Central Europe
With the Third Army secure in its bridgeheads across the Main River, the Germans were without prepared defense lines to hold up the victorious allied divisions. It was no longer a war against well-trained armies and groups of armies in the field but against individuals and small units. Like a mortally wounded octopus in its death throes, the Germans lashed back savagely, fanatically and ineffectively. The Luftwaffe was continually in the air in all kinds of weather, attacking columns, troops and supply installations. Civilians sniped at Americans with antique rifles and panzerfausts. Some defenses were manned by old men over sixty, children twelve to fourteen years old, air corps ground crews led by pilots as infantry, and war veterans crippled by the loss of an eye or an arm. The end of the war was a matter of occupying every German village, town, city and clearing the country of what organized fighting troops remained. There was no longer a need for artillery except to overcome isolated strongpoints, roadblocks and small river defenses. The 94th Armored Field Artillery acted as infantry, gun cnews, ammunition handlers, computers and wire sections, mopped up trenches, road blocks, patches of woods and villages.
On the 27th of March, the division plan to get the high ground east of Giessen was received. The 4th Armored was to proceed in two columns Combat Command "B" on the left with Combat Command "A" on the right. The 94th was again under Combat Command "A" with the 8th Tank and 53rd Armored Infantry, 276th Armored Field Artillery and 179th Field Artillery Battalions.
On the 28th the column crossed the Main River, raced through Hanau, Rondorf, Ostheim, Eichen, Hungen and went into position at Gru'nberg. From hastily occupied positions just off the road, battery missions were fired to loosen the head of the column when the situation was sticky or to harass and destroy fleeing Kraut vehicles, personnel and railroad trains. The next day the column rushed on in a thick fog and rain through Rebgesheim, Herbstein, Blankenau going into position for the night at Uffhausen near Grossenlunden. While passing through Blaukenen, "A" Battery R. 0. halftrack was hit by a panzerfaust fired by a civilian which killed T/4 Gordon'Huff and Private Bow Smith and wounded Private Behrens and set the vehicle on fire. Private First Class Thurnon C. Walden of "A" Battery killed the civilian and in the following fight the town was burned to the ground. The column had no time for mopping up. The assault tanks and infantry merely destroyed the enemy who dared to hold up our progress to the front. On both sides of the road there were Krauts hiding in the basements or in patches of wood who sniped furtively at the column. Tfae column fired back with every available weapon but never stopped.
On the 30th, the combat command turned northeast through Schlitz. A few miles north, Lt. Davis with his Sherman destroyed a German Mark V tank that attempted to delay us. "A" Battery used the slight delay to clear out a patch of Krauts killing ten and capturing eighty. Pvt. George Weissman of "A" was killed when ME 109's straffed the column. That night the battalion closed several hours after dark at Helmes. While the battalion commander and battery commanders were reconnoitering positions in the dark, the battalion met a German ammunition truck column coming in the opposite direction. A few bursts of machine guns left the trucks flaming and exploding in the dark.
The next day Combat Command "A" waited until afternoon for Combat Command "B" to come parallel on the left flank. The time was used by the Germans to prepare Hillanthausen for defense. The civilians were removed and Kraut infantry outposted the approaches of the town. The Combat Command "A" point, after coming under heavy fire, withdrew and an artillery preparation was fired that smashed the houses and set the town on fire. Captain Lothian and Lt. Boas killed two men in a panzerfaust team who were waiting in ambush on the outskirts of the town. The column moved on through the flaming town firing both right and left at possible ambush points. Germans fired from a railroad yard crowded with freight. Tanks, halftracks and M7's returned the fire, starting fires in the freight cars. The freight cars were loaded with ammunition and blew up as the column passed. V2 bombs, shells, nebelwerfers went off screaming into the sky, freight cars disappeared and railroad car wheels fell as debris on the road. The column stopped at Damkmanshhausen after dark. That night the 94th held the western perimeter while the 8th outposted to the northeast; small parties of Krauts by-passed the town all night on their way north.
On the 1st of April, the column pushed on to the north searching for a bridge over the Werra River. The objective was the area around Gotha and Ohrdruf to the northeast. During short delays on the road, the men dismounted and mopped up the slit trenches on either side of the road. T/Sgt. Carl P. Bergman, T/5 James J. Coyle and T/5 Nelson L. Sutherland were all wounded when they were hit by machine gun bullets as they cleaned out slit trenches. Captain Jacob Horowitz, assisted by T/3 Leo Pudwell and T/5 Edward Rushin went to the aid of the wounded men still under fire and evacuated them. They were awarded the Silver Star for gallantry.
Meanwhile, "B" Battery was sniped at from a cave which wounded T/4 Michael DiGregorio. An M7 was turned on the cave and fired four rounds direct fire After the fourth round, thirty-two Krauts came out with their hands up, leaving three dead behind them. Sixty-four prisoners were taken that day by the 94th and six killed.
As no bridge could be found across the Werra River, Combat Command "A" swung northeast and began to construct a bridgehead at Pferdsdorf. The 94th went into position at Archfeld to support the river crossing. That night the Germans counterattacked with assault guns and infantry. Lt. Frederick Moorby earned the Silver Star for gallantry when he calmly remained in an exposed position by his radio and adjusted artillery fire which broke up the attack. The enemy guns, however, had destroyed three bridge trucks which delayed the bridge building the next day. All the next day the combat command was subjected to intense air raids of as many as one hundred to two hundred planes at a time. It was the biggest air show the battalion had ever witnessed. We only wished they were ours and that we were not the target. Sgt. Carl Rich of "C" Battery was killed during one of these air attacks. At least five planes were shot down.
On the 3rd of April Combat Command "A" crossed the Werra and turned east toward the objective. The advance guard tank and infantry companies with which the battalion commander and battery commanders parties travelled made their way successfully across the road leading out of the bridgehead before it dissolved in mud. Succeeding vehicles became mired. The 94th, therefore, led the column over a new, uncleaned road through Stregda which was under fire from nearby Eisenach.
As the first position for the day was occupied at Hotzelroda, "C" Battery was fired upon from a wood southeast of town. The battery immediately neutralized the enemy with machine guns and S/Sgt. John J. Loebell of the first section opened up with direct fire. Under cover of this fire 1st Sergeant Bernard Steinberg led a detail of men on foot supported by Headquarters light tank and cleared the woods taking twenty-six prisoners and killing several. 1st Sergeant Steinberg was awarded the Bronze Star for heroism for this action. The column picked up speed, rolling through burning towns and spraying with machine gun's every suspicious terrain feature. The route turned onto the autobahn or superhighmay. The tanks picked up to about thirty miles per hour. A bridge was overrun before the German engineer party could blow it. About a mile east of Waltershausen another bridge blew up in front of the column. As the dust from the explosion began to clear, three batteries of SB's opened up. In about ten seconds as many of our tanks were knocked out. Half tracks tried to make their way across country and became stuck in the mud. The sky was full of air bursts. What was left of the advance guard made their way to cover a thousand yards away to the south. Private Joe McBride of "B" Battery earned the Silver Star for going to the assistance of a wounded doughboy and evacuating him under the fire. Meanwhile, Major Frank's, who could see the situation immediately ahead of him with the advance guard, pulled the battalion off the road and directed the guns to hull-defiladed positions. Individual guns opened direct fire on one battery of 88's while others took under fire infantry who were fleeing to the south towards Waltershausen. Major Franks contacted Lt. Edgar C. Smith, cub pilot, to take the remaining enemy batteries under fire. Lt. Smith earned the Silver Star for flying in the face of heavy anti-aicraft fire and taking the enemy batteries under fire and destroying them. As the sun began to go down, the situation was well in hand. The 94th displaced to Horsgau. Just before dark, Jerry turned his Luftwaffe again, as usual ineffective, and several were shot down. One plane crashed within a hundred yards of "A", scattering over the area. The next day both Combat Command "A" and Combat Command "B" moved through Gotha and turned south on Ohrdruf. Combat Command "B" took defensive positions to the-east while Combat Command "A" attacked the town. The 94th turned off the column route and made for Schwabhausen. The "C" Battery commander peep took six prisoners outside of the town. Lt. Colonel Parker and Major Franks in their peeps, Lt. Boas in the light tank and the executive half track went on in the town and took thirty-three additional prisoners in the town.
The battalion stayed at Schwabhausen for six days firing counterbattery to the south. Most of the men went to look at the horrors of the Ohrdruf concentation camp where the Nazis had left emaciated, starved people, stacks of dead bodies like cordwood and others partially buried in mass in lime pits.
The 94th was put in Combat Command Reserve on the 11th together with the 35th Tank and 53rd Infantry Battalions. The columns moved out generally east on a route, by-passing Erfurt, Weimar and Gera to the south and following approximately Combat Command "A" route. That night we went into position west of Weimar, capturing a German Air Corps headquarters, twelve officers, one hundred twenty-four enlisted men and thirteen nurses. Harassing fires were put on Weimar which surrendered to elements of the 80th Division the next day.
We continued east the twelfth, southeast of Weimar to Mellingen. The battalion captured ten PW's in the morning and turned 85 more over to Combat Command Reserve later, including two Waffen SS men who had run concentration camps. It was largely a march over dusty loads. We moved out the following day and went into position near Mennewitz, after the battery commanders' party took the town.
Continuing on, the battery commanders' party, with some help from the head of the battalion column, captured the towns of Rudersdorf, Stubnitz, Gruna and Hartmannsdorf, taking twenty-eight PW's. We went into position for the night near Gruna, well within firing range of Jena which was taken later.
On the 14th, traveling rapidly on the autobahn, the battalion moved into position southwest of Meerane and fired at Glauchau in support of the Combat Command Reserve attack. A party from "A" Battery under Major Frank's, Lt. Frank J. Vegh, S/Sgt. Charles J. LiVecchi, Sgt. Albert R. Conklin and Sgt. William Heesaker took two M7's and two half-tracks on the high ground to the west and attacked Gablenz. With some exciting backyard and street figthting, the detail captured three officers, fifty-one enlisted men and killed six. The light tank on another mission took fifteen prisoners, and the battery commanders' party took eight prisoners moving to the position area near Remse. Nine prisoners were taken in Remse, where we went into position to remain several days. The total PW's for the day was eighty-eight. Lt. Charles LaDue of Service Battery was seriously wounded by sniper small-arm's fire at Glauchau. Several days were spent at Remse, with maintenance again and not too quiet, as seven PW's were taken during the rest. Captain Temple, T/5 Herbert Alien and Pfc. Walden of "A" went to the states on rotation. Lt. Davis acted as liaison officer and M/Sgt. James Pruette took over his job as forward observer. Lt. Guild took temporary command of Service Battery when Captain George Ray was injured in an auto accident.
The 4th Armored Division, at this time, was well beyond the Russian line of demarcation threatening Chemnitz, the farthest east of any American element. If it would have been permitted, it could have rolled on and met the Russians. On the 19th of April, the division drew back on order from higher headquarters and the battalion moved near Meerane. It was to be sort of a rest period. Even so, Major Franks and Lt. Davis took two prisoners in a woods. The division went into Third Army Reserve.
On the 24th of April, the battalion moved with the division to Ramsenthal near Bayreuth, a march of 110 miles. One tank recovery vehicle fell out with a broken drive-shaft near Schleiz on the autobahn. The crew was ambushed early the next morning by a machine gun and panzerfaust crew. T/4 William Eppele and T/5 Russell J. Dark were killed. T/4 John 0. Pippin, the sole remaining member of the crew drove the Krauts off with a machine gun. The Krauts who killed Eppele and Dark were searched for by a party of the 94th but they could not be traced.
On May 2nd the 94th under Combat Command "B" moved to the vicinity of Deggendorf on the Danube to be prepared to turn south towards Berchtesgaden or east towards Austria or north into Czechoslovakia, depending where it could be employed most profitably. The decision went to Czechoslovakia. On the 6th of May the division moved north in two columns, Combat Command "A" and Combat Command "B", towards Prague. The 94th in Combat Command "B" passed through Regen, Zwiesel, Susice and Horazdovice and went into position at Kadov. The Czechs were friendly, acted as guides and treated the column to beer, cakes and pastry. The 4th Armored again was not held up by enemy action but by limiting lines of higher headquarters. We had to wait for the Russians to meet us. During the following days, German troops retreated from the Russians towards our lines, then surrendered both as individuals and units, disarming themselves and setting up in tent camps. Daily the 94th picked up small parties of Germans trying to pass through the American lines and make their way back to Germany. Many were savagely dangerous SS in fear for their lives if taken by the Russians. Although the war ended on the 8th of May, Sgt. Peter Stackonis was wounded by small arms fire on the ninth. Two avenging patrols were sent out, one patrol took one prisoner and killed one while the other captured eight Germans. On the 14th, Pfc. Oscar Oakman and T/5 Garland J. Bunch were fired upon in the woods killing Oakman. A patrol of "A" Battery which went out killed fifteen Germans and captured eight.
On the 28th of May the division moved back to Germany to its permanent occupational area. The 94th was billeted in Riedenburg Kreis near Regensburg.
