The rain continued and the river rose unchecked. The inundated area became a mile and a half
wide, and supply for the bridgehead forces was a crucial problem.
The eight infantry battalions on the far bank were still fighting with hand-carried weapons and
needed armored to counter the infantry-tank teams that the enemy had collected andis was prepared to
throw into the battle at this particular stage. Battle casualties had been severe and toll from exposure
and trench foot was increasing steadily. A bridge was the only answer.
General Walker, in an effort to employ the 10th Armored Division more quickly, ordered a
bridgehead at Thionville by elements of the 95th Division since the river bed in that area was deeply
channeled and the flood conditions of the Moselle would be least felt there.
The crossing by units of the 95th Division brought heavy artillery and mortar fire from Fort
D'Illange and FortYutz, but the bridgehead was slowly expanded, the enemy pushed back, and gains
consolidated.
On the morning of the 11th of November, the 357th Infantry drove forward in the center the
bridgehead through rugged, wooded terrain along the line of the Maginot forts. They made excellent
progress.
On the right of the bridgehead, elements of the 90th Division moved ahead and took up positions
along the wooded ridge. The enemy launched a counterattack on the morning of November 11, but was
almost annihilated and the advance continued against concentrated artillery fire and strong resistance.
Hundreds of German troops, fleeing from the blazing assault on Fort Koenigsmacher, were captured or
killed.
During the evening of November 11th, the Moselle River reached its highest crest in 29 years.
Its swollen width and racing current made bridge building activities impossible. The artillerymen on the
western side of the rivers stood knee deep in mud to support the infantry on the far side of the Moselle.
At 0830 hours, November 12th, a strong battle group of the 25th Panzer Grenadier Division
counterattacky. The enemy had finally committed his last large group of reserves in a desperate effort to
limit the expanding bridgehead or to smash it back into the wide Moselle. All the artillery in the Corps,
over 20 battalions, blanketed the enemy troops and the attack was stopped with heavy losses. American
infantry were brought across the river, and, with the aid of the 1st Tank Destroyers counterattacked and
turned the Germans’ attempty withdrawal into a complete route.
At Thionville, the 2nd Battalion of the 358th Infantry had encircled and swarmed over the
heights of old Fort Yutz and began routing out the entrenched enemy defenders. This was accomplished
by noon on November the 12th, and the guns of Fort Guentrange and XX Corps artillery blanketed the
artillery casemates of Fort D'Illange.
All three regiments of the 90th Division continued to press forward through the Maginot Line,
retaking Kerling and seizing the heavy woods which dominated Oudrenne. Along the southern front of
the bridgehead, the town of Haute Ham was cleaned out and the high ground overlooking Distroff was
firmly held.
The construction of a Bailey bridge for the 10th Armored Division was underway and the armor
was ready to strike from an assembly area in the rear of the Cattenom Forest.
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