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Will you ever forget the sloshy mud over the tops of your boots as we trudged across the fields turned into a
swamp land by the melting snow? The enemy was pretty low in manpower by now, and a good number of
pillboxes were not even manned. Those that were manned had only skeleton crews. We ran into some
stubborn cases occasionally, but on the whole, the Siegfried Line was overrun fairly easily, and in a little
more than two weeks it lay behind us to become one more of our unforgettable memories. We now
continued the task of pursuing the retreating Germans.
Remember dashing across Germany as fast as possible and following the famous 4th Armored
Division? We had to use all available vehicles and ride all day and night at times in order to keep up with a
fleeing enemy.
Our task was to clear out all pockets of resistance left behind in the rush. Remember when the 90th
headed for Mainz, and the Rhine? On the 22nd of March 1945 the attack on Mainz was begun. It was
thoroughly bombed from the air previously, and even while we were on the march to the city, artillery was
pounding the edge of Mainz to a pulp. Fanatical resistance was met in the rubble of bombed buildings, but
large number of Germans surrendered when they saw it was hopeless to continue the fight. Our losses in
Mainz were light although sniping by enemy troops was frequent throughout the city. Moving from pocket
the pocket, the regiment cleared the city and a path to the Rhine.
On the morning of the 24th, we crossed the Rhine on a pontoon bridge at Nierstein. Remember when
the "Heine" planes attempted to strafe us on the bridge? They were chased away by very effective
antiaircraft fire, and several were shot down.
After the crossing of the Rhine, the whole backbone of the German Army seemed to be broken. We
went through town after town, meeting only very slight resistance. And on some days we would take as
many as five towns without a shot being fired. On approaching the Czechoslovakian border, however, the
enemy resistance stiffened. We encountered some of the so-called "Hitler's Brats". Remember the 15 and
16-year-old kids that were put up against us?
On May 4th, the 2nd Battalion was near the Czech border when representatives of the German 11th
Panzer Division, once one of the best in Germany, came in to offer unconditional surrender. This once proud
and mighty division had been reduced to a strength of 9,050 troops, and its armor to one Mark V and six
Mark IV tanks. Remember when the troops came in to surrender? They came in an unbelievable variety of
vehicles, some of which were being towed by others. Some had broken down on the roads, snarling traffic.
Remember the rifles, automatic weapons, ammo, panzerfausts, and grenades. Remember the rain all that
night? It made operations more difficult, and it took days to straighten out the lost and broken down
vehicles.
On May 7th the 1st and 2nd Battalions jumped off into Czechoslovakia on tanks, tank destroyers, and
trucks. At 1140 hours word reached the regiment that the German High Command had signed an
unconditional surrender. At that time, the regimental CP was in Cachrov; the 1st Battalion CP in Kolinec;
and the 3rd Battalion in Radinovy, Czechoslovakia. We then occupied the nearest towns to await the formal
cease of hostilities which occurred just 11 months and 2 days after the landing on Utah Beach.
Remember?
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