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Western Front were to be given no chance to form a strong defense along the German border or on the
Rhine. Rapid pursuit and exploitation were still the keynotes of XX Corps planning operation.
However, supplies of fuel were by now dangerously low. The 7th Armored Division managed to
siphon enough gas from all vehicles to mount a demonstration and dispatch at North. By the afternoon
of September 3, it was forced the halt with fuel tanks dry.
The 3rd Cavalry Group alone was fairly mobile, having captured 4000 gallons of high-octane gas
from the retreating Luftwaffe. The cavalry squadrons proceeded to make daring and sweeping
reconnaissance to the North and East, to Luxembourg and the line of the Moselle. Racing 70 miles east
through the German lines a platoon of cavalry entered Thionville on the banks of the Moselle on the
afternoon of September 2, seizing and holding the main highway bridge over the river for several hours.
The German garrison suffered heavy losses of men and equipment, but, recovering from their surprise,
drove the lightly armored cavalry backed by sheer weight of firepower. The immobilized XX Corps
infantry was unable to support the cavalry platoon. Finally on the morning of this 2nd of September,
came the bombshell from Third Army Headquarters which said, “until gas arrives, you will have to limit
movement in your area”.
Some 3rd Cavalry Group vehicles did reconnoiter as far as the Moselle River 8 miles north of
Metz. There, they set up observation posts overlooking the river, far behind enemy lines. The picture
became clear. Information of vital importance was gained through the gallant dangerous actions of the
cavalry elements of XX Corps. During one of these actions, Colonel Frederick W. Drury, commanding
officer of the 3rd Cavalry Group, and several members of his Headquarters were captured when they
were surrounded by superior forces, well behind enemy lines.
The XX Corps had been operating for several days with little information as to enemy
disposition and intentions. The few available maps had been dropped by plane. Little was known of the
state of the fortifications of Metz. It became apparent that the enemy, having once abandoned the Metz
forts, now intended to prevent their capture in a crossing of the Moselle River line. All precious hours
and days slipped by, the might of XX Corps was chained by lack of means to sustain the momentum of
its forward drive.
Some forward cavalry elements were forced to withdraw because of the gas shortage in danger
of heavy counterattacks. The history of the 5th Division, which was straining at the leash and ready to
go, plaintively states, "Here sat the Division while the door to Germany swung shut, while the Gestapo
drove them the Metz garrison back to their posts, while the forts were manned, positions dug,
reinforcements brought up, until not all the gas in the world could force the door open without long hard
days of fighting, heavy casualties, and thousands of rounds of ammunition expended."
Meanwhile a great number of stragglers and they beaten remnants of German forces fell back on
Metz and its surrounding forts as a rallying point. There they found leadership under the 462nd
Mobilization Division, part of which was formed by a Regiment of officer candidates, fanatic Young
Hitlerites especially picked for their devotion to the Nazi cause. The 17th SS Panzer Division took up
positions southwest of Metz. The 559th Division prepared to defend the Moselle line north of Metz.
The German soldiers who had fled in great droves when the guns of XX Corps spat steel death
now took fresh courage behind her formidable defenses. Germans who had come behind the Corps
frontlines in long straggling streams of beaten men now began to hope. No longer were high-ranking
prisoners admitting that the end of the world was in sight and asking that letters and personal messages
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