AT AEION ;'01 BA i `PUY'* .2ND EN 13T

COMBAT HIS ORYf OF THE 2ND BATTALION13TH INFAUTFY P . .PENT OF THE 8TH IURAI 'RY DIVISION BEGAN TEE 'S',IORNIHG THAT IT LAUDED ITS THE NORMANDY BEACHHEAD AREA ON D-DAY PLUS TWENTY EIGHT, AS PART. OF THE BUILD UP FORCE OF 1ST ARIr , COMMANDED GEN . OT\i4R BRADLEY

AT THIp' :VA S COMMANDEDH I `INF BY C OLOIaEL ROBERT A GRIEF ?*ZE ` FQLLC1FI G C OI :ITiIANDERS AND. ;STAFF t OC c UP II1a x PQ,SITIONS BATTALI O, Q MMANDIM 'tTICER 1lAJOR ;E . F CLARK BO EXECUTIVE OFFICER CAPTAIN-FRED - A . . DUNLAP, JR. BATTALION S-1 & HQ COMPANY C O CAPTAIN ALBERT SCHAUB BATTALION S-2 INTELLIGENCE LIEUTENANT JACK JACOBSON, BA TTALION S--3 OPERATIONS LIEUTENANT : CHARLES KELLY BATTALION S-4 SUPPLY LIEUTENANT RIC:iARD- E . SHORE BATALION SURGEON CAPTAIN" J .' ;5 . 'PAUL C OMPANy' E ( EASY) COMMANDING OFFICER-CAPT . RICHARD C WARRE N COMPANY--F (FOX) COT•.J xNDING OFFICER CAPT . -. RAI,AM -V CITAI FLEE C OP,1PANY G (GEORGE) C i*P, iri r,Z*IIic OFFICER CLIP ;F` THEODORE LEONAR D COMPANY H (H05") CON ; *.iDING OFFICE CAPT ` J *I,I N . S . STRICKLAND

THE 2ND BATTALION 'JOURNA L ( ode Tame an, LOT o tiu 1T 4 July 1944 - Landing craft of the US Navy brought the Battalio n ashore, widely scattered, to the sands of UTAH BEACH, after th e "sea voyage from IRELAND, on the US Army Transport " SEA PORPOISE" . We hiked inland thru the concrete fortifications and thru the min e fields camouflaged by acres of red poppies growing there . The beach was a clutter of wrecked boats, supplies, barrage balloons , vehicles, and American Ole by the thousands all safely covered from enemy planes by squadrons of zebra striped, P-47 fighters , circling on the alert overhead . Our heavy duffle bags had bee n dropped i n company dumps on the be ach, However, we carried the cumbersome blanket roll several miles further to a French village assembly area where we established ad dit i ona l dumps; and collected stray elements of our units before continuing the hike . Nero we ate our first K ration, in FRANCE . We passed thru MONTBO1RG ; a demolished French town, and after walking 25 miles, bivouacked in ` an apple orchard near . VALOGNES after midn1ght and on , completion of a fox-hole by each individual for protection . "

__5 ,Jul r? 1944 Members of the BN painted and carnoufla-gocl helmets, . sharpened bayonets and trench knives (again . ), and sweated in the hot July atmosphere of the NORMANDY apple orchard, as we listened : to' pointers and combat. advice from members of the ' 4TII 'IEE DILL . , restingnearby after their battle :for CHERBOURG .:

C'July1944 - We moved by trucks to new assembly area in the e v3 c'i n' ty of the artillery of the 82ND ABII IN.F DIV at ST . SAVI OP LE VICOMTE where the sounds of . battle were quite loud now . Fox`- Io,1es were excavated much quit-ker and much deeperby all members . , of GREYHOUND WHITE . NORMANDY had a definite odor to which no on e c'puld become accustomed .

7 July 1944 - We moved again to •a new, assembly area near DAIIAYE bETAPT and all Company Commanders and Platoon . Leaders went for. ward by jeep transportation on reconnaissance behind an clemen t of, the 90TH INF DIV . .T'r oir• zone looked nasty and newly fough t over, since neither German nor American bodies had"be.on moved Mortar fire landed nearby as plans wore made for an attack thru this area . Plans wore cancelled when Division maneuver was changed ; the 13TH INF would . be in reserve while the othor two regiments , the 28TH and 121ST attacked . Artillery sholls landed in the B N area, and snipers caused some conoorn, as did stray small arms f ir e "'l em the front ;

';14: y 1944 - the 2ND RN moved in close behind the 121ST INF afte r r attack began, and-they had passed thru the 82ND AEN DI V

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e sniper fire and direct fire from tc _:'rity ; 83m m guns camp in our .area Reconnaissance was made by BN CC and the other COs be - hind- 2ND BN of the 121ST . . Hedge-rows compose d . of a mixture of dirt embankment, stones, brambles, trees and other vegetation facil i- tated concealment but interfered greatly by impeding movement of the attacking force ; . the German defense was correspondingly aided . 9 July 1944 - First casualty of the 2ND BN occurred when a snipe r F shot Lt . Carl Gordon of F (FOX) Co . in. the arm. The 3RD BN, or GREYHOUND BLUE, commanded by Lt . Col E . L . Loretto, was committe d to clear a pocket of Krauts in LA HAYS DU PUITS . GREYHOUND WHITE moved into a gap between two BNs of the 121ST and experienced som e more. shelling, in the now area, amid 'grimi surroundings of dead me n wearing the Golden Arrow of the 8TH DIV patch on their shirts ; a deserted farm village with artillery scarred masonry buildings , and dead livestock, cows and horses lying grotesquely about . It was sickening - it was sad . The first men of our Division had give n their lives for their country . 10 July 1944- The BN again shifted into another gap, this time t o the left, on top of a hill where the small arms and 88mm fire wa s hotter . E (EASY) was on the left and G (GEORGE) dug in on the right with FOX in reserve . Slain soldiers. 'found here wore th e patches of both the 90TH and 8TH DIVs . Mortar fire caused 10 cas- ualties in the BN .

11 July 1944 - GREYHOUND ►;WHITE was again pinched out as the attac k ing BN's converged in front of us . Artillery continued to harass us . Plans again were made for committing of the 2ND BN into the attack . 12 July 1944 r - We were moved laterally to the right into a Regimen - tal assembly area to be ready to pass thru the 24TH INF. on 13 July . Movement was made just at dusk, again into fields bordere d by the ever present hedge-rows . 13 July 1944 - The big day for which we had been training for thre e years was at hand as GREYHOUND crossed the lino of departure in its . first Regimental attack ; we were disappointed to be in Regimenta l reserve . As the fog lifted after 0800, a .tremendous shelling by German mortars and artillery hit the BN and after several hours w e had 23 more casualties, including Lit Jacobson, the BN S-2 . ' LT J . E . Hemphill took over intelligence activities . Our Medics, under Do c Paul, really did a fine job on their first big task . The attack of RED and BLUE BNs carried them 1800 yards to their objectives agains t strong resistance .

14 July 1944 - WHITE BD? moved successively to now reserve positions at VESI,Y and BOURDONNERIEA'1'L, repeatedly digging in and plannin g for possible commitment ; 7 Prisoners of War •(PWs) were seized our first . Our hands wore now raw and bloody from digging so much . We were eager to attack . .

15 July 1944 - . Set up a now defensive reserve position on a hill ' behind the Ay River ; BN Command Post (CP) was established in an ol d Norman chateau near BRICUVILT,r, where artillery and direct fire ' 88 s made life problematical . Many dead cows inhabited the area near ou r field homes - and there was nothing we could do about that ; another source of irritation was the tremendous numbers of yellow-jacke t wasps that put in an appearance, if not a sting or so, everywhere we decided to dig in . They also tried to beat us to our chow and at - tempted to carry it off by force of numbers . They even liked K-rations ! Finally, they would join us in the bottom of our fox- holes during shellings, and would make us fight for that too . 16 J u l y 1944 - Lt . J . M . Ringo of FOX C o was killed by the fire o f an 88mm gun, while sitting on the edge of his fox-hole . . Recon . patrols from the Rifle Companies were set out . along the Ay River . 17 July 1944 - GREYHOUND defensive area strafed and bombed repeat - edly for 30 minutes by fighter bombers ; two bombs straddled the chateau, two more hit in the EASY Co field with no casualties ; how- ever Regimental AT PLT was hit killing the PLT LDR and many men .

18 July 1944 - Moved at dusk over a very dusty sunken road to a new defense position in reserve at LA CTERGIE in wheat fields, wit h hedge-rows of course ; anti-aircraft guns were dug in all thru our

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N. area . One of our 8TE DIV Artillery p).ene we ' ' of down, into the GEORGE Co field by strafing Gomm place3 . The AckeAck guns cut loose all over the place and P-47s came in to help ; two Jerries were shot down, They were PM 190 type . 19. thru 26 July 1944 - We improved positions in reserve area, sen t out patrols, and made reconnaissance and plans for a big drive t o be made by all four CORPS of the American force, including our own VIII CORPS. , commanded by Gen Troy H . Middleton . Church service s were hold in the orchards of NORMANDY . We all wa ttchod with awe and Cheorod on an immense air strike by 3000 cf our heavy bomber s 26July 1944 - After the hole had been . punched in the German line s following the terrific bombing, 2ND BN in a sweeping operation fol - lowed the 28TH INF closely thru ST PATRICE DE CLIADS . 27 July 1944 - The same sweeping movements to clear all pocket s and seize isolated Germans were continued thru JOLIIY NTE . 28&29July 1944 - Sweeping mission again, thru LA BONIiAM RIE an d EA VENDELEE* and small bands of PWs were taken . Rain or heavy dus t seemed always to be present to make our task more pleasant . 30 July 1944 •- GREYHOUND was motorized and attached by BNs to th e 4TH ARM DIV to continuo the break thru . We rolled at :rent speed thru COUTANCES as if we owned it and south to MESNILA I ERT .,;: , a 31 July1944 - We rushed on to the south with our Task Force o f tanks 'but were stopped at AVARANCLU S by demolished bridges . A smaller Task Force was . sent probing to the left flank with' GEORGE CO and several Pits of Mech . Cavalry and Tank Destroyers, followe d by the remainder' of the column . . At dusk this force was stopped by a force of Krauts which knocked out one jeep and an armored car i n a delaying action . GEORGE made a night attack and cleared the wa y as the Germans gave ground . 1 Aug 1944 - At daylight GEORGE continued thru a mine field in an advanced guard formation followed by-the rest of the BN . Capt . Schaub, BN S-1, and the men in his jeep were blown up by a Germa n Teller AT mine . White BN continued in the same formation and a t every far= house the French warned that the Boche were very clos e with many tanks ; this fact seemed confirmed ty numerous tractor marks in the road dust . A Bivouac . of 3-orrice was ;;potted in a n apple orchard, after about an hour, and the GEORGE Co CO ordered a n attack by a platoon, while the remainder of the C o covered fro m the hillside . After 15 minutes of intense snail arms and bazook a . fire, the Gorman artillerymen called 'Kamerad" when 1 officer an d 8 of their number had been killed, and 10 more wounded . The rest of the Company assisted in rounding up 70 PWs and the horses an d guns of the battery . The BN was motorized again and once more wen t racing south . 2 Aug 1944 - As the motorized Task Force reached the vicinity o f the Salume River we detrucked, we thought, foil a rest and clean-up . Gen . George S . Patton came along the road and talked to the men of GREYHOUND WHITE and said that we would be in PARIS in . 19 days, an d informed us that we were doing a fine job on the Rune . We were now officially a part of the 3RD ARMY . Again 'we climbed on our vehi - r cles and crossed the Salume River on a dam near. DU EY and rushed south all thru the night, quite conscious of the fact that th e German Luftwaffe squadrons were out in force . Our force did not receive an attack and we raced on over wide black top roads-in th e open countryside of BRITTANY . 3 Aug 19 44 - The populace of this area was quit e . different in atti - tude, and the it was late at night, came out by the thousands t o cheer us on ; crying "Vivo Amerique" as we rumbled thru ST JAMES and other towns, ever speeding southward . The German resistance had completely crumbled . We pushed thru to the outskirts of RENNES, th e capital of BRITTANY, before we wore halted in an assembly area, lat e in the afternoon, to find that our 1ST BN with a BN of Armored In f was already attacking the garrison against heavy defensive fire from strong points . Mortar fire and 20mm fire ripped up our assem- bly area, as we dug-in and planned the morning assault . ' 4 Aug. 1944 - At 0800 the 2ND BN on the right and the 3RD BN on th e left passed thru the 1ST BN in approach march formation ; however , Page 3

the artillery preparation was temporar=.la withheld since members of the French Underground had contacted lee stating that the Germa n force was withdrawing from the city . The BN reserve Co, GEORGE , was sent up the main highway into the city with a platoon of TD s and not a shot was fired ; instead, the people began coming out o f their cellars and air raid shelters and soon the most rousing reception we had ever experienced was under way . The hysterical mobs blocked our route in a frenzy to show us their appreciatio n at being liberated . The rest of the BN followed and met the same treatment of kisses, flowers, tears, handshakes, champagne, etc . until the column finally was forced to halt in the city square where about a'hundred thousand cheering people detained us an hour with speeches of welcome until we forced a way thru them with th e bulk of our slowly moving TDs . GREYHOUND WHITE had the mission o f securing the Air Base on the other side of the city which it now did, with but little resistance from the extensive defenses ; six small tanks and vast stocks of Wormacht equipment were taken . A defensive system of outposts and patrols was established in th e vicinity of ST JAQUES . 5 Aug 1944 - Part of the BN was sent back into RENNES to assist th e MPs, as the rest of the 8TH DIV moved into the area . Our Regiment was released from the 4TH ARM DIV (with whom the French Governmen t later cited us for our work during the NORMANDY break-thru by award- ing the French Croix de Guerre with Palm Unit Citation) . Air Corps P-47 Fighters immediately began use of our air field, afte r quick repairs by their Engineers . 6 thru 11 Aug 1944 - Remained On the defensive . with little action and cleaned up and relaxed somewhat, as a major battle was fough t by the counter attacking Crermans trying to cut,us off by retaking AVARANCHES . They were stopped at MORTAIN . 12 Aug 1944- We moved out of our positions into bivouac area nort h of RENNES . 13 thru 16 Aug 1944 - . A motorized move was made to TRELIVAN in the vicinity of DINAN where attack of fortified position technique wa s rehearsed while the 121ST INF completed its attack of the port of ST MALO with the 83RD DIV . 17 Aug 1944 - Motorized movement was made to ST AGATHON nea r GUINCA1W as the 8TH DIV moved in to join the 6TH ARM DIV of ou r VIII CORPS at the great Fortress Port of BREST . Other forces were headed that way also, as reconnaissance details from the 2ND and 29TH DIVA were seen moving in the same direction . It was to be a big show, since this port was vitally needed by Gen . Eisenhower and had been given to Gen . Patton as number 1 priority, for 3RD ARMY .

ATTACK OF THE FORTRESS CITY OF BREST, FRANC E

18Aug 1944 - The operation to reduce the fortified areas ' sur- round ng the coastal port of BREST began on this day, as element & of the 13TH INF relieved the containing force . 20 Aug 1944 - 2ND BN, 13TH INF moved into zone. 3 Kilmmeters NW of GOUSENOU pushing in outlying German outposts . Capt . Leonard wa s made BN S-3 and Lt . Spears became CO of GEORGE Co . 21Aug 1944 - GREYHOUND WHITE moved one more Kilo toward BREST and dug in along lateral black-top highway running East & West, on Hil l #100, due north of the center of the city . 28TH INF was on the lef t flank, and on the right GREYHOUND RED. On the far left was the . 2ND DIV and on the far right the 29TH DIV, all under VIII CORPS , commanded by Gen . Middleton . 'Enemy strongholds could be seen fro m here ; pillboxes, coastal guns, 88mm and 105mm AA guns, barbed wire , and the city beyond on the bay . The forces opposing us were com- manded by Gen Von Raracke and consisted of the fanatical 2ND PARA ., TROOP DIV ., . element s ' of 343 :INF, 266TH INF, DIV, a Marine Brigade , GAF BNs, and Naval Troops . Artillery shelling by both sides ha d begun . 22Aug 1944- Reconnaissance was made by all key personnel - com e bat patrols were sent probing for soft spots by all rifle companies .

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2ND BN 13TH INF in the campaigns UTAH BEACH . of NORMANDY and BRITTANY 9 Franceo

LA HAYS DU PUITS at 1/2 .0 9 000 )

THEODORE LEONARD 9 C PT INF S-3 , COUTANCES

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1 f -'---- .-, ** if MORLAIX ST MAL :D.: N'\\ AVARENCHES .0 ' ■ ..... Y /--iO GUINCAMP , e., BREST .. , . \ : J ST JAMES

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- re"' '".■-•'Th

CROZON

(Assaults of 2ND .BN ITH INF / at BREST, France 194 from N 2)4.. August to 19 September

(Map sketch at /100,000) .

OL *ub. *i THEODORE LEONARD CAPT S- 3 4 .

23 Aug 1944 - Additional reconna- ssanee nA'. -ei.s were taken forward by al leaders and final plans d e _d .: : wme e issued . 2ND BN .- would attack Hill #88 as fL=s1_ objective (,.;e Sketch #2) EASY on right, GEORGE on left, FOX in re erne, supported by a Platoon. of Tanks and a Platoon of Tank Destroyers, An Engineer patrol wa s ambushed by the Germans -- Tt, Chaliss was killed -- Lt Col . Fry e captured . One patrol from FOX Co led by Capt Chamblee tangled with Krauts and was pinned down by fire among beehives in a farmyard until one of the hives was hit ; contact was broken with the bee s and Germans . 24 Aug 1944 - At midnight GREYHOUND WIIITE infiltrated the Jerry outpost positions and moved a thousand yards closer - almost t o the Penfeld Creek without trouble- and dug. into hedge-rows tempo - rarily . 25 Aug 1944 - Assault of the objective was not totake place unti l 1300 after thirty minutes of Artillery preparation . AGerman forc e attacked the GEORGE Co Position before the attack and was dmive n off . The assault jumped off as planned at 1300, and instantly both . the attacking companies ran into an iron wall of 20mm, machine gun , mortar and heavy artillery fire . Even the AA guns had been brought to bear by depressing muzzles, and the 88s were firing point-blank . Four Lieutenants were casualties in as many minutes and other key ' men had soon joined their ranks . Repeated attempts were made durin g the afternoon to ford Penfold Creek but few individuals live d through to the base of Hill #88 . The assault teams which were suc - cessful began attacking assigned pillboxes . At this point the Krauts exploded planted charges of demolitions and the whole posi - tion seemed to blow up, destroying most of the men who,had advance d that far . Huge chunks of reinforced concrete as large as a jee p were hurled all the way across the creek at least 200 yards, where . additional men were injured . The tempo of German mortar and Artil- lery fire north of the creek increased . The BN Commander, Maj . Clark, ordered a new attempt coordinate d by S-3' with loading elements . Artillery was concentrated by Capt . Taylor, the 43RD FA Liason Off, for 15 minutes and at 1715 afte r the last volleys were fired using white phosphorus shells, GEORGE and EASY tried again . One platoon of EASY under Sgt Needham Morri s succeeded in getting through the barbed wire and mines. into the fortifications ; during this assault, and 3RD Platoon of GEORG E under Lt . J . Kinsingor swept around the left flank through a group of stone farm houses . The Lieutenant was shot by a German para- trooper through the forehead and the platoon guide, Sgt Zitkovic h was killed by a burst of machine gun fire through the chest, The "2ND Platoon lost its leader when Lt . Kerr was shot in the throat , Lt . Mosier, the GEORGE Co FA observer was also shot through the head after he had survived a mortar burst . Sgt . Bowles . and Sgt . Berry, Platoon Sgts of GEORGE, were severely wounded in this as- sault . Lt . Bourlier and Lt . Forrest were lost to EASY Co and HOW Co suffered the death of Lt . Dipple, and the wounding of Lt . Lucas . Under cover of darkness our salionts in the fortifications o f Hill #88 were reinforced and the tanks and tank-destroyers crosse d into the bridgehead as the mine field was cleared by the' 12T H Engineers . One platoon of FOX Co . was committed to the right o f EASY in an attempt to contact the 1ST .BN . RAF bombers plastere d the city for 'several hours . 12 Prisoners seized Paratroopers o f the 9TH PARA RECT . 26 Aug 1944 - At daybreak a heavy fog covered the entire area an d the situation on top of Hill #88 was very confused. Conflicting reports came in on the CP radio . The attack was to continue SoUt.h at 0800 closely supported by our armor . Artillery and mortar fire was falling like rain on our portion of lthe fort and field phone s were operating only occasionally as the wires were constantly sev - ered . Under cover of a Medical Truce, to evacuate wounded durin g the early' morning fog, one force of Germans infiltrated deeply int o our lines . Their treachery was discovered as the fog lifted . The remainder of FOX was ordered up . 18 PWs were taken, all Paratroops , by Capt Warren's men . GEORGE Co-launched the new attack and immediately ran into a violent counter attack of the 9 Tai TARA I T, which isolated th e 2ND Platoon and Light Machine Gun Section on the open left flank . On the top of the hill, under a vast mortar barrage, another counter.- attack had struck between EASY and FOX . Several tanks were hit by Page 5

Artillery fire and they pulled into "d .e filad.ed positions. to evac - uate their casualties . Maj . Clank ordered G) 3RGE to hold its po - sitions until the situation on the hilt vies ar-ified,. and sent S-3 and S-2, Capt . Leonard a:a Lt . He rp`_.iJ.1," discover just what the trouble was in the strong point . Tile: -3 plaeod the four remaining tanks back in position as the 'Plat een . Leader,Lt . Hayden , and his, second in command were casualties . On :contacting Capt . . Warren of EASY, he discovered that there were less than 50 me n remaining in the Co and these were fighting in close combat in th e 88mm gun emplacements and pillboxes - hand grenades, tommy guns , even knives. FOX on the right was having similar, troubles as Krauts continued to come out of tunnels and underground fortifica - tions . GREYHOUND WHITE SIX was informed that the situation . was " extremely critical . Emergency barrages of Artillery were called , but the majority of the Germans were already . intermingled with our own men in the maze of emplacements and fortifications . At the ' conclusion of the fifth counter attack, during a lull, S-3 reporte d in person to the CO, advising that all plans now be to try to hol d our salient and contact RED BN on the right . A twelve man combat patrol from GEORGE Co under Lt . E . I . Peterson attempting to con- tact the 1ST BN was fired on by two machine guns from our right rear . One man was killed ; the patrol attacked and in turn kille d eight Krauts ; five wore American uniforms over their German cloth - ing . Our BN OP had five Artillery hits, its top was shot away . Counter attack continued from three different locations . All our tanks were knocked out ; the TDs with GEDRGE were more success - ful and were very instrumental in stopping all Jerry attacks on the left flank . In the afternoon FOX lost Capt. Chamblee, Lt . Fikus , and Lt . Dwyer' severely wounded, and finally Lt . Hall, who had as - sumed command, was killed . EASY lost Lts . Reilly and Coleman . GEORGE Co . suffered an intense shelling by German assault tanks . Some of the men from GEORGE who had been cut off were rescued unde r cover of darkness . Again the coastal portion of the city was heav - ily bombed at night . 12 more FWs, Paratroops and Marines, were taken . 27 A 1944 - BLUE BN passed thru us to continue the attack . We rep seed 21 different attempts of three German BNB to retake Hil l #88 . Our casualties were 39 killed, 174 wounded and 14 missing in 30 hours . Doc Paul and his Medics did a superior job under ter - rific conditions . Our Communications Platoon, under Lt . Pendleton , laid over 40 miles of wire between CP & OP (500 yds) trying t o keep up with the artillery damage . In addition to • five tanks , we lost two of Lt . Neborak . s. 57 mm tank guns . Some of the attack is described in Stars & Stripes dated 2 September 1944 - Cap t Chamblee and Lt . Hall won the DSC at Hill 88 . 28 A 1944 . - GREYHOUND WHITE was ordered back to old positions o n Hill #100 to recuperate, except EASY Co, which remained to hol d Hill #88 attached to GREYHOUND BLUE' in the event that the Jerrie s broke thru the 28TH INF on our left . (Two of GRASSHOPPER WHITE Cos were wiped out 100% by a counter attack) . . 29Aug, 1944- Two more Sgt's of GEORGE Co, Wright and Rafie, wer e killed by Artillery . EASY finally moved back into reserve . Lt . Hemphill became CO of FOX, Lt . Hickok appointed S-2, Lt . Kint.z wa s appointed to command GEORGE, after Lt . Spears was transferred t o , REGT HQ .

30 Aug1944 - GREYHOUND WHITE was now licking its many wounds . Officers and NCO's went on' reconnaissance in 29TH DIV area in the vicinity of BOHARS (suburb). Replacements arrived . 3 Sept 1944 - Relieved a BN of 115TH INF, 29TH DIV, N of BOHARS . Our mission was to keep continuous pressure on Krauts but no coordi - nated attack by VIII Corps would be made until more Artillery Amm o was available . Fighter support was plentiful during daylight hours . Patrols were sent out repeatedly . 4 Sept 44 - Tanks moved into front lines and knocked out thre e, German Machine Gun nests . We lost one to a Thunderbolt bomber that made a slight mistake (7 casualties) while'a squadron was working over the BOHARS strong point . All three rifle companieswere on lin e left to might, GEORGE, EASY, FOX . On left flank 8TH Reiong Troop , on the right the 29TH DIV . Patrols again were in effect . 5 Sept 1944 - Heavy patrol action by all companies and more casual - ties Shcllings by coastal guns of large caliber added ne w . Page 6

eatccitement and trouble . One 15 in . shell pulverized the HOW C o CP (five more casualties) . Twenty of these flying "Box Cars " crashed into the BN area . 6 Sept 1944 - Daylight bombing was made by Flying Forts and B-24' s (two were shop down by flak) - almost an endless stream of squad- rons - like the Normandy classic . FOX and GEORGE pushed int o BOHARS as that strong point collapsed . FOX took one extra obje c - tive for the 29TH DIV when a soft spot showed up . Several jeep s were blown up by mines . Few prisoners, but many bodies in ruins - our casualties were light.

7 Sept 1944- We attacked with fine Artillery support and ran int o very obstinate resistance from 7TH PARA RECT . FOX attacked' on left GEORGE on right, EASY in reserve . Objective KERLEGUER , another suburb was finally seized . FOX had many casualties, in- cluding T/Sgt Spry, a platoon loader, and PFC E tr Pr ls smart, who won the Congressional Medal of Honor here . 28 Prisoners from ?TX PARA REGT were captured, by the men of Lt Hemphill . 8 Sept 1944 - PENFELD suburb was captured by GEORGE on right and PDX and EASY pushed into QUIZAC . Pis - 50 .

9 Se t 1944 - QUIZAC was seized ag the 2ND BN accomplished it s fina miss on by seizing the ground adjacent to FT BOUGUEN . Some - one else would attack the old Fo't . Prisoners - 36 . 10 Sept 1944 - Held our hard won ground at QUIZAC and watched from our vantage point the 29TH DIV . attack, directly toward us acros s the Ponfeld River . They had a lot of trouble with the wester n forts . Fighter bombers were repeatedly . called in for precision bombing .

11 Sept 1944 - the 9TH INF, 2ND DIV relieved all elements of the 13TH INF in front of FT BOUGUEN . We marched back thr ough.., our battlefields under the weird light of the moon to an assembly are a at KERVIN . .

12 Sept 1944 * Gen . Middleton offered Gen . Ramcke a chance to sur - render - the answer "no . " 14 Sept 1944 - Moved to PLOWIN to rest and enjoy a QM shower, a look at our duffle bags for the first time and beganreconnaissanc e for new attack on CROZON peninsula which was being . contained b y the Cavalry of Task Force A „

15 Sept 1944 - Moved 72 miles to vicinity of ARGOL - rain . Maj . Clark was promoted to Lt . Col . Attack tas .begun by 28TH INF and 121ST INF REGTS .

16 Sept 1944 - 13th IND in reserve made reconnaissance for possi- ble cormnitment . Much Artillery was now available, also armor . . 17 Sept 1944 - We moved up to KERBASTON and were really impresse d with the power of this offensive - innumerable BNS n8 Tanks, TDs , Armored Cars, Self-Prop 155 mm Guns as well is 8" and 240MM Howitzers . Gen . Stroh was really giving us fine support thi s battle . for

18 Sept 1944 We moved thru fortified are is taken by 121ST and 28TH INF REGTS to town of 'C ORZON and assembly area beyond at LOCHMAT . 19 Sept 1944- The last remaining stronghold of Gen . Von Ramcke wa s assigned to the 13TH INF . This was the fortified QUELERN Peninsula (Finger of Crozon) . The narrow base of this neck of land wa s blocked by. an immense,moated,granite wall dominated by a citadel . Pillboxes, strong points, and batteries of coastal guns extende d 3 miles to the PTE DES ESPANOLES controlling the city of BRES T across the bay .

Colonel Griffin ordered the attack made in acolumn of BNS with the 3RD BN leading followed by 2ND and 1ST BN . A company of tanks and another of ffanR diestroyors were dug in on the forward slope of the hill at PEN-AR POUL from which we were to launch the attack . The Mission of GREYHOUND WHITE was to fan out and seiz e the right or East portion of the point when the wall had bee n breached . Page 7 The 3RD BN began the assault at 1100 after three hours of the mot heavy and concentrated artillery fire from 14 Artillery BNs which were in direct support'- Fighter-Bomber Squadrons also roare d in by the dozens to plaster the strongholds behind the walls . We ' . folowed.L Co scaling the walls and knocking out various pillboxes . Some were given the flame thrower treatment, others needed tank destroyer fire only . EASY fanned out left and GEORGE to the right . FOX in reserve . QUELERN was seized' and 'ROSCANVIL soon followed . We were preceded by "Time Fire" of the Artillery and purple smoke brought the P-47s in to knock out or neutralize each strong point encountered . The final fort surrendered just before it became dark - 420 Prisoners to WHITE BN - but BLUE BN captured Gen Von Ramcke He actually surrendered to Gen . C .D .W. Canham, the Asst Div . Com- mander . Thus ended the final operation in the Siege of BREST . Fires were lighted and we celebrated with Ramcke's fine rations . In all there were 50,000 Prisoners taken . by the VIII CORPS during the four week assault or more than double the original estimate . General Eisenhower's Chief of Staff -Gen Biddle Smith, state d that nowhere in the ETO did the Germans resist as fanatically a s they did at BREST . 20 Sept 1944 - We cleaned up and rested at ROSCANVIL . 21 Sept 1944 - We traveled 65 miles to LA MARTYRE . Duffle bags showed up again also beau coup rain . We had a parade, with variou s individuals receiving our first Silver and Bronze Star awards from our fine Division Commander, General Stroh, also Combat Infantr y Streamers for Guidons . Battalion Commander went to RENNES for physi - cal check-up but didn't return (T .B.) . Capt Dunlap was the new B N Co - Capt Leonard, Executive and Capt . Strickland S-3 . Lt . Silcox became Commader HOW Co . 27 Sept 1944 - The 8TH DIV was finally assembled - we departed o n trains from LANDERNEAU . French box cars marked 40 Hommes - 8 Che - veaux, however we put only 32 Homilies (no Cheveaux) to a car, plu s duffle bags and equipment . Part of the BN rode with 3RD BN ; part with 2ND BN, 28TH INF . under Lt . Col Randolph, our former Commander in IRELAND .

28 Sept 1944 - Passed RENNES, LE MONS, CHARTRES - trains going the other way with thousands of P .W's . 29 Sept 1944 - Thru VERSAILLES and the edge of PARIS . 30 Sept 1944 - Thru VERDUN . All along the route was evidence of the wonderful work done . by our Air Corps on railroad - tracks, locomo - tives stations; etc . Detrained at LONGUYON S .W of LUXEMBERG early in the morning, arrived at an assembly area in the rain, and we dug fox holes in a gloomy, wet forest . 2 Oct 1944- Moved at night on trucks 60 miles in bright moon- light thru beautiful mountains, forests, and quaint towns of LUXEM - BERG with large welcome arches at entrance and exit of each villag e saying, "Welcome to our dear American Liberators" . - We arrived at BRIEDSFELD in northern LUXEMBERG at 0345 very cold - bivouacked in colder woods - orders already were out t o. relieve part of the 28TH DIV . 3 Oct 1944 - At 2000 moved Out on foot - 5 miles - took over a salient of 2ND BN, 109TH INF, who were holding part of a wedge i n theSIEGFRIE.D Line about 1 Kilometer S .W . of SEVENIG, GERMANY , BN CP located in fine undamaged pillbox - Regtl C .P . acros s RIVER OUR in town of OUREN, BELGIUM . First Aid Station back i n LUXEMBERG 1/4 mile away .

5 Oct 1944 - Capt Dunlap was promoted to Major . - Celebration `in $N QP°' 'Steaks and apple pie . 6 .1944Oct . - Pillboxes in the useless part of defenses were blown up atnd "our lines straightened out . 7 Oct1944 - Right flank of Regt was open for. miles . The Unit on the right merely maintained motorized patrols across its vast front along the border . German patrols easily got around thru and behind us at will to ambush our supply vehicles particularly a t LIELER, LUXEMBERG, a hot spot for vehicles . Page 8 8. Oct 1944 - Patrols were active every night, also artillery . 10 Oct 1944 - FOX Co moved to LIELER - Skirmished with Jerry patrol . Some were killed wearing civilian . outer garments . 11 Oct 1944 - Remainder of BN moved to LIELER to outpost and guar d supply lines and strengthen right flank . BN CP was established i n a new building . Nights were black, and many patrols were needed t o contact outposts . 16 Oct 1944 r Pay day again - Belgian Francs - Men were permitte d now to goto OUREN (by quota) for bath, movies and . 24 hour rest . Also a fewuere sent each day to CLERVEAUX for three day passes an d a few also to PARIS every other week for 48 hours . 18 Oct 1944 - A Lt . Col . from rear echelon with war correspondent s were given thrill of action as they passed thru LEILER - courtes y of the A&P Platoon of GREYHOUND WHITE and some demolitions .

19 Oct 1944 - Engineers improved roads - Jerry artillery wa s light, tho Buzz Bombs passed over regularly .headed for our rear . 20 Oct 1944 - The BN moved back to SIEGFRIED LINE and changed over with 1ST BN . . Steakswsre still plentiful, as cows wandered into ' our lines frequently -' didn'tknow the password either - Fwd C P . was in a nice concrete pillbox - Rear CP at OUREN, in a farm house . 1 Nov 1944 - Maj . Wilhelm assumed command, Maj . Dunlap became Executive, Capt Leonard S-3 .- bad shelling by Krauts all day . Di- rect hit on our pillbox did not bother us much - 8 ft . walls were a comfort . 3 Nov 1944 - Many night patrols were made by BN CO & S-3 - Thi s time returned from no man's land in town of SEVENIG with chicken s and rabbits, in spite of efforts of Jerry patrol to intercept . 8Nov1944 - First snow - also "Buzz Bomb Era" in full swing . One landed near the field train, and another near GEORGE Co . 11 Nov1944 - Moved back to LIELER . 3RD BN exchanged position s with us . We started building winter dugouts for men with help o f Engineers . Weather was getting more miserable . Maj . Wilhelm assumed command of 3RD BN, Maj . Dunlap resumed command of 2ND BN , and' the _other , staff positions were also ressumed , 15 Nov-1944 - Relieved by 2ND BN, 112TH INF, 28TH DIV - a forlor n looking outfit that had just attacked and been knocked out of SCHMIDT near AACHEN. We moved thru deep snow to assembly area a t HOLLER, LU]EMBERG.as our old area started to receive the mos t artillery we had experienced . 1ST Sgt Hughes of HOW CO .. was killed as we moved out . 16 Nov 1944 - We moved on trucks parallel to SIEGFRIED LINE t o HURTGEN FOREST in the vicinity of VOSSENNACK . Fwd CP was in a German pillbox . All three rifle companies were on line in th e order of GEORGE, then EASY, and FOX on the far right in the littl e village (pillboxes) of SIMON-SKULL . ' We watched a big air strike as we moved up top osition . Our Division was now leaving our old CORPS to join V CORPS here .

18 Nov 1944 - All men worked to improve dugouts . Our mission was t o hold defensive position to the south of VOSSENACK . We discovered many mine fields in the forest - the hard way - three officer s from 28TH BN were hit at C .P . There were evidences of a terrifi c battle . Our patrols had an extremely tough time - SCHMIDT wa s just across the valley and Artillery fire was always heavy - mad e constant tree bursts in the thick pine trees . 20 Nov 1944 - People on the left had a rough battle around VOSSENACK . Mud on the roads around here was hip deep -3RD BN wa s on our right, and 28TH INF on the left flank . 22 Nov 1944 - Supplies were still running the gauntlet, at night only, down to FOX by jeep on road that led down the front 'lin e fox-holes to SIMON-SKUL . Page 9

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):)C= ,et 0\4-- k-e- f . . -,;.--- TMOD.ORE LONARD 9 W INF 9 . EXEC \--- 23 Nov 1944 - Our 1st BN attacked with 28TH and 121ST - rough deal for all ' of them . Tanks battled on our left . Our patrols had many casualties--so did the Jerries . Some of our men wounded at BREST and before were returning now . Every man in the BN had hot turkey dinner in spite of environment . We mined and wired our position s thoroughly . 27 Nov 1944 - A counter-attack at night hit "GEORGE" - left flank but was driven off by small arms and artillery fire . FOX Co wa s hit by patrols almost nightly . Shelling by heavy"mortars was in- tense . Direct hits were made on GEORGE and FOX C .P's . Casualtie s Lt . Del Re and three NCO's of GEORGE and 1st Sgt Wishart and thre e others of FOX . 29 Nov 1944- German air strafing and bombing attacks occurre d ,frequontly•. They moved around in 20's, 40's and 80's In a ne w show of strength . Thru Dec 6 - Weather continued cold and artillery continued hot . 7 Dec . ' 1944 - We discovered that our 1ST BN under Koesee actuall y was the outfit that took HURTGEN .. We had a new Division Cofmander , Gen . Weaver, and Col Watson replaced Col . Griffin whom we were very sorry to lose . He was evacuated because of trouble with a n old wound . 9 . Dec 1944 - A new outfit cane up on reconnaissance, the 78TH DIV , which meant that we finally would get our rest . 10 Dec 1944 - Moved out after being relieved by 2ND BN 311TH INF - in a blinding blizzard . Orders were changed and we were moved . back into line in the vicinity of BERGSTEIN to stop expecte d German counter-attack - relieved bhe 3RD BN GRASSHOPPER in blea k open defensive positions between BERGSTEIN & SCHMIDT . Our 3RD B N was on the left in the same vicinity . We stuck,out like a sor e thumb on the edge of the Hoer River, almost surrounded ; many knocked out friendly tanks - many bodies - very weird . and gruesome- all partially covered by snow, were grim reminders of our mission . 11 Dec 1944 - Artillery fire of enemy was terrific . We mined in front of positions at night . Work could be done only at night . Enemy looked down our throats from the mountains close by - Rea r CP in BRANDENBURG . 12 Dec 1944 - Enemy armor moved about in the dark - patrols wer e very active - still no counter attack - many casualties thoug h from artillery and mortars - CO of GEORGE Co, Lt . Kintz and Lt . Forrest of EASY and Lt Lucas of HOW again were casualties . BERG- STEIN WAs a hot spot .. Lt . Good assumed command of GEORGE Co . This was Valley Forge, 1944, in the extreme conditions of misery an d agony that must be endured by the Combat Infantry . 13 Dec 1944 - We were ordered to make a night attack on SCHMIDT . Fwd C .P was under continuous artillery fire at night . It was cold , bitter weather . Fwd C .P . was shared with BLUE BN in a cellar o f the remains of a mansion, the only available location . 15 Dec 1944 . - BN moved back to preparefor attack - Fwd C .P took several direct hits by heavy artillery - Killed : Capt Sharpe, Capt Thomas and others (3RD BN) - Mud and snow, mud and shells, shell s and anew . 16 Dec 1944 - Area bombed by Krauts and HOW Co was hit for thre e casualties . German Paratroops dropped in rear areas - many patrol s were sent out to intercept . Artillery was bad - Received good news : the night attack was postponed . Defensive positions taken up in vicinity of rear C .P at BRANDENBERG BERGSTEIN.

21 Dec 1944 - BN moved back to BERGSTEIN positions - C .P to old location. 80 rounds of artillery on C .P . area - moved same to a dugout about 1000 yards away - built by A&P Platoon - much mor e safe . 22-24' Dec . 1944 - Cold weather, snow, artillery - 25 Dec . 1944 - Orders were issued for new attack to wipe out a pocket along the ROER to our left several thousand yards . We had hot turkey suppet - "Peace on Earth and good will to men . " Page 10

2.7 Dec .1944 3RD BN, 121ST INF relieved us and we moved to an assembly area south of KLEINHAU. We passed through 2ND BN, .121ST (pretty beaten up) and t tacked down the hill FOX on right, EASY o n left, GEORGE in reserve - to the Roer River at OBERMAUBACH . 28 Dec 1944 - Attack to eliminate the remaining portion of th e "Obermaubach Pocket" jumped off at 0500,FOX Co was on the right , EASY Co on the left, GEORGE CO . In reserve . The Roer River, our objective,' was 1500 yards away thru dense forest heavily mined wit h anti-personnel and anti-tank mines . The whole area was covered by intense artillery and mortar fire, as well as machine gun and 88m m fire from across the river . The enemy was the remainder of the 980TH PARA REGIMENT,. who had been fighting our 1ST BN and the 121S T INF for over a week . FOX ran into heavy opposition and suffere d 23 casualties, mostly due to the mines and machine gun fire . Lt . Smith was killed, and 1st Sgt Strock was also lost . EASY pushe d into the town of OBERMAUBACH . All objectives were secured and GEORGE took over the left portion of the zone for defense ; the 113TH Cavalry was on the left flank at the Castle GRAF SPEE and the 8T H RCN Trp was on the right . 29 Dec 1944 - FOX moved into defensive positions behind the other s in reserve and BN CP moved to BOGHEIM . GEORGE CO was now commande d by Capt Seth Worthington . 30 Dec 1944 The new mission was to organize the most thorough type of defense zone - barbed wire, log pillboxes, switch positions , mine fields, dugouts, supplementary and alternate positions were t o be prepared thoroughly and without delay, since there were fiv e German Divisions near us capable of attacking . 31 Dec 1944 - A heavy snowfall aided us in our effort to make thi s area uninhabitable for the Jerries . The 12TH Engr BN assisted - - and also helped in construction of our log bunkers . 1 Jan 1945 - Bulldozers and Buzzsaws worked under cover of darknes s and artillery noise a short distance .from the outposts while skille d teams laid our wire and mines almost under the enemy's nose . Snow camouflaged everything . Plans were now made to make raids o n enemy shore to secure prisoners . Enemy artillery was moderate . 2 Jan 1945 - Weather became very cold - about 1 0 0 . Water still flowed in the middle of the Reel, River, however . The depth wa s waist deep at several fording places below our dam . Our own mor - tar and artillery ammo was very limited - 8 rounds per gun a day . The enemy's direct fire from "the mountain" was heavy at the BN C P It•was impossible for a single individual to move about in dayligh t hours without drawing salvos . General Weaver, the DIV CG, visited the area and discussed defensive plans . 3 Jan 1945 . - The A&P Platoon of HQS Co . began carving a new BN C P home in the forest 1500 yards west of OBERMAUBACH, since BOGHEI M proved impractical . Mortar fire was heavy - intermittent 20mm an d machine gun fire . Recon for other defensive areas in great depth . 4 Jan 1945- Snow and shells fell intermittently . . Lt . Edwin H . Good became GEORGE Co . CO, after . Capt Worthington was transferred t o 3RD BN . 5 Jan 1945 - Snow, Shells and misery continued .

6 Jan 1945 - Same - New supply route was cleared of AT mines and over 200 were removed . 7 Jan 1945 - BN HQS & IRS Co move d - to new location in a wooded valley - peace, no more . direct hits . Each section had its own lo g dugout of heavy timber construction about six feet of earth pushed over all by bull dozers . The whole Command Post was designed as a strong point with mutually supporting firing embrazures and al l around protection - this was part of our third defense line . Ar- tillery was severe in the old area . 8 Jan 1945 - Probing attacks by Krauts hit units on both our flanks . Germans bombed and strafed behind us . Two hot meals were serve d daily now . More snow fell . 9 Jan 1945 - Reconnaissance wasmud.e by unit commanders of possible Page 11 defense lines several miles to our ,roar - part of XIX CORPS plan . Deer shooting added fresh meat to rations . More reinforcement s were received . Night raids were made across the Roer, a bitte r experience for those who endured those patrols . The white snow suits froze immediately on emerging from the icy stream and clanked like boards making movement noisy and almost impossible . Boats were not used since thick ice extended out 1/3 the way . 10 Jan 1945 - Enemy Paratroops dropped over OBERMADBACH but the . majority landed on their own side of the river . 'Capt . Chamble e returned and assumed command of HOW Co . 11 Jan 1945 - A German attack hit GEORGE left flank . Very intens e artillery was . laid down for one hour in same area . Two men of GEORGE were captured, but attack was repulsed . The major attac k hit about 2400 on the ,right flank as our old enemies of the 98 0, PARA REC-T plus some Panzer Grenadiers tried to retake BERGSTEI N from BLUE N . After three attempts the Krauts withdrew leavin g hundreds of their white uniformed men hanging in 3RD' BN barbe d wire double apron-fence . Artillery - handled the rest, as in the case of our own scuffle on the left . 12 Jan 1945 - Passes to PARIS of 3 days duration were open to a limited number of men . Others from time to time received 24 hou r passes to VALKNBURG in HOLLAND or to STOLBERG for a hot' shower and clean clothing - our closest thing to luxury . The Regiment however was tense and awaiting a repetition of the attack . 13 Jan 1945 - Quiet and very cold - Artillery was moderate . 14 Jan 1946 - Snow - Patrols were again sent out . 15 Jan 1945 - Our artillery tried out a new type of projectil e called VT fuze type . Some went off over our positions . 16 Jan 1945 - Our mortar and artillery ammo still very limited . 7 rounds of 81mm per mortar per day . Not enough to make a decen t reply to the Krauts . The dugouts thru-out the BN ware fairly com- fortable and some quite elaborate - for ground dwellers . We now called ourselves the "2ND Combat Infantry, Engineer Battalion o f the. 13TH INF ." . 17 Jan 1948 - More enemy patrols hit our side the river - mor e dead Jerries -- more snow - heavy Artillery shelling . 18 Jan 1945 - The BN zone was widened on the right - one Platoo n of FOX moved there and was attached to EASY . 20 Jan 1945 - Snow colder . 21 Jan 1945 - Lighter shelling than usual . 22 Jan 1945 - A Weasel belonging to EASY was blown up by a mine . The driver T/5 Emil survived, of the four occupantsccupants . '' : This made tw o times now for Emil . Ho was sent to PARIS for a rest . 23 Jan 1945 - Patrols were sent across the-river . We had casualtie s but still no prisoners were secured . 24-25 Jan 1945 Thru 28 - Same activities - enemy artillery and mortar fire light . 29 Jan 1945 - All automatic weapons from alternate position s opened up including 50 cal . firing indirectly on the enemy at 0400 in support of an attack of 78TH DIV on th e. right . The reaction of Krauts was immediate and rough since they thought we were as - saulting - no casualties but much ammo on both sides expended . Small rockets were fired at GEORGE as a novelty . 30-31 Jan 1945- Usual ,defense activities . 1 Feb 1945 - Immense, earth shaking, and nerve shattering ' rocket s landed on the right rear, but none of our people were hurt . 2-3 Feb 1945 - Warmer weather - More mines exploded in our suppl y trail which had been cleared twice before by the Engrs . One jeep and occupants disappeared in a blast . Page 12'

4 Feb 1945 A 22 ton truck . or Engineers who were probing for fines on supply road set off another one . Some were impossibl e to locate, since they were made of non-metallic substances and detectors didn't locate them . In some instances large charge s of TNT had been planted several feet under ordinary Teller typ o AT fields . 5 Feb . 45 - Reconnaissance of our area for our long awaite d relief was made by officers of the "BIG RED ONE ." More rain and mud . 6 Feb 1945 - We were relieved by 2ND BN 16TH I1F,. 1ST DIV . More vehicles blown up . Mud four feet deep on our tra :izl - impassable . 7 Feb . 1945- We moved to an assembly area at DERICHSWEILER but not for a rest after all . 8 Feb . 1945 - Our location was finally out of bloody HURTGEN FOREST, behind the 1ST BN which was again on the BOER but this tim e directly in front of the German industrial city of DUREN . Our plans - to attack, - of course . 9 Feb . 1945 - Orders issued, reconnaissance Made - plans and more orders issued while troops cleaned up . Col W atson our now Reg- imental CO presented Silver and Bronze Star medals at the churc h in DERICHSWEIIER . All men had chance to rest and relax . Test firing of weapons and street fighting techniques were tried out . . 3RD ARMORED DIV officers oriented us on the part to be played by us in the forthcoming COLOGNE PLAIN battle after DUREN assault , as part of their Task Forces . Patrols attempted crossing of River . 10 Feb . 1945- The attack was to be this D-Day : However the Kraut s blew up the dams and flooded the river and the attack was pos t - poned for 24 hours . The water was swift and deep . Forward C P Moved to ROLSDORF . 11 Feb 1945 - The Roer was out of control and over its banks . Heavy German artillery pounded our "Rest" area . 12 Feb . 1945 - Our attack was postponed indefinitely until the river should subside . More testing of weapons was made . Rein- forcements again were received, many from the Air Corps . 13-14 Fob . 1945 - Elements of BN moved to ROETGEN to practic e river crossing assault, then returned to the reserve area . We practiced more amphibious operations near EICHSWEILER . Strafing . by Luftwaffe was heavy along the river, as well as artillery . Jet planes were seen for first time . 15-16-17 Feb 1945 - Tank training and Infantry-Tank specialize d teamwork was practiced . More testing of Weapons : Street fighting technique studied and rehearsed and demolitions used to wreck ou r village in practice . Strafing and artillery intense . Patrol s still unsuccessful in crossing River either with or without boat s - water a mill race . and deep . 18 February 1945 - Capt . Paul'sl aid station in ROLSDORF was - pierced by a 170mm shell which went through two walls but didn' t explode . It was 45" long . 19 Feb 1945 - This unscheduled "rest" was a God-send for the men , in spite of intermittent harassment by Kraut artillery and planes - the first time the units had been together since LUXEMBERG i n November . 20 Feb . 1945 - Elaborate plans of Maj . Dunlap, BN CO for supporting, fires for assault 'including all A .T . Tanks, T .D . i s were perfected during lull . Immense quantities of ammo was dump ed on positions ., some of it secured by scavenging of Lt Shore, the S., 4 . 21 Feb . 1945 Bridge head traffic control was-set up to be coordi - nated by Lt . Col . Lerett e t Regt . Ex . Off . Religious services wer e held in our church . 22 Feb . 1945 - All companies moved into ROLSDORF assembly area s to have last "hot chow" to be ready to jump off at C630 on 23 Feb . Our 8'TH DIV had been shifted to control of the VII CORPS under Page 13

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Lawt on J . Collins for this attack of DUREN & COLOGNE . , 22 Feb 1945 - The plan for GREYHOUND WHITE this time was. to as - sault the southern third of the city of DUREN, GERMANY across the raging Roer River to seize first, the factory area, second, a residential area, and third, a formidable, fortified hill-top known as "the Old Barraeks " ; On*our left would be our 3RD BN , GREYHOUND BLUE, farther -- . : over,, the 104TH DIV ; on the right the 28TH INF, and even further, the 1ST DIV in our old Pos it i on . 23 Feb . 1945 - , our attack began with the most gigantic artiller y barrage of the entire War for over an hour preceding the assault of the rifle elements at 0330 . The deployed-farmation was, EASY , reinforced, on the left, and FOX, reinforced, on the r ight . The enemy countered with intense artillery, mortar and small arm s fire of their own . Boats were hit and some capsized in the -bur - bulent water . The outboard engines hit underwater obstruction s and in many instances boats had to be paddled by hand for the re - maining trips . . In EASY Co four double assault boats were struc k by mortar fire, and casualties were heavy ; Lt . Coleman succeede d in establishing afbot-hold with about. one-third his original force and seized a portion of a large factory ; here the EASY group was surrounded by Krauts in a counter attack, one p latoon of FoX was a lso micces sful in seizing its first objective under Lt . Graypek' . However, in throe counter attacks the Lt and all NCO' s becaMe casualties, and a medic assumed command until the remainder of the company forced a crossing several hours later . When daylight arrived, we smoked the far shore, but the enemy's fire remained "hot" . So few boats remained in action now that the build-uP was Painfully slow ; the Engineers of the 12T H ENGR BN and our own A&P Platoon concentrated on installing sav e eral flying ferries between the BLUE and WHITE BNa they wer e all .shot up in turn by German fire) (including tanks) which wa s terrific . 3RD BN CO, Lt Col Wilhelm was killed 'hero . By evenin g both EASY and FOX had improvised means to cross and also ,penetrate the defenses and mined shore on the other side, and were attacking the factorioe . Lt Coleman's force was rescued when all had bee n wounded and overrun 'by the Krauts . Fighting continued all night . GREYHOUND WHITE 'Fwd cP moved into the factory along with GEORGE Co , still in reserve, Lt Hoaesy was wounded . 24 Feb 1945 EASY, under C apt Warren, and FOX, under Capt Hemphill, continued moving into the residential area egainst strong resis- tance and repeated shelling . Mai Dunlap,, our splendid BN co, wa s lost here during a barrage by 120mm mortars, along with Lt . Hickok , S-2, and Lt . Ike of HOW . Capt Warren was wounded shortly after- warde . Major Leonard assumed command of the BN and appointed ,Capt Strickland as Exec ., Capt Chamblee as $-3, and Lt . Jac obson as S-2 . . Silcox assumed command of ROW Co . The assault praceeded, bu t Lt . very slowlY now as FOX had entered another band of AP mines . T bridge was now complete behind us, and as our platoon of tank s arrived they were attached to GEORGE Co, under the command of. Lt . Good, and this Task Force was committed on the left flank to pas s thru EASY Co thus permitting this unit to partially reorganize . GEORGE co jabbed 500 yds straight ahead . The final assault was ordered in the form of an envelopment from the left by GEORGE and EASY plus one Pit from FOX ; an innovation in this night. attack, I made at 0100 in the morning, was that one Plt of GEORGE and ono o f EASY rode on our Tank and T .D . Pits under a canopy 'of artillery f ire (155) in order to pass thru the AP mine fields surroundin g the fortificat i on . We were successful . 'tho rocket fire was par- ticularly heavy, in taking the barracks In addition to the rooke t fire Gorman J e t planes bombed'and strafed, making the night an inferno, but in this particular thrust through AP mine fields t o tho barracks we lost one TanknInfe team only . By 0300 we wer e buttoned up and the 121$T INF' passed them us to continue the at - tack - Mission,acoomplished . ies 2Z Feb . 2 Officers SWIA 58 EM 32 EM MIA 1' E M =Total

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Casualties : 24 Feb . 5 Officers SWIA 23 EM.. I t 5 EM KIA 3 Total 126 Final Total . 25Feb 1945 - Since plans had already been made for the 13TH INF to be attached to the 3RD ARMORED DIV, there was no rest for the weary as GREYHOUND WHITE was assembled and moved North thru th e ruins of DUREN to the rendezvous area to begin the next phase o f the COLOGNE PLAIN Epic . In the suburb of BINSFELD, we became a part of Task Force "Lovelady" and all riflemen had completed climbing on their assigned tanks shortly after midnight . The force moved out, after having first been given a iot meal . TF LOVELADY : 2ND BN 13TH INF REGT (approximately 700 men ) 2ND BN 33RD ARM REGT ( " 56 tanks ) 3RD PLT CO B 23RD ARM ENGR BN 1ST PLT CO B 703RD TD B N 2ND PLT RON CO 33RD ARM REG T 391ST ARM FA BN`(105mm SP HOW ) 26 Feb 1945 - The Task Force moved slowly thru the burning darknes s in column. Shelling and bombing of the bridgehead continued ; at daylight, we passed thru the front lines of the 104TH DIV at ELLE N and the breakthru began ; the six Task Forces of the 3RD ARM DI V advanced abreast . Ours with EASY Cc ?, now under the command of Lt . Henry B . Fikus, plunged into the Staatforst where a German roa d block opened up with an AT'gun, knocking out the lead tank . While we were rectifying the situation, four arti&lery concentration s crashed down this'll the trees badly wounding six of EASY'S men an d. the CO . While halted the column was bombed by a squadron of medium . bombers, the closest bombs were 200 yards away but rather terrify- ing just the same . We moved forward without much trouble to the edge of the forest ; here came our first big tank charge as FOX an d EASY on the two med tank Cos, fanned out over the flat, bare-plain , and firing like Indians closed on the Chateau of ETZWEITJR and it s neighboring estate . The Jerry defenses were over run but one tan k was lost in a well-concelaed tank trap ; a short delay was ordere d and the Command Post was established in the chateau, tho this no w seemed the focal point for German direct fire guns from all direc- tions . The same companies again loaded on tanks and assaulted th e next'objectives as the reserve company, GEORGE CO, on the ligh t tanks moved into the CP area . German armored units were forced out of WULLENRATH, and BERRENDORF by the aggressive actions of EASY and their tanker comrades and the same-result occurred whe n FOX assaulted GIESENDORF . Just before dark, the BN CO and HOW C o 81mm mortar jeeps which were crossing the open space to join EAS Y were embarrassed by a Jerry Armored unit which began an attack o n EASY from the rear using the same route . EASY CO tanks blew up one Kraut Tank mounting an 88mm gun a hundred yards from the CO's jee p and the remainder of the German and our own vehicles scattered fo r cover . All prisoners taken in these strong points were identifie d as troops of the 11TH PANZER DIM . The many civilians and Volkstur m were herded into the churches for their protection . 27 Feb 1945 - At 0730 in the morning the Krauts began a counte r attack by opening up with their tanks and heavy artillery, GIESEN- DORF took a terrific beating and our new CP which had just opene d there took a direct hit from a 170mm shell while a new attack order was being issued to the Commanders . Captain Hemphill, the courageous leader of FOX was killed along with one of the Tan k Company Commanders . Lt William Noborak, and fifteen others, wer e severely wounded . Lt Lester Scraggins temporarily assumed com- mand of FOX, and under cover of a cloud of white phosphorus smok e immediately led an attack on foot across the two thousand yard s separating us from the town of ELSDORF where many of the Germa n tanks were firing point blank at us . Our own Tank Destroyers and two new heavy Pershing Tanks, all carrying 90mm guns moved int o position to help . FOX knocked out a huge King Tiger, Mark VI and a Mark V tank with bazookas, and the TD's secured two Mark V's . The 81mm MORTAR PLT Commanded by Lt Pierce shifted to HE Heav y shells when some of the German tanks maneuvered thru one of hi s concentration areas and knocked out a Mark IV tank . GEORGE C o Page 15

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Second Phase of the Battle of the Cologne Plain for 2ND BN113TH INS' -1\\, of Task Force Lovelady of -'' t ELSDORF as part V the 3RD ARM DIV . This unit reached the Rhine River on L . March 1945 . (27 Feb, Cont t d ) entered the street fighting on the right and after three mor e hours the city wa s. cleared. Three counter attacks were driven off , by our massed Armored Artillery . 2B Feb 1945 - We remained on the defensive' at E , ;RDORF and receive d eighty-two reinforcements . We had thirty casualties in these pas t two days . Lt . James M . Kilgore assumed command of FOX and L t Scraggins became Second in Command . 1 & 2 Mar 1945 - Task Force LOVELADY moved several miles into an assembly area behind the bridgehead on the Erft Canal being forge d by BLUE and their TF Shelling was bad but we located some dee p cellars - 3Mar 1945 - The TF passed thru GREYHOUND BLUE at NIERDERAUSSEN and GREYHOUND RED at BUSDORF as our Entire C ombat Command (CC B) wa s again made Spearhead . GEORGE and FOX, riding on the thirty-six medium tanks bypassed FLIE TEDEN, secured by another TF, and de - ployed at wide intervals headed for our prime objective, the com- munication center' of STOMMETN, In what was to be our greates t Tank battle . EASY Co . on the light tanks entered FLIFSTEDEN t o establish a Command 'Post there with the Task Force Headquarters . A heavy smoke screen was laid down by our mortars and Artiller y to the right of STOMMELN to conceal our enveloping maneuver , and GEORGE CO and FOX'CO quickly dis appeared in that direction . Hardly had they gone when Ger. man tanks attacked the reserve group in a counter assault to the left, The Command Post receive d two direct hits and again as at GIESENDORF there were many cas - ualties, including Capt Chamblee, the S-3, and Lt Fikus, the C O of FOX . The CP was immediately displaced forward into the smoke d area and all personnel began digging in, tho it was a bare, ope n field . The medium . tanks were making tremendous commotion as they fired round after round in all directions ; return fire of the 88mm variety seemed to boomerang back from the same places ; as the smoke cleared, we .could see Kraut pursuit planes, MC 109s mixin g with our own P 47, fighter bombers which we had called in to ' soften up the objective . Around us fiercely burning we could se e the sickening spectacle of many of our Sherman tanks, knocked out , and dying . Radio communication, now becoming more active, indi - cated that GEORGE CO had control of the right sector of STOMMEL N and that FOX was gradually forging thru the center on foot in fierce house to house fighting with` German infantry . The Command Group of the TF now moved into one of the captured buildings in a wild dash into STOMMELN and again, for the second time in on e day the CP Was attacked by tanks ; one German Mark V came out of hiding in a side street and at a range of 100 yards riddled our two command light tanks outside, then turned and shot repeated shells thru the upper part of the Command Post until our TDs lure d it away . GEORGE CO reported three separate counter attacks b y German tanks and cowboy infantry ; the first two were driven of f by our Artillery, but the third regained a foothold in the cit y before the Doughs of GEORGE and their remaining armor hurled the Krauts out at great cost . Lt Emerson and many of his Platoon . were casualties ; he died immediately ; Capt Good, GEORGE Company ' Commander, had been seriously wounded as he led his company boldl y and audaciously into this inferno . We had captured 250 PWs in this strong point mostly from the 9TH PANZER DIV, two Flak Gun positions mounting six 88mm guns in each, a King Tiger Mark V`I and a Tiger-jaeger tank ; however ou r own tank losses were staggering - 1 Pershing, 18 Shermans, and 4 light tanks, in addition to the personnel losses . Replacement s for all our tanks complete with necessary crows and 25 reinforce - ments for GREYHOUND WHITE arrived before we moved toward our nex t objective at daylight .

4 Mar 1945 - FOX and GEORGE, now commanded by Lt Edward F . Kerr , riding on the Shermans deployed in spread formation, started thei r noisy, zig-zag why toward ROGGENDORF . Our complete Task Force wa s attached to the 3RD ARMORED , s 83RD RCN SQUADRON this entire day . This strong point fell with little resistance and . orders were received to continue to the Rhine River to seize WORRINGEN . The entire Task Force was committed and a lightning attack struck WORRINGEN . However the supporting troops under Capt . Strickland in the tail of the Force had to deal with an infantry counter at - tack at ROGGENDORF while the "Eager Beavers" were making histor y Page . 16

at the Rhine River . We were the first unit of the 1ST ARMY t o attain the shores of the legendary stream . We were disappointe d now in thinking that we had completed our mission, since Ge n Collins, Commander of our VII - CORPS, directed that CC B no w turn south and attack ,"up . the River into COLOGNE . By midnight al l elements of Task Force LOVELADY had assembled at ROGGENDORF, an d orders were issued for EASY and FOX to make a night assault to seize the power station . This was accomplished by daybreak i n spite of heavy small arms and machine gun fire . Artillery fire again made a direct hit on our BAT CP ; no casualties for a change . Over 400 PWs taken in the past day . Lt Griffin of HOW Co . was wounded . 5 Mar 1945, - EASY and FOX loaded up on the medium tanks and "buste d out" across the barren plain in spread formation to overru n FUHLINGEN, at the loss of three tanks to Kraut armor . GEORGE , riding cowboy on the light tanks, . with the TDs.charged WEILER under -a splendid Artillery preparation and even bagged anothe r King Tiger tank . FOX and EASY were ordered to proceed with thei r tanks but crashed into a wall of German tank artillery, and 88m m flak direct fire . FOX lost six more tanks, EASY was forced b y the intensity of the fire into the protection of the village of RHINECASTLE . From the BN OP in WEILER the BN CO, Maj . Leonard , spotted 12 Jerry tanks in firing emplacements on FOX§ flank ; with Capt Taylor, Artillery Liaison officer, he adjusted some of our 155mm self-propelled Long Toms on this target' scoring four direc t hits which disintegrated as . many Mark V tanks, before the other s moved back into COLOGNE . GEORGE CO on the light tanks again tried a wide end run but ran into the same wall of resistance a s the others had encountered . The completely' exhausted Task Force , hoping to finally achieve a. night's rest, was again ordered t o keep the pressure on the Krauts by another night attack . MERKENICH, a suburb four miles away across the open terrain mus t be seized by 0400 . A meeting of all the commanders was calle d at the CP to try to figure some method of complying with thi s rugged order in view of the extreme conditions of exhaustion of our fighters and the terrific resistance to the front . 6 Mar . 1945 - We throw Heavy Artillery all over the route we de - cided to use, prior to the actual assault, then at 0220 a las t TOT barrage was hurled into the chief stronghold of 88s, as the tanks . started their engines and the weary Doughs climbed aboard , twelve continuous days of attack beginning with our attack o f DUREN, and now this : In order to guide the tank drivers to the objective, it was arranged with our Artillery to drop one roun d of white phosphorous on the objective every fifteen seconds as a beacon . This means was very successful in preventing tank s straying from the route across country . During this savage assault we overran and captured 11 88mm flak guns and 12 more Mark V and IV tanks with very few casual- ties and secured MERKENICH on time . We were amazed at our own tactics and success . After daylight EASY CO on the left and GEORGE Co on the right moved into the area of the Ford Plant o n foot where we at'long last were ordered to halt . The stop line had been reached, and another Task Force pinched us out . The Task Force assembled in a large partially damaged tex - tile factory where water and electricity was available and we all began taking showers despite the sporadic artillery an d nebelwefer rocket fire from across the Rhine . Recap from Roer to Rhine : Germans : KIA 500 PW 1200 Tanks 22 88mm 20 2ND BN 13TH INF : OFF EM KIA 2 14' SWIA 14 170 MIA 0 32 16 216 Total 232

Page 17 .

7 Max' 1965 - Task Force LOVELADY moved to PULHEIM setting up a syst e*om`o`fTroving motorized patrols to apprehend German stragglers . 8 Mar 1945 2ND BN 13TH INF was released from TF LOVELADY and moved ' to STOMPJII ;N, except FOX, which was assigned to the villag e of SINNERSDORF where again roving patrols were established, an d again most of received a night's sleep for a change, since ther e were only two artillery shellings by the Krauts from across th e Rhino River . 9 Mar 1945 - More reinforcements were received, also additiona l Artillery from the Germans . 10-16 Mar 1945- Same - motorized patrols in effect and Artiller y interdicting fire nightly . 17 Mar 1945 - BN Headquarters area heavily shelled by enormou s projectiles for over an hour with entire buildings knowked dow n but none of those being occupied by GREYHOUND WHITE . 18 .Mar 1945 13TH INF relieved from .3RD' ARM DIV and reverted bac k to GRANITE control with our old 8TH DIV moved south of COLOGN E to DIVISION Reserve position at WALDORF, while the 28TH AM 121ST defended positions along the Rhine . 19 Mar 1945 - Additional reinforcements were received, includin g six officers . 20 Mar 1945 - 8TH DIV was ordered to take over part of 1ST DI V area on the right and part of the 104TH DIV sector . 21 Mar 1945 GREYHOUND WHITE took up defensive positions on the Rhine right in the center of COLOGNE relieving a battalion each of the 414TH and 415TH•INF of the 104TH DIV ; GEORGE on the left in the Cathedral area, FOX in the center, and EASY to the right . . . GEORGE Co CP was in what was left of - a large hotel, FOX Co CP was in th e remains of a department store, and EASY Co CP in a candy factory , and near BN CP was a large underground wine storage vault . 22 Mar 1945 - The BN area was . shelled frequently by enemy mortar s and along the waterfront the small arms fire was sporadic . How- ever, generally we could relax somewhat in daylight hours . At night the Germans tried repeatedly to send patrols across th e ruins of the big steel bridges or in boats . A thorough searc h was made continually in underground bunkers and tunnels for Krau t soldiers that might not have been intercepted, and for delayed charge demolitions . Thus we became familiar with all parts of COLOGNE in our sector . Father Rooney, our Catholic regimenta l Chaplain, said Mass for the combat men of the 2ND BN in th e famous COLOGNE Cathedral while GEORGE Co 60mm mortars were firin g right outside the walls . 23-38 Mar 1945 - Same general activities . COLOGNE was certainl y kaput, as the Germans say, the heart of the city, our sector, wa s beaten to a pile of rubble with few exceptions ; strangely, the Cathedral had hardly b e gin scratched tho it was in the center of the bombed-out area and the last tank. battle had\been fought i n its shadow: . . 24 Mar - 27 Mar 1945 - Same . Finally our long awaited order s since NORMANDY) to shift us to a rest center for complete refittin g and trainjeag were received ; we were to go back near DUREN o r AACHEN . The 86TH DIV was to relieve us . 28 Mar 1945 - After the BN CO had started back with the S-1, Cap t Sanderson, -the S-3, Capt Chamblee and the Company Commander s to make a reconnaissance of our area, a change in orders came by radio sending us South to the Remagen Bridgehead area to pass thru the 1ST DIV and "attack", of all things'. The locale for , th e reconnaissance was shifted about 60 miles but was complete by nightfall . The BN crossed the Rhine on a pontoon bridge at BON N and by 2100 had passed thru the 2ND BN of the 18TH INF . 29 Mar 1945 - Lt Kilgore, the level headed Commander of FOX, bega n his night assault of the first objective at 0200 without Artillery and surprised the enemy by seizing SOTTERBACHIAL, .a mining town in the mountains . FOX was passed thru by 0800 by EASY on the migh t Page 1&• (29 Mar, Cont'd ) and GEORGE CO on the left . Our only armor now waa Plt of four TDs commanded by Lt Kelly of the 644TH TD BN, These remained i n support of FOX on the road . at the village . GEORGE and EASY Co s encountered extremely heavy machine gun and small arms fire i n their double envelopment maneuver to the flanks of HERDORF- STRUTTHUTTEN, a town in the valley and our . second objective, whic h was defended by fanatical SS Troops and several tanks . The attac k bogged down after we had seized the intermediate ground ; our Artillery support was unable to diminish the intense fire of th e enemy, 20mm fire now predominating in volume . Finally Lt Kilgore requested permission to attack down the center and in leading this assault of FOX Co, the gallant commander was slain by a German sniper . The objective was finally cleared and a few PWs were turne d in for interrogation to DIV . They were all of the SS variety . GEORGE Co attempting to contact GREYHOUND BLUE on the left discov - ered a large dug-in tank at an underpass of the lateral highway . Lt Kerr sent a patrol which set this Mark V on fire before GEORG E Co . made its night attack over a high hill to seize the farmin g village of DEMBACH . GEORGE Co had eggs for breakfast . 30 Mar 45, - FOX under command of Lt Scraggins, and EASY, under Capt Fikus, (promoted this day) swarmed over more rugged, and foreste d hills against scattered resistance until we had reached the Slog River, the next German Main Line of Resistance . 78 more PWs wer e taken . 31Mar 1945 - EASY and FOX Cos remained in positions along th e Sieg as GED GE was shifted to EISERFELD on the right to join GREYHOUND RED in an attack to establish a bridgehead across th e river . 1 Apr 1945 - GEORGE attacked at 0935 and was on its objectiv e without much trouble by 1200, however a group of German Fighter planes did bomb and strafe, but missed our troops . , 2 Apr 1945 - Orders - to relieve 1ST BN 121ST INF in the outskirt s of the old city of SIEGEN (a Nazi Shrine) . FOX remained attache d to RED BN and the relief was complete by 1830 . EASY and GEORGE Cos were widely separated in this very 4t place . Regimental Cannon Co in direct support of our BN moved heir guns in the area righ t at the BN CP, a very good choice as it turned out later . 3 Apr 1945- GEORGE Co on the left moved laterally to the right t o makesolid contact with EASY before daylight, and EASY sent a Pl a- toon to secure the high hill #405 on the right flank . One Pit of GEORGE Co remained in BN control as reserve . Our attack at SIEGEN began at 0900 by the two Cos each' less 'a Pit to seize th e North part of the city across the Sieg River . Both under strengt h Cos were stopped at the River's edg e . by murderous mortar fire . Each flank was wide open to infiltration but a CAV Pit under com - mand of Lt Sinden was attached to help take care of that . After reorganizing and requesting increased Artillery support, a secon d attempt was made at 1730, only to be beaten down by a fierc e enemy counter attack employing at least three tanks . BLUE'BN i n the center of the city to the left met a similar situation . Many casualties for both BNs resulte d 4 Apr 1945 - EASY and GEORGE jumped off to the attack again an d were stopped flat, after gaining a factory . Again the Kraut s countered using five tanks and beau coup infantry ; this time we just barely stopped them with Lt Silcox HOW Co 81mm mortars and our Cannon Co . FOX returned to our control it this emergency , and took over defense of Hill #405, also the Regimental Mine Pi t under Lt Mihal was attached to fill the gap on the left with th e 3RD BN . Pressure increased against us hourly . Capt Fikus, wounded three times before, the agile and absolutely fearless Commander of EASY Co, was killed by a German paratrooper ; Lt Klinger too k command . Lt Corsaut was also killed within a few moments . Lt .Kerr the CO of GEORGE Co was also a casualty with a severe wound, within the same hour . He had already been badly wounded with Capt Fiku s back at BREST, FRANCE . The men also suffered many casualties and the remainder were almost out on their feet from exhaustion and lack of sleep . Regiment informed the BN Co, that BLUE BN had bee n hit in great force by infantry and tanks which had split the D N 19 { : Pr, C ont'd ) ; also that RLD BN on the far .e 't &I 4 airiest reached the REGT CP sttiwk and that ABLE Co had been completely had been similarly t great loss by approximately 14 tanks . At. this poin overrun at withdrawn from the BN td aid ... FOX, ' 1es.s one Platoon, wat again position: on Hill #405 w .s. .assumod by the B A&P BLUE BL . The `the BN AT PLT under Lt . Pit don ria.z ded by Lt' Walter' F Tehant' and` Gordon Berm. , and relieve the 5Apr. : 1545 6 BN aga :h t,eceived orders to , attack , pressure on the 3RD BN o1, the left' on the following day and t o hold at all. costs until that time . Four large Kraut Patrols at 6 tempted to test the strength of Hill. #405,1 'hen at 1850 explo- sions shook the entire SN defense line for 20 minutes, Particularly oh the top or our Hill. and the BN CP as . iriterise and repeated Nebleweferi Artillery, •Mortar and rocket fire descended Oh us in great Voli,the, All telephone communications was immediately severed The hill, the BN CP, a n d. the Howitzer gun positions were assaulte d by a screaming force of battalion size German Paratroops closely following the shelling . We turned the guns around 1809, and firing direeP ., fire . at Close range managed to stop the closest •nnes-0(4ot1n g bu ►p+gtiri0''' about a . hundred yards distance ; . and on the hill our other supporting Artillery and fast firing Riflemen stacked German bodies up everywhere . All runners, MPs, drivers and BN CP pdr§onnel had gone int o the line in this desperate try for survival and we had finally stopped them, but our ammunition was almost all exhausted . Lt Tennant was wounded, as was Lt Floyd, Commander of the lone . PLT of FOX, and many others . At 2300 the remainder of FOX began a nigh t attack on our left with BLUE BN and seized a barracks and 35 Para- troop PWs from the 3RD GERMAN PARATROOP DIV: . About midnight an ENGR Cow was attached to us to relieve the durvivors on Hill #405 and the rest of FOX rejoined the 3RD BN battle . 6 Apr 194.-EASY5 and GEORGE Cos, the later :now under the command of Lt i:r Long, who had received a b cttlefield commission at BERGSTEIN, now resumed their. daily attacks after 30 minutes of Artillery fire and began to make gradual headway in fierce house - to house combat . FOX Coe across the river forged its way abreas t EASY and all were still attacking at 1800 . FOX riow reverted t o BN control,, , but Lt Scraggins who haa twice assumed command whe n the former 00s were killed, now was wounded : . Lt Floyd who had not been evacuated became Company Commander . lit Starling of GEORGE was also wounded .

7 Apr 45 _ GEORGE was now placed in reserve ad EASY and FOX bega n moving once more at 0915, but slowly, into the factory area called KLAFELD and ' GEORGE was committed to the right flank to tak e TIEFENBACH where resistance 'was weak . The important high ground behind also Was taken . 8 Apr).945 0Oh E Was nbw Stairti ig to MO o With Varying resi s 6 tance on the right, brit the fighting in KLAFELD was more rough and slow . One FOX PLT became surrounded by counter attacking paratroop s but Lt Week's force finally cut their way clear ; twelve men were left in the PLT, but they bagged 25 of the attacking force . GEORGE seized the villages of OBER and NIEDERSETZEN with the aid of th e TDs . - At last we had broken out of SIEGEN: C . of S . of SHEAF, Ge n W . B . Smith, stated in his report that the major efforts of Ge n Von Model to break out of the Ruhr Pocket were made at Hamm in th e North and :at SSEGEN in the South . FOX, EASY and GEORGE Cos converged on BUSCHUTTEN and collected 250 PWs, Here a Co from the 740TH .TANS( BN was attached to us t o continue the breakthru we had commenced . Rocket and nebelwefe r fire was bad here and BN CP was located in a, comfortable air rai d bunker . Orders were to keep up pressure on the Krauts .

9 Apr 1945 EASY Co, most advanced in the valley ; continued to at .. tack all night, while GEORGE and FOX Cos sent patrols to th e flanks to test enemy strength there : Next objective was KRUEZTA L from which EASY Co now received rocket and tank fire . At daybreak EASY Co . had captured an industrial area but resistance increase d so much that FOX Co, now commanded by Lt Vincent Splane, was com - mitted to the right with one Pit of tanks ; however neither Co . Page 20 r (Apr 8, Cont"d ) .could cross the River, as the bridge on the highway had been re- - ported blown up . At this print our Division Commander, Gen . B . E . Moore, arrived at the BN OP on top or a huge slag pile to encourag e us to push the Break-thru that we had commenced the preceding day and keep it rolling'. The BN CO moved to a new vantage . point and spotted a bridge still intact and two tanks on the other side which looked like ours ; giving the nod to PFC Elmer. Yates, his driver , the jeep scooted across and ducked in behind a building . The Tanks were German and had not seen the jeep since they were bus y firing at FOX's Tanks . Maj . Leonard BN CO called S-3 on his 30 0 radio to bring all armor with EASY CO riding as quickly as possible . with TDs leading and to box in the three man bridgehead wit h Artillery fire . The'TDs arrived almost immediately with Gen . Canham Asst Division Commander ; as the boxing barrage came dow n Kelly's TDs fanned out the side streets and at once holed one o f the Kraut tanks while an Engineer team deactivated the demolition s under the bridge . Gen Canham gave permission to hold a corridor three blocks in width in the town while the BN was rushed in colum n toward the next strong, point with EASY and part of FOX Co . riding the tanks : We smacked down a counter attack at the edge of town and the Jerries lost another Mark IV tank . The column rolled up the highway to KROMBACH with all guns blazing to the front and flank s and we had our break thru really moving . Here we blasted two 88mm guns as they opened up on us on either side of the road,killing their complete crews ; another Mark IV was burned up by the TD s going up the mountain pass and delay 'was caused only at the thre e timber road blocks . ALTENKLFNSHEIM was next on our highway and . our list . There we blasted apart a Nebelwefer battalion that ha d just finished pulverizing KROMBACH'over the mountain behind us, ou r Rear CP and Regimental Fwd CP locations ; many PWs were taken . Next we caught an Artillery battery of 105s and 'knocked them out befor e they could turn on us .

By 1800 we were fighting in the outskirts of OLPE with GEORGE Co riding in the lead on tanks . This Communication city wa s Field Marshal Model's FWD C omtnd Post, tho we did not know thi s at the time . Our two leading tanks were knocked out by a Germa n Tiger Royal Mark VI tank . Sgt Jesse Munck. of GEORGE Co . finally set it on fire with a bazooka and knocked it out . It was the biggest tank we had ever seen, weighing approximately 82 tons and mounting the longest barreled high velocity gun . The entire Tas k Force fought a large German armored force trying to break thr u the town all night long . Colonel Watson remained with us durin g all this mess . We shot up a troop train corning into the trai n s't.ionand by daybreak had about' 400 PWs and no sleep . Our BN Surgeon was captured here . 10 Apr 1945 - We moved quietly forward again at 0800 in a fog out a aide road into the hills as another task force moved in behind u s and the Jerries began their counter offensive . FOX now rode the tanks leading and cleared ESSINGHAUSSEN, FRANKHAUSEN, ANDRONNE- WINKLE . The 1ST BN was on our left Rear and the 121ST INF, no w under the command of Lt Col . Lerrette, former 13TH Exec Off . was to the right rear . We captured some 150mm Howitzers (3) and a German Payroll at the last place and halted temporarily while ta e BN REAR CP group . under Capt Strickland beat off a determined at - tack from our rear by a German Mark V, a Mark IV and force of 10 0 infantry . Our two AT PLTs and One TD knocked out the Mark V, took some PW's and drove off the rest . Lt Shore, BN S-4 was ambushe d with the ammunition convoy by Kraut infantry but by'clever resis- tance saved it all and beat back his assailants too, at a time when the ammo was critically needed .. Our BN Surgeon, Capt Paul , who had been captured at OLPE the night before came into the 121S T zone with 9 Kraut PWs he had forced to return with him . We con- tinued to slip up side roads and-trails firing little now to'con- ceal our progress from the enemy, EASY leading thru a forest , then GEORGE CO, up as we reached and followed a good highway onc e more . At INGERMETER, the, the Germans had an ambush ready . A s the BN Commander was passing the second Infantry loaded tank , in column, Machine guns opened up on two sides, one at a range o f 50 yards, firing high and several D oughs riding the tank deck wer e hit . The next bursts riddled the CO's jeep, ripping off two tire s and knocking the jeep out tho no one was touched . •CP was set up in a ditch as the tanks started firing round after round and burned up the hills with 50 cal mg fire ; in half an hour we had collected 45 PWs and knocked out all Kraut guns ; many were kille d of this SS outfit . We were ordered to halt here since Task Forc e Page 2 1

(10 Apr 1945, Cont'd )

Leonard was 15 miles ahead of friendly troops on the right and 2 miles ahead of Task Force Davis on the left . All vehicles wer e ordered into concealment along the edge of the forest and we se t up an ambush of our own . 2 TDs were near the junction and HOW' S 8lmm mortars behind farm buildings . Scarcely had everyone take n concealment when noise of an approaching convoy echoed down th e steep canyon on ther :ght,up which curved a branch of the road ; Kelly's TDs waited until the lead armored car was, almost to th e muzzle. of his 90mm, then opened up with a roar . The entire convoy traveling at a fast speed Immediately jammed together bumpe r to bumper behind the knocked out vehicle and as they franticall y tried to reverse direction we blasted the last truck we could se e on the curve blocking that end too . Then they started to figh t and we opened up with everything we had---TDs, Tanks, Mortars, M- 1 rifles, The whole convoy we had trapped went up in an explosio like an ammunition dump n . They were evidently carrying munitions an d bombs . Great craters permanently blocked that approach ; there wa not a single survivor . s 11 Apr 1945 - 1ST BN drew abreast of us and 2ND BN of the 2BT H . INF passed thru to put us in reserve for the first time since we de - parted from COLOGNE supposedly for a rest . We assembled in the vicinity of MEINERSHAGEN for a day of rest . EASY Co was sent out on tanks to Division Left dear to contact leading elements of th e 78TH DIV . Sleep for the others : 12 Apr 1945 - BN Staff, CO S2, S3 and protection made reconnais - sance to pass thru 2ND BN of the 121ST INF at OBERBRUGGE . The BN made a most difficult motorized journey cross country in black . out, 25 miles thru forest and fields following the tank tracks . AOApr 1945 - Arrived in assembly area at 0400 and passed thr u the 121ST at 0600 at HESSFELD ; two Pits of Tanks and one of TDs and one of AT were attached to our BN Task Force . We seized the villages of KARTHSEN, SCHONENBERG, STRE[YSTUCEK, BUCHTOLZ, GLORFELD and ERINGHAUSEN without much trouble . The-next objective, BRECKERFELD looked formidable on the ma p and as we approached, we decided to pull one from the book thi s time . We pounded the city with Corps Artillery as EASY and th e TDs secured the high dominating ground . All heavy weapons of HO W Co . were pumping rounds out with the Artillery TOT, and FOX Co , now commanded by Lt Peterson,who had rejoined the BN, rod e the ardskins in a speedy envelopment . The city fell in one hour as GEORGE and EASY Cos followed and aided in the house to hous e fighting . Over 400 dazed Krauts were gathered in as PWs, and the Task Force moved on in column with EASY, no* lead by Lt Splane , mounted on tanks pointed toward VORDE . German SP guns shelle d the town as we departed . We took the villages of OBERNHEEDE and OBERHAUER, then ran into a road block guarded by two Jerry tank s 2000 yards South of VORDE ; our lead tank was a casualty . The Combat Inf of GEORGE were sent in on the left and FOX'S on the Right and EASY remained along the road with the armor . Several heavy barrages of Kraut Artillery came in on the highway, but th e others closed in on the town thru defensive positions . The BN Command Group trying to follow the route taken by GEORGE turne d up a side trail during the confusion of the shelling and spe d thru a German road block guarded by an armored car and a 76mm A T gun, right into a farm courtyard where the remainder of the AT battery was eating hot chow . The personnel of the startled bat - tery surrendered to the more startled BN CO and his men ; befor e they could change their minds, on seeing only three American a their weapons were seized,and they were herded out to the highway .I n all there were 60 PWs, two armored cars and . .f our AT guns . C P was established here ; VORDE was captured an hour later . During the night, the, the German SS troops we had forced out of th e city infiltrated between BN CP and the rifle companies . 14 Apr 1945 - Lt . A. Rava.11o, an aggressive Plt Leader of HOW Co . was killed trying to mop them up ; it finally was necessary for part of GREYHOUND RED in reserve to clear this area . This day the BN didn't have to attack in force unti11200, when Gen . Moor e decided to commit us again since we were so close to the Ruhr River . FOX CO. lead' on the armor to enter HASPE with only occasional flak fire to harass us . We entered the large indus - trial city of HAGEN with no resitance, but our left flank guard , the BN AT PLT,was shot up by Task Force Tarkenton when the 3RD BN mistook us for Jerries . Quickly we moved thru the city and Apr 1945 C ont t d and into the suburb of WETTER ; abreast of GREYHOUND BLUE wher e the 75TH DIV was contacted across the Ruhr River. . A BN of Germans facing them had surrendered to us, after knowking ou t one of our M-8 armored cars and a jeep . THE RU HR POCKET HAD BEE N SPLIT IN .THE MIDDLE :

15 Apr 45 = GREYHOUND WHITE in reserve, moved to SILSCHIDE . . One . Platoon of FOX under Lb . Clements, mounted on a Platoon of TD s cleared out a pocket on the right flank . 16 Apr 1945 - Still in Regimental reserve, we moved t o NIEBERSPRO `KHOVEL at 0400 where enemy direct fire guns, sel f- propelled, were giving every one a bad time . Task Force Long , consisting of GEORGE Co, Two Platoons of Tanks, and a section of TDs under command of Lt Long, cleared the way to BREDENSCHEID . At 1600, our new formation of Task Force Leonard, completely mounted• on the new tanks, half tracks, and TDs provided by the 13TH ARM DIV CC R, who were attached to us, moved in attack for - mation to HATTINGEN to pass. thru Task Force Tarkenton ; we were heavily shelled by large caliber (150mm or bigger) Artillery for several hours while waiting The " Go" signal . 17 Apr 1945 - Orders for our next objectives were changed just a s we had started rolling, and we now moved to charge thru a hol e made .by Task Force Davis at NIERENHA at 0300 in the morning . We caught the Jerries completely flat-footed and plunged over 33 mile s behind their lines before daylight, past many flak gun position s which gave us no trouble and into the suburb of ESSEN south o f the Ruhr River called WERDEN . At this location 1246 Germans . ur- rendered, our biggest battalion bag of the war . (Over 317,000 PWs were'taken by 1ST and 9TH ARMIES in the Ruhr Pocket) . We con- tacted the 17TH ABN DIV across the river . We finally had a chance to sleep after attacking almos t daily, all day and all night for the past three weeks . since Mar 28 . 18 & 19 Apr 1945 - Same . Gen . Moore had a meeting of all Regi - mental and BN Commanders to give us the information concerning ' the next phase of military government and sectors of respons i bility . 20 Apr 1945 - GREYHOUND WHITE moved back to the vicinity of HAGE N to get PWs, slave . workers, and DPs under control . Some job : 21 Apr .1945 - Same 22 Apr 1945 - Relief by elements of 75TH DIV moved again t o METTMEN a suburb of DUSSELDORF on same mission . Each Company had superior homes here in which to become acquainted with civ - ilization once more . BN CP was in a modern mansion,an estat e belonging formerly to Gen Von Bovensiepen, belonging now t o GREYHOUND WHITE . Our patrols and road blocks rounded up some more PWs including a Lt General . 23-25 Apr 1945 - General Military Government duties and recuper - ation . Each Company enjoyed having its kitchen in its own are a again . 26 Apr 1945 - Relieved by 94TH DIV and once more we were bac k under control of XVIII ABN CORPS for the next battle and attache d to the 2ND BRITISH ARMY of Gen Montgomery . Motorized move of 234 miles was made to ULEZEN near the Elbe River .

27 Apr., 1945 - Orders were received for the last operation of the , war .: 2BaApr 1945 - 13TH INF attached for assault across the Elbe t o our old-Tr-lends. of the 82ND ABN DID! . . 29 Apr 1945 - 2ND BN 13TH INF mission on the Army right was t o protect`'that flank as a bridgehead was made on the Elbe to seiz e HAMBURG . GREYHOUND WHITE moved to KOVAL to relieve the 75T H YORKSHIRES, after tea, of course . Artillery noises again . 30 Apr 1945 - Shifted farther to the right flank and relieved a EN of the 115TH INF, 29TH DIV of 9TH ARMY with GEORGE Co on the left and FOX C O on the r:1ght on. the River with BN CP at WIETZETZE .. EASY Co was attached to an AAA GRP for ground pro-

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Nazi Concentrtior.a Camp

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CAMPAIGN end Ocaupatiort Aroa s ffD B 9 13TH INF after VE Day in

)C°''. sketch 1/20000W' ) LEONARD, PAM TM CO . .

(30 Apr 1945, C ont' d ) ►L tection of a pontoon idge established at BLECKEDE after G,RByHOUND BLUE 'attacked with the 82ND and . Made' the amphibious assault . EASY Co . received more shellinga than. the remainder of the BN and some bombing from the Luftwaffe . li 1 Mai 194 - The extremely wide BN sector was continuously patrolle d by our Motorized Infantry riding this time on numerous motor- cycles we had captured On an excellent r oad . ne t . '` PWs 'were taken . Two men of EASY Co . were killed by artillery_ shelling at th e bridge, - the last casualties for us in the war . 2 May 45 - The 2ND BN rejoined the Regiment at the bridgehead (less EASY Co) and at the assembly area of BOBZIN prepared t o attack the following day . All. roads to the assembly area wer e jammed with thousands of Germas trying to surrender and cros s the Elbe . Word was received that no further attack was contem - plated . '.3 May 1945 - GREYHOUND WHITE was placed ih CORPS control under G-1 . Moved with great difficulty thru thousand of PWs, vehicles , and refugees back across the river to HIMBERGEN to establish guard over 15,000 PWs that the MPs had there . 4. May 1945 - Received our 33rd German general who tried to rank us out of our CP . 5 May 1945 - Rioting of PWs over rations was quickly controlle d by one energetic Division Commander before we had to take ex-' . treme measures . . He personally booted one of his men 30 feet wh o misbehaved in the chow line . 6 May 1945 - Relieved ofPW headache 'and' again crossed the Elb e River' to do the same thing at NIERNDORF on a smaller scale ., Mos t of our men had the opportunity to visit WOBBELIN Concentration Camp near LUDWIGLUST where the results of NAZI viciousness wer e seen .

7 May 1945 - BN CP moved into fine, large mansion . EASY stil l at the bridge . FOX Co . assumed control of 6,000 PWs while GEORGE and HOW Cos had thousands of DPs to dominate . 8May1945 - VE-DAYt AT LAST! . Gen Moore addressed the massed E N telling us' *hat our accomplishments meant, and thanking all o f us . Celebration : FINAL COMMANDERS AND STAFF OF 2ND BN 13TH INFANTRY : BN CO - Lt Col Theodore Leonar d BN EX a Maj . James M . S . Strickland BN Si - Capt William R . Sanderso n BN S2 - 1st Lt Jack Jacobson BN S3 Capt Graham V . Chamble e BN S4 - 1st Lt Richard Shore BN Surg - Capt John S . Paul

Page . 2 4 : T" 'r

I

LINE COMPANY COMMANDERS E (EASY COMPANY) Capt Vincent Splan e F (FOX COMPANY) Capt Eugene I . Peterson G (GEORGE' COMPANY) 1st Lt H . T . Long H (HOW COMPANY) Capt Thomas Silcox

After VE Day the 2ND BN was moved to a new occupationa l area at ZARRENTIN on a lake where for two weeks, after releasing to the British our last group of 17,000 PWs , we enjoyed some recreation, boats, fishing, good food and plenty of sleep . We then moved with the 8TH DIV back t o

HANN MUNDEN near KASSEL for a short period . Finally we were ordered to the US via Camp OLD GOLD at LA HAVRE , FRANCE, where we loaded on the Navy Transport "Genera l Brooke" to return to the US on 1 July 19 45 for deploymen t to the Pacific theatre . [' i t

THEODORE LEONARD Lt Col, infantry

NOTE : The Battalion Journal . of the 2ND BN , 13TH INF, 8TH DIV was written from notes made daily by Sgt Watkins, the BN SGT MAJ ,

I

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