which Sgt. Beauchamp and his crew were laying across the road. Grimes waved the vehicle to a stop
and picked up the wire so the truck could pass. As the vehicle passed he realized what he had done – the
vehicle was a German ambulance.
Early the following morning the advance continued with the 1st Battalion in the lead. Lt.
Crabtree, Charlie observer, was with C Company following the lead tank when they reached the road
junction at Chauffour Notre Dame. Lt. Lilly and Lt. O’Connor, our liaison pilots, had reported a large
amount of enemy traffic on the LeMans-Laval highway; so the 1st Battalion deployed to protect the
junction and ambush any Krauts trying to escape. Our pilots were continuously in the air acting as the
eyes and ears of the column scouting flanked roads and territory far in advance of the head of the
column. They reported many vital bits of information. Both Lt. Lilly and Lt. O’Connor deserved the
Distinguished Flying Cross they later received for their work.
As German tanks and vehicles approached the crossroad, Lt. O’Connor took them under fire. Lt.
Crabtree and Captain Huckaby, in position at the crossroad, kept in contact with the plane as the pilot
crept the rounds into within 50 yards of their position. The tanks were knocked out or disbursed.
Through the combined efforts of our own tanks and artillery the highway was littered with German
vehicles. This was a sample of what was to come later at Chambois.
The drive continued to LeMans where the column turned North toward Falaise to meet the
British who were driving south to meet us. We had broken through the enemy lines and were now in rear
of them. All that remained for us to do was cut off and annihilate the German 7th Army. The Krauts now
had their once favorable situation reversed on them. A few days before, they had threatened to cut us off
by capturing Mortain in our rear, and attempting to drive on to Avranches to thus split the 1st and 3rd
Armies. They failed, but we would not.
At Alencon the 345th had its second bombing while in the position area. We were awakened at
midnight by the noise of planes and looked up out of our foxholes to see the sky so bright with flares
that we could read a fine print newspaper by it. Lord, how conspicuous we felt. Each bomb sounded like
it was going to land right on top of us but again we came through without injury.
On the 15th of August we moved into position near Nonant le Pin. The next day the 90th
Division doughboys moved in to close the final escape gap of the German 7th Army. In the afternoon a
heavy battle raged at Le Bourg St. Leonard, and Lt. Efaw fired our battalion until the last minute as A
Company of the 359th Infantry was forced out of town. The 345th poured volley after volley into the
town to stop any further enemy advance. The Germans were trying desperately to hold an escape route
open. Already the passage had been narrowed to a few miles, and General Eisenhower in his historic
order of the day had called on the allied ground, sea, and air forces to close the gap and liquidate the
enemy. From the ridge east of the Le Bourg St. Leonard our OP’s had a beautiful view of the valley
through which the remnants of the 7th Army were driving to escape. Continuous artillery fire fell as
routed Germans tried first one road then another in full view of the OP. Most roads were blocked either
by our own infantry or by knocked out tanks, vehicles, and artillery. German columns out of touch with
the situation would frequently drive right into our lines; and many sharp clashes resulted. Tank
destroyers, adjusted by our own battalion observers, Lieutenant Efaw, Everett, and Goulko, fired point-
blank at the bewildered panzers.
The wreckage and devastation of the “The Pocket” evades description. In the final stages it was
artillery that completely mangled the frantic breakthrough attempt, while the infantry frustrated any
escape. On the 17th of August, it was all over. Those of us who went down to view the remains of the
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