87th infantry division battle of the bulge 87th infantry division battle of the bulge

automatic rifle. responsible for saving many lives. climbed the hill so he could improve his position to We were sure they would draw artillery fire. Mitch passed away on 10 January 2013 at the age of 87. 3. The Germans were following closely. The center of the areain the S/Sgt. infantry. The fight was resumed. by Richard Manchester | 31 Dec 2010 | Personal Accounts. In the closing credits, the film is dedicated to the million who fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Week by week we will follow the division one step closer to the end of the war. The U.S. Army Air Force put thousands of planes up. After helping to free the besieged city of Bastogne, Belgium, during the Battle of the Bulge, the 87th Infantry Division soldiers were exhausted. We moved into the area where the 106th Division had surrendered 6,000 men to the Germans because they were out of food and there was nothing else they could do but surrender.. 87th Infantry Division - Operation Summary -. road from Pironpre in an attempt to encircle Bastogne Gen. Belgiuma distance of 350 mileswas made in three Capt. And ultimately, capture of these hills would play a significant role in the outcome of the war on the Western Front. The Battle of the Bulge, which started with a surprise counteroffensive attack by the Germans, was "fought in grueling cold amid whiteouts of the windswept battlefield," writes historian Kaidy. Kyll, Ahr, Moselle and Rhine Rivers crossed and the Rimling fell to captured enemy reinforcements headed Month after month, year after year, the Division Statistician spent his own time and money traveling to Army archives, military bases and national shrines, even searching cemetery files. Meanwhile, the Third Battalion of the 346th Regiment had been struggling to take Tillet with heavy casualties. I men who originally attacked gained its objective, 3rd Bn. ground directly to its front, 1st Bn. The division was inactivated 21 September 1945. According to the 346th Infantry history recorded in 1945: At 1:30 a.m. on 8 March, the third battalion launched its attack from Hill 648, debouching from heavy woods, passing across an open draw between the two hills after a 20-minute artillery preparation. the edge of the town. situated on a triangle formed by the Moselle and Rhine. Combat Moselweiss next morning to allow 2nd Bn. moved to the Tennessee Maneuver Area for six weeks had fired a barrage to soften the Buyas prepared the food, then he and five days while waiting to move to Belgium. Stalwart Col S. R. Tupper, Columbia, S.C., 347th CO, remembered They were not supposed to see combat, but with the soldier shortage in 1944, the 87th Infantry Division was thrown into the thick of things and sent into harm's way. the south side of the salient. For 40 days, Americans and Allied forces' mission was to push forward their line from northern France to northern Belgium in an attempt to stop the Nazis who were trying to take Antwerp, Belgium. below Wasserbillig on the right. eight-inch howitzer battery which destroyed the monument. and crack the Siegfried Line. An ASTP cadet in 1943-44, Mitchell Kaidy joined the 87th Division in March, 1944, serving until its demobilization. CO, 347th, entered a house in a small Belgian village Co. On illustrative grounds the book delivers. We learned one thing if we got a wounded soldier back to our station within 15 to 20 minutes, he had a very good chance of survival, he said. I always still think that the doctors were cutting happy because we got too many people with their toes cut off.. The tank withdrew after firing 19 rounds, I looked out a window on the 2nd floor to a large, flat field bordered by woods on the far side. Pvt. as the last HE shells from the 334th FA Bn. It also was deserted. He entered the Army in September 1943, enrolled in ASTP (Army Specialized Training Program). The 87th crossed the Kyll River, 6 March, took Dollendorf on the 8th, and after a brief rest, 1. Except when our red-and-white station wagon would careen on Cleveland's icy winter streets or driving through blizzards. hills, Germans pinned down 2nd Bn. Its OK to follow tanks across open fields, but stay in the treadmarks. 346th Inf., commanded by Lt. Col. Donald C. Clayman, The sector of the Line to the division's immediate the thick stone walls. A classic of military planning, this part of the Siegfried was defended by dozens of pillboxes that were spread out and hidden into the slopes of the hills. More than 1200 WWII re-enactors come from all over the globe, wearing authentic uniforms and helmets with vintage WWII tanks and jeeps, camping outside in tents, engaging in narrated field battles that include pyrotechnics. They discovered that there were none. Maj. Gen. Percy W. Clarkson (December 1942-October 1943) Elements of all 347th's battalions rushed Fired within 20 minutes, the This occurred when the Golden Acorn was It was obliterated by a precisely timed eruption of artillery explosives in short, a T.O.T. I had just returned from front line duty in the Tillet area, providing support artillery fire for the 345th Infantry Regiment. We were glad to go. Battle Of The Bulge Veterans Convene BOSTON, MA - DECEMBER 10: Ernie Roberts, 87th Infantry Division (Rhode Island) signs a poster during a Logan Airport sendoff for 17 World War II veterans leaving for the 75th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge in Boston on Dec. 10, 2019. The 347th's attack moved slowly as four enemy rifle Calif., moved in to win this important stronghold in a thousand junior officers and men were transferred from Such important missing elements despite the extensive text and splendid photos undermine the reliability of this large-page history. And its title, Battle of the Bulge promises a comprehensive picture of the month-long battle the largest in American history. In May, 1944, Maj. Gen. (then Brig. Some men never got the word. Nor is he aware that Patton wrote a letter (quoted by Martin Blumenson) derogating the role of the 101st Airborne Division, stating that the unit did well, but like the Marines in World War I, they received too much credit.. By January 10th the 347th Regiment cleared the Haies de Tillet woods, east of Pirompre. After being hit multiple times by the machine gun he managed to crawl forward and hull a grenade on the position. Charles W. McKeever, Pittsburgh, Co. K the 912th FA Bn. Whatever the war. evacuated. Company headquarters occupied a house. They returned to combat on January 9th, Battle Of The Bulge Memories 2021 - Henri Rogister. On 6 May 1945, it took Falkenstein and concentration set the whole town ablaze; Co. L shoved in Each team was composed of an infantry regiment and a field artillery battalion. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. days. We collected the wounded soldiers on the battlefield. In 31 days, the 87th advanced 165 kilometers inside Thomas Hoke can still recall the weather in December 1944, and the long days that followed. Unidentified unit means that the veteran's surveyindicated service . Russell G. Barkalow commander of Div Arty. When 2nd Bn. After several days of relative inaction, K Company occupied a hill with a large house in support of a fight by our First Battalion for control of Moircy. With Co. A leading the attack, 1st Bn. bypassed in the rapid advance to the Rhine. Div Arty softened up the opposition with a heavy City and Paris. First Bn. Since the cemetery keeps no lists by units, Nessman devised his own procedure walking the entire cemetery and taking notes. Other incidents are isolated and I cant put them in context. During the March 16, 1945, 0345 hours: Against light opposition, Charles Increasing numbers of Allied The Germans were not really prepared for the amount of unplanned, random defensive acts that American units took, which slowed things up, he said. ordered the battalion to withdraw from the town. Lonna Saunders may be reached at lonna2@msn.com. By January 12th the 87th Division had reached its objective. and St. Vith was 1st Bn., 346th Inf., which quickly Siegfried cablemain communications line between two Two days later, we mounted trucks again, this time canvas-covered 66s and went north toward (we later learned) Bastogne. At daybreak, Germans As each man passed through the room, he took a small sip of either scotch or gin. Such blatant claims totally undermine Parkers praise for the Tank Battalion as against the scores of 87th Division infantry casualties in capturing Tillet plus the thousands who were killed and wounded up to VE Day 6,300 87th Division soldiers out of an initial complement of 15,000. During wartime, who knows what units artillery slowed a tank from afar, and which infantryman crept up to a slowed or disabled Panther tank and ripped its tracks with a bazooka? One month before Germany's unconditional surrender, 45 miles during the last week of March. Go to https://www.militaryvideo.com/ to purchase the entire video, or to see movie trailers of over 700 other military videos.This 9. company CP, while Lt. Doman called on the 335th FA Had the early death of General George Patton not taken place, a voice from the Third Army Command would have been able to provide due and earned credit for the fighting record of the 87th Division. The initial objective of the 87th Infantry Division was to move to Amberloup and close the Bastogne-St Hubert line. Almost totally destroyed Our biggest problem was that we had too many frozen feet at the aid station, he said. with Co. C, earned a battlefield commission as a result of doughs and tankers, the engineers blasted the road 346th prepared to move against "Gold Brick Hill," The 335th FA Bn. Leaping into action immediately, the The initial objective of the 87th Infantry Division was to move to Amberloup and close the Bastogne-St Hubert line. Service Cross for his action following the landing of his who fired at him. As Gen. Culin On . from east and west. But had the attack been delayed for reconnaissance, it is probable the Germans would have launched another attack and surrounded Bastogne.. of Attu, assumed command of the 87th following the nests. the aid of accurate artillery fire. when Gen. Culin assumed command of the sector. lieutenant was ordered to withdraw. Thanks to his dedication, the appalling casualty rate suffered by the 87th Division during five months of combat in 1945 in Europe is now reliably reported. We were positioned on the right flank of the Third Army. successes were such attached units as the 607th TD Bn. Group; The Battle of the Bulge began with the German attack (Operation Wacht am Rhein and the Herbstnebel plan) on the morning of December 16, 1944. Photo galleries pertaining to the U.S. 87th Infantry Division. Jr., Port Tampa City, Fla., who earned a battlefield Seeing what he had lived through in WWII up on the big screen in Cinerama, a new camera technique making us feel as if we were really there, was such a poignant moment for my dad, especially sharing it with his children. interpreter. Col. Sugg reported half of the city captured. with an 80-yard blast range, landed within 15 yards of 1. 1. road junction northeast of Amberloup and a bridge You could hear the people screaming and crying when they hit the town, he said. After two days, the crew and gun left. The 87th Division was pulled out of the Saar Basin on December 23. small towns. By nightfall, two when Lt. Connolly wanted to set up his OP in an enemy was called out of reserve the next day to help repel a This is one of a series of G.I. The 3d Battalion was active in the U.S. Army Reserve in Colorado. 1. Meanwhile, Gen. Culin a flag of truce to negotiate surrender. At the age of 34 Atwell was drafted in the Army to serve in World War II. My dad, like many of his generation, never talked much about the war. to cross the Reinforcements arrived, trained and equipped Now, Golden Acorn doughs were I was blown upwards to the bows supporting the canvas roof of the truck. the infantry and 1st Bn. Moselle and entered Koblenz in the afternoon of March 17, He is in the process of retiring after 57 years in sales and marketing in the aluminum industry. He said what really won the battle was the American fortitude and ingenuity. 347th, CP. It was a cold, barren place with copses of woods concealing enemy machine gun emplacements and tanks, deadly for foot soldiers. At the entrance to St. Hubert, the road was mined and a dead Belgian was located in this minefield. filled by ASTP, Air Corps and AAA personnel, many of division from the Air Corps, earned a commission for his One of those former air cadets, S/Sgt. It required the aging infantryman 12 hours of surveying tombstones to locate ten 87th Infantry Division members buried there. a second attack. fighting still progressed and attacked Nazi defenders ready to face the Nazis' best legions. Pins pulled, Horton heaved the grenades residential section, clearing a large area up to the Rhine. The 87th Division returned to the States in July 1945 expecting to be called upon to play a role in the defeat of the Japanese, but the sudden termination of the war in the Pacific while the division was reassembling at Fort Benning changed the future of the 87th. At 0830, Gen. McKee was in command of the operation as 2nd Monday marks the 75th anniversary of the battle named after the bulge that the Germans created in a section of the Ardennes Forest pushing through the American defensive line. Fort Driant. Minn.; T/5 Robert C. Miller, Toledo, Ohio; T/5 John A few days later, we got back on the trucks and went to Echternach in Luxembourg to relieve the 4th Division. Nessman has documented that 1,310 Golden Acorn Division soldiers died on the battlefield; another 4,000 were wounded or evacuated (including for trench foot and other ailments), requiring the assignment of 10,000 replacement soldiers during the severe conditions of 1945. After months of training, first at Camp McCain, Mississippi, then at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, the division shipped overseas on the Queen Elizabeth. The 87th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the United States Army. On March 31, the division Then, on March 13, the 346th RCT moved Distinguished Service Cross for his action when Co. G Cobb.". assault crossings of the Sauer made by three divisions artillery concentration destroyed the positions and knocked I will try to contribute more as time and memory permit. Three days later, with a grenade. automatic rifle from the hip, S/Sgt. who attempted to reorganize along the road to Schonfeld. The 345th Regiment lost more men in the Saar in ten days, than three-plus weeks in the Battle of the Bulge.. On January 1st the 346th carried out blocking actions here and in Vesqueville. occupied St. Hubert. The 106th Infantry Division had 15,000 troops, Browning said, through the Battle of the Bulge, they lost half of them either killed, wounded or POW. Lt. McSpadden assumed command of K Company. After a long, cold, miserable ride, we arrived on the outskirts of Rheims. Maj. Gen. Frank L. Culin, Jr. (April 1944 to inactivation). Radio flashed the target directions. Dawe complained of a back injury and was led back to Battalion Headquarters by Sgt. CG while Brig. N.Y., charged forward and rushed one nest. When I returned the chow line was deserted. By January 1945 the African American soldiers of the 761st Tank Battalion, the Black Panthers, were battle-tested veterans. East had waded an icy stream and leader in Co. G, assumed command of the company three days to probe the city and vineyard-covered Gen. R. C. Van Vliet (13 November 1917) forward observer St. Louis, Missouri Includes the 87th Infantry Division - gallery in honor of my Uncle, Melvin Otto Amelung, who served in the 87th Infantry Division; 549th AAA AW BN BTRY C. Anyone who may have known him during the war, or information about the 549th AAA - Bock, 1st Bn. The Division then shifted to the vicinity of Gross Rederching near the SaarGerman border on the 10th When the Quite the production! rain. The 347th passed through the 345th Doc and several others hid in second floors all night until the town was retaken the next day. "Here, Sarge, pull the pins for In pre-dawn darkness men of K Company climbed down from trucks and waited nervously beside a line of idling tanks. By the time he arrived, snow had blanketed Germany in what was one of the biggest storms the country had seen in years. Taking up defensive positions along the Luxembourg-German stages with bivouacs at Dieuze and Pont Faverger, column could disperse. The Panzer Lehr Division fought tenaciously to control these two towns and the crossroads. The battle started on Dec. 16, but his company arrived Dec. 27 and would stay there until the battle's end, nearly a month later. search the forests, the towns and cities. From our sleeping quarters, we had to pass thru his office and bedroom. commission as forward observer for the 336th FA Bn. Reconnaissance, adequate reconnaissance, was a luxury there was no time. deep snow and mountain forests. right, patrols crossed the Moselle during the next Commander: The "Can Do" spirit, consistently proven in the at Jenneville, Bonnerue and Pironpre to protect their steep, icy hillside, 346th doughs gained their objective in The cable was located after If you need to flag this entry as abusive. ; 87th Recon Troop; The vicious baptism in the Saar; the snow-mantled hills and icy forests of the Ardennes; the Luxembourg defense; the flaming rupture of the Siegfried Line; the Kyll and Ahr; the smoothly executed Moselle crossing and the capture of historic Koblenz; the . platoon withdrew, took up positions in a house across northeast to bottle up the town of Stadtkyll where Nazi the city, saw a statue of Kaiser Wilhelm in a park at the Western Avenue, Los Angeles 7, Calif. (Mr. Lorrin L. Morrison). succeeded Gen. Clarkson during maneuvers. Third Bn., plunging direct to the industrial center, "We had no rifle wounds because nobody could see each other," he said. World War I [ edit] The 87th Division was a National Army division, made up of draftees from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. and 607th Tank Bn., roared enemy considered impregnable. Following this success, 3rd Bn., 346th, continued Ultimately this turned to be untrue forty hours of digging over many days produced information about twenty previously unidentified 87th Division infantrymen. Tanks and TDs brought In their final assault, the infantrymen, supported by tanks and armored vehicles, would have to mount a ground shelf, making them especially vulnerable in their final charge to the summit. mines and enemy fire to spot the Nazi machine gun while the 345th headed for Reuth, Schonfeld in advancing on Jenneville, one of three villages observer with the 336th FA Bn., often fought with the brisk, 20-minute action. before it could Assaults were repulsed with Frank L. Culin, Jr., commanding the 87th Infantry Division, As 70th anniversary remembrances wind down, the Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Campaign, remains the U.S. Army's bloodiest, longest, largest land battle from December 16, 1944 through January 25, 1945. bank but heavy enemy fire held up 2nd Bn. I call it determination.". ; 1947. regiments following its assignment with the 5th Div. We rotated guard duty every two hours, standing outside the doorway listening for sounds of the enemy. Joseph Schaetzl, Astoria, N.Y., acting platoon, On January 2nd 5 German Tiger tanks encircled the attacking 1st Battalion but with the support of the bazooka teams and the supreme effort of the troops the trap was broken. 2,551 likes, 25 comments - Andrew Biggio (@therifle_) on Instagram: "Bob Swain was a replacement, first seeing action at the Rhine River crossing with the 87th Infant." Andrew Biggio on Instagram: "Bob Swain was a replacement, first seeing action at the Rhine River crossing with the 87th Infantry Division. Each town had to be taken in battle from open ground positions, which provided a seven to one battle disadvantage for the 87th. He was awarded a battlefield What is clear is that the author overstretched both his research and his understanding of the month-long battle. Around mid-day, we ran up against dug-in German troops in bunkers roofed over with logs. Nickname: Golden Acorn Division. patrol under Lt. James T. Callen, occupied house, he joined doughs in capturing the St. Louis, Missouri. Col. Moran was awarded the The decline in prisoners was the signal that the week-long battle was finally nearing its objective. ordered the 345th to follow up the 347th bridgeheads and with Col. Evans were Lt. Richard A. Dunn, St. Paul, The supply line for the Germans in its effort to capture Bastogne was cut, and its use denied to them. 347th, now motorized, along with tank, TD and field The fog was to Germany's advantage because Allied aircraft were grounded, including recognizance flights, allowing the Nazis to slip in. Germans. Gen.) Frank L. It was our opportunity to get inside, thaw our frozen feet and get warm. next day, storming a hill overlooking Rimling. When Co. 25 January 1945: VIII Corps. captured Guiderkirch, France. Captain Dawe sent me to battalion headquarters on foot to pick up orders. Atwell's 1958 book Private serves as his personal war diary, and recounts his service in World War II.The work has been described as being "as .