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© 2014, Aaron Elson
After a restful day, hot meals, and much rain, we left the area about 2000, moving out by trucks. We made very good time, passing through the historic city of Verdun, and continuing on until we reached our bivouac area in the vicinity of Rouves, which was a few miles past Verdun. Our C.P. was set up, and the platoons placed into position. It was a very dark night, and soon the men were fast asleep under their shelter-halves.
On the morning of Sept. 7th it rained. As many of the men as possible were paid. After being alerted to move, we left the area on foot at 0945. We were heading for an area where the Division was to assemble and wait for further orders. Our Company was at the rear of the column in Battalion reserve. It was by far the coolest weather we had experienced since our arrival in France. The wind was furious, and the men took cover behind trees and in ditches at every break.
After several hours of walking, we halted on a sloping field in the vicinity of Lantefontaine. We soon learned that E and F companies, who were at the head of the column, were held up by unexpected intense machine gun fire and mortars while trying to enter the city of Briey.
Our company moved up to assist F and E Companies in taking the town of Briey. Cannon Company laid an extremely heavy barrage in the town, which was afterward thought to be cleared of all enemy. Our mission was now to follow F Company into town and outpost all roads leading into it. F and E Companies were to clear the town of all snipers. F Company proceeded for a short distance, and then met heavy machine gun fire. G Company was then used to attack the town by a different route, supported by fire from H Company’s mortars and F Company’s small arms.
We attacked at 2115, not knowing what lay ahead in the darkness. Because of the darkness, we got into the outskirts without meeting resistance. Suddenly we were fired upon by a large variety of automatic weapons. Tracer bullets actually bounced and ricocheted against the walls and through the streets. Our men dived for the surrounding ditches. Captain Regn halted us, and then he and Lt. Lovett went forward to investigate the situation. They met Lt. Berndt blazing away with his large assortment of souvenir weapons. Lt. Berndt told Capt. Regn that his platoon was receiving fire from across his front and down the column. The first platoon bazooka team had difficulty firing their weapon. Lt. Berndt took the weapon and fired a round into the house where the fire was coming from. The shell must have found its mark, because the firing ceased immediately. We then proceeded into town, and sent the platoons on their original mission. The second platoon reached their objective okay, but due to darkness, and poor maps, the first platoon was unable to reach their outpost correctly.
Throughout the night, each of the platoons had an individual battle with the Heinies. The remainder of the Heinies retreated to another part of town. During the action, one of our jeep drivers, T/5 Joe Leininger, was wounded in the back by a sniper from across the street from our C.P. Capt. Regn removed Leininger to the aid station, while Lt. Lovett and Sgt. Jake Parton continued to search for the snipers. They soon found their prey in a chateau across the street. The bursts from their tommy guns echoed through the streets. The pair then went into the building to find the badly riddled body of the dead Jerry. Leaving their bloody victim where he lay, the pair continued down the street a short distance, tossing hand grenades into open windows, transoms and doorways.
Enemy ineffective mortar fire continued throughout the whole attack and through the remainder of the night.
On the morning of Sept. 8th, we awoke to discover that the bulk of the enemy had taken cover in the hills and houses on the other side of town. We were under the impression that we had taken the better part of the town.
The first platoon continued to receive heavy enemy small arms fire. It was during this action that Lt. Berndt was wounded in the arm and hip, and lost to the Company. Lt. Brotherton assumed command of the platoon until the arrival of a replacing officer from F Company.
We called for cannon fire and artillery fire on the other side of town, which was just across a steep ravine which separated the town into two sections. The shells whined overhead all morning. In the meantime E Company moved around to our left.
After continuous pounding by our artillery, a large white flag was seen waving from the enemy’s lines. A German officer, an enlisted man, and one of our GIs, who was captured previously by the Heinies, arrived shortly at our C.P. They told us that their commanding officer wished to speak terms of surrender with us. In the absence of Major Ward, Capt. Regn took over. It was decided the Heinie enlisted man should remain with us, and we would send one of our enlisted men back with the German officer. Pfc. Joe Lindmeyer accompanied the Heinie officer back to his linees. He carried with him a message from Capt. Regn stating that their commanding officer should come to our C.P. to talk terms. Being obstinate like all Germans, the Heinie CO refused to come down to our C.P. It was then agreed that the two COs should meet upon a bridge which our first platoon held.
Capt. Regn, accompanied by Lt. Kocour, started for the bridge leaving their weapons behind. Upon arriving, they found the German officers armed with their weapons. This wasn’t "cricket," as far as war regulations go. The Heinies asked for terms. Capt. Regn informed them that there were no terms, only a complete unconditional surrender. The German officer then asked for an hour to get his men together and bring them forward. Once again Capt. Regn insisted … "a half-hour should be sufficient." The Heinies were also informed that our artillery was given orders to fire upon their positions immediately when the half-hour was up.
Twenty minutes later, the damn Krauts appeared in long columns of two. They came from all directions. Civilians and GIs lined the streets gazing at the spectacle. The German officers marched smartly, and carried their personal belongings in large suitcases. Their clothes were neat and well pressed. The enlisted men slouched as they walked. They were unshaven and haggard looking. They carried their belongings in sacks made of camouflaged shelter halves and old cloth.
When they had all filed past our C.P., we had counted 486 prisoners. Adding the eight we had captured the previous night, it came to a grand total of 494 … a good day’s work.
As quiet and order was restored in the town, civilians soon appeared from their shelters in the cellars.
The men were tired, and everything was under control, so we prepared for a restful night.
We left the town of Briey the following morning, Sept. 9th. Walking several miles, we finally reached the town of Rangueveaux. After locating a C.P., we were ordered to move our Company in the vicinity of the Battalion C.P. When we finally settled down in the area, which was a large woods, it was very late.
We remained in the area throughout the day. Lt. MacDonald, who took over the first platoon when Lt. Berndt was wounded, took out his platoon on a combat patrol to find out if there were any Heinies in the surrounding area and towns. He and his platoon returned after several hours without finding any Krauts.
Gas masks were reissued to the officers and men.
After being alerted, we moved from the area at 1900, shuttling to the town of Geremange. Our mission here was to guard the town and provide security for the 282nd Field Artillery.
Our platoons were outposted, and our company C.P. was set up in a large hotel building, which was formerly a school for the Hitler Youth Movement.
On the following morning, we awoke to realize how large the building was that we were housed in. There were at least 100 rooms, with four bunks in each room. We found shower rooms, a recreation room, electrical and photographic laboratories. Scattered remnants of young Heinies’ belongings were found in all the rooms. Pictures of "Adolph" himself were hung on the walls throughout the whole building.
We found a group of Russian girls, who probably were forced to take care of the Heinies, and take care of this building.
Throughout the day, several civilians suspected of being in cahoots with the Germans were taken prisoner. Pistols, knives, swastika flags and banners, uniforms and records were found in their homes and belongings.
A small camp, where the forced labor Russian girls lived, was found about a mile from our C.P.
We remained in this town for two more days. During this time, men were issued fatigues, and several hot meals. Things were rather normal and quiet.
On Sept. 13, the 282nd Field Artillery moved out, which gave us cause to believe that we would move shortly.
On this evening, we invited some of the civilians into our C.P. for a little party and dance. There was dancing, singing and drinking. The people were so overjoyed with happiness. The French National Anthem, La Marsellaise, was played. The French musicians hesitated playing it at first. There was a bit of tear and fear in their eyes. The song hadn’t been played in four years.
After a good time was had by all, the little affair was broken up about 2230.
It rained very heavily throughout the night and morning.
On the following morning, Sept. 14th, we left the city by truck at 0830. We passed through the city of Briey, a previous scene of one of our battles. We stopped temporarily in an assembly area at 1100, and continued on our way again at 1515. We rolled along for quite a ways, and then detrucked. We continued by foot, and reached our objective about 1900. It was located on a huge hill, surrounded by dense woods. Our mission was a holding one, setting up a defense against strong German fortified positions.
Friday Sept. 15th was a foggy morning. It was unusually quiet.
On the morning of Sept. 16th, we were awakened abruptly by loud explosions in our area. Upon further examination, we found it to be friendly tank destroyer guns firing upon our troops who were thought to be the enemy. We suffered one casualty, and H Company two from this incident.
Hot dinner and supper was brought up from the kitchen. We received seven new replacements late in the afternoon. Our shells whined overhead all day. There was nothing to do but to lie in our holes and tents trying to keep dry and warm.
We awakened the next morning to find the weather cleared up a bit. We were alerted, and prepared to move sometime around noon. We left the area about 1615, being relieved by a company from the 1st Battalion. Presently we arrived in an area in the vicinity of the Battalion C.P. at 1730. Soon everyone was set up for the night.
The weather cleared very nicely the next morning. Our hot dinner was called off, and we were alerted to move. The Heinies attempted a counterattack, but it was repulsed as quickly as it had started, our very accurate artillery turning the tables.
We read in "The Sniper" that our Battalion Commander, Major Jack Ward, and our well-known duo of S/Sgt. Jake Parton and T/5 Nick Doland were the recipients of the Bronze Star.
Leaving the area about 1500, we set out on foot, and arrived in the town of Amneville. It was about 1900 when we arrived in this town. The Company C.P. and platoons were set up, and we were ready to spend the night.
After a good night’s rest, we awoke the following morning, Sept. 26th, to find the weather very nice. Throughout the day it was quiet and normal.
Sept. 21st and 22nd were swell days. We got plenty of rest and good hot chow. We picked up a motorcycle and a convertible coupe on the 21st, and had it running and painted GI on the 22nd.
We learned that Capt. Regn received the Bronze Star for some previous action.
We left the town of Amneville at 0800 on the morning of Sept. 23rd, relieving E Company in the town of Richmont. Our C.P. and platoons were set up in houses scattered throughout the town. The weather was nice and the rest of the day quiet.
The following morning, Sept. 24th, we were awakened noisily by German shells landing right in our midst. This was at 0500. There were no casualties.
Capt. Regn had all civilians removed from town, because of suspicious lights going off and on during the night. We thought that these lights might have something to do with the shells landing in our area.
We sent out three reconnaissance patrols that night with missions of determining whether the canal could be crossed, and to locate any possible targets, such as convoys on the east side of the Moselle River. They gained very little information. We also sent out one combat patrol to Pepinville to ambush an enemy patrol, which was reported the night before to be using that route. There were no results.
It was a quiet morning Sept. 25th. Right after noon we had a barrage of about eight or nine rounds of enemy shells, and then later in the afternoon, we received another barrage of 75s, several landing on the roofs and in the field near our men. The highlight of this barrage was a dud, which landed in the street in front of our C.P., hit the opposite wall and bounced back to hit our C.P. building.
Again we sent out patrols. There was one reconnaissance and one combat patrol. Their mission was the same as the previous night, and these patrols returned with information that the enemy had guards stationed at points along the canal where it could be crossed by foot troops.
We had no disturbances during the night.
Sept. 26th was a rainy morning, and a rather quiet one. The weather cleared in the afternoon. Lt. Badgely received orders to move his second platoon to Boussange, where his platoon, plus one platoon of medium tanks, would consist of Battalion reserve.
We remained in the town of Richmont until Oct. 2nd. During this time our patrols were very active. They gained valuable information, killed several Heinies, and destroyed a huge supply boat that was anchored in the canal.
On Oct. 2nd, we moved from the area by truck, and arrived in the vicinity of Hagondange. After getting temporarily set up, we spent the remainder of the day and night.
On Oct. 3rd, we moved out and forward in an attack on enemy positions surrounding a huge slag pile, overlooking the town of Maizieres les Metz.
During the night, the third platoon outposted the factory area on the north side of the slag pile.
At 0430, the second platoon crossed the line of demarcation in the preparation for the attack, in conjunction with C Company of the 1st Battalion. Nearing their objective, the second platoon learned that C Company failed to complete their mission. Due to the lack of leadership, C Company had difficulty starting toward their objective. Our Battalion Commander, Col. Ward, arrived upon the scene, igniting the spark, and led them off. The attack then progressed very well. Without too much difficulty the slag pile was taken. Our Battalion Commander left and put our Lt. Badgely in charge of the two remaining platoons of C Company and one of the platoons from our Company.
We organized a secure defensive position, although the morale of C Company was very low. Late in the afternoon, Capt. Regn received orders to relieve the two platoons of C Company on top of the hill. The relief took place at 2000. The first and second platoons organized the top of the hill, while the third platoon was in reserve. The relief had just taken place, when we underwent one of the worst shellings of our career. The Heinies threw everything from mortars, 88s, 75s, 105s and 150s into a concentrated area. Immediately upon the heels of this shelling, the Heinies threw a counterattack up the south side of the hill.
The first platoon, which was just moving into position, became disorganized, and started to withdraw rapidly. The platoon leader, whose name for obvious reasons is omitted, was the first one to take off. As the counterattack started, Capt. Regn and Lt. Lovett started for our front. There they encountered Lt. - - - - of the first platoon, shouting frantically "We need reserves!" Capt. Regn ordered the Lt. back to his platoon with the sharp reply "There are no reserves." Capt. Regn then took one half of the first platoon, and led them to the right sector of our positions, while Lt. Lovett took the other half, and led them to the left sector of our positions. With this reorganization, we regained a portion of the ground that had been lost by the withdrawing platoon.
The machine gun platoon from H Company that was attached to us was caught in the shelling, and did not arrive until the first wave of the counterattack had subsided. Sgt. Bob Morris of the H Company machine guns had previously made a reconnaissance of the area and moved his men into position.
Our third platoon was called to the top of the slag pile to fill in a large gap. More ammunition and hand grenades were ordered, and upon arrival, they were immediately distributed to the men.
The Germans again attacked at 2030, jumping off from the foothold they had already gotten. This time we were better prepared, and held our ground.
The fighting continued all night till about 0230 the following morning. Machine gun and rifle ammunition, hand grenades and mortar ammunition was expended like water … for a good purpose. On both the Heinie counterattacks, the Heinies charged, yelling like the fanatical madmen they are supposed to be.
Things remained quiet until about 0430, when again the Krauts threw everything they had in a last desperate attempt to dislodge us from the top of the slag pile. Coming from the C.P., Capt. Regn and Lt. Lovett discovered that the enemy was attacking from our front and left flank simultaneously. Capt. Regn sent Lt. Lovett to the front to organize the situation there, while he gathered the C.P. group, runners, mortar and 4.2 observers together, and organized them on the left flank. This provisional group stopped the threat on our left, but the Heinies’ main effort was on our front. Here they attacked fiercely, yelling and screaming like Indians.
One of the machine guns from H Company jammed and would not fire, causing us to give ground in that sector and lose the gun. But in another sector we captured an enemy machine gun, which was not a very good exchange. In the sector where our machine gun was lost, Sgt. Morris and Sgt. Trileson organized their men as riflemen and helped stem the German attack.
The firing continued until daybreak. The enemy now held about one-fifth of the southern end of the slag pile.
At daylight, Capt. Regn made plans to attack on both sides of the hill at the same time. But first an enemy machine gun nest had to be removed. Capt. Regn adjusted mortar fire on the nest, and after getting on the target, he ordered five rounds for effect. Lt. Lovett, who was at the guns at the time, reported back that there were only three rounds left. Capt. Regn ordered the three rounds for effect. The investment was paid back with interest. The enemy machine gun and its crew were blown to bits.
The Captain then ordered one section of the second platoon to attack up the left side of the hill, and continue forward to push the Germans from that sector. The remainder of the first platoon minus two men were led by Capt. Regn up the right side of the sector to take the high ground on that portion of the hill. The two remaining men were to stay as right flank protection, and they sniped at the withdrawing Heinies on the right side of the hill. The Germans fought fiercely for possession of the slag pile, but our fire power and the accurate heaving of hand grenades was too much for them. Our objective had been reached, and the Germans were pushed off the slag pile.
Capt. Regn now ordered a reorganization of the Company, and some good foxholes dug. We knew we were in for a good shelling.
The shelling did come, and together with the previous night’s actions, we suffered very heavy casualties. There were five killed and 32 wounded.
After being relieved by F Company, we left the area and arrived at Hagondange. Here we outposted all the roads leading into town. Being very late, we set up as quickly as possible, and tried to get some well-earned rest and sleep.
We remained here all day, getting some good hot meals. An occasional enemy shell would drop harmlessly into our area.
On Oct. 6th, we were alerted and moved from Hagondange about 1400. Presently we arrived in a Battalion assembly area. At night we planned for an attack on Maizieres les Metz, to take place the following morning.
At 0500 on the morning of Oct. 7th, we moved out behind E Company. Our objective was the town of Maizieres les Metz. Slowly we made our way along the road leading to the town. As we neared the huge slag pile where we had fought a fierce battle just a few days before, we left the road and cut to our left. Rounding the southwest tip of the slag pile, we safely made our way across an enemy mine field. We had no casualties crossing this mine field because orders were carried out perfectly, every man following directly behind one another.
The company objective was to secure the entrance to the factory area, on E Company’s right flank. E Company held up temporarily, and we halted in the rear and waited patiently. Capt. Regn thought the situation too damn quiet, figuring we were going to be shelled at any moment. He moved the platoons forward and to the right of E Company. The shelling did come, but we were not there.
We proceeded forward in a column of platoons, in the order of second, third, and first. The second platoon charged forward aggressively, wiping out three enemy machine gun nests, capturing several prisoners and their equipment. They soon reached their objective. The third platoon reached their objective without meeting any resistance.
In one of the more exciting instances, Capt. Regn and Lt. Lovett had a pretty close call. The two officers were standing on their objective, when Lt. Lovett went forward to look at a wounded Heinie. Suddenly the Kraut raised himself on his haunches and leveled his burp gun at Lt. Lovett. One burst left his gun, and Lt. Lovett flung himself to the nearby bank yelling, "Somebody get that son of a bitch!" The Heinie’s bullets whistled by Lt. Lovett and narrowly missed Capt. Regn, who was standing in the draw. The Kraut decided it was high time to leave, and leaped over the railroad bank into the open field that lay ahead.
This is where the daily log ends. Claude Lovett lives in San Antonio, Texas.
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