The Dash to the Rhine
At 1000 hours on the 22nd of February in direct support of Combat Command "B", the 94th Armored Field Artillery Battalion entered Germany, crossing the Our River into the XII Corps bridgehead. The route was through Berkony, Pels, Rimsdorf, Dillingen, Korperick to a position area at Obersgegen. We had four liaison officers out; Captain Cooke with the 53rd Infantry, Captain Temple with the 10th Infantry, Lt. Boas with the 51st Infantry, each with two observers. The three tank observers were with the 8th Tank Battalion and Lt. English was acting as liaison officer at Combat Command "B". Almost half the battalion strength in officers was needed for the large number of troops for whom we were to render fire support.
Combat Command "B" at this time was attached to the 80th Infantry Division which had assigned us the mission of pushing north on the division left flank to Sinspelt and then to cut east across the 80th Divison front toward Bitburg.
The initial impression that day was not promising. It was too reminiscent of the Saar. Hilly, wooded terrain scarred by deep ravines, pillboxes clustered on the high ground, the Siegfried Line now instead of the Magi'not Line, bloated stinking cows and horses, fog, rain and mud. No one could have foretold that thirteen days later the 4th Armored would be sitting on the Rhine with its artillery blasting Koblenz.
On the 23rd we supported the 10th and 53rd Infantry Battalions in taking Niedergerkler and Sinspelt. Both were defended bitterly by enemy armor and infantry. The battalion rendered the combat command sterling service in saving the bridge at Sinspelt from demolition by the enemy by continually interdicting it with time fire until our infantry seized it. The 6th section of "C" Battery, which was doing the interdicting, was firing so fast and continuously that Pvt. Edward J. Makowski; the loader, was overcome by the fumes and smoke of the firing and T/5 Elmer A. Wachal was slashed across the face by an ejected brass cartridge case of an expended round.
Lt. William Steele, who was wounded at Niedergerkler by a machinegun bullet, was succeeded as observer by Sgt. Nicholas Yocca of "B", Battery.
Pfc. Jacob Winters of "A" and Sgt. Richard Lane of "C" were also ligthly wounded.
The following day we moved to a position just west of Niedergerkler and aided the 8th Tank Battalion and 10th Armored Infantry Battalion take the high ground to the east around Brimingen. T''5 Merle Buntjer, Headquarters Battery, was wounded by an artillery shell in the battery position and was evacuated.
On the 25th, the 4th Armored Division entered the picture as a division. Under the new troop list, the 94th was teamed up with the 10th Armored Infantry, 8th Tank Battalion, 276th Armored Field Artillery Battalion and he 974th Field Artillery (155 mm howitzers) under Combat Command "A", commanded by Col. Hayden Sears.
As the combat command progressed through Brimingen, Baustert and Brecht to the Prum River, the 94th displaced by battery to Barenhof Farm on the southeast flank, giving continuous support. Captains Merriam and Lothian, and Lt. Truitt with their peep parties, conducting reconnaissance on our open east flank, went into Mulpack and Olsdorf and captured eleven prisoners. We were now within range of Bitburg and were interdicting it. Meanwhile, in Combat Command "B", the 37th Tank Battalion had broken loose and was slashing into Rittersdorf, north of Bitburg smashing enemy armor and d&stroying entirely an enemy artillery battalion caught in the town.
Lt. Billy Wood, cub pilot observing over Bitburg, was shot down by enemy machine gun fire which punctured his gas tank and wounded him in the leg. He managed to make a forced landing among the front line tanks, had his leg patched up repaired his gas tank with chewing gum and string, and flew his plane back to the battalion.
On the 27th, Combat Command "A" assaulted Matzen to the northeast. Lt. Griffith, who accompanied the attack, received four hits on his tank. The kraut's aim wa's a little high, hitting the hatch cover. Sgt. Anthony Mazza was killed by a flying piece of the hatch and Lt. Griffith received a steel splinter in his eye. Lt. Griffith and the rest of his crew evacuated the tank safely. Not sure whether Sgt. Mazza was killed or wounded, Lt. Griffith earned the Silver Star when he led a party under enemy fire to evacuate his sergeant and retrieve his tank.
The 28th of February, the end of the month, the 4th Armored's mission was to hold and consolidate along the Kyll and await the bridgehead to be established by the 5th Infantry Division. In the last few days of operation, the 10th Armored Infantry, whom we supported, had taken over a thousand prisoners. At this time the 94th had fired over 73,000 rounds since first entering combat.
On the 1st of March, the Battalion made a short displacement to the east of Rittersdorf. On the 2nd, the 5th Infantry Division began its attack across the Kyll River to establish a bridgehead. On the 3rd, the XII Corps order was received. The division mission was to cut to the Rhine at Andernach west of Koblenz. Combat Command "B" was to lead, followed by Combat Command "A", then Comband Command "R" which was to be followed by motorized elements of the 5th Infantry Division. Combat Command "A" was to take secondary roads to the right of Combat Command "B", if the roads permitted. The 94th was assigned to Combat Command "A" which was to be followed by motorized elements of the fantry Battalion, reinforced by the 276th Armored Field Artillery Battalion and 974th (155 howitzer) Field Artillery Battalion.
On the 4th, the battalion moved to an assembly area in readiness to move out with Combat Command "A" the following day. Col. Sears, Combat Command "A", had decided to try to istart parallel to Combat Command "B" on the cart tracks that were available.
The morning of the 5th of March both Combat Commands jumped off and met immediate resistance. As the day went on Combat Command "B" 's progress accelerated. Combat Command "A" bogged down hopelessly in the mud. Supply vehicles and even halftracks, were mired and unable to follow the tanks. "C" Battery, the advance guard battery .somehow got i'nto position at Badem before the road dissolved into slimy ooze. From that position, exposed all day to continuous mortar, artillery and armor-piercing fire, "C" Battery supported the 8th Tank Battalion in its attack to Gindorf and Gransdorf. It was decided that night that Combat Command "A' was to return to the original plan and follow Combat Command "B" oven its, road which was paved.
The next day Combat Command "A" followed Combat Command "B" until dark at Niederstadtfeldt when the column attempted to open a new road turning east to Udersdorf. The advance guard piled into Udersdorf in the twilight firing the town and destroying the German infantry defenders. Unfortunately the bridge truck of the engineer platoon which followed "C", the advance guard battery, went through the bridge at Niederstadtfeldt breaking the column. As "C" Battery occupied position north of Uder'sdorf, a volley of nebelwerfers landed in its area. As no further rounds were fired, the battery was not moved. The remainder of the battalion was put into position by Major Franks where the bridge had broken. The battalion commander and battery commander parties found themselves at Udersdorf separated from their commands. That night the bridge was repaired and the main column moved out at dawn of the 7th. When the column came in sight of the town, the Jerries again began with their nebelwerfers, sixty round's at a clip every minute or two landing in "C" Battery and on the road leading out of town. Lt. Guild, battery executive of "A", began an adjustment of "C" Battery on the rocket guns which was later taken over by cub pilot observer Lt. Herbert L. Bothwell. It became an artillery-rocket duel. The battalion commander's and battery commanders' peeps were damaged when flying fragments punctured tires, gas tanks and radiators. Captain John Merriam, Headquarters Battery commander, was wounded for the third time, while waiting to lead his battery, and was evacuated. The command post lost it's roof and several looms. In "C" Battery, Corporal Walter J. Zeiinski, Pfc. Eiden F. Rorem, Pvt. George Wood and Pvt. Paul Emmett were all wounded while manning the guns. Pfc. James Powers took over Zeiinski's section and kept the gun firing. In the command post area, Sgt. Francis O'Connor had taken charge of evacuating undamaged vehicles from the area and wa's wounded himself as he was helping other wounded. He was awarded the Silver Star for gallantry. However, "C" Battery's fire gradually began to take effect. The number of rockets in each volley began to decrease and finally they were silent. The column, which had been interrupted by this fire, moved on. For their part in this action, Sgts. John J. Loebell, Alva H. Gill, Harold Brown, Boyd Blair, Vito Tarulli, T4 Cecil Carpenter and Pfc. James Powers were awarded Bronze Stars for heroism.
The column again fell into the same trouble as the days before, — the road petered out and Combat Command "A" was forced to go back to Combat Command "B"'s road and fall in on their rear, the 94th going into position in the dark at Kersen.
On the morning of the 8th, the battalion displaced to Kolcheckerhof, south of Bassenheim, from where it supported Combat Command "A" during the following five days in mopping up the right sector of the division on the Rhine. In econ-noitering the position 53 prisoners guarding a 20,000 round amanunition dump were captured. The division had captured and destroyed masses of personnel and equipment trying to make their way across the Rhine. Another mass had been pocketed between the First and Third Armies. From the position at Kolcheckerhof, the 94th adequately covered Koblenz which was interdicted daily, but the enemy guns across the Rhine were out of range. Therefore, "A" Battery was moved forward to attack these targets on the 10th of March. Daily, our observers accompanied heavily armed patrols along the banks of the river.
