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soon commenced to fall – just in time; for the enemy had attacked his positions. I Company meanwhile
was ordered from its phase line on the extreme right flank – some 1500 yards distant – to move up to K
Company's flank while L in reserve occupied I' s former position. The switch occurred at the right
moment for I Company, as it neared the designated flank, run flush into a German company seeking to
encircle K Company. Back at the airstrip, Lt Belchee built up a defensive line and together with his
depleted unit fought off an attack by 60 enemy infantryman who filled the airstrip with wild shrieks as
they attacked. In this fierce small arms fight, K Company killed 20 and took 40 of the enemy breaking
the attack. It must be remembered that this engagement actually took place behind enemy lines, for Lt
Jacobs, K Company CO, simultaneously directed a minor action from his CP in the small town, but I
Company by now went to work on the main enemy force along the right flank. An outline of the
bridgehead operation at this time showed continuous action along the entire regiment front. With the 1st
Battalion attacking Geinsheim at daybreak, and a 3rd Battalion reducing enemy resistance on the left
half. K Company losses were four EM killed and seven EM wounded – evacuated. Others who at first
were listed missing returned.
"When I Company encountered the German force which aspired to cut and encircle K Company,
CO Capt Link directed that his 60 mm mortars and machine guns immediately be set up at forward
points. Although positions were unorthodox, these tactics later proved invaluable because the enemy
force immediately became pinned down by the sudden and accurate shelling. Sgt Joseph A Hartke,
weapons section leader, zeroed in on the enemy while gunners Pfc John B Knight and Sgt Stanley A
Valancius maintained a continuous barrage. All came under direct small arms fire with which the
enemy resisted. No less than three enemy machine guns and 10 automatic rifle positions were
accounted for by this devastating fire. I Company's machine guns were strategically set up to give the
maximum of overhead fire, and this too, kept the enemy pinned down. Not long afterwards Germans
were giving up in large numbers and by 0730 hours the entire enemy force had either been killed or
captured. Seventy-six Germans and two officers were rounded up while at least 15 dead were counted
on the field of battle. I Company suffered two killed in this engagement. Three I Company runners, Pfc
Conn Connewalt, T/4 Frank McArdle and Pvt Paul Bonwits, were in the midst of marching 41 prisoners
back to the enclosure when they suddenly collided with a bypassed enemy platoon. The uncaptured
Germans were apparently full of fight for they quickly deployed and set up a machine gun. The runners
hurriedly informed the prisoners of war of their plight and tactfully added 'Alles Kaput.' The prisoners
shouted emotional pleas to their erstwhile comrades upshot of which was the 30 fully armed Germans
boarded the bandwagon to increase the particular prisoner tally to upwards of 70. By 0900 hours of 23
March 45, the 2nd Platoon of Company C, 803rd TD had been ferried across the Rhine, the first of the
Third Army armor to cross, and were committed almost at once to help clear the 3rd Battalion front. I
Company jumped off, attacking west of the canal between K and I Companies. Heavy support fire by
artillery and tank destroyers enabled the company to move rapidly forward and dissect the main Trebur-
Geinsheim route at phase line where 40 enemy shaken by violent shellings, neatly stacked arms and
surrendered. Two K Company personnel who were missing as a result of the airstrip action earlier in the
morning, T/Sgt Heber Braley and Medic William B Rea, were liberated when the contingent
surrendered. I and L Company patrols probed into Trebur itself at 1053 hours that morning encountering
but slight resistance in the form of rifle fire.
"It was dawn 0530 hours on 23 March when B and A Companies resumed the attack on
Geinsheim, following up the enemy who had partially blown one of the canal bridges while effecting
withdrawal. At this time 3rd Battalion troops had fought deeply on the left, but resistance was lighter
there. The opening of this period also marked the beginning of 24 hours of the greatest Luftwaffe
activity ever experienced by the Regiment in its sector, including the Caumont strafing and Verdun
bombings in earlier French campaigns. For the most part of these attacks were directed at bridging sites
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