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Chateau Salins - Among the other things happening at Dahnen was the transfer of the Sixth Armored Division from the Third to the Seventh Army and its subsequent removal on March 9 to an assembly and refitting area near Chateau Salins, France, 138 miles to the southwest. The move was made without incident by Battalion Headquarters, and the change from the mud and cold of Dahnen to the dust and warmth of the new location was a pleasant one. At Chateau Salins, one of the nine new multiple rocket launchers for tanks was installed and demonstrated to the division on March 16. Gen. Grow and staff considered the launchers highly effective weapons, and eight more were secured and installed by the battalion. The weapons were test fired, and tank crews were instructed in their use in time to have the equipment on the line for the jump-off on March 20 which resulted in the Saar Palatinate breakthrough.  "Bowl formation" at Chateau Salins, France While at Chateau Salins, Battalion personnel heard Gen. Grow address a division bowl formation in which he stressed the speed and ruthlessness of the forthcoming attack. They remembered his words to the Super Sixth: "I don't care how far out front we get. We have enough firepower to shoot our way out of anything." |
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Beginning of the End - Preparations were made for another "rat race" like that of the preceding summer in France, but this time in Germany, and action started for Battalion on March 19 with a 52-mile move to Singling, France, where field bivouacs became the order again. Singling was on the German edge of the Maginot Line, and multitudinous pillboxes dotted the area. One of these fortifications was used by Major O'Hara as a Parts Supply office. When the battalion went to the southern part of the front in Europe, the Administrative Center moved on March 11 to Vix-Sur-Seille, outside the much damaged town of Chateau Salins and within driving distance of Nancy, much to the happiness of certain members of Personnel Section. While here, Eddie Turnure caused a minor stir by falling through a cellar door at night, as a result of which it was thereafter claimed that he needed two pairs of glasses. At Vix-Sur-Seille, a building had to be practcally reconstructed in order to have office space. This time windows were intact, but the roof had to be repaired. A private home was secured for living quarters.  Maginot line fort near Singling, France On March 19, the section moved to Saaralbe, last French bivouac, where office space and billets were secured in damaged barracks. This move, made at night, signified the end of the old, easy-going days with long periods of time spent at each stopping place. From that point on, life for the section consisted of a series of fairly quick moves with work difficult to accomplish. |
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Enemy Disorganized - Moves for the whole battalion came thick and fast in the next few days, moves which were made throu a completely disorganized German army whose personnel were wandering down the highways, headed for PW cages in droves. On March 21, Battalion Headquarters stopped in the vicinity of Vogelbach, and the following day, set up near Gollheim. During this las move, German jet-propelled planes put in their first appearance, and as was usually the casewith planes flying overhead in a hurry, no one knew what kind had passed until too late. The first enemy air activity in some weeks, this was merely an indication of what was to come.  Bomb and arillery damage at Zweibrucken, Germany The German planes attacking that day were a pair of Me 262's, but except for one broken windshield on a 3/4 ton weapons carrier and numerous holes in the tarpaulins of general purpose vehicles of the column, no damage was sustained, and there were no casualties. |
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Touch and Go - At this time, the division was moving forward so fast that it was impossible for the battalion to set up for anything except emergency jobs which could be completed in a few hours. All work was accumulated at the halts and one letter company left to clean it up by repair or evacuation. No treatise on the battalion would be complete without mention of Division Ordnance's Wilbur "Jockey" Kern, who handled his toothless gums and a box with equal facility throughout the war. Jockey stopped only once -- during the "rat race" through Germany when a wandering Kraut plane drilled a neat bullet hole through his windshield early one morning, That silenced him for the remainder of the day.  Through the Siegfried Line dragon teeth |
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Over the Rhine - Preparations were made for a Rhine crossing when the battalion joined the rest of the division in the neighborhood of Dexheim, Germany, on March 25. The actual crossing was made shortly after midnight the same day, and although uneventful in that the Germans did no damage, the earlier part of the evening consisted of one huge fireworks display rivalling the show at Avranches. Flares hung in the sky, and first thoughts were that the coming crossing would be anvthing but a "sentimental journey." But the trip across the river, made on a treadway pontoon bridge about three miles from Dexheim, near Oppenheim, was finished in safety, and the Battalion Headquarters column proceeded another five miles before bivouacking near Trebur. What some men considered the outstanding accomplishment of the battalion occurred during this bivouac when Lt. Meisinger, Sgt. Funderburk and Sgt. Poppitt discovered a trainload of abandoned liquor of all kinds, both bottled and in kegs. All sections carried a liberal supply until subsequent events made the battalion commander decide that too much was simply too much. Early in April, shortly after the Rhine crossing, Lt. Meisinger, called "Mouse" because of his knack for getting into things, found the home of relatives in Hofen, Germany, and incidentally was the first American member of the armed forces in the town. With him was "Poncho" Chevierra of "C" Company who drove the C & R car in which the pair made the trip. The lieutenant, able to speak fluent German, inquired of the inhabitants of the village about the location of his relatives' home, went inside, found them gone, but took pictures of the house. When he and Chevierra started back to rejoin the battalion, their C & R car became mired down in a small stream which they tried to cross where a bridge was out. Four horses, procured through the village burgomesiter, brought the vehicle across -- after they were finally hitched so they weren't pulling against each other!  Crossing pontoon bridge across the Rhine Lt. "Mouse" had C & R car trouble on at least one other occasion. This other time, the lieutenant, driven by T-5 Tom Gregal, was on his way back to France on a mission for the colonel when the car broke down, and he left it with an Ordnance company on a work order. Then he went to a depot where he told his story about leaving the car in the hands of the Ordnance company and succeeded in drawing a new one in which to continue his westward trip into France. On the way back with mission accomplished, the second C & R also developed mechanical trouble, and it too was placed in Ordnance hands. Then, to finish his trip, the lieutenant repeated his performance at another depot, riding back to report to the colonel in C & R No. 3.  Typical view of the 'autobahn,' much used by the battalon after crossing the Main river Coming right along with the battalion in these fast-moving days was the Medical Detachment, and, slightly behind but still following was the Personnel Section, those intrepid chairborne keepers of the records. After a three-day stay at Saaralbe, the latter section moved on March 23 into enemy territory, taking over a factory in the German town of Eisenberg. There, living space was at a premium, so the section laid claim to an air raid shelter for sleeping quarters. It provided two rooms for sleeping, with running water and a shower, both cold. Two more fast moves kept the Personnel men on the jump, the first taking them across the Rhine river at Mainz and on to Homberg. The second, made on April 7, carried them "right up front" to Mulhausen two days after it had been captured, and they would have been there a day sooner, had transportation been available. As it was, the Administrative Center convoy was halted enroute during a counter attack by an estimated 1,800 Germans. |
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1,800 Prisoners - With preparations underway for a Main river crossing, Battalion Headquarters moved on March 28 from Trebur to Sprendlingen, a distance of 20 miles. There, an overnight bivouac was set up before the crossing next day. The Main river was spanned near Doringheim on March 29, and the column took to the Autobahn for the first time, bivouacking near Gruningen.  Crossing the Main river near Loringheim The latter move brought excitement aplenty for Captain Pilcer and Master Sgt. Thermon Funderburk who picked up some 1,800 surprised German soldiers in the town of Friedburg while on a billeting detail. This little affair was a surprise to both sides in that the two billeters were quite unaware of the presence of a German garrison in the town until a look down the road along which they were travelling showed a well polished guard on duty at the gate of the local Wehrmacht C.P. This sight posed many problems in a hurry. After working around a roadblock to get out of town, the two men found so many Krauts occupying the outlying fields that a decision was made to go back and take what chances the town itself offered. Doing so, the pair made prisoners of a few Germans, selected a PW enclosure for them and began directing other Heinies into the enclosure. It amounted to quite a party, the bag totalling 1,800 by the time it was counted by MP's who took over. Captain Pilcer and Funderburk were both awarded Silver Star medals for this action. |
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Deeper into the Reich - Ordinarily however, there wasn't that much excitement connected with movement through Germany at the time. Completely disorganized, enemy soldiers created more of a traffic problem than anything else as they streamed up and down roads headed for PWE's without benefit of guards. The next move took Battalion Headquarters 57 miles to Frielendorf where, in addition to picking up the usual prisoners still in the area, three British PW's who had escaped from their guards were found. These men, in poor physical condition, were the first examples of German PW treatment to come to the attention of Battalion personnel. Another move of 22 miles three days later brought Battalion Headquarters on April 3 to Spangenburg where the town's factory district was taken over for maintenance work, while the personnel were billeted in apartment houses complete with dishes, beds and other comforts of civilization. At this time, German air activity shifted into high gear again, and the following 60-mile move on April 5 to Langula caused some uncomfortable moments, especially for Dave Lewis who was driving a cargo truck with a load of oil measures in the rear. There were no casualties, however, except to the Luftwaffe which lost two Me-109's to the 777 AAA boys stationed along the route of march. |
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Last of the Luftwaffe - Two days later, Headquarters took to the road for an 18-mile march to the Langensalza airport, headding [heading] into a period of German air activity which topped anything the battalion had seen to date. Arriving at Langensalza on April 7, personnel spent the next few days being attacked regularly, several times each day, by the Luftwaffe. Little damage and no casualties came from the strafing and anti-personnel bombs strewn by the Heinie planes, but on the other hand, many m en attained a peak of physical condition through almost constant racing for air-raid shelters. Many German planes of various types, including the latest JU-88's, had been left on the field which had fallen to Sixth Armored Division tankers, and in the course of the battalion's stay there, men acquired first-hand knowledge of the characteristics of enemy aircraft. Lt. Col. Raymond B. Graeves Jr. returned on April 10 from hospitalization to resume command of the battalion, and Maj. Chester Stiteler, relinquishing the reins, went back to his old job of battalion shop officer. Meanwhile, the Personnel Section was having more than its usual share of excitement. Reaching Mulhausen about 9 a.m. on April 7, the men found that the MP's had established a PWE in the barracks area which had been reserved for Administrative Center workers. It was a grand opportunity, so the entire Center took pleasure in having PW's unload the numerous trucks, clean rooms and establish billets for everyone. A German corporal and nine privates were "requisitioned" for Battalion Personnel Section's truck. In the midst of the pleasure of watching the Germans work, however, the Luftwaffe came along, strafing and bombing. Once again, luck was with the battalion and the whole Center in this case -- for, although 50 persons were injured and several buildings destroyed about two blocks from the spot where the Center was being established, no damage or casualties were sustained by the Personnel Section or the Center.  Langensalza airport where the Luftwaffe made things "hot for a few days" Mulhausen offered quarters and office space for the Personnel Section similar to the accomodations at Nancy. Much material was sent home during the 10-day stay there, and T-5 O'Connor, battalion mail clerk, was about as busy there as he was at any time in Europe. Due to the fact that supply depots were unable to keep pace with the advancing troops, the Administrative Center, along with the rest of the division, ate captured German army food for more than two hungry weeks. |
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Easy Going - The remainder of the battalion's travels across Germany amounted to little more than routine road marches, but they did retain the mental hazards of warfare because of the non-existance of any definite front lines. On April 12, a 72-mile move was made to a bivouac near Molau, and three days later, Battalion Headquarters speedometers clicked off 60 more miles on the way to Stollsdorf where another bivouac was established. Here, a small-scale battle developed by surprise on the organization's right flank when the 50th Infantry cleared a German infantry unit from woods bordering the bivouac area.  This destroyed bridge blocked only half of the autobahn That was the last of the shooting as far as Battalion Headquarters was concerned during the remaining days of the war. The last, that is, except for a little private war into which Col. Graeves blundered one day while souvenir hunting. Yes, even the colonel took time out for that most popular ETO sport. He had made a trip back to the Altenburg airport, past which the column had moved before on its way east, and was searching the hangers for parachutes -- object, silk for Mrs. Graeves.  Altenburg airport grounds While he was poking through the Heinie leavings, P-47's suddenly zoomed down for a strafing attack on the airport and all the Nazi planes still parked all over the place. With bullets giving hangars and planes a thorough ripping, the colonel grovelled for what cover he could find, and hoped it would be sufficient. As soon as the planes, pilots of which evidently were unaware of the capture of the field, moved on, the colonel did likewise. |
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Deepest Penetration - On April 18, the battalion was given a slight change in name, reportedly to eliminate postal confusion with an organization of somewhat similar designation. From then on, it was called the 128th Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion. The change consisted of the addition of the word, "Armored," to the battalion's old title. A 3.5-mile march on April 23 took Battalion Headquarters to Geithain where indoor billets were found, and two days later, the convoy got rolling once more, ending up after an 18-mile trip at the Altenburg airport where the entire battalion, with the exception Personnel Section, gathered and where it was established when hostilities ended in Europe at 12:01 a. m., May 9, 1945. Personnel Section, with Administrative Center, moved on April 17 from Mulhausen to a former V-2 factory in Geithain where the Center was located on VE day, which was just another day there with work going on as usual. On May 14, the Center was disbanded as an administrative unit, and the Personnel Section came to the Altenburg airport to join the rest of the battalion, including the Medics. At Altenburg, everyone was together for all the parades in which Battalion Headquarters participated -- Personnel Section, Division Ordnance and the Medical Detachment. According to the "head man" of the latter organization, Capt. Alfred J. Schmitt, the detachment contained some "characters" who were unlikely to be forgotten by those who knew them. |
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Medic "Characters" - Listed by the captain in the No. 1 spot was T-5 Alfred R. Bachtold who received more money from his "schemes" than he drew from the army. He started with the manufacture of thrupney-bit bracelets in England. It first was a Detachment affair with each man performing some part of the operation, but when the others tired, Bachtold carried on his profitable business alone. He made all sorts of jigs and tools, and before long his bracelets were being sold throughout the division. Next he turned his attention to the making of leather watch bands which were sold at a good profit, and then he went in for photography, selling sets of photos depicting the ETO lives of soldiers and the scenes of warfare. T-5 George Siebert Stotler had ambitions along other lines, enjoying driving the captain to Paris, Liege, Nancy, Frankfurt and elsewhere. Always on the alert to meet some nice girl who could speak English, he would drive that peep day in and day out as long as it was in the general direction of that gal with up-raised hand at the entrance to New York harbor. His stated plans for postwar operations in the States were simple: "Get myself lost in the hills of West Virginia, build a still, and organize my own army to ward off the revenuers." Doc Schmitt expressed the hope that Stotler's product would be better than France's calvados. With Cpl. Clyde Walters was associated the name of "Reetsie," the peep with which he tried his best in England to climb the stone walls characterstic of the countryside, only to fail and crack up. "Reetsie" had four accidents before being replaced by "Reetsie II," in which Walters had a black-out encounter with a 2 1/2-ton truck which put him in the hospital with chest injuries. Returning to the detachment, he had stories to tell about that "second front," the replacement-depot system. The Detachment clerk, he was possessed of an enormous appetite which kept him eating at all hours of the day, but he was the only one who could keep up with the flood of changes and circulars constantly emanating from higher headquarters, so he enjoyed the respect of everyone around him. PFC Ruby Brumer was the Detachment's zoot-suit shoe salesman from New York City, one of the few individuals in the army whose uniform became him more than his civilian attire, judging from pre-army snapshots. A great aid in fitting men with proper sized shoes, he spoke German as well as Hungarian, making the acquaintance of many Hungarian slave-worker girls through the latter lingual ability. Ruby was of inestimable value in conducting Jewish religous services in the division. Staff Sgt. Raymond H. Grove was a man of retiring personality who nevertheless would argue "until he was blue in the face" and who, "in his own way," never lost an argument. His civilian experience at loading trucks came in handy in the Medical Detachment which hauled an ever-increasing load of trophies as the war went on. Grove, who had rounded out his surgical education with a course at Fitzsimmons General Hospital, maintained a continous supply of essentials for the operation of an aid station. His main ambition, according to the captain, was to meet a rich widow and settle down to the peaceful routine of life on a farm. T-4 Alfred J. Tix was the Detachment's surgical technician who removed more ingrown toenails than Heinz had varieties without losing a patient. The best cook in the detachment, he also could speak excellent German. He boasted of a bouncing heir, but his fellow members of the Detachment never lost sight of the fact that he also might have been boasting of those 12 points which made him their high man. |
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"It was a Tough War" - In the Division Ordnance Section of Battalion Headquarters, few changes were made in personnel during the European campaign. One of these featured the drafting of T-5 Harold Harbry from his "B" Company mail clerk job to drive for the Ammunition Section. During November, Julius Marcus was returned to Division Ordnance, this time with the Ammunition Section, where he added his complaints to those voiced daily by Preau. The section's chief clerk was Ryan who managed to sit long hours at his desk, looking wise and busy at the same time and thereby managing to miss all lifting details except those involving the moving of the office. And when it was all over, he still maintained it had been a tough war |
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Statistics of Success - According to a compilation of figures by Captain Walter G. Pilcer for the period of combat operations in the ETO, the 128th Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion took 374 prisoners, and at Friedburg, Germany, was responsible for securing over 1,800 prisoners who were kept under guard for six hours until the MP's came to take over. During this same period, the battalion suffered the following deaths, casualties and evacuations through medical channels: Deaths -- three officers and two enlisted men. Evacuated -- 14 officers and 92 enlisted men. Returned to duty -- five officers and 52 enlisted men. Purple Heart awards -- five. The average battalion strength was 46 officers and 761 enlisted men. Ordnance supply and work turned out by shops of the battalion was a follows: 2,086 general purpose vehicles, including trailers, repaired. 2,375 armored vehicles repaired, including medium tanks, light tanks, armored cars, M-7's, M-18's and halftracks. 9,741 small arms, including mounts, repaired. 4,368 instruments repaired, including watches, sights, telescopes, binoculars and periscopes. 3,139 artillery repair jobs on mounts and guns from 37mm to 155mm in caliber. 5,354 Service Section jobs such as welding, lathe work and salvage and repair of major items where possible. 137 medium tanks equipped with duckbills, fabricated and welded in a period of five days during which time the shops worked 24 hours a day until the job was complete, November 2 to November 7, 1944. 3,997 unit assemblies repaired by Headquarters Company and Salvage Section who turned this equipment over to Parts Issue for reissue to units. Assemblies repaired included such items as carburetors, trans-missions, differentials, radiators, wet cell batteries, brake drums, etc. In addition to the above items, the following ordnance supply totals include items replaced due to combat inserviceability, actual combat losses and those items evacuated to higher echelons due mainly to a serious shortage of spare parts. Major item shortages reached their lowest stage during the period of European combat on March 17 and 18, 1945, when a total of two cargo trailers constituted the entire vehicle shortage. Vehicles replaced in the division during combat were: Thirty-four M5A1 light tanks, five of which were picked up from the battlefield and reissued; 4 M24 light tanks; 226 M4 medium tanks; 15 medium (105) tanks, of which nine were initial issue; 18 M7 howitzers; 26 M8 armored cars; one M20 armored car; 19 M18 tank destroyers; one M15A1 multiple gun carriage; 27 M32 tank recovery vehicles, of which 25 were initial issue; 120 M3A1 halftracks; 322 peeps; 32 C&R cars; 120 2 1/2-ton 6X6 trucks; five M1 wreckers; four 1/4-ton trailers; 130 cargo trailers; 54 M10 ammunition trailers; 41 M29 cargo carriers, of which 41 were initial issue; one 1 1/2:-ton 6X6 truck; six 1/4-ton ambulances; two dump trucks; one M25 tank transporter; three M5 high speed tractors; one M7A1 Signal Repair truck and one light passenger sedan. Small arms and automatic weapons were replaced principally by reissue of weapons turned in to the service and salvage sections by units of the division. This stockpile was the result of an extensive battle-field recovery program, and weapons over and above replacement requirements were evacuated to army collecting points. The small arms sections of the battalion materially aided this program by repairing and returning to service large numbers of these surplus weapons. The following listed figures show only the total drawn from the army depots, and the small quantities listed indicate to some extent the use of the excess and salvage weapon stock. The following were drawn from depots: Two hundred and one cal. 30 M1919A4 flexible machine guns, three cal. 30 M1919A5 fixed machine guns, 35 cal. 30 M1917A1 machine guns, 192 M2HB cal. 50 machine guns, 144 cal. 30 M2 tripods, 67 cal. 50 M3 tripods, 29 cal. 30 M1917Al tripods, 18 cal. 50 M63 anti-aircraft tripods, 13 M31 pedestals, 38 M48 machine gun mounts, of which 25 were initial issue, seven M20 brackets, 42 initial issue M36 truck mounts for machine guns, two M24A1 truck machine gun mounts, 12 cal. 50 anti-aircraft elevator cradles, 231 carbines, 393 M1 rifles, 16 M1903A4 rifles, 117 M1918A2 BAR's, of which 66 were initial issue, 110 M3 submachine guns, 34 60mm mortars with mounts, five 81mm mortars with their mounts, 396 bayonets with scabbard, 908 bayonet knives with scabbard, all initial issue, 542 trench knives with scabbard, 452 M8 grenade launchers, 550 M7 grenade launchers, 266 anti-tank rocket launchers, four hand pyrotechnical projectors and 59 cal. 45 automatic pistols. Those items listed under F-Group of the Ordnance SNL's were continually difficult to procure and serious shortages of some of the items existed at all times. Instrument repair sections of the letter companies alleviated the situation with a conscientious and continual salvage and repair program of any available items, including modifications made on German sighting and fire-control instruments. The following items are only those received from army depots, and consequently do not show replacements made through salvage: Five prismatic compasses, one message center clock, one aiming circle, 104 M17 binoculars, of which 93 were initial issue, 20 M3 binoculars, one M7 range finder, 47 sets of M14 aiming post lights, one M1 instrument light, five M19 instrument lights, three M32 instrument lights, four M33 instrument lights, five M39C instrument lights, 39 M6 periscopes, nine M4 periscopes with M38 telescope, two M4 periscopes with M40 telescope, 20 M4A1 periscopes with M47A2 telescopes, 18 sets of M1 aiming posts, 10 M4 mortar sights, 28 M14 fuse setters, 12 M17 fuse setters, seven M4 graphical firing tables, eight M10 graphical firing tables, 13 M48 and M49 observation telescopes, two M65 BC telescopes, six M12A5 panamoramic telescopes, two M70C telescopes, 14 M71D telescopes, one M72C telescope, four M64 telescopes, one M1 powder temperature thermometer, two M1 gunner's quadrants, 24 seven-jewel wrist watches, 1,032 15-jewel wrist watches, including initial issue, three 17-jewel pocket watches and five Type B stopwatches. Major items of Ordnance equipment constituted but one part of the Division Ordnance Supply functions. In addition, the section acted as supply agency for all cleaning and preserving materials, vehicular and weapon accessories listed under CSP&E section of Ordnance SNL's and tools, including complete sets. These items totalled several truckloads of equipment each week. Little use was made of captured German equipment except for common tools which were issued in the division. Going to rear depots through the Ordnance battalion were the following items: Seven thousand five hundred and fifty-six Ml rifles, 1,692 carbines, 672 machine guns, 49 Thompson submachine guns, 415 30 cal. machine guns, 534 rocket launchers, 42 BAR's, 182 50 cal. machine guns, 231 M1903 rifles, 62 30 cal. ground mount machine gun tripods, 174 50 cal. ground mount machine gun tripods, 46 signal guns, 14 81mm mortars, one 57mm anti-tank gun, 56 sighting instruments, 70 enemy vehicles, 184 wrist watches and 4,100 tons of miscellaneous spare parts and equipment. During the European combat period, Battalion Parts Issue handled 5,297 tons of spare parts, 180 tons of prefabricated "duckbills" and 1,310 tons of tank track making a total of 6,787 tons of material handled by this section alone. |
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Jena - With the European picture seething and churning through one stage of the usual army confusion after another before settling down into the unaccustomed status of peace, Battalion, with all companies, pulled out of the Altenburg airport on the afternoon of June 14, and wound up late that afternoon in an alfalfa patch near the town of Kotschau and about seven miles from Jena. The resultant alfalfa patch administrative bivouac was broken up two days later when Battalion Headquarters moved into barracks at the Jena airport.  Undamaged building at Jena airport While at the airport, Battalion personnel heard Gen. Grow deliver a fourth and final address to the old "Super Sixth" at a bowl formation held in Apolda, not far from Jena. The division was going home, the general said, but not the division which had fought the war. About two thirds of its personnel, he said, would be transferred to make room for high pointers who would sail home in the name of the Sixth Armored Division. The few having enough points were happy, the others in a distinctly different mood. In his talk, the general also laid the groundwork for a very annoying bit of business which was to come later -- the rifle range near Jena. After telling the men and officers of the division that the division's job was through but that some of them would have to go on, he mentioned that there still was some shooting to be done.  Gen. Grow, Col. McBride, Gen. Reed at last "bowl formation," held at Apolda Shortly thereafter, construction work on a rifle range was begun by division engineers, and before long, a full-scale range had blossomed, and all units of the division were engaged daily in firing for record there. None of the battalion men had any interest whatsoever in rifle range antics at that time, including all the dry-running and lectures on weapons with which men of the division had become familiar three years earlier and fired all through the European combat period. But the range was a time-killer, and much ammunition was burned there, the men doing the shooting caring not in the least whether or whose target they hit, if any. |
The Last Move - Action on the Jena rifle range At Jena, all personnel enjoyed the scenery -- natural and physical -- as well as the fishing, hiking and all the other things which helped make Jena a high spot in ETO memories. But this interlude ended suddenly, for the entire battalion boarded vehicles the night of June 30, moving out at midnight on its last trip together. This was a real jaunt too -- slightly more than 200 miles in length, it carried vehicles and men to another airport between the German cities of Hanau and Aschaffenburg, not far from Frankfurt-am-Main. There, a tent city was erected, the last bivouac of the "real" 128th Armored Ordnance Maintenance Battalion. It was here that wholesale transfers went through, and everyone with less than 85 points was shipped out, scattered to the four winds with the exception of a considerable block of men and officers who went to the Third Armored Division in a group.  Some of the battalion vehicles at last division assembly area near Aschaffenburg |
| Split, Like the Atom - The beginning of the big exodus came on July 5 when the men for the Third Armored left after an unscheduled but violent pyrotechnical show put on the night of the Fourth by the GI's with flares, small arms and anything else that would make fire and noise. It was at this last tent city, with the entire division encamped in the vicinity, that men and officers of the battalion heard their commander, Lt. Col. Graeves, speak his last words to them as members of old organization. The colonel himself was scheduled for transfer to the Third Armored Division. And at this last bivouac, according to latest available reports, Maj. Chambers was still trying unsuccessfuly to catch up with "that nurse." But although the road ahead was figuratively full of forks, detours and bomb craters, nevertheless it did lead toward home, and although the column might be split, it always had come through in the past, so, imbued with that spirit which had carried the 128th through everything the ETO had to offer, its men felt no qualms about the future. Like Maj. Chambers in his search for the girl in white, their only worry was, "How long will it be?" Their eyes were on the ocean, and crossed fingers emphasized the fervent hope that it would be the Atlantic.  Hanau looed like this |