be delivered to their families in Berlin. A new aggressive spirit seemed to seize upon the German
people as the Allied Forces loomed closer to the border of the "Vaterland". The Gestapo drove the
"Volkssturm" groups, which were mainly civilians organized into a semblance of military units, into the
concrete bunkers of the Metz forts to make a stand there or die.
The crafty enemy was all too willing to sacrifice a cripple with one leg or one eye for a healthy
young American soldier. It became increasingly clear to the Command Group of XX Corps that a bitter
fight was shaping up.
Plans for future operations went steadily ahead. Metz and the flood waters of the Moselle were
merely formidable obstacles, not final objectives, in a relentless drive into Germany.
On the 4th of September, 110,000 gallons of gasoline was flown into the Reims Airport in C-47s.
This amount, plus that brought forward through normal supply channels, enabled the Corps Commander
to man the 7th Armored Division and the 5th and 90th Infantry Divisions for bridgehead operations over
the raging Moselle preparatory to an assault on the outer defenses of Metz.
The 3rd Cavalry Group was given the mission of forcing openings to the Moselle River and, if
possible, the seizing bridges for the passage of the armor. On September 6, on Corps order, the cavalry
moved out in five separate task forces. One task force reached the Moselle at Arnaville, 10 miles
southwest of Metz, by noon; but it was forced to pull back in the face of point-blank fire from 88 mm
antitank guns massed on the east bank of the river. Another task force reached the river line at
Hauconcourt, several miles north of Metz. The main effort was directed along the Gravelotte Road,
leading out of Mars-La-Tour, and reached a draw east of Gravelotte. Here large craters and heavily
wooded terrain slowed the advance of the cavalry, and heavy, accurate artillery fire on a lightly armored
vehicles forced the withdrawal after several light tanks and half tracks were knocked out.
With foxholes like these it was not difficult for Hitler to persuade the Germans that they
Were destined to save the “Vaterland”. The Gestapo of course helped in this conjecture.