We moved into position and prepared for a goodnight’s sleep after eating our evening K ration.
The 1st Battalion was already way ahead and the 2nd Battalion of the 357th was moving up behind us.
Colonel Norris, Major Salisbury, Captain White, and Lt. Sheely were up ahead in the town of Ste.
Suzanne, arranging for close artillery support with Colonel Barth. Everyone was feeling very secure that
night, with an infantry battalion in both the front and rear, even though there was a rumor in B Battery
that some Kraut soldiers were hiding in a farmhouse nearby.
Suddenly a machine gun cut loose from the edge of a woods about 800 yards in front of the
battalion position. A perimeter defense was formed and B Battery evacuated their tractors from the open
field in front. General McLain, the Division Commander, when he attempted to go forward on the road
through the battalion position, was halted by the same machine gun fire so he returned to confer with
Captain Tetzlaff, the A Battery commander. Just as Captain Tetzlaff was organizing A Battery to
overcome the resistance, the 2nd Battalion came down the road and took over. It was decided that the
2nd Battalion and the 345th would stay in position for darkness was falling and we would continue the
march in the morning when the amount of resistance could be determined.
In the morning the advance was resumed on the road to Ste. Suzanne where the advance party
was engaged in confused fighting with German Infantry and tanks. Our plan was to put the 345th in
position just south of the town, but as the head of the column reached a point 100 yards from the town
the reconnaissance party ran into shell fire. High velocity fire was falling on the road ahead and on each
side. Major Guthrie halted the battalion and General McLain gave orders to go into position and start
shooting. The Major immediately turned the batteries over to the battery commanders. Within fifteen
minutes after receipt of General McLain’s order, the battalion was in position and ready to fire. This
occupation was one of the fastest and most efficient ever accomplished by the battalion and came at just
the proper moment: for the infiltrating German tanks had created a most critical situation in Ste.
Suzanne. These tanks had direct observation on all movements across the main square of the town; so
our tank force was completely stymied. Lt. Clark, B Battery observer, took up a position on the high
ground north of town while Lt. Everett went forward into Ste. Suzanne to obtain observation on the
tanks.
Meanwhile, Captain Swift, B Battery Commander, climbed a tree and discovered the enemy
tanks approaching the town from the southwest. He immediately took them under fire, The rounds
chased the tanks into the thick woods where many battalion volleys were dumped on top of them. Four
fires were started by these rounds. Several more fires were started when Lt. Clark spotted the tanks
attempting to get out and again fired the same concentration from his OP. We never ran into the tanks
after that. Lt. Lilly fired on tanks and infantry in the same general location from his air OP. As soon as
the tank threat was definitely over, we displaced to the vicinity of St. Symphorien, and from there to
Bernay.
As B Battery left St. Symphorien it was dusk and difficult to see, both for the men in the rear of
the column and for the Heinie truck that pulled up to the last vehicle as the column started to move, It
was a case of mistaken identity and all around and what happened is not clear even to Sgt. Beacham,
Cpl. McKeon, Sgt. Roberson, and the rest of B Battery involved. However, since the battery was moving
out someone threw a hand grenade as the trucks moved. No doubt was left in the minds on the Germans
that we did not want them in our column.
The Bernay position was occupied around midnight; strong guards were put out on the crossroad
around which the battalion was drawn up in the form of a square. That night, while the headquarters
battery wire crew was laying wire, Pfc. Grimes stopped a vehicle, which was about to run over a wire
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