30
CHAPTER SEVEN - THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE
This peaceful existence was ended on the 26th of January when the Battalion trucked to
WILWERDANGE, Luxembourg. Here the entire outfit was billeted and plans were made for a dawn
attack. The attack was launched at 0730 and initially met no resistance with the town of BEILER being
cleared early in the morning. A major obstacle was extremely rough terrain with deep snow drifts
impeding movement. The town of LASCHEID, Belgium was cleared by 1800 and held in spite of an
enemy counterattack of 20 infantry supported by one tank.
On the morning of the 28th, both I and L companies patrolled to the west bank of the Our river
establishing no contact with the enemy. Company I then proceeded to occupy WEWELER. The usual
preparations for a river crossing were carried on far into the night.
An attempt to cross the Our river on the 29th was stopped by heavy machine gun and artillery
fire. The high hills across the river afforded the enemy excellent observation of our movements. Deep
snow and very steep banks also hindered operations considerably. Another attempt to cross at 1500 was
halted by Regimental order which directed us to close in an assembly area east of STUPBACH by 2400.
Under cover of darkness, K and L moved to the assembly area crossing over in 2nd Battalion’s
bridgehead. Company I meanwhile extended their lines so as to contain the west bank of the river
between WEWELER and STUPBACH.
The Battalion remained in Regimental reserve on the 30th moving up to an area just in the rear of
the other two Battalions. Company I was released during the day and joined the rest of the Battalion
shortly after dark. The roads were now the main problem and it was necessary to use snow plows
almost constantly. This cold weather had one redeeming feature – it tended to freeze the mechanisms of
land mines, thereby neutralizing them. The Battalion AT platoon moved into a field near STUPBACH
during the morning. All three guns and prime movers pulled into a field, turned around and then moved
back out onto the road. Next day, a mine sweeping detail uncovered 13 mines in the same field, some of
them directly under tire tracks.
During the Our river period, the Battalion crisscrossed the German, Belgian and Luxembourg
borders almost a dozen times. Company K and L’s attack on the 31st was met by small arms, artillery
and mortar fire. Mountainous terrain and a rain, which turned everything into a wet sluggish mud, made
progress slow. Inability to locate any roads leading to the companies necessitated a night hand carry of
some three miles by cooks and A and P men.
February 1st was unseasonably warm, and all the snow melted making the ground very muddy
and movement consequently difficult. With K on the right and L on the left, the attack jumped off at
0930 and quickly reached the objective – a line just short of the vaunted Siegfried positions. Here the
Battalion set up a defensive line and prepared to stay indefinitely. Main action on the 2nd was a Kraut
Killer patrol commanded by T/Sgt. Livingston which entered GROSSKAMNENBERG after dark and
took 16 prisoners without firing a shot. During the day groups of 40 men at a time were sent back to the
Battalion rest camp where they received hot chow, clean clothes and had a chance to dry out.
 |
 |
 |