TheTroubleshooters.com Home                   Catalog                   World War 2                   World War 1                  Links

Patton's Troubleshooters Book                        Patton's Troubleshooters DVD

The attack jumped off at 1:00 A.M., 28 March 1945, and progressed according to plan against moderate resistance. Company 'B' crossed the Rhine River (at 1:00 P.M., on the 29th) March, 1945 and assisted the 318th Infantry Regiment in capturing the towns of Masslock, Niederhausen and Rambach.  Company 'C' crossed the Main River with the 319th Infantry Regiment clearing the towns of Wicker and Delkenheim.  Company 'A' did not cross the Rhine River until (7:45 P.M., on the 29th) March, 1945, at which time it assembled in Wiesbaden with the 317th Infantry Regiment in Division reserve.  The Battalion moved north with the 80th Infantry Division 31 March 1945, and at month's end was located as follows:

Battalion Command Post - Neukirchen

'A' Company - attached to 317^th Infantry Regiment - Niedergrezbach

'B' Company - Battalion Control - Rollshausen

'C' Company - attached to 319^th Infantry Regiment -Remsfeld

'D' Company - Battalion Control - Schrecksbach"

It is duly noted by this Author, that the entire above quotation from the A.G.O. records, was first put into a whole form, compiled from Battalion S-1, S-2, S-3 and S-4 reports, as well as other sources by 1st Lt. Jarrett C. McConnico, (Cav.) Battalion Historian.  Lt. McConnico acted as Battalion Historian in January and April 1945 as well.  All other months previous to this, Capt. William Jacobs served as Battalion Historian.  This writer is grateful to these officers, as their work is the backbone of source material for this book.

From the 702nd Tank Battalion S-2 Journal:

March 1-9:45am-"Preparing to move out to Meckel.  11:00am-Arrive in Meckel.

March 2-Received message; "Lucky" to "Iceberg" to "Triangle" by telephone, at L3040 to L3042 are three-plus trucks and an unknown number of tanks heading south toward Trier, as of 9:05am-are under attack by fighter-bombers.  9:50am-A.T. guns are located at 157333, 144334 and 143330.  Noon-P.O.W. taken on 1 March, states that the airfield at L1825 is heavily mined with A.P. and A.T. mines.  8:00pm-Checked security precautions.  11:00pm-Disorderly resistance prevailed, and isolated German remnants defended.

March 3-5:00pm-Germans continue to improve their defensive positions on the east bank of the Kyle River, as isolated stragglers and small groups were cleared from the Seigfried positions in the compressed pocket formed by the Sauer, Moselle and Kyle Rivers.

March 4-2:00am-Eight rounds of mortar hit near L209425.  8:00am-Air recon reports five tanks in Wielich L3954 are well camouflaged.  Three tanks and more than twenty-five motor transports are near L5856.  Midnight-Regrouped remnants of two divisions and miscellaneous units opposed the Kyle River crossing, but were forced back, losing approximately five miles of river line and the towns of Priest L2045, Hastin L1940 and Grenhofen L2244.  Hostile 150mm artillery, nebelwerfer and mortar harassed the bridgehead area and forward elements during the night.  It increased during the morning, and slackened in the afternoon.  Units in contact: 560th Division and 352nd Infantry Division.

March 5-9:00am-The bridge at the Kyle River is not too good, and the roads leading to it are in bad shape.  Heavy artillery and nebelwerfer fire being received on Priest L207459.  2:00pm-Prepare to move out with Task Force Onaway.  6:00pm-Arrive at our destination, Priest.  We were laid in on our way from the bridge, with mortar fire, and as we went through AHL approximately twelve rounds fell.  7:00pm-Security and guard set up.  8:00pm-A few German shells are landing on our outpost.  Germans, composed of remnants of three or more infantry divisions, and many small hastily formed combat groups continue to resist expansion of our bridgehead area, with unsuccessful counterattacks from near Speicher L2148.