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Posted on 04/15/2004 12:00:03 AM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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121st Infantry Regiment In tracing the final breakdown of the Wehrmacht, most military tacticians will point to the operations of General Courtney Hodges’ First Army in forming a death-like grip on the Ruhr industrial sector as the beginning of the end.  Once the lifeline of guns and ammunition for the Nazi war machine had been cut off, it was a matter of time before the final collapse. The 121st Infantry added much to the role of the hangman tightening the noose. The operations of the regiment in this engagement from March 30 to April 17 encompassed extremes of battle. At first the slow, dogged push of the foot soldier through woods against superior armor; the break before an offensive that would not be denied; and finally, the chase of a beaten and disorganized enemy. The regiment witnessed scenes that few will forget; scenes filled with humor and pathos of a once mighty military power crumbling before a civilian army hardened by a desire for an end to long months of war. The goal was in sight and no enemy could withstand the driving spirit it engendered.  The Gray Bonnets vacated their defensive positions at Longerich on March 30 for the move across the Rhine in the vicinity of Bonn. The main body passed over the historic waters shortly before noon: “If ever we weakened in our resolution not to think the war was coming to a close it was then. We had read so much about what the Krauts would do when we attempted to cross the Rhine. We had been keyed up since winter for a terrific struggle. Here we were moving across that ‘watery grave’ like home folks on a Sunday excursion.” “On the east bank we saw Jerry tanks knocked out all along the road. There were a few of ours, too. The fighting ahead seemed a cinch. We renewed our resolution to doubt all signs of a quick armistice shortly after we hit the town of Netphen. The krauts still had some fight left in them.”  The 8th Division, as part of the First Army’s VII Corps, had been assigned a mission to drive north in the Sieg River sector, swing northwest and contact the Ninth Army forces driving south in the Ruhr industrial district. After relieving elements of the 1st Infantry Division late on March 30, the regiment with the 2nd and 3rd battalions committed initially, attacked early the following morning for objectives on the north and east banks of the Sieg River. The immediate mission of the division was to push across the river and establish a bridgehead protecting a road running east and west along the river line. The bulk of pressure was necessary against the natural defenses of the town of Siegen, a German Ground Force Training base on the left flank of the regimental attack. The 1st battalion which had been held in reserve initially in the vicinity of Hainchen was pushed into the breach to the left of the 2nd battalion the day following the jump off. The battalion now had a new leader, Major Willis J. Adams, former Regimental S-2 and Executive Officer of the 3rd battalion. The small, wiry leader from Barnesville, Ga., seemed to have the touch of a military Midas.  Shermans continue the advance “Take a peek at the record of our (the 1st) battalion in the Ruhr pocket. I never saw anything click so perfectly as the football plays that Major Adams began calling shortly after we jumped off for Flammersbach. Don’t forget, we jumped off on the right flank, shifted to the left flank, and finally attacked through the center. We suffered the lightest losses and gained the most ground.” Lt. Col. Kunzig’s 2nd battalion pushing to the northwest had taken the towns of Gernsdorf, Irmgateichen, Salchendorf, Deuz and Grissenbach. With the possible exception of Deuz, the objectives provided weak resistance to the rapidly moving doughs. It was in the 3rd battalion sector that the bitterest fighting was encountered. Terrain reminiscent of the Huertgen Forest faced Lt. Col. Hogan’s battalion as it drove towards the town of Lanhof. A series of road blocks guarded the narrow passes through the hills in the Sayn Forest. Devastating fire from earthwards aimed 20-mm. ack-ack guns peppered the avenues of approach. A cold penetrating rain soaked the foot soldiers who waited in vain for reinforcement by heavy armor.  Entering the ruins of Gehlinkirchen Spearheading the attack of the battalion was Company K under Lt. Francis D. Linse. The 3rd platoon led by Lt. Robert Lazarie with S/Sgt. Charles Carroll was halted after a few hundred yards advance by machine gun fire covering a road block of felled trees. Lazarie quickly moved his men to cover and sent sleepers to the flanks of the road block. Sergeants Frank Voccaturo and Simon Lutz dispatched the defenders with a few well-aimed hand grenades. The company was thrown back as it reached the edges of town by fire from three enemy tanks. Friendly artillery pounded the town and the infantry moved in doggedly on the objective. Pfc. Henry Whittle scored a hit on the lead Mark IV which turned in flight. Heavy house to house fighting brought the town under control late March 31. The drive of the 2nd battalion in this sector was marked by similar trying conditions. Major Adams speedily led his forces through the towns of Flammersbach and Feursbach on the initial drive to Siegen.  9th Armored moves through Bendorf During the tussle for the town of Hermulheim in the Roer-Rhine drive, Pfc. Felix Hill, Jr., of Company C had helped to break up a German counterattack with a direct hit on a Mark IV tank. Evidently, Hill did not believe this was a sporting thing. He desired a more difficult target. In the attack on Feursbach, Hill spotted an enemy motorcycle scooting hell-ben down the main thoroughfare in a desperate attempt to escape the onrushing infantry. The dough took up a position about 50 yards from the motorcycle and let go with a round from his bazooka. The round hit dead center, mangling the motorcycle and killing the two occupants. Company C headed by Captain Durward. M. Kelton pushed on the right flank from Feursbach to capture Breitenbach. To the left Capt. Ethel S. Kinard’s charges of Company B disposed of light small arms opposition to take Kaan. When the pressure relieved on the flanks, Company A under Capt. Howard T. Guyer moved swiftly through the center to take Volnesberg. The latter company received much heavier small arms resistance as it proceeded to high ground west of Volnesberg. Company C encountered similar increasing resistance directly west of the town of Weidenau.  Troops are wary of snipers Colonel Cross now ordered the 1st battalion to coordinate an attack on Siegen with elements of the 13th Infantry on the left flank. Company B jumped off at 1115 hours from Kaan-Marienborn and by 1300 hours had reached the outskirts of Siegen. Companies B and C delayed a concerted attack until early evening. Supported by fire from Company C positioned on high ground to the northeast, the two companies advanced 700 yards against moderate resistance consisting of small arms fire combined with rocket and artillery fire. During the early morning hours of April 2, Captain Kinard attempted to move his men across the bridged sectors of the Sieg River. Enemy artillery and mortar fire increased in intensity with this move. Three platoons of Company A moved, under supporting fires from the stalled Company B, to cross the river farther north on foot bridges. Some were forced to wade the shallow waters as enemy artillery shifted its striking forces against the new penetration.  Infantrymen of the 8th Division, enter the town of Wurdinghausen, Germany. The pass was under enemy fire, and part of the bridge shown fell on passing soldiers By 0720 hours, the battalion had made a crossing in force. A platoon of Company B carefully guarded bridges to assure a safe retreat in the event of an enemy armored counterattack. At the moment the most exacting struggle of the Ruhr pocket engagement was developing for the regiment before the town of Netphen. It was a battle of regimental proportions shouldered by a battalion minus the aid of adequate armor.  Company E had encountered only scattered opposition in taking the centrally located town of Breitenbach early April 1. As the battalion moved towards Netphen, three companies were committed to the attack: G, E, and F, from left to right. Heavy enemy armor retreating to the northwest from the town of Siegen sought refuge from the quickly encircling forces in the pocket. It was in the natural defilade before Netphen that the enemy decided to make a last stand. The companies butted against the town defenses with little success. Heavy flak, mortar and artillery fire was added to the continual poundings from huge SP guns. Tank-stalking teams were called into play as the few available tank destroyers proved no match for superior armament located in more favored positions. Companies G and E were shaken with heavy enemy counterattacks on April 3.  An infantryman moves cautiously past burning vehicles knocked out when a 8th reconnaissance column was ambushed near Oberbrugge, Germany. The reconnaissance troops quickly organized and returned the fire with Mortar, machine gun and 75-mm. anti-tank fire. Early the following morning, the battalion made a successful breach in the defenses. Company E moved around the high ground near a church clearing out a dozen houses and capturing 20 prisoners. The momentum of the attack abated as quickly as it had begun. The enemy hurled a counter attack of seven tanks at the attacking force. Company G quickly came to the aid of the besieged company as Company F prepared for further assaults against its position in the southeastern sector of town. The enemy hurled four more counterattacks at the battalion during the day. Only two of a complement of four attached destroyers were able to support the infantry now savagely protecting their gains in town. Late in the afternoon members of Capt. Cliett’s Company F kept vigil in the cellars of Netphen as several huge enemy self-propelled guns moved down the main street methodically reducing homes and blasting cellars with H-E rounds. The “fifth platoon,” a unit composed of negro replacements which had joined the regiment shortly before the jump-off in the “pocket, “ was aroused by the rumbling approach of one of the armored monsters.  "Volkssturmes" with Panzerfaust. Pfc. Rudolph Prophet, on guard on the second floor of the building in which the platoon had taken refuge, gave the alarm to his mates below. German civilians moved alongside the mobile artillery piece pointing out houses in which they had seen the Americans hide. Prophet dangerously exposed himself in the window frame, took aim with a bazooka, and fired a round that hit atop the turret and momentarily halted the charging vehicle. He then ran to the floor below. Pfc. Ralph W. Dunlap and Pfc. Lacey W. Cox alerted by Prophet’s call hurried to the first floor armed with Panzerfaust (German anti-tank weapons). Bracing themselves in the windows, the two let go with the powerful charges. Both rounds tore through the bogie wheels and crippled the ambling giant. Their mates now moved to their aid and deftly picked off crew members attempting to escape. Ordnance men examined the knocked out armored monster after the battle of Netphen had cleared. After much consternation, they decided the vehicle was a “Jagdtiger,” the enemy’s newest and most formidable armored assault gun.  Brig. General Bryant E. Moore awards the Silver Star to Pfc. Lacey Cox, Jamaica, New York, for knocking out an 80-ton tank in Netphen, Germany. The 76-ton monster mounted a 22-foot long, 128-mm. gun on a Tiger II chassis. It had succumbed to the daring and courage of three doughboys. Brigadier General Bryant E. Moore, 8th Division Commander, decorated the three men with Silver Stars and Colonel Cross elevated them to buck sergeants.
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ARRRRRGH! My mind has been warped!! How am I supposed to get any sleep tonight?
It does seem to be an obvious conclusion doesn't it?
We continue to be the BEST! WWII was a time without PC War tactic restrictions which we unfortunately saw in Korea, Vietnam and now in Iraq. WWII was a time when we hit the enemy hard and kept moving toward total victory. (The only exception being the political failure to not take on Russia while we were able.)
This is a great read today, thanks.
LOL. We're going to have to hand out a prize!
The 386th Bomb Group, after trading in their B-26's for the new Douglas A-26, attack the rail yard of the Ruhr Valley in the final year of the war.
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