Mans. We were to
overcome or by-pass any resistance. Thus began one of the most interesting actions of our history.
En route from Gorges to the position area south of Connmer three ME 109's strafed the battalion
column just as A Battery was turning off the road. This was the first experience of its kind the battalion
had. We were getting into the spirit of a fast moving situation and enjoyed it after this slow moving,
slugging war in Normandy.
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