Timeframe: 11/24/1944 - 12/24/1945
Excerpt from the book "Paths of Armor: The 5th Armored Division in World War II" - Chapter XVII
Combat Command A
The 46th Armored Infantry Bn. was attached to Combat Team 22 of the 4th Infantry Division 29 November and assembled in the dark and foreboding Huertgen Forest, one mile west of Kleinhau. That night Lt. Col. William H. Burton, Jr., visited the commanding office of the 22nd Combat Team. The mission, he was told, was to attack from a line running north and south across Hill 400 and to gain the far edge of the woods beyond Kleinhau. CC A was then to attack to take Strass.
The combat command, attached to the 4th Infantry Division on 30 November, moved to the vicinity of Zweifal. Co. A, 22nd Engineers, joined the engineers of the 4th Infantry to help keep open the necessary supply lines to the rear, and the 47th Armored Field Artillery Bn. went into position west of Kleinhau where bodies of dead Germans still lay in the woods about the artillery positions.
Before dawn on 30 November, Major Jack B. Day contacted the infantry unit on the left, Major Lionel R. Fuller and Major Richard W. McKenna, then a captain, set out to contact the unit reported to be holding the line of departure at Hill 400 and Kleinhau. Artillery and mortar fire was falling in the open ground, but they made their way through the darkness from shell hole to shell hole. The enemy held Hill 400, they discovered, and both friendly and hostile troops were in Kleinhau. Fuller and McKenna found the commanding officer of the American troops in the town and explained the proposed action of the 46th.
Meanwhile Lt. Col. Burton had issued a partial attack order and moved out with a small party to reconnoiter to his line of departure. His radio failed. While he was out of communication with his companies, A and C Cos., 46th Infantry Bn., emerged from the woods, moving up to the line of departure in perfect approach march formation. Immediately heavy and continuous artillery and mortar fire and small arms and machine gun fire from Hill 400 and Kleinhau raked the doughboys. A and C Cos. deployed, but were pinned down by the intense and unexpected fire. A complete change of plans was necessary, Lt. Col. Burton realized. Making his way across the fireswept open ground to the lead elements, Lt. Col. Burton ran and crawled to each commander to issue his revised orders for the assault on Hill 400 and Kleinhau. He then helped lead C Co. up the steep slopes of Hill 400 in a successful but bloody assault. Lt. Col. Burton later received the Distinguished Service Cross for this action.
On Hill 400 they captured a pillbox, 50 prisoners and six machine guns. During the assault artillery and mortar barrages pounded the 46th infantrymen and heavy machine fire poured in from commanding positions on top of the hill. When C Co., 46th Infantry Bn., was within 200 yards of the hilltop, a self-propelled gun moved out of the woods 200 yards to the left front and opened fire with such speed and accuracy that C Co. was stopped and the success of the entire operation was jeopardized.
T/Sgt. Floyd M. Spray, who was leading his platoon of Co. C, quickly realized that his men could not long survive if they remained under the heavy artillery and mortar barrages. He seized a rocket launcher and, with almost no cover, made his way along the entire front of his platoon to a position opposite the enemy gun. Within 100 yards of the gun he opened fire with his rocket launcher. He forced the enemy gun to withdraw and permitted Co. C to continue the assault. Sgt. Spray was mortally wounded while returning to his platoon.
Co. A, on the right, advanced abreast of C Co. across 900 yards of open ground to take Kleinhau and clear the town of snipers. B Co., although the reserve company, suffered its share of casualties from the artillery and mortar fire. At 1300, part of the company was pinned down by a concealed machine gun 300 yards to the front. S/Sgt. Robert M. Henley, a squad leader from the 3rd Platoon, climbed a tree under sniper fire, located the gun, then wriggled forward and assaulted the enemy position with his tommy gun. He killed or wounded the entire crew and permitted his platoon to advance again.
After the capture of Hill 400 and Kleinhau, C Co., 46th Infantry Bn., continue to attack east and, at 1600, reached the originally assigned line of departure. B Co., 46th Infantry Bn., passed through A Co. and continued the attack east from Kleinhau. In the open ground beyond the town, B Co. was again stopped by a concealed machine gun, this time 45 yards to the right front. Pfc. Albert H. Harrington attempted to crawl up on the enemy and knock out this gun. In so doing he was killed by an enemy sniper, but his heroic act enabled his company to locate and destroy the enemy position.
A short time later the company was again held up by a machine gun. Lt. Brady O. Kelley crawled up a firebreak for almost 200 yards, assaulted the enemy with only his carbine, and killed the entire crew. At 1700, Pfc. William G. Lee, a scout moving to the right of B Co., charged an enemy wire crew of four and killed or wounded them.
The advance of B and C Cos., 46th Infantry Bn., continued through the heavy forest beyond Kleinhau under heavy and continuous artillery and mortar fire, plus very intense machine gun and sniper fire from the concealed enemy. By 2200, they had penetrated 1200 yards into the woods. Co. A came up and the battalion set up defensive positions for the night. Then they began the difficult task of evacuating the wounded, for all three companies had suffered approximately 30 per cent casualties in the day's fighting.
Artillery fire continued throughout the night as the litter parties made their tedious, dangerous way back through the woods to Kleinhau. From Kleinhau, T/5 Harry Rockman, who had volunteered to drive his ambulance to this forward point, carried the wounded back over the dark, shell-torn road to the hospital.
The medics never quit working in Huertgen Forest. Stories of their bravery were told and retold long after other details of the fight had been forgotten. High on the doughboys' list of heroes is T/5 John A. Dunleavy, 46th Infantry Bn., medical aid man attached to the 1st Platoon, Co. C. He knew no fear except the fear of leaving a wounded man unattended. Ignoring fire that pinned all others to their foxholes, he went from man to man, treating and evacuating casualties throughout the fight, saving an inestimable number of lives.
Casualities Heavy
The battalion spent the night in foxholes under continuous fire and jumped off at 0900 the next morning. In the thick woods visibility was limited to five yards. Contact was made with the enemy immediately. Casualties were again heavy, but there was no stopping the 46th Infantry Bn.'s attack.
At 1100 the 1st Platoon of Co. C, 46th Infantry Bn., moving as skirmishers through a dense growth of short pines, was halted by an enemy machine gun firing 150 yards to the front. S/Sgt. Peter J. Parrow, acting platoon leader, crawled to within 20 yards of the gun and destroyed the crew with hand grenades. He saw another machine gun firing at his men and set out to destroy it. He had gone half the distance when he was mortally wounded by a third gun. His efforts permitted his men to locate the guns and destroy them with mortar fire.
By noon Co. C had advanced 500 yards when the 1st Platoon was again pinned down by a machine gun. This time S/Sgt. Robert B. Dixon crawled forward and destroyed the enemy crew with a hand grenade. As Dixon was returning to the company the enemy laid down a heavy mortar barrage and he was fatally wounded.
At the same time a hostile 75 mm. self-propelled gun opened fire 150 yards from C Co. and the battalion command post. Capt. Robert T. Bland, then acting S-3 of the battalion and one of the fiercest fighters in the division, immediately went forward under this direct fire to the lead company, organized a group of volunteer bazooka teams and moved against the enemy guns. He led his men to a position which, though fully exposed, permitted effective fire against the target. He directed the fire until a shell burst in the center of the group, killing three and wounding the remainder. Capt. Bland, himself, lost his right leg during the attack.
Casualties had been so heavy that Lt. Col. Burton sent for the antitank platoons to come forward as replacement riflemen. While bringing up the Anti-Tank Platoon of B Co., 46th Infantry Bn., Lt. James H. Foster was forced to cross an open field under heavy artillery fire. Running across the field, he spotted a large fox-hole and jumped in to avoid the shellfire. The hole was near an enemy machine gun nest. Five Germans, members of the gun crew, were in the hole, their heads bent down to avoid the artillery fire. Lt. Foster, firing his M-1 rifle like a tommy gun, killed all of them.
At 1200 the 46th Infantry Bn. was ordered to withdraw to the positions of the night before and tie in a defense with the 2nd Bn. of the 22nd Infantry Bn. 800 yards further to the rear and 500 yards to the left. The enemy held commanding ground to the right front from which he was directing heavy, accurate mortar and artillery fire. Lt. Edward J. Egan and his assistant, T/4 Wayne Manion, the only remaining forward observer party from the 47th Artillery Bn., stayed forward with the skeleton force covering the withdrawal. Covered by 47th Artillery Bn. fire, the infantry moved reluctantly back, carrying their wounded over the blood-soaked ground they had won at such cost during the morning. The withdrawal was completed by 1500. An hour later a company of German infantry counterattacked, supported by increased mortar and artillery fire. The attack was broken by 46th Infantry Bn. riflemen and machine gunners.
Supplied During Dark
After dark the 46th Infantry Bn. began to resupply and evacuate its wounded. Artillery and mortar shells continued to fall and during the night the enemy sent out patrols. German burp guns fired wildly in unsuccessful attempts to get the 46th Infantry Bn. outposts to reveal their positions.
An attack was ordered at 1000 on 2 December, this time to be supported by B Co. of the 34th Tank Bn. At dawn, artillery and mortar fire increased and casualties mounted steadily. At 1100 the supporting tanks had not made their appearance. The S-3 requested permission to attack unsupported to seize the high ground to the right front. From that point the enemy was directing deadly fire--the heaviest ever experienced by the battalion. To stay in position meant the death of every man.
But plans had ben changed, and the 46th Infantry Bn. was withdrawn to a new position. Here the enemy fire was so accurate and intense that the 46th moved back into Kleinhau, held by the 8th Infantry Division. The wounded were left behind in sheltered positions. T/5 Sigmund Rachwal and Pfc. Dom C. Ansani of the Medical Detachment remained to care for them. The battalion moved back into the woods west of Kleinhau shortly after dark.
At 2200 Lt. Col. Burton, Capt. John J. McCafferty, Lt. Arthur Paul, T/4 Henry A. Wicka and Pfc. George Brodsky went back to see that all the wounded had been evacuated. Lt. Col. Burton contacted two command posts in Kleinhau and was assured at each that the area had been searched and that there were no men left beyond the outpost line. Still not convinced, he continued through scattered artillery fire to a pillbox 500 yards beyond the outpost line. The party approached the pillbox and, while the other members of the patrol covered the immediate vicinity, Lt. Col. Burton kicked open the door and demanded: "Who's there?"
Pfc. Ansani answered from within, Inside the pillbox Lt. Col. Burton found Ansani and Rachwal with seven wounded men and 10 members of the 8th Infantry Division. Pfc. Brodsky returned to Kleinhau for litter bearers and T/4 Wicka went to the nearest outpost for water. Lt. Paul, Wicka and Brodsky remained in the pillbox to supervise the evacuation of the wounded while Lt. Col. Burton and Capt. McCafferty returned to Kleinhau to arrange for ambulances. All the wounded were evacuated by 0400 the next morning.
The entire action around Kleinhau was the most severe imaginable. The 46th Infantry Bn. had suffered almost 40 per cent casualties, but came out of the battle a tattered but confident outfit. When all went wrong, the officers and men of the battalion rose to the occasion and displayed the utmost tenacity and coolness. In a critical situation there was always a man or group of men who volunteered to deal with it.
Although the 46th Infantry Bn. had been detached from the Fifth Armored for the battle, it was not alone in its fight. The 47th Artillery Bn. gave its best efforts in support. Gen. Regnier kept close supervision over the action through the sleepless nights and days. CC A's engineers worked like beavers to keep open the hopelessly inadequate supply lines behind Kleinhau.
From 3 to 5 December the 46th Infantry Bn. with B Co. of the 34th Tank Bn. and A Co. of the 22nd Engineer Bn., remained in the woods west of Kleinhau, prepared to resist a possible counterattack. Enemy air was active and the 47th Artillery Bn. shot down five German planes. On 5 December this force was moved into CC A's area near Zweifal and, on 8 December, the entire command moved to Hahn.
Gey-Kufferath
The attack plan called for CC A to thrust east from Gey to take Kufferath and Hills 209 and 211, overlooking Winden and the Roer River. This attack was to be made in conjunction with CC B on the right and was to be launched after the 83rd Infantry Division had taken Gey and Strass.
On 11 December, CC A moved into an assembly area on the eastern edge of the Huertgen Forest immediately west of Grosshau. But Gey and Strass had not yet been captured, and the attack scheduled for the next day had to be postponed. The 46th Infantry Bn. returned to Hahn.
Capt. Thomas Grose's A Co, of the 22nd Engineer Bn, worked under artillery and small arms fire 11 and 12 December to improve and clear the important Grosshau-Gey road.
Gey was still in enemy hands 13 December and the command remained in position under sporadic artillery fire, waiting for the order to attack. Engineers continued their work on the road, using two crabs. At the command post a peep from D Co. of the 34th was blown 40 feet into the air, A field desk in the peep was blown still higher and fell on a CP tent in which Maj. William G. Reynolds and members of his staff were assembled.
Then orders came for the attack. On the morning of 14 December the 34th Tank Bn, Headquarters with married A and B Cos., commanded by Lt. Col. William L. Cabaniss, moved up the road to Gey. The task force was exposed to enemy observation and fire until the 47th Artillery Bn. Laid down a smoke screen east of the road. The tanks and infantry slipped through to Gey.
Capt. Raymond W. Weeks, commanding B Co. of the 34th Tank Bn., went forward with the 2nd Platoon. A crab cleared a path ahead through the minefields to within 100 yards of Horm when it was disabled by a mine. The A Co. engineers cleared out the remaining mines.
The 2nd Platoon of B Co, tanks, under Lt. Marvin W. Orgill, deployed to the north of the road and in front of Horm, while the accompanying infantry remained on the road in their halftracks. Moving through heavy artillery fire, the 2nd Platoon was almost in the town when hostile infantry, bazooka and anti-tank fire opened up. Lt. Orgill's platoon let loose an intense assault fire and prisoners began to stream out of the town.
Lt. Ernest F. Schmidt moved his 3rd Platoon to engage anti-tank guns on the southwest edge of Horm. His own tank knocked out two 75 mm. self-propelled guns at close range, then hit a mine, Sgt, Joseph E, Nemechek moved his tank to an exposed position toward the south of town and knocked out three troublesome self-propelled guns at a range of 1000 yards.
The entire 3rd Platoon fought a nip and tuck battle with the many enemy anti-tank guns in and around the village. A 150 mm. self-propelled gun sighted in the town was destroyed by Sgt. Felix A. Diersing's tank. Sgt. Wilmer Doty's tank was hit on the right side by a 75 mm. self-propelled gun and exploded, throwing him clear. He returned to his burning tank, pulled out his gunner, Cpl. Charles Fuller, then went back to rescue his driver. Two more rounds smashed into the tank, the driver was killed, and Sgt. Doty was seriously wounded.
Many Prisoners
During the action prisoners continued to stream out of the town. Two squads of infantry from the 83rd Infantry Division approached Capt. Weeks and asked if they could be of assistance. They were put to work handling the prisoners.
The B Cos. of the 34th Tank Bn. and the 46th Infantry Bn. reassembled beyond Horm, leaving the town for the A Cos. to mop up. Tanks fired on the commanding hill to the northeast in order to deny the enemy that observation point, but artillery continued to fall as the B Cos. took on more ammunition.
The B Cos. soon took off again toward Kufferath, the 2nd Platoon leading. The tanks and infantry fought forward under heavy artillery fire to within 400 yards of the objective, Kufferath. Suddenly a battery of hidden anti-tank guns opened up from the right flank. Capt. Weeks' tank was knocked out. He jumped out, ran to another tank, and radioed orders for the 3rd Platoon to move up even with the 2nd Platoon. Lt. Orgill swung his platoon to face the enemy guns and took them under fire. His tank was hit, and he was blown unconscious from the turret. Sgt. Diersing took command and directed the fire until Lt. Orgill regained consciousness and returned to the action. In this fierce duel with anti-tank guns firing from positions near Bergheim, B Co., 34th Tank Bn., lost five tanks. It had only three tanks and one tank-dozer when it was ordered into defiladed positions in front of Kufferath.
T/4 Charles H. Munn, whose tank had been knocked out, was making his way to the rallying point when he found Sgt. Franklin Dow lying seriously wounded beside his destroyed tank. Munn picked up his comrade and carried him, under artillery fire, two miles to the aid station in Gey. Pfc. Jack Sweed helped a badly burned comrade to the aid station. In Horm, Sweed was wounded by an artillery concentration, but found an abandoned peep and evacuated casualties from Horm for several hours before he would accept treatment for himself.
The B Cos. waited in their defiladed positions while Capt. Richard Biedermann moved up with A CO. Of the 34th Tank Bn., followed by A Co. of the 46th Infantry Bn. A squadron of P-47's came in and clobbered Kufferath, Bergheim and the woods in between. By nightfall Capt. Biedermann's forces were around Kufferath on three sides.
Soft ground and incoming artillery made the work of resupply and evacuation of wounded extremely difficult. Pvt. Charles E. Gariepy, Pvt. William E. Sayre, Pfc. Benjamin Litwak and Pvt. George T. Puskar had worked all afternoon evacuating the wounded by litter. During the night Sgt. George E. Baker of A Co., 34th Tank Bn., joined them to carry out the wounded on the deck of his tank. Supplies were brought in by light tanks towing trailers.
Early the next morning B Co. of the 46th Infantry Bn. jumped off to take Hills 209 and 211. Two tanks had been put back into operation during the night, and Capt. Weeks was able to support the attack with six tanks. The tanks received anti-tank fire from Bergheim. Tank destroyers, assault guns and mortars blasted the town while the B Co. tanks supported the infantry attack by firing 75 mm. canister shells against the enemy on top of the hills. Two anti-tank guns in the woods to the right knocked out three tanks, but Sgt. William Kundman, A Co., 34th Tank Bn., pounded them with his 76 mm. tank gun, destroyed one and forced the other to withdraw. Four tanks were lost, Lt. Orgill's among them, but the hills were taken.
Cpl. Patsy Letterie and Pfc. Chester S. Bortowski, having left their knocked out tanks, observed another tank burst into flames and a crew member fall unconscious and wounded on the rear deck. Under artillery fire they moved this man to a place of safety and administered first aid.
Supply Routes Shelled
B Co. of the 46th Infantry Bn. dug in on the objective and began to think about resupply. Between them and the supply point was over a mile of open ground pounded by continuous artillery and mortar concentrations. Casualties had been so heavy that carrying parties could not be formed.
T/5 Virgil E. Westmoreland volunteered to drive his halftrack to the rear assembly area for supplies. Leaving his company at 2000, he drove through the enemy fire and over fields where two tanks had been disabled by mines to the supply point and back. During the night he made a total of six trips. On one trip a tire was punctured by a shell fragment. Westmoreland dismounted, changed the tire, and continued with his job. T/5 David E. Bristol and Pfc. Waiter C. King made similarly dangerous trips for the Mortar Platoon.
While the B Cos, were fighting for Hills 209 and 211, A Cos. assaulted and captured the town of Kufferath. During this assault S/Sgt. Andrew Hovdestadt, Co. A, 46th Infantry Bn., volunteered for several of the most hazardous jobs. He led aggressive patrols into Kufferath, cleaning out houses and securing the town. The sergeant was clearing the town when an artillery shell burst near him and he fell mortally wounded. Despite his wound, Sgt. Hovdestadt urged his squad to continue the attack, then crawled to a covered position where he helped other wounded men to safety. He died at the battalion aid station.
In the two operations -- the taking of Hills 209 and 211 and the capture of Kufferath -- 98 prisoners were taken, 175 of the enemy were killed or wounded, and 11 anti-tank guns and six machine guns were destroyed.
For the next five days CC A continued to hold the objectives they had taken, On the night of 17 December Lt. Col. Burton took over the defense of the sector with B and C Cos., of the 46th Infantry Bn., and the tanks were pulled back to form a reserve force.
Enemy artillery continued to pound relentlessly throughout the period. At the command post of the 34th Tank Bn. they kept a record of the number of rounds that fell in the immediate area during one night. The total was 825. This extremely heavy fire tore up the telephone wires and disrupted all communication between companies and battalions. T/Sgt. George W. McClung, 46th Infantry Bn. communications sergeant, worked night and day under sniper and artillery fire to keep the vital lines in. At one place he found 17 breaks in his line which had been chopped up by incoming artillery shells. He quickly repaired the breaks, restoring communications, The 47th Artillery Bn. fired repeated concentrations against the enemy batteries. Meanwhile, a search was made for enemy paratroopers reported dropped on the morning of 18 December, and a close watch was kept for any signs of a counter-offensive from across the Roer.
On 19 December the 15th Infantry Bn. of CC B was attached to CC A and the next day attacked with one platoon of A Co. of the 34th Tank Bn. To take the high ground east of Bergheim. Eight men were loaded on the deck of each tank and the remainder of the infantry deployed to the flanks and rear, The force moved out at 1000 and cleared a draw leading to the objective. One tank was stopped by bazooka fire, but the attack pushed on, forcing back the defending German infantrymen.
Evacuation Under Fire
On the objective, heavy anti-tank and artillery fire from the flanks smashed two more tanks. Lt. Joseph Mullens dismounted to confer with the infantry commander. He and five infantrymen were wounded by artillery fire, Cpl, Michael C, Korinko dismounted from his tank and rendered first aid. The artillery fire became so intense that the wounded could not be evacuated by litter. T/5 Lester R. Holder, who had already been shot out of two tanks, drove his third tank astride the wounded and took all six in through the bottom escape hatch. His tank was hit six times by armor piercing projectiles which gouged deep holes but bounced off.
That afternoon a platoon of C Co. of the 46th Infantry Bn., the 46th Reconnaissance Platoon, and one tank platoon of C Co., 34th Tank Bn., launched an attack on Schneidhausen. The infantry pushed northeast from Hill 211 at 1500 and the tanks attacked the town from the northwest, supporting the infantry assault by fire. Under heavy fire from the village and from across the Roer, the attackers battled to within 100 yards of the town before they were stopped. Then, as darkness fell, they withdrew to Hill 211 for the night.
The next day B Co. of the 46th Infantry Bn. made another attack toward Schneidhausen. Ahead of the infantrymen lay 800 yards of open, rolling terrain. Eight tanks of C Co., 34th Tank Bn., on the left flank of Hill 211 were supporting the action. Moving forward through heavy artillery, mortar and automatic weapons fire, the company came into position for the final assault on the town. Before they could move out the supporting tank fire had to be lifted. Radios failed to make contact with the tanks.
Pfc. John Bowen, a rifle man of B Co., 46th Infantry Bn., volunteered to cross 600 yards of open ground to the west and contact the tanks. This entire distance was under direct observation by the enemy, and the area was subjected to very heavy artillery and mortar fire. Fully aware of the risk, Pfc. Bowen ran for 100 yards through intense fire. An enemy machine gun opened up on him. Bowen dropped to the ground and simulated death. His action diverted the machine gun. He remained motionless for several minutes, then once more rushed forward. Making six rushes, and under fire the entire time, he succeeded in reaching the tanks. The fire was lifted and the assault platoons of B Co. continued on to take Schneidhausen.
Even before the actual assault on the town, B Co. had lost all its officers with the assaulting platoons. First Sgt. Walter Jones (later commissioned a lieutenant) went forward with a SCR 300 radio strapped on his back and assumed command. This radio proved to be the only means of communication with the battalion command post and the supporting artillery. Sgt. Jones acted as forward observer and directed artillery fire which smashed an attempted enemy counterattack. He then led patrols through the mine-infested town and eliminated the last remaining enemy.
It seemed impossible that the bridge over the Roer River could still be intact, but Sgt. Jones led a patrol out to see. Two men of the patrol were seriously wounded by anti-personnel mines. Unwilling to expose the other members, he continued alone until he could see that the bridge was intact. He then returned, personally checked each of the company's defensive positions and supervised the search for wounded.
Throughout the afternoon T/5 Angelo Aquitieri, an aid man with B Co., had worked under fire to administer to his wounded comrades. That night he, too, was wounded. He found a safe basement in Schneidhausen and had the wounded brought there. Soon there were 32 at the aid station, and all the water was exhausted. The only source was the Roer River, 150 yards beyond the outpost line.
The open ground to the river was fully exposed to the enemy's guns and a bright moon aided German observation. However, S/Sgt. Arthur L. Bading and S/Sgt. Mathew M. Mszauski gathered canteens and set out for the river. Almost immediately the enemy spotted them and laid down a heavy mortar concentration. As they neared the river a sniper opened fire. Sgt. Bading worked his way forward while Sgt. Mszauski deliberately exposed himself. The sniper fired again and Bading killed him with an accurately thrown hand grenade. The two men reached the river, filled the canteens and returned to the wounded.
Throughout the night T/5 Aquitieri continued to work on the wounded, although he became so weak that he had to be helped from one patient to another. When he was relieved at 0900 the next morning, it was discovered that he had a penetrating wound of the abdomen.
Relief
At 0730 on 22 December the 83rd Infantry Division began relieving B Co., 46th Infantry Bn., in Schneidhausen. Because of the shortage of litters, 14 of the wounded had to be left in the basement where they had spent the night. Sgt. Benjamin O. Morisch, in Kufferath, learned of this and organized an aid party with plasma, instruments, litters and litter bearers. He relieved Aquitieri in Schneidhausen and, by 1145, had given treatment to all of the patients. The litter party then started back for Kufferath. Halfway to the town a heavy mortar barrage fell, killing one man and seriously wounding another. Sgt. Morisch rallied his party and continued on to Kufferath.
The relief of CC A by the 83rd Division continued on 22 December. The following day the command moved back to Hahn, and 24 December it moved to Baelen, near Eupen, Belgium. There it was placed on a six-hour alert status for possible operation against the German "Bulge".
Christmas Day was quiet and clear, with the first sunshine in weeks. The alert status was changed to two hours, but the command was able to celebrate Christmas.
