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Chateau Salins, France - It was a tiresome drive after making the recent small trips. However, this placed us in our old stamping grounds once more. Nancy was just a short distance from Chateau Salins, and we were given passes to look the place over once more after four months. Nancy was quite different from the city we had known, even the disposition of the people having changed. They were busy restoring their town and had little time to cater too much to soldiers. Many of the places were "off limits" and other familiar spots closed down. However, when there's still a town, drinks can be had, as Lt. Eugene G. O'Connell can vaguely remember after picking himself up from a 15-foot fall off the back porch of the mess hall, which wasn't there! Censorship regulations wouldn't permit us to state that we had made a change and were back in France, so the folks back home lost track of us for awhile. The Sixth Armored Division had become quite a headache to the German Armies. Consequently, our move was made in complete secrecy with vehicle markings as well as our arm patches covered. Of course this all seemed silly to us and Charles Hartman made a gesture by printing "Guess Who" on the white tape covering his Sixth Armored Division shoulder patch. Large scale preparations were made by the U.S. Seventh Army for the Palatinate breakthrough set for March 20, 1945. A division formation, held in honor of our men killed in action thus far, was a very colorful affair. Also at this formation we were given instructions as to our future operations.  The General speaks We soon found ourselves placed at an assembly area near Singling, France, on the Maginot Line, after travelling 52 miles on the day before the great push began. |
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Singling, France - On March 20, the big guns began firing all along the eastern horizon, the big drive was on, and we were allowed to uncover the veil of secrecy to show the Sixth Armored patch in all its glory. It is interesting to remember that on the eve of the push, we nonchalantly whipped out the old volley ball net and before long had a rip-roaring game started. Also on this night, a movie screen was set up in the field and we enjoyed a swell movie.  A Maginot fortress The next morning, we followed close on the heels of the forward elements and soon found ourselves completely surrounded by a disorganized and amazed German Army. [Officers and Enlisted Men] [Web editor's note: When the hardbound book was published, images of Officers and Enlisted men for each unit were not separated out in the Table of Contents. They were located here in the book. I have separated these images in a separate page in each unit so that they will be easier to locate. The content in this section is as originally published in the book. M.D. -- 6/10/2024] American columns moved so rapidly through the Saar Valley that the astounded Germans surrendered by the thousands. Roads were lined with German soldiers begging to surrender and they were overjoyed at even the slightest attention. It was a bewildering situation. Why didn't the MP's capture all these German soldiers running at large? One glance at a prisoner of war camp would answer that. It was filled to overflowing! The German soldiers came running up to us shouting, "Kamarad." We just gave them an amused smile and said "We are too busy to bother with you just now, just keep walking toward the rear." Soon it was common to see German soldiers walking through the towns just as though they were merely on a pass, and high-ranking German officers riding bicycles, appearing to be doing nothing more than enjoying a Sunday afternoon's joyride.  German soldiers begged to be captured During the trip, we passed through the cities of Homburg and Zweibrucken, almost ruined beyond recognition and still burning from the recent attacks. The civilians were dazed to think that this could happen to their beautiful cities. At first they were frightened and peeved but later put up a bold front of arrogance and cold indifference. It was also on this move that we passed through the Siegfried Line fortifications with all the intricate traps and hazards cooked up by the Germans. The Line had just been cracked by the forward elements of our division who were just a short distance ahead of us |
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Vogelbach, Germany - Our bivouac that evening was strung around the edge of a ball park at Vogelbach, Germany. Of course we took advantage of the facilities and enjoyed an energetic game of baseball, much to the astonishment of the passing German soldiers and civilians, which also added to the confusion and amazement of the laughable situation. The highway nearby was congested with a never-ending march of American armor moving rapidly forward. |
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Gollhelm, Germany - The next morning, we fell in line with the advancing columns and travelled 31 miles to the outskirts of Gollhelm during which time we were attacked by two ME 262's, the latest Geman [German] rocket plane. The result was no damage other than a few holes in the truck tarps and a shot-up windshield. Here at the area, the weather permitted us to sleep in the open once more, which we greatly enjoyed. The fields where we bivouacked were spacious, so this urged us to have a little game of football and also a little more baseball. The athletic equipment was put to good use during our whole stay here. The Service and Salvage Section received many German vehicles of all descriptions, including civilian cars and motorcycles. After a little adjustment and repair by Joe Tuzinski and "Knobby" Baeten with the help of the Second Echelon boys, the fields were soon "lousy" with moving vehicles driven by hilarious GI's.  Joe Tuzinski learned the technique of German equipment We attended early Easter services before leaving this area, for it was probably our last chance, since the chaplain was kept busy visiting all the units. By this time, we learned that the U.S. Seventh Army had reached the whole Rhine front in this sector. The barrier had to be crossed immediately to prevent the enemy from reorganizing, so we, who were one of the important units in that great American drive, soon found ourselves at the marshalling area near Dexheim, Germany, preparatory to the historic Rhine crossing. During the trip we were strafed again by German planes concentrating on this area. Our columns continued moving during the raids in order to make a less accurate target. All the boys were pretty nervous at the time, but Leonard Zollars, who was driving a truck, became so excited that he stood up on the driver's seat to see what was going on. Abram Frisby grabbed the steering wheel just in time to keep the truck from going out of control. |