That evening as we were withdrawing, we crossed over on the other side. I could see the knocked-out Sherman tanks, the anti-tank gun, many dead Germans and Americans and the wrecked equipment. I noticed a German sitting hunched over in a machine gun emplacement. A second look and I could see that the back of his head was gone. He was defending the large anti-tank gun that was dug in the side of the embankment and was also the lookout. He had a whistle in his hand and apparently would use it for a signal to the anti-tank gun. I walked over and took the whistle out of his hand. Only the planes with bombs could have knocked out the defenses the Germans had built without severe casualties.194
1Lt. Henry Barnes and T/5 George Whitfield continued their role as a medical evacuation team. They had worked together throughout the Holland campaign and continued their work with the 502nd Regiment. On this occasion they were on the scene of the mistaken bombing episode.
After the Division changed from defensive to offensive maneuvering, the soldiers became much more cautious and wanted the medics near them at all times, as was observed by Lt. Barnes who also remembered being on the scene after the bombing:
The spirit of the soldiers changed. They wanted the medics to stay with them and not follow the other attacks. There was a general letdown and an unwillingness to take extra risks. I grew more cautious. I remember digging a hole for the night behind one of the battalions when three of our P-47 fighters came roaring in at tree height. I sensed danger and dove into the hole. The bombs blew off the head of one of the colonels and killed other members of his staff. Apparently, according to the rumor, we had requested aid to knock out a tank and then radioed a cancellation, and only the first message had been received by the Air Force.
The memory T/5 George Whitfield has of the actions involving 3rd Battalion is being called to pick up two forward observer casualties and rush them to the aid station. He wrote:
While working with 3rd Battalion, I was ordered up the hill to pick up two forward observers. One had lost his right arm and the other had a wound in his chest. While carrying him to our jeep, he thrashed about, trying to breathe. That evening I talked to the man with the missing forearm. He asked about his buddy. I didn’t tell him he had died earlier but said he had been evacuated.
The morning report prepared by First sergeant Ted Beishline of “Able” Company presents this picture of the 1st Battalion actions for January 14th and then provides the casualty report at day’s end:
0830—Able alerted to move forward. Charley on right, Baker on left. Able guiding on railroad leading to Bourcy. Phase line 3 cleared 0900.
1015—While advancing toward phase line 4, our Air Corps failed to identify our lines and subjected us to strafing and aerial bombardment. Casualties suffered.
1620—Phase line 4 taken. Defense set up, Able 2 on left, Able 1 on right, Able 3 in center.
2400—Casualties this date: Vondress KIA, Jemiolo, Heath, Egic, Sheppard, Holliday, Ray WIA. Enemy this date: Killed 51, captured 17.
The attack by 1st and 3rd Battalions of the 502nd had halted at 1800, still short of its objectives. Contact had been made with the troops of “Ace” Company of the 327th on the left and with the 320th Armored Infantry on the right. Most of the day’s casualties were the result of misdirected bombing which cost 37 men, 12 of whom had been killed, including the 3rd Battalion commander, LTC. John P. Stopka. The command went over to Major Cecil Simmons, who had been serving as executive officer. The medical detachments of the attacking regiments suffered numerous casualties to the medics who were killed or wounded while tending casualties.
“Ace” Company Actions
The glider infantrymen of the 1st Battalion of the 327th were now into their second day of isolation from the neighboring troops of the 502nd. Now in among the captured and abandoned enemy positions, S/Sgt. Jack Williamson describes the terrible shelling inflicted on them and his considering the thought of surrendering his surrounded troops. He wrote:
The enemy threw some big artillery at us. They hit those trees and made toothpicks of them—scared the hell out of us. This time we were surrounded for good. We had pushed out too far. I entertained the idea of surrendering. I remember being told to never surrender because our forces knew where we were and they would come to the rescue. As I was in this big German dugout with some of the wounded men, I was thinking of Private Mayer, who had been hit in the face and chest. He had a hard time talking but he turned to the others and said, ‘I know one thing—we’ve got the best darned sergeant in the whole outfit!’ And he kept braggin on me. So I stepped outside and made up my mind that if we had to go, we’d go down fighting. We wouldn’t surrender. Pvt. Arthur C. Mayer was a brave soldier. He showed bravery in France. He missed the Holland operation and came back into Bastogne and there he again showed bravery. He got the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Star.
Those wounded soldiers needed to be moved out of the shell-torn area. PFC. Willis Rohr of “A” Company remembered the attack had three objectives, which were taken the first day. However, “Ace” Company was cut off for a couple days. The wounded needed to be taken out. Rohr related his role:
We had wounded that needed to be taken out I was chosen to get help to bring four stretcher cases and four walking wounded out and bring back water and ammunition. I remember walking along the edge of a woods, under the gun of a tank on the way out.
CHAPTER 20
MOPPING UP
January 15
The morning was cloudy and cold (as mentioned earlier by Captain Winters and S/Sgt. Taylor). On the highway leading from Bastogne to Houffalize, the attacking force on the west side of the road was the 1st Battalion of the 506th with 1st Battalion of the 501st attached. At 1030 hours, the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 506th attacked simultaneously. The 1st struck east out of the Fazone Woods and advanced almost a mile over open fields to take the high ground north of Cobru. At the same time, 2nd Battalion attacked from south of Noville, moved in and took the village, being in position with a perimeter defense set up by 1145. The resistance was limited to small groups of enemy soldiers and a tank or two which made up a rear action force.
After enduring the bitter cold of the previous night, S/Sgt. John Taylor remembered a surprise appearance of the mess section with hot food before the final assault was made on Noville from the south. He related:
Next morning, it was overcast. Just at the crack of dawn, a runner came scurrying to our positions to tell us they had some hot food for us but we’d have to come and get it. It didn’t take us long to get there. Sure enough, it was hot food. We got it back to the men. We had hot oatmeal with pineapple in it, a whole can full of fried eggs, some bread and coffee. That was a life saver. I don’t know who or how someone was able to get that stuff to us. I will always remember that nothing ever tasted any better.
So we jumped off in the attack up this draw, right into Noville. Not too much of a problem but, as we came through the open areas in the snowcovered fields, you could see the tanks all out up the hillsides and see the troops and the firing. Everything that was involved in fighting a battle was there that morning. We went ahead and took Noville that day. We held up in Noville overnight. Not much took place that night
Lt Ben Stapelfeld’s journal provided another sketch map of the actions which involved his 1st Platoon troops as they moved to the left side of Noville. The comments which accompanied his sketch of the village are as follows: “Hot chow after dark, Jan. 13. Attack at ‘H’ Hour tomorrow. Aebisher in overshoes. No casualties. Pinned down by MG at pig pen. Thought I had it. Stone put mortar on enemy tank and it withdrew. Return to MLR. Check Aebisher on ammo. Check Aebisher on rations.”
As a member of “Dog” Company, Sgt. Louis E. Truax remembers January 15 as the day he lost another buddy. He was also a participant in the capture of several enemy soldiers. Truax wrote:
I was standing in Noville. This town had been taken and retaken before but for me, it was a brand new experience and everything I could see, I was
in control of. Roy Austin had just been killed down the street.
MAP 24—Noville
I think it was here that Alvin Quimby and I chased five Krauts into a pig sty. He had a BAR and I had an M1. He had a 20-round clip and I had an 8. We put ‘em through the thick wooden door top to bottom. Guess what—those Krauts came out of there with their hands behind their heads. Not a scratch on them. I started to pull their wrist watches and loot ‘em, but just then two P-47’s came over with all their wing guns firing.
Mistaken Identity
As a member of 3rd Platoon of “Easy” Company, Cpl. James H. Alley was in on the move into Noville but from a different part of the perimeter to the small farming town. He has a vivid memory of a mistaken identity as he approached an idling tank. He wrote:
It was during the attack on Noville and we moved up and occupied some burned-out buildings as members of 3rd Platoon. We set up some positions in die ruins and were waiting for further orders when, over the radio came a message, ‘Friendly armor on our right’.
Lt. Ed Shames and I were together when the message came through. Very shortly after that, I heard motors running not far away so assumed it was our tanks. Anxious to get the show on the road, I decided to link up with our armor, so I told Lt. Shames I was going to go over to the tanks and proceeded to move off. I had gone but a short distance when Lt. Shames joined me. We moved by several burned out buildings and rounded a corner into the main road. Up ahead, between two buildings, part way out, was our objective. I proceeded to approach the tank until I was ten or fifteen feet away. The tank commander was standing in the turret looking the other way so I shouted to him over the roar of the engines—‘This way!’ He turned and it dawned on me—I had made a serious mistake (as had Lt. Shames); this was a Tiger tank! The tank commander immediately started traversing his 88mm turret gun.
Without another word spoken between Lt. Shames and myself, we took off. The tank took off after us. We ran around the corner of a building with Lt. Shames in the lead and me hot on his heels. Lt. Shames saw a window in a burned-out building as we were passing so he sailed through head first. I ran ten feet or so past him and jumped into a doorway with my gun ready, for I was sure infantry soldiers were with the tank and this was where I’d make my stand. The tank followed our tracks, turned the same corner we had just turned, knocking down half the building in the process. It roared past our positions without a shot being fired at him, out to the main road.
1st/Sgt. Carwood Lipton was leading 2nd Platoon of “Easy” Company during the attack. His platoon was approaching along a different route. He has this description of an encounter with a tank, possibly the same one that was chasing Alley and Shames.
The attack jumped off as planned and the 2nd Platoon had less resistance on our side of the road than the 3rd Platoon had on the right. We were well past the center of the town and the first knocked-out Sherman tanks when, suddenly, a German tank roared out from behind a building on the 3rd Platoon side of the road and raced up the road toward us, firing its machine gun as it came. I learned later from Jim Alley of the 3rd Platoon that he had walked up to the tank behind a house, thinking it was one of ours, and that he had only seen his mistake when he yelled greetings to the tanker, who had his hatch open and then saw that the tanker was wearing the German blackbilled cap.
We in the 2nd Platoon jumped behind the buildings and dived under the knocked-out Shermans. The German tank then stopped dead and, swivelling its turret, put a shell into each of the knocked-out tanks to prevent anyone from using their guns to put a shell into him as he went by. When these shells hit the Shermans it felt to us under them that they jumped a foot in the air.
That didn’t save the German tank, though. When it roared on out of town and reached the higher ground north of town, we saw one of our P-47 fighter planes strafe it and drop a 500-pound bomb on it, finishing it off.
Cpl. Jim Alley added to his account concerning the tank and echoing what 1st/Sgt. Lipton had related about its demise:
Someone radioed to P-47’s overhead. Though the sky was partly overcast, one spot opened up and out shot a P-47 and caught the tank on top of the hill and knocked it out. All this happened so fast it didn’t seem real!
Battalion commander Dick Winters sent his troops out in mid-morning and found the resistance was light as he had suspected it would be. Most of the enemy had pulled out during the night. He wrote:
I jumped the attack off on Noville. The resistance was light. The Germans had pulled out, leaving nothing more than a rear guard.
We picked up a few prisoners. Among them were two junior officers. Lt. Ed Thomas, my S-2 by this time, tried to get some worthwhile information with no success.
Noville was now back under Division control. It had been an objective since the first day and now its shattered buildings were hardly considered a prize at this stage of the game.
“Ace” Company of the 327th
To the east of 2nd Battalion of the 506th, troops of the 327th continued to move northeast. The trapped men of “Ace” Company, with S/Sgt. Jack Williamson, were elated when a group from the 502nd broke through to them but Williamson was surprised to find that his men would spearhead the attack that mounted when daylight arrived. He recalled:
Sometime in the night a combat patrol from one of the jump outfits broke through to us. They gave us each a K-ration and some ammo. Early the next morning, the lieutenant in charge of that group called me and said we were to attack and that I and my men were to lead. I figured they wouldn’t be satisfied until we were all killed. We lined up in a skirmish formation and, when he gave the word, we went forward howling like Comanche Indians. That did the trick because the Germans ran to their rear and we captured several. Then we stopped for the night. We set up a defensive position—a big, wide hole in the ground with straw on the bottom and laid down and went to sleep.
Late that night, there was a big thud beside my head—which woke me up. I jumped up, scared, and there stood the biggest darn horse I’d ever seen. Those big, oversized hooves—the Germans had been using horses to haul their big guns. If that horse had hit my head, he’d have squashed it like a pumpkin. Wouldn’t that have been a helluva way to get killed in a war! That dugout hole, with the hay in it, had been where they kept that horse.
Mail Call!
Mail call is very important to the GI and sometimes it occurred in very surprising surroundings. Pvt. Alden Todd remembered one such occasion. He wrote:
Around January 13, our company moved forward in the forest toward Bourcy, being held up on occasion by enemy resistance to other company units of our regiment on the left and right. We heard behind us someone shouting ‘Mail call!’ several times. We were amazed, one man after the other, when the men behind us started passing forward dozens of letters from home—the first mail we had received since December 15th. What was amusing about this for me was that each envelope had the name of the soldier, serial number and ‘Company F, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment’ as the address. We had been taught since we entered the Army that at the battle front we should not carry on us anything that might identify our military unit. But now, almost every man was carrying in his pockets several letters marked with exact identification of the company and regiment. We burst out laughing. Mail call at last, after almost a full month!195
The Million Dollar Wound
The wound, which is not serious, that gets a soldier out of a combat situation, at least temporarily, is another memory of PFC. Alden Todd. He wrote:
Things were fairly quiet during that day and a half of waiting, but we knew that the attack on Bourcy was imminent. We did receive a number of presents from the enemy, both incoming artillery shells and some screaming meemies, the whistling mortar shells that were supposed to frighten the people in the target area. Unfortunately, the radio operator of ‘F’ Company was wounded in one arm. I still remember Cpl. Walter Zagol, a lively fellow from Chicago, making his way back to the rear, holding up his bleeding arm and calling out w
ith a big smile: ‘At last, I got it! A million dollar wound!’ This was the comic pose of the guy who got hit; a wound that took him to the hospital, but which was not very serious. Zagol was a good young fellow and he rejoined us after a few weeks.196
January 16
In the 502nd sector (right flank), the 2nd Battalion had moved into position in the northeast section of the Bois Jacques about midnight on the 14th and at 0830 on the 15th passed through 3rd Battalion. Now on the 16th, 2nd Battalion would lead the drive into Bourcy.
With the capture of Captain Earl Hendricks and a fellow officer, along with 47 members of a platoon on January 3 in an enemy tank attack on Longchamps, command had gone over to Captain Raymond “Whispering” Smith who had lost his radio operator, Cpl. Walter Zagol, who had picked up his “million dollar wound”. Needing a replacement, Smith had selected Pvt. Alden Todd to fill the void. Todd had no working knowledge of the SCR-300 radio or communication procedures. He did realize the radio was heavy when carried around on the back (42 pounds) with an antenna which projected nine feet above the set. Radio operators were often targets of enemy snipers. Another soldier had given Todd ten minutes of operating instructions. Todd relates that first experience:
After the elementary instructions, I was on my own. My job was to transmit the orders and queries between Captain Smith and the battalion command post and to receive the replies. We were supposed to use code words for the units and the commanders to keep the enemy from understanding our messages.197 But in fact, I used only a few of those codes—very few. I really was not fully trained.
Battered Bastards of Bastogne Page 60
