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Upstarts
By the time we reached Oberesch, practically everyone was an ardent German,
and they looked at us pretty glumly. Most of the villagers left town when we entered, but
there were a few hardy goose-herds who continued tending their flocks on the outskirts
all the time we were there.
Reinforcing the glum attitude of the German population was our own regulation,
which strictly prohibited fraternization with enemy nationals. That meant that when folks
beside the road glowered at us, we were supposed to glower back. And in particular, it
forbade relations with members of the opposite sex. This stretched the meaning of the
word "fraternization,” because the impulses the rule intended to control were not
brotherly.
Since we were in a lull, I got to savor my promotion to major, dated December 5.
As I remember, Bob Hughes's promotion to Lt Col came through at the same time [with
blinding speed], so that he passed on his gold leaves to me and had to buy silver ones for
himself. Someone else - I believe it was Don Wilborn, LnO 2 - was promoted to captain
and inherited my silver "railroad tracks.”
We had our fire direction center in a house in Oberesch. For several days I kept
smelling a vaguely familiar odor. I wondered about it, but was not curious enough to
investigate. When someone finally did, it turned out to be alcohol. Some enterprising GIs
had discovered a still in the cellar and had put it into operation turning garbage from the
battery kitchen into schnapps. Capt Jacobs put a stop to it before I found out what the
stuff tasted like. Probably I was lucky.
Things did not go well with the crossing of the Saar. The main problem was the
pillboxes of the Siegfried Line, which started only a short distance from the far bank.
Each of these was a concrete fortress, and they were carefully positioned so that to
approach one, you had to cross the fields of fire from at least two others. And if you
succeeded in taking one, you had to either blow it up or guard it, or the Germans would
come back at night to re-occupy it.
And although there were footbridges erected from time to time, a bridge capable
of supporting vehicles, from supply trucks to tanks, was never completed. All supplies
had to be ferried across. After a few futile days, the division commander decided that the
two regiments already across the river couldn't get the job done without help, and ordered
the 359th to go to their aid. Naturally, as soon as we heard this, Bob Hughes assembled
the recon party, ready to find a position where we could support them by fire. He was as
eager as Peach had been cautious.
But then came the order from Div Arty. We were not to be in our standard role-
direct support of the 359th Infantry - which I described at length in the Foreword to this
book [pp i-v]. Instead of us, a 105mm FA Bn, which had been temporarily attached to the
90th Division was assigned to that mission. We were to stay where we were, on the left
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