Chapter 3
Endnotes
1. Ltr, Hodges to Gerow, 11 Sep 44, FUSA G-3 file, 9-23 Sep 44.
2. Dir, Gerow to CO, 5th Armd Div, 11 Sep, FUSA G-3 file, 9-23 Sep 44.
3. V Corps FO 26, 9 Sep 44, V Corps G-3 file, 9 Sep 44.
4. Memo for Record, 2 Sep 44, Notes on Meeting of Supreme Commander with Subordinate Commanders.
5. V Corps Memo for Record, 10 Sep 44, V Corps G-3 file, 11 Sep 44.
6. Sylvan Diary, entry of 11 Sep 44; Memo, Gerow to CGs, 4th and 28th Divs, 11 Sep 44, FUSA G-3 file, 9-23 Sep 44.
7. V Corps G-2 Estimate 11, 10 Sep 44.
8. MS # C-048 (Kraemer). Generalmajor der Waffen-SS Fritz Kraemer was chief of staff of the I SS Panzer Corps. Greater detail and fuller documentation on the German side may be found in Lucian Heichler, The Germans Facing V Corps, MS prepared to complement this study, OCMH.
9. Order, A Gp B to Armies, 10 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB Anlagen, Operationsbefehle, 1.IX.-30.IX. 44 (hereafter cited as A Gp B KTB, Operationsbefehle); Entries of 10 and 13 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB 2, 1-VII.-30.IX.44 (hereafter cited as A Gp G KTB (Text)); MSS # B-081 (Beyer) and # B-214 (Col Willy Mantey, CofS First Army); Gen. St. d. H. sit maps, Lage Frankreich, 10-14 Sep 44; Rpt, A Gp G to OB WEST, 13 Sep 44, A GP G KTB 2, Anlagen, 1.IX.-30.IX.44 (hereafter cited as A Gp G KTB, Anlagen). Quotation is from entry of 13 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB (Text).
10. Entries of 10 Sep 44, OB WEST KTB, 1.IX.-30.IX.44 (hereafter cited as OB WEST KTB (Text)), and A Gp G KTB (Text).
11. Quotation from Evng Sitrep, 11 Sep 44, A Gp B, Ia Letzte Meldung, 10.VIII-30.IX.44 (hereafter cited as A Gp B KTB, Letzte Meldung); Rpt by Model (CG A Gp B) 11 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB, Operationsbefehle; MSS # B-730 (Brandenberger) and # B-623 (Keppler).
12. MS # B-730 (Brandenberger). 13 Sitrep, 13 Sep 44, A GP B KTB, Anlage, Tagesmeldungen, 6.VI.-15.X.44 (hereafter cited as A Gp B KTB, Tagesmeldungen).
13. Sitrep, 13 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB, Anlage, Tagesmeldungen, 6.VI.-15.X.44 (hereafter cited as A Gp B KTB, Tagesmeldungen).
14. The 28th Division had received its baptism of fire with the XIX Corps in the closing days of the Normandy hedgerow battles and had joined the V Corps on 28 August. By staging a liberation parade up the Champs Elysées on the way to the front, the division got its picture on a U.S. postage stamp. A nickname, The Bloody Bucket, probably was derived from a red keystone shoulder patch denoting the division's Pennsylvania National Guard origin. The division's story is based upon official records and combat interviews. The interview file contains a particularly valuable and detailed narrative on the 110th Infantry action, entitled Into Germany, by Capt. John S. Howe.
15. Promoted to major general, 26 September 1944. General Cota assumed command on 14 August, after relief of one commander and the battle death one day later of his successor.
16. 28th Div FO 17, 11 Sep 44, 28th Div G-3 file 11 Sep 44.
17. MSS # B-730 (Brandenberger) and B-623 (Keppler).
18. Howe, Into Germany.
19. Lieutenant Dew was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.
20. Howe, Into Germany.
21. Ibid.
22. 28th Div G-3 Jnl, 15 Sep 44.
23. Though the casualty figures are for the entire month of September, the only heavy fighting occurred during these five days. See 28th Div AAR, Sep 44.
24. During one counterattack, a squad leader in Company K, 109th Infantry, T. Sgt. Francis J. Clark, assumed command of two leaderless platoons. Moving among the men without regard for enemy fire, he encouraged them to hold. Later, though wounded, he refused evacuation. These were but two of a series of heroic actions over the period 12-17 September for which Sergeant Clark received the Medal of Honor.
25. The 4th Division story is based on combat interviews and official records of the division and attached units. Veteran of the D-Day assault on UTAH Beach, the 4th Division also participated in the capture of Cherbourg and the battles to break out of the Norman hedgerows. The division joined the V Corps for the pursuit and shared in the liberation of Paris. The division's nickname, Ivy, comes from the Roman numerals, IV.
26. See Ltr, Barton to OCMH, 5 Oct 53, OCMH.
27. 4th Div FO 37, 13 Sep 44, 4th Div G-3 file, 13 Sep 44.
28. For their roles in rallying the troops, the regimental commander, Colonel Lanham, and the S-2, Capt. Howard C. Blazzard, received the DSC.
29. TWX, A Gp B to OB WEST, 22 Sep 44 (based on weekly strength rpt of 16 Sep 44), A Gp B KTB, Operationsbefehle; MS # C-048 (Kraemer).
30. 4th Div FO 38, 14 Sep 44, 4th Div G-3 file, 14 Sep 44; Ltr, Barton to OCMH.
31. 8th Inf AAR, Sep 44, and S-3 Jnl, 15 Sep 44.
32. Ibid.; Ltr, Barton to OCMH; Ltr, Maj Gen H. W. Blakely (former 4th Div Arty commander and later commander of the 4th Div) to OCMH, 26 Jun 56.
33. See Msg, Gerow to CGs 4th and 28th Divs, 15 Sep 44, 4th Div G-3 file, 14 Sep 44.
34. Lieutenant Wittkopf received the DSC.
35. Rpt, Gen Taylor to V Corps Comdr, 4th Div G-3 file, 17 Sep 44. Note that when the Germans launched their counteroffensive in this region in December, they cut off American troops on the Schnee Eifel by driving around both ends of the ridge.
36. Ltr, Barton to OCMH; 4th Div FO 41, 17 Sep 44, in 4th Div G-3 file, 17 Sep 44.
37. Sylvan Diary, entry of 14 Sep 44; Ltr, Gerow to OCMH, 29 Aug 53, OCMH.
38. The 5th Armored Division story is based on official records and combat interviews. Nicknamed Victory, the division entered combat with the Third Army on 2 August and joined the V Corps for the pursuit. Troops of the 5th Armored Division captured historic Sedan and the city of Luxembourg.
39. MS # B-081 (Beyer).
40. German propagandists cited the destruction of Wallendorf as evidence of "the Allies' will to destroy all Germans together with German culture and history." See Hq T Force, 12th A Gp, German Propaganda, Sunrise, 14 Oct 44, FUSA G-2 Tac file, 14-15 Oct 44.
41. MS # B-081 (Beyer).
42. Ibid.
43. Ibid.
44. Entries of 15 and 16 Sep 44, OB WEST KTB (Text); Entry of 15 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB (Text); Evng Sitrep, 15 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB, Anlagen.
45. MS # B-214 (Mantey); Entry of 16 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB (Text); Sitrep, 17 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB, Anlagen.
46. 5th Armed Div G-2 Per Rpt, 16 Sep 44.
47. Combat Interv with Gerow, filed with 5th Armd Div Intervs.
48. Sylvan Diary, entry of 17 Sep 44. For a German viewpoint, see General Siegfried Westphal (chief of staff to Rundstedt), The German Army in the West (London: Cassel and Company Ltd., 1950. "If the enemy had thrown in more forces he would not only have broken through the German line of defences which were in process of being built up in the Eifel, but in the absence of any considerable reserves on the German side he must have effected the collapse of the whole West Front within a short time." (Page 174).
49. Infantrymen gave much of the credit for their stand to two officers of supporting units: the forward observer from the 400th Armored Field Artillery Battalion, 2d Lt. Roy E. Gehrke, who was mortally wounded, and the commander of the attached platoon of the 628th Tank Destroyer Battalion, 1st Lt. Leon A. Rennebaum. Both were subsequently awarded the DSC.
50. German information from entries of 17 Sep 44, OB WEST KTB (Text); Daily Sitrep, 17 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB, Tagesmeldungen; Sitreps, First Army, 17 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB, Anlagen.
51. Order, OB WEST to A Gp G, 17 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB, Anlagen.
52. Entries of 17 Sep 44, OB WEST KTB (Text); Daily Sitrep, Lageorientierung, and Daily Sitrep First Army, 17 Sep 44, A Gp G KTB, Anlagen; Daily Sitrep, 18 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB, Tagesmeldungen.
53. Entry of 18 Sep 44, OB WEST KTB (Text); Daily Sitrep, 18 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB, Tagesmeldungen; Forenoon and Noon Sitreps, 18 Sep 44, A Cp B KTB, Letzte Meldung.
54. Maj William D. Ritchie and Maj John R. Murphy. IX Fighter Command and IX TAC, Unit History, Sep 44.
55. Ibid.
56. For courage in defending the bridges, 1st Lt. Stanford F. Hall, 254th Engineers, and Pvt. Sheldon D. Jennings, 461st Antiaircraft Artillery (AW) Battalion, were awarded the DSC.
57. This attitude is reflected clearly in combat intervs and in orders to CCR and CCB found in 5th Armd Div G-3 Jnl, 16-22 Sep 44. See also Ltr, General Oliver to OCMH, 4 Jul 56.
58. The Germans said they took 52 prisoners, counted 531 American dead, and destroyed 10 half-tracks and 31 tanks. See Noon and Evng Sitreps, 22 Sep 44, OB WEST KTB (Text); Daily Sitrep, 22 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB, Tagesmeldungen; Noon and Evng Sitreps, 22 Sep 44, A Gp B KTB, Letzte Meldung.
59. V Corps Operations in the ETO, p. 256.
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