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With the breaching of the Seine by XX Corps, the great city of Paris was flanked from the south.
Who actually would have the honor of liberating it was militarily unimportant. The capital of France, as
the German Armies of the West soon discovered, was untenable. However, scores of newspaper
correspondents hovered in the wake of and with XX Corps hoping to be among the first in Paris.
Sometimes in a swift advance, some "snafu" may develop such as the "episode of the telegram."
Having secured the first Treadway Bridge over the Seine River south of Paris, XX Corps turned this
bridge over to VII Corps of the First Army which had moved in on XX Corps' left and which was
anxious to get on in the direction of Paris. The agreement to turn the bridge over was a verbal one
between General Walker and General Collins, the two Corps Commanders, and a confirming telegram
was sent to VII Corps. Through some error in transmission, and extra digit was added to the Roman
numeral VII. When General Middleton, commanding the VIII Corps, which was several hundred miles
away in the Brittany peninsula in fighting near Brest, received the wire, he promptly wired back,
"Cannot take over your bridge, I'm already stretched too damned far."
Events moved more rapidly than ever now. The men were worn and empty-eyed, covered with
dust, and dead tired; but the pursuit of a battered enemy went on at a quickened pace. The narcotic of
exhaustion dulled the feelings. When a pause was possible, even a bare, hard foxhole was comfortable.
Cold rations were eaten on the move, but food didn't have much taste anyway. Smoking, when the
situation permitted, became an automatic muscular habit. The faces of the troops held a stunned, tired
look. Only the topic of victory and a rising hope for an early defeat of the Nazi war machine spurred the
men on.
Everyone worked and fought hard and long. The truck drivers slaved around-the-clock shuttling
troops, food, and ammunition to the flying Corps’ troops. Over broad highways and narrow trails and
without lights, the trucks rolled back and forth over country cleared of Germans "to the ditches only."
During the many long moves, Corps artillery rode in the combat columns and ready to deliver fire at an
instant's notice.
Huge stocks of material were captured by XX Corps during the campaign. Whole fleets of
German vehicles, from the imitation jeep, the "Volkswagen", to big troop carriers, were used by Corps
units to speed troops forward in pursuit of the enemy.
The Corps Judge Advocate, Colonel Frank P. Corbin, and the Corps Adjutant General, Colonel
Robert E. Cullen, sported an "Oberkraftwagen”. The columns may have looked like Gypsy Caravan's at
times, but they always got their fast. This was possibly another reason why the Germans referred to the
Corps as the "XX Panzer Corps."
On August 24th, plans affecting the future operations of XX Corps were received from Third
Army. The mission of the Corps was to continue straight east in pursuit of the stricken enemy. August
25th found the Headquarters in the Fontainebleau Forest, historic in the military and political history of
France. A hurried visit was made by General Patton who personally awarded Bronze Stars to General
Walker and Colonel Collier.
On August 26th, in a single day, to combat teams of the 5th Division swept along the south bank
of the Seine, which runs in an East-West direction below Montereau, to Nogent-sur-Seine and captured
it from the 59th Panzer Grenadier Brigade by nightfall. The bridge across the river was demolished. An
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