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2. Into Austria; and the Myth of the "National Redoubt"
Restraining lines had been set up on previous occasions by higher headquarters to hold back the
impatient armor and infantry of XII Corps, in order that units on either side could catch up. Now there
was a new reason, off there in the farther reaches of Czechoslovakia and Austria were the conquering
hordes of the Red Army, sweeping westward to a junction with the forces of the West. In this instance
the fear was that the Corps would run full tilt into the advancing Russians, creating the possibility of
errors in judgment on either side which might have repercussions in international diplomacy. XII Corps
was restrained from crossing the Czech border in any strength until the end of the month, and directed to
proceed cautiously, behind full ground and air reconnaissance, to the southeastward. A restraining line
was set up along a railroad in Austria and Czechoslovakia beyond which no eastward movement in force
would be permitted. The Corps After Action Report summarized these operations as follows:
"The fourth week in April saw a continuation of the Corps progress to the southeast. Weiden was
seized 22 April, and Cham, with its excellent airfield, entered by the armor on 23 April. Regen and
Grafenau surrendered after a meager resistance of small arms and panzerfaust fire, on the 24th and 25th
April, respectively. On 26 April, the Corps first reached the Danube at Straubing, where the 26th
Infantry Division found the bridge blown. Extremely poor roads, stiffened resistance from SS troops in
the area around Egg, and harassing artillery fire from the south side of the Danube, slowed the advance.
During this period, higher headquarters anticipated first contact would be made with Soviet forces in
Austria, rather than Czechoslovakia, and the Corps was directed to proceed southeast to accomplish such
a meeting.
"At the end of April, XII Corps was disposed as follows: The 90th Infantry Division on the left
faced Czechoslovakia through the gaps, and over the heavily wooded heights of the Ober Pfalzer Wald,
and the even more forbidding Bohmerwald, linking up on the north flank with the 97th Infantry
Division, which had been transferred to First Army on 30 April.* With the 2nd Cavalry Group, the 90th
Infantry Division stood ready to enter Czechoslovakia in force from a point on the border north of
Waldmunchen to another east of Grafenau. The 5th Infantry Division was next abreast, backing up the
11th Armored Division, for which primary orientation was still southeast in Austria. The 26th Infantry
Division lay south of the 5th Infantry Division, clearing out the last knots of resistance north of the
Danube. The 4th Armored Division assigned to XII Corps 30 April, was moving toward an assembly
area near Deggendorf."
Gen Irwin's diary which had by now become the diary of the Corps commander, records another
great milestone in XII Corps' progress in an entry for 26 April 45: "clear and cool. Act 0800 moved to
CP to Schwartzenfeld, opening about 1100. (Hear the CP was in a housing development outside
town.)… 1830 CCA of the 11th Armored crossed Austrian border, with CCB about 2 km short.
Authorized armor to hold up 48 hours for maintenance with patrolling to front and flanks. …" Thus the
first Allied troops in the European Theater of Operations had broken into another satellite of Germany.
A more particular account of this historic penetration may be found in the division's After Action
Report:
26 April 45. "Resuming the advance at 0800, CCA's Task Force Wingard moved east through the
Cavalry at Kreuzberg and turn south toward Freyung. A destroyed bridge 1 km north of Freyung halted
the column. Tanks and tracked vehicles forded the River while wheeled vehicles used a bypass
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