which were commencing one of the most brilliant enveloping movements in the history of warfare. The
column rolled steadily ahead, reaching AVRANCHES around midnight. Suddenly the black night was
pierced by flares dropped by an attacking squadron of Luftwaffe bombers. The tankers crouched in their
tanks and experienced all the fearful perils of a bombing as the Boche dumped his load. Personnel
riding trucks, peeps and half-tracks rushed for the tanks and either ducked into one of the hatches or slid
underneath. The Heine's accuracy was fortunately poor and he made a final effort by strafing the road.
An ammo truck was hit and blazed mightily but the column was efficiently detoured around it and
continued to progress forward.
On 5 August Task Force Weaver was organized to spearhead the Division. It consisted of Sub-
Task Force Randolph as the point and the 712th, 357th (motorized) and a limited amount of artillery and
communication as the main body. Sweeping forward toward the MAYENNE RIVER this force
received information that the 1st Inf. had been held up at MORTAIN and was unable to reach the highly
important town of MAYENNE. Task Force Weaver undertook to complete this mission and cutting
through ERNEE reached the outskirts of MAYENNE early in the evening. There the light tanks
engaged and reduced the surprised Kraut outposts and a platoon of B Co. forged into the town into the
mouth of several 88s, crossed the bridge and seized important ground on the south side of the river. An
enemy force had just reached the approaches to this bridge but B Co. forced them to retire. Later that
night the rest of the Battalion moved across and was at once aware of concentrated Heine activity
several miles south. A strong security was set up and the next morning found the Battalion faced by a
determined counterattack to regain the MAYENNE bridge. After the bivouac area had been heavily
shelled, A Co. tanks pressed forward and blunted the German effort in a bitter hedgerow struggle which
lasted well into the night. Assembled in a huge field with the angry Boche only several hundred yards in
front, the Battalion heard for the first time the awesome shrieks of the “screaming Mimi”. Late that
night and early the next morning the 1st Inf. effected a relief and Task Force Weaver was ordered to
seize LE MANS by the most expeditious route.
The force split in two with two C Co. platoons and one from A Co. joining the flank column
called Task Force Barth. The rest of the Battalion remained with the main body and pushing north
slammed into a strong-point at STE. SUZANNE. Tanks from B and D Cos. made a forceful effort to
crash through but discovered that an attack in strength would be necessary to dislodge the Boche. The
decision was quickly made to reverse direction and take an alternative route – this was the war of
movement with the objective being encirclement and then massive destruction. Striding rapidly forward
both Task Forces – their progress accelerated, and eased by the accurate and damaging bombing of P-
47s – reached LE MANS on 8 August several hours ahead of schedule. Here they ran into a cluster of
Heine armor and artillery which began to deploy in an effort to prevent entrance into the town. D Co.
tanks thrust forward quickly and catching the Panzers before they had time to take good positions forced
them to flee. Co. C tanks, with Task Force Barth, meanwhile had moved up to take commanding
positions overlooking the very road down which the Panzers fled and in an incredibly short time
inflicted havoc and death. The A Co. platoon with the same force meanwhile struggled with and
overcame other elements of this doomed band of Nazis.
The entire Battalion reassembled near LE MANS and bivouacked down for the night. They
awoke the next morning to find that 12 Boche soldiers had shared the same hedgerows. They awoke
also to find that the day could be spent on much needed maintenance and rest and an attempt to grasp
what had been accomplished by American arms in the last 8 days – a task which probably overtaxed
SHAEF, so fast and multi-pronged were the advances. In this phase in one day the tanks had moved
many more miles than they had during the entire Normandy operation. Instead of an entrenched enemy
defending each inch they now had a disorganized enemy attempting to group forces and dam the tide.
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