American sector. This surrender, a great tribute to the 712th and 90th, was blanketed by the news of
mass surrenders taking place on all fronts. Any minute would bring the final word and perhaps the last
encounter of any intensity took place at ZHURI when C Co. with 359 routed some bitter OCS Troops
who had caused the 2nd Cav. Group on the left so much trouble. Perhaps, also, the last major
accomplishment of this great team was to create a hole through which the 4th Armd. plunged in its final
drive toward PRAGUE.
The end surprised no one. Czechoslovakia was a great country and its people were generous and
friendly. The tankers and doughs, living in the Czech cottages, merely looked up with not much more
than a smile when the official word came that the entire German military machine had unconditionally
surrendered to the Americans, Russians and British jointly. And then they turned to their newly made
Czech friends and drank to victory in wine and beer.
The long awaited day had finally arrived. V-E Day found the tankers scattered over a wide area
of Czechoslovakia. Now began the difficult task of reconversion to peacetime status when again it was
“Verboten” to kill ; when dwellings were searched for contraband only by a delegated few. Search for
eggs and potatoes became looting and conquering a fraulein became fraternizing instead of the spoils of
war. A Co. assembled briefly at STACHY but soon the line platoons went back on outpost “just in
case”. B Co. billeted in a castle at TYNEC and C Co. centered in a schoolhouse at MALY BOR. D Co.
gathered at BESINY while Serv. Co. set up shop at MESTYS ZELEZNA RUDA – better known by the
German name of MARKT ETSENSTEIN. Hq. Co. had the most luxurious quarters at SUSICE. This
was like a vacation after the rough stuff of the war but first echelon maintenance, of necessity neglected
for some time, again was on the schedule. The weather was perfect and the tankers on their free time
made the most of it, swimming, fishing, sightseeing and just loafing. Nights were made lively with
music and dancing around the village maypoles, movies under the trees, and quiet walks in the
moonlight in an atmosphere heavy with lilac. It was spring in the Balkans and the war seemed unreal,
even though not so far away there was a large Heine force working back to the American lines to keep
from surrendering to the Russians.
By 15 May temporary zones of occupation had been selected and the 712th made a 118 mile
road march back through much of the country it had recently conquered. Hot, dry weather is hard on
tanks and bogie wheels and tracks caused much trouble but the maintenance men were up to the task and
practically all tanks reached AMBERG before midnight. The Battalion had been assigned to barracks
here which formerly housed a German Artillery unit and was known as Metzer Kaserne. The name was
more appropriate than the original occupants knew for the whole place was a mess. The air corps boys
who had taken care of the nearby glass factory had graciously spared most of the camp buildings, but
shrapnel and concussion had worked havoc with the roofs and windows. The Germans in their haste to
depart had left things in a turmoil and the first wave of infantry which took and looted the place had not
improved matters. But the advance party had worked a small miracle and accommodations were already
far better than they had been throughout most of the war.
The tankers at once set about making the place livable. Civilian labor was secured for fixing the
windows, shingling the roofs, carting away the rubble and trash, scrubbing the floors, and denazifying
the walls of the more radical decorations. Among the jumbled mass of junk in the surrounding
warehouses sufficient chinaware and silver was found and soon a full blown Battalion Mess was in
operation, with cooks from all companies and Kraut KPs. An elaborate system of underground wiring
connecting all nearby camps was discovered and repaired and eventually a switchboard was put in
operation, thereby eliminating all the unsightly wires which had been strung tree to tree in combat
fashion when the place was first occupied. Mudholes were filled and graveled over – the fag hungry
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