Jim on the job in his mobile kitchen, Italy, during the start of the rainy season.
Jim Merritt War Diary
My Life in the Service
A Remington-Morse Publication
Copyright 1941
Chicago, Illinois
James Lee Merritt
Pvt.lst Cl. Serial Number: 39382765
Hq. Batry. 41stFA. Bn.
Fort Ord, Calif.
Protestant
b.d. July 30, 1918
wt, 195 Ibs.
color white
Color of hair Brown
Height 5' 10"
Color of eyes: Blue
Nearest Relative or Friend
J.L. Merritt Sr.
314 W 72nd ST
Seattle, 7 Wash
Service Record:
June, 1942 from Pvt. 1st Class
T 5th Grade
July, 1943
On entering the service
Jan 5th, 1942
Weight 177
Waist 32
Citations and Awards
Good Conduct
My buddies
photo: Minor, Cherion, Me, Gus, Weimer, Center, Pete
photo of kitchen crew
My buddies in the sevice:
Jim Durfey
1413 West 57th Street
Seattle, 7 Wash
Jeff D. Harrison
721 S. First St.
Tucomcari, N. Mex.
Springfield, MASS
Roger Thompson
1030 West Bond St
Denison, Texas
Arnold J. Thompson
Newark ILL
RT3 #13
Gottfried H. Adams
Roscoe, So. Dak.
Angelo J.Villard
1114 Madison St.
Alexandra, LA
Roy Wright
3008 Violet Ave
Muskegon, Mich
Walter Simonie
2233 Hickory St.
Joliet, Ill.
Norman R. Blakewold
Scotia, S.C.
Kenneth Griche
1113 N JohnsonSt.
Bay City, Mich.
Helmut 0. Kreile
Box 110
Cucleville, New York
Joseph F. Isert
Highland, Illinois
Earlie E. Siber
Silas, Ala
Feldeance Jean
Belfort France
JOSE PHSRENVILLE
Pembina
No.Dak.
Donavon V Carpenter
24th & Dalton Ave.
Bemidji, Minn
Vincent L. Osbome
1736 Belmont Ave
Granada Apt #203
Seattle, Wash.
Francis J. Larking
10 Edwin St
Brookline
Massachusetts
James E Laverty
183 Broadway
Newark, N.J.
Florence Wick, ARC
1204 So 16th Ave
Yakima, Wash.
Mrs. Irving Solomon
183 Gelson Ave
Brklyn New York
Lloyd M Peterson
Rt#2
Albany Oregon
William Hannah
Danville 111
Route #2
Marvin L. Peterson
217 N. Plum Grove Ave
Palatine, Illinois
Maurice (Red) Hoar
103 Wait ST
LeRoy B. Minor
Fairmont
No. Dakota
George E. McClellan
Lake Worth
Florida
Andrew P. Williams
Cereo, Virginia
Route #1
Bernel Van Bogart
Hawkeye, Iowa
Emil Hendrickson
Sawlor, Minn
John Two Stars
Peever, So. Dakota
James A Tait
Amboy, Illinois
Gottfried Weimer
Fort Morgan, Colo. Rt I Box 63
Charles Q Carter
Corydon, Iowa
Edward Schraaeder
25 Normal Str.
Woodbine, Iowa
Henry L. Ferraris
R.F.D. No2 Box 460
Concord California
Ernest Cress
Bellleview 111
Arthur J. Hedberg
203 E. Circle Drive
Prospect Heights Illinois
Morris Berk
2743 Glenview Ave
L.A. California
Leo F. Edwards
Doland, So. Dak.
Ralph Sands
Riverview, Ala
Matthew Schiller
Watertown, S.D.
Roger Thompson
1030 West Bond
Denison Texas
Al Cholger
14011 Pferit Ave
Witrait, Mich.
Louis Stuck
Rt. #5 Childs Rd.
So. Omaha, Nebraska
Everett Sleisher
Neosho Rapids
Kansas
Edwin T. Birsch
Granvlle Rd.
Lewistown Pa
James E. Elliott
Downey,
Iowa
Robert Wilson
Ben Hur, VA
Richard W McGregor
Blaisdell N. Dakota
William T. Odaine
Waverly, Term.
David C. Williams
Valier, Montana
Stuart M. Thomas
213 West 30th St.
Richmond, VA
Albert K. Ewoldt
Manning Iowa
Rt#2
Bob W. Guthrie
Reno, Nevada
Frank D. Vergano
758 Neiss Ave
Semcey, MO St. Louis, County
Geo M. Thompson
1371 Colwell St
Kittanning, Penna.
George H. Moore
Brawley, Calif.
Bill Combs
Ermine, KY.
Walter L. Elliot
Horton, KS
William H. Streator
135 Underwood Ave
Greensburg, Pennsa.
Benjamin Jones
507 West Grove St
Taylor, Pa.
Albert Champigny
70 Ruth Street
New Bedford, Mass.
Andrew A .Tuattrochi
707 W St. Louis Ave
Chicago, Illinois
Walter D. Morgan
625 N. Stanley Ave
Los Angeles, 56 Cal.
Barney Feldman
16 Munroe Street
Roxbury, Mass
Francis J. Kendall
3130 Delachaise St.
New Orleans, La.
Verlon? V Spencer
Eastman Rd.
Midland Mich.
Amo M. Mation
R.1 Box 375
Puyallup, Wash
Walter J. Ray
404 Taylor Ave
San Bruno, Calif.
Lawrence Jamecke "Larry"
Scranton,
No. Dak.
Marvin L. Petersen
217 N. Plum Grove Ave.
Palatine, Illinois Phone 53-J
Russell B. Hall
Fancy Gap, VA
Frederick E. Deutsch
554 E. 8th Street
Sheridan, Wyoming
Mike Matzko
13419 Baltimore Ave
Chicago Illinois
A souvenir Nazi flag with names of his comrades
that he worked with. Jerry Lucima
4628 W. 21st Place
Cicero Illiiois
Fred Eberle
Stady, N. Dak.
Phil Fader
561 E. 55th St.
Brooklyn, N.Y.
Oliver D. Replogle
8087 Grand River
Brightan Mich.
James Page
Mathueu, Mari.
Stanley Swanyer
Route I Waterloo, la.
James Underation
3375 29th St
San Diego, California
Henry Stych
Exeter, Nebraska
J.V. Rupert
Columbiana
Ohio
Harold S. McKeney
Brunswick, Maine
Mike Strizak
Dillionvale Ohio
Jerry Benning
Miranda S.D.
;
Harold W. Ritter
130 Haas St.
Tapton, Penn
Edwin W. Kittel
Nickerson Minn.
Hulen Beuchem
Vincent, Ala
Gerald Rounhorst
Holland, Michigan AR-2
Burrell R. Kimball
535 Madrona
Salem, Oregon
Thurman W. Robinson
Route 4-Box 531
Winston-Salem, N.C.
Robert J. Cole
700 North Water St.
Sparta, Wis.
Lloyd C. Wlson
Kasson, Minn.
Dwight Beck (Porky)
1144 W. 58th PI.
L.A. Calif.
Eddie "Staff Villagran
P.O.Box 155
Pinole, Calif.
Cannonball
Right foot
Cannonball
Left foot
[dog paw prints]
Gus Carizales
1609 N. Akard St
Dallas Texas
Gordon H. Davis
Decatur
Tenn
Carl C. Swemey
Jappo, 111.
Richard 0. Boas
Rochelle, Illinois
William W. Lile
315 East Virgin
Tulsa, Okla.
J.D. Shatter
West Union, Iowa
Lewis F.Nickle
7020 So. Cushman St.
Tacoma
Wash.
Everett De Bard
Baker Oregon
Karl Weimer
Route 2
Fort Morgan
Colo.
David B. Fies
825 W. 56th St.
Los Angeles, Calif.
Louis A. Caricohia
Box 455
Lyndova, Pa.
Russell Congrove
332 Watt Street
Circleville, Ohio
Harold J.Kuntz
Salmon Idaho ,
Box 666
Jim in his cooks uniform during training.
Doughnuts
1 1/2 # Sugar
3 oz. Salt
1 doz. eggs
1 1/2 Ibs butter
1 Ib yeast
2 box raisins
2 cans milk
1 oz vanilla
1/2 gal warm water & yeast
1/2 gal hot water & milk
Mix butter and sugar
Well, add liquids, then flour;
keep warm & allow to raise
bake well
Baking Powder Biscuits
16 Ibs flour
16 oz Baking Powder
2 1/2 Ibs lard
3 oz. salt
6 cans milk
6 pints water
little Sugar
Roll out cut and
let raise. Handle so little as possible.
Basic Sweet Dough
2 #Sugar
2#lard
3 doz eggs
1 oz salt
1 oz cinnamon
1 oz mase
1 oz nutmeg
1 oz yeast
12 # flour
1/2 gal warm water
1/2 gal hot milk
Baking Powder Doughnuts, 160 rations
2 1/2 Ibs Butter
6 # Butter
4 doz.eggs
2 1/2 quarts milk
10 OZ. B. P.
20 Ibs. flour
Vanilla
Cream butter and Sugar
Add Vanilla, Eggs & Milk
Sift B.P. & flour & add
Roll and cut 1/2 inch thick
Bake in hot grease
Jelly Rolls
6 doz. eggs
5 # Sugar
5# 10 oz. flour
4 1/2 oz Baking Powder
Lemon extract
1 oz salt, roll on wet cloth
after spreading jelly
Basic Dough (1 gallon)
10 oz Butter
10 oz lard
1/2 Ibs sugar
3 oz Salt
2 oz Vanilla or lemon
1/2 Ib yeast
1 doz eggs
2 cans milk & 3 qrts water
4 qrts warm water
10 Ibs flour
Cream Shortening & Sugar add eggs & liquids
Mix in flour to make soft dough. Roll out and
allow to raise.
Bake in a moderate oven
Spice Cake
2 Ibs Sugar
2 # lard
2 quarts syrup
1-quart milk
2 oz Soda
16 eggs
6 # flour
8 teaspoons cinnamon
4 tsp allspice
4 tsp cloves
Apple Sause Cake
7 # Sugar
3 # Shortening
30 eggs
6 boxes raisins
1 oz Mapeline
6 1/2 Ibs flour
3 3/4 oz Soda
1 1/4 oz Cinnamon
3/4 oz Nutmeg
1/4 oz cloves
2 qts hot apple sauce
Cookies, drop
3 1/3 Ibs sugar
2 # lard
Vanilla 3 oz
2 cans milk
2 pints water
4 oz Baking Powder
3 Ibs raisins
2 oz Baking Soda
1 1/2 Ibs oatmeal
1 1/2 1 b coconut
6 Ibs flour
serves 90
Seven minutes frosting
1 cup Sugar
1 egg white unbeaten
3 tablespoons cold water
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
Salt
Mix let stand until sugar dissolves Then cook over boiling water for seven
minutes add
vanilla & beat for two minutes.
Frosting
4 cups sugar
2 cups water
vanilla
4 egg white
salt
Boil sugar & water until it will form a ball in cold
water. Then pour into beaten egg
whites.
Beat until it comes fairly hard add vanilla & spread on cake.
Chocolate Sauce 100 men
9 Ibs sugar
8 oz cornstarch
8 oz. chocolate
1/2 Ibs Butter - Salt
1/2 gallon water or milk or 50/50
Mix sugar & cottonstarch dry, then add to boiling
milk, serve with cake or ice cream
Merangue 1 crust pies
60 eggs whites beaten
add 1 cup cold water
3 1/2 Ibs sugar, vanilla
add slowly the water & sugar & beaten whites
put on pie & brown in oven.
Lady Cake
4 1/2 Ibs sugar
4 Ibs butter
2 qrts egg whites
1/2 teaspon almond extract
1/4 oz vanilla
1 oz baking powder
4 1/2 Ib flour
fold gently
is delicate
Plain Cake
2 1/2 Ibs Butter & 1 lb lard
4 1/2 Ibs Sugar
21/2 doz eggs
5 1/2 Ibs flour
3 oz B. powder
2 oz salt
1 1/2 qt milk
2 oz vanilla
Cream Shortening & Sugar add eggs
Sift dry ingredients, add liquid alternately, mix,
well & Bake in Pan 25 min.
Moderate Oven
The Following Pages Contain The Diary of My Life in
the Service.
This simple record of my daily experiences and
thoughts has given me pleasure in writing
of it. If for any reason it leaves my
possession, I would like to have it forwarded to:
Mr. J. L. Merritt
314W.72ndSt
Seattle Wash.
I left home on January 5, 1942. Was sworn into the
service on the same date at Tacoma,
Wash. Arrived that night at Fort Lewis,
Wash at 9:30 P.M. Was given a lecture on army
life, a tetanus, a vaccination, and a
lesson in bed making by 11 P.M.
Received our uniforms and took I.Q. tests the next
day. Left Fort Lewis on Jan 9, and
arrived at Camp Roberts, Calif., on
Saturday Jan 11, at 3:00 P.M. Then started 8 weeks of
rigorous training. Was a 1st truck drive on a 4 1/2
ton Diamond T truck during my stay
there.
Made a lot of friends and had a good time in spite of all the work.
Left Camp Roberts and went back to Fort Lewis. There I
was assigned to my regular
Outfit, Hq. Btry. 41st F.A. Bn. I got a
chance to get home again for a few times and
proposed to Evelyn. I hope she is waiting
for me when this is all over. Was glad to see
my folks and friends again. Left Fort Lewis on April
25 and arrived in Fort Ord, Calif, on
the 1st of May. I drove a "jeep"
all the way down. and it was quite an experience. We
went through snow in some of the
mountains. The people at Klamath Falls Oregon were
especially nice, and they were good to us
at Redding, Calif also. I learned to be a cook at
Fort Ord. We went to San Diego on boat
landing manuevers and had a pretty good time.
While we were on land we were stationed at
Camp Mathews, a marine camp about 13
miles from San Diego. It was a hot dusty
piece of rock hard ground and wasn't a very
nice place. While we were on the water we
were on the transport Henry Allen.
It was quite a large boat and 1700 of us
were aboard here. It was plenty crowded but we
got along alright. We went to town every
night except two when we made night boat
landings. We went to Ti Juana Mexico one
night and saw the town. We had a drink at
the longest bar in the world. The second
weekend we were there Minor and I went to Los
Angeles and saw my grandmother. [Maude E.
Preston] We had a nice visit and had a T-
Bone steak dinner and fried chicken. It
was the best meal I've had since I left home. We
Went both ways on the train. My next
weekend in Diego. We went out to Mission Beach
and had a pretty good time. That night I
saw Anson Weeks and his Ork. and Marty
malneck and his Ork. We then left for Camp
Mathews and stayed there for two days and
then left for Ord. All told we were gone
from the 15th of July until the 15th of July until
the 5th of August. I spent my 24th
birthday in San Diego.
The other night we fellows went up to the kitchen and
fried us each a nice big T Bone
with potatoes and onions. We then took
them down to the cook's room and at them. They
sure were good but I guess the stomach
aches we had afterward were the payment for our
sins. The other day Evelyn sent me a
battery-electric radio. It was a swell gift and is sure
nice to have around here.
Well, we left Ord finally am now in Camp Pickett,
Virginia. It is a fairly nice place a little
like Washington. The trees and hills look
quite a bit like home. We had quite a nice trip
down here on the train. It took us a
little over six days from Ord to here. We cooked on
the train in a baggage car, which was
quite an experience. We also had quite a nice car in
the train and really rode in class while
we weren't working. On the way down here we
went through southern California, Arizona,
New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas,
Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
West Virginia, and Virginia.
We were informed when we got here that this is a
debarkation station and we could
expect to go across at any time. Of course, that wasn't
such good news but I guess we've
all got to go sometime.
Well it is Friday Oct 17, 1942 and some of the guys
are packing up to leave here some
time next week.
i
I don't expect to leave until the end of this month.
Nov 11, 1942
Well I finally made the trip I've been dreaming all my
life of. I went to Washington, D.C.
and New York City. I left here on a Monday eve at 5:00 and
arrived at Wash. at 11:30
and took a train for N.Y. at 12:00 and arrive there at
5 AM in Tues. mom. I went up in
the Empire State Bldg., the Statue of
Liberty and took a tour through Rockefeller Center
and Radio City. I then went back to Wash.
and went through the capitol building and saw
the Senate in session. I saw the art
galleries, museums, Smithsonian Institute and a lot of
other very interesting things.
I arrived back here on Friday mom and all in all had a
really wonderful time. It was a trip
I will remember for a long time.
I met a nice girl while I was at Pickett, Her name is
Cecil Gray and she lives in
Lynchburg, Va.
We finally left Pickett and went to Fort Dix, New
Jersey. We stayed there a couple of
weeks it was a bit rugged there with tents
and plenty of cold weather all the time we were
there. We cooked in some old kitchens that were used
in the last war. All the tents had
little stoves in them but we kept warm. I had a wisdom
tooth pulled and one next to it and
it was pretty rough going for a while. Well we left
Dix a couple of weeks before it was
Xmas and went to Staten Island N.Y. on the train and
went out to our transport on a
ferry. I was an advanced detail and was on
the boat 2 days before the rest of the gang
arrived. It was a Dutch freighter and was
plenty crowded with 2300 people on board. We
only ate 2 meals a day and most of the
time it was plenty rotten. I cut meat nights.
The first day out we hit some really rough
weather and I was pretty sick but got over it
the next day. It was quite an experience.
We arrived at Casablanca, French Morocco on
Christmas Eve of all times. We left the boat at 9 pm
and hiked to the edge of town and
pitched our pup tents and slept out all
night. The next morning we hiked back to the
railway station and caught the train for Rabat. We had
our first contact with the native
population that Christmas day and I didn't think much
of them. They are diseased and
dirty and we call them Rag heads. It wasn't much of a
Christmas for us and I hope to
spend the next one home. We hiked about 15 miles that
afternoon and it was hot so was
pretty rugged. Well we arrived here that night and it
was sure swell to see Minor and the
rest of the gang again. We are living in pup tents and
cooking outdoors.
We expect to move up to Tunisia one of the days. I am
not looking forward to it but it has
to come. We spent New Years here and had turkeys and
Johnny and I were on shift so
we stayed up all night and roasted them.
We moved from Rabat to Port Lyautey and stayed there
for a short time then left for
Tunisia. We drove all the way from French Moraco to
Tunisia by truck which was a vey
beautiful trip and got to see quite a lot of country
near Bizerte. It was during the summer
months and was pretty hot and the flies almost ate us
alive. We were ready to go into
action in Tunisia but the "krouts" gave up
the day we were going to attack.
We then left for Sicily where we landed around Licata
the country was pretty crumby but
got better as we moved around the island. We went all
the way from Palermo to Messina
long drive which took about 30 days and received our
first shelling. After we hit Messina
we went back to Trapani and bivouacked for about three
weeks. We got to go to town but
it was nothing to brag about and had been pretty well
bombed.
We then left for Palermo and beaded S.S.T's and landed
in Salerno Italy.
We went into action there and fought all the way to
Venafro where we were relieved
By the 36th Div. We then moved back to a small town
called Rocaromano where we all
lived in town. We had the kitchen in the Town Hall and
slept in the Mayor's office. We
met a lot of nice people there and made a lot of good
friends.
They sure hated to see us leave when we did. We were
there quite a while when I was
sent to Naples to cook at the 5th Army Rest Center. I
spent 20 days in Naples and had a
pretty good time. Weimer and I were there cooking
together. I went to Pompeii and saw
Vesuvius and a lot of the surrounding country. Naples is
just a big city and everyone
does all he can to take your money. I left the Rest
Camp Christmas day and went back to
Rocanomona. We then left from there and went just
outside of Naples in a place we
called the fog bowl. It was a small valley surrounded by
mountains and was the king's
hunting grounds. We arrived there New Years Eve and
William and I cooked turkey all
night and worked till noon the next day. Before we
left the fog bowl I cooked at the first
three graders' party, and had a good time dancing and
met a very nice girl but only got to
see her that one time. We then loaded up on L.L. T.'s
and headed for Anzio.
We landed here on Jan 22, 1944. There were no Germans
and no opposition for two
days. Before I got off the L.L.T.'s we were dive-bombed three times which was quite a
thrill but rather a helpless feeling. We then moved up
the road away and set up our
kitchen. While we were at that spot we saw more
activity than I've ever seen in my life
and saw all kinds of planes shot down. In one night we
saw twelve J U 88's German
Bombers shot down. We then moved from that position
and went into a small town
called La Ferriene. The first night there the 1st
Sargeant was pretty badly wounded. We
were there quite a while and had the kitchen in an old
paper mill. We used to go down
the air raid shelter every night and build our fire
and shoot the breeze. We called it the
Old Smoke Hole because it was so smoky all the time.
We were there quite a while when
they started shelling the town and it got so severe
that we had to move out on the flats
away from town. The kitchen crew is in for Bronze
Stars for sticking it out and cooking
meals through all the barrages and never failed to get
a meal out.
We are now here on the flats and live in dugouts
underground. The kitchen is even dug
into the ground about six feet and is all sandbagged.
We have taken some severe shellings here.
At this writing, we have been here 101 days and have
201 days of actual combat which
which is quite a lot and we are all pretty
anxious to leave the place.
We had fresh eggs this morning for breakfast which
were the first in five months!
This is the 1st of May 1944 and on the 12 of May I
will have 17 months overseas.
We live in dugouts here north of La Ferriere. Ours has
two spring beds and a dresser and
we are connected to the wire section
radio. We are dug in about four feet underground.
Its like living like a mole but is a lot
safer when the shells and air raids come which is
quite frequent.
204 days of combat today May 3.
103 days on the Beachhead.
May 12, 17 months overseas today.
May 15, had a Coca Cola today. First one in 17
months. Boy was it good.
May 24 Recieved copies of the Talisman, the [Ballard]
high school paper with all the names of the boys in the services.
May 25
Well are we finally on the move and have met the rest
of the 5th Army and Anzio is no
longer a beachhead.
June 1, Are up in the hills now and are ready to make
the push on Rome and expect to be
there to be there in 6 days I sure hope
so.
June 8, Well we are in Rome and are out for a 35 day
rest. Everything went smoothly and
everyone came out O.K.
Minor and I spent 24 hrs in Rome and saw all the
sights, coliseum and so forth. Had a
good time and slept in a good hotel bed
with clean sheets and all.
We are in a Baron's Palace now and have a
swell kitchen and everything is "Bona"
Had another cake today.
June 10-11-12. Went to Rome again and saw St. Peter
Cathedral. Most beautiful
building I've ever seen.
Sept 18 Well here we are about 30 miles from the
German border and 12 miles from
Belfort. The final drive is coming and I hope it ends
soon.
Sept 19. Had our first shelling today. Some big stuff.
Oct. 5
Well progress is getting slower and slower. It looks
like we've finally met the German
wall of resistance. It looks like another
winter over here.
Oct 29 Well here we are near the town of Rieremont. We
get to go to the show every
day in town. We are moving in a couple
days for the all out drive on the krauts and hope
it proves successful.
Nov 1 Are driving on St Die the town where our General
O'Danielle was commissioned a
second lieutenant in the last war.
Nov 17 Are getting ready to make the Crossing of the
Rhine River.
Dec 1 Here we are two kilometers from the Rhine River
and waiting for our flanks to
catch up so we can cross the river.
Dec 2 Six German planes strafed the town today .
Enschau that were resting in. Four
buildings were burnt down.
Well we moved from Eschau and are back in the
mountains again East of Colmar driving
toward the Rhine again.
Jeff Harrison and I went to Bambone Les Baimo to the
rest camp and spent Xmas day
there and really bad a nice time.
Jan 1, Well stayed in Camp New Years. Saw a French
live show but it wasn't too good.
Jan 7 Well here we are in a nice Hotel. With tile
kitchen, beds hot and cold running
water and everything that goes with it.
Hope they don't stick us out in the gin weeds for
a while now. Moved from the hotel finally
to a school house in Beghiem stayed there two
days and moved to Ostein. Stayed in a
house there and got a couple of days on our roof.
Stayed there two days and then and moved to Osteim.
Stayed in a house there and got a
couple of hits on our roof.
;
Stayed there two days and then moved out
on the bald flats. Our infantry got caught here
without tanks support by six kraut tanks
and we did some tall sweating before they were
stopped and there were heavy losses on
both sides. We were shelled in this area and we
had a direct hit on our fine direction tent two killed
and six wounded. We then moved
June 17, We have moved from the Barons place out into
the woods. It's a pretty nice
place but would rather be at the Baron’s
palace. We had a non corns club with drinks and
dances and had swell time till we moved.
June 19. Saw "This is the Army" last night.
Was a swell show and we really enjoyed it.
The Opera House was really beautiful.
Irving Berlin looks quite young for his age.
June 25 In the Naples area again near the fog bowl.
Went to Naples yesterday and it
hasn't changed very much. Like Rome much
better.
July 4 had turkey for Supper and really enjoyed it.
Are sweating out another invasion,
Don't like it any too well but it will end
this damn war that much sooner.
July 10 Had a pass to Naples today and it hasen't
change a bit. Probably won't see it
again as well be shoving off pretty soon
for greener pastures.
July 15. Have moved so the same staging area near
Pozolli that we stayed at before we
left for Anzio which doesn't make us any
happier.
July 30 Will had a birthday today 26 years old. Spent
the afternoon of the 29 and
morning of the 30th with Bill Fotheringham Was quite a
trip down there and went way
below Salerno and Battaplaglia. He looks swell and we had quite a visit.
Auguest 2 Saw Joe Louis in Naples yesterday.
We finally loaded up in the boats and pulled down to
Pompeii and sat across from
Vesuvius for about three days. We then
pulled out and went through Corsica and landed
in Southern France. We then took off and
have chased the Germans all over the
Countryside and finally have got a couple days well
earned rest but expect to go up to
northern France soon. This is a very
beautiful country and it reminds me of home in
some spots and of California in others.
The other day Monor Welliard and I captured a kraut
prisoner and everyone got quite a
kick out of that, first one captured in
the battery.
Sept 2 Well here we are in a school house spending the
night getting ready to shove off
for Belfond near the German border to stop
the Krauts from getting back to Germany
It's a pretty tough assignment but I hope
we do O.K.
Sept 11, Well here we are near Belford about 18 miles
from it our objective. The fighting
is getting a lot tougher and the weather
is getting cooler.
@
We had some rain the other day and it isn't very damn
pleasant in France you can be sure
of that. We got a little taste of what
they went through in the last war.
from there to the town ofWidensalen where we are now,
Colmar has fallen and our
infantry has taken their objective tonight and we are
sweating out being relieved and
hope we are.
We were relieved and moved to a little town outside
Nancy, France called
Tremblecourt. We had a pretty good time there. We got
passes to Nancy but the town
was pretty full of G.I.'s
We finally left and went to the Seigfied line to start
pushing the krauts again.
We were in the lines a week or so when I got a pass to
Brussels. It is a wonderful town
and I had the time of my life. It was just like being
in America.
When I got back we crossed the Rhine the next day and
have been rolling pretty good
ever since.
We are now outside of Schwemfort and the opposition is
getting a little stiffer.
We rolled right on every day and moved two and three
times a day to keep up with the
Jerrys. We finally crossed the Danube River and at the
place we crossed it, it was really
blue.
We took Nurenburg and it was a wrecked city. What the
air corps didn't flatten we did
with artillery.
After Nurenburg came Munich or Munchen as the Germans
call it. It was not as badly
destroyed as Nurenburg but was pretty well beaten up
at that. We were the first ones
in to the section of town we occupied and all the
political prisoners nearly went crazy when
they saw us. Some of them had been prisoners for four
years.
May 7. We left Munich the next day and drove right on
to Salzburg in Austria. We are
there now and stationed in an old Kraut barracks for
ten or twenty days and from there no
one knows .
We went up to Hitlers hideout in Berchesgarten and
also saw Gerings private train.
We got the order on May 4 to not fire unless fired
upon so the war is over in our sector
and it does not seem possible. The news wasn't
received with much excitement because
we expected it to come anytime.
May 11 Well we finally have the final word that the
war is over for which we are all very
happy. We are now expecting to go up in the hills and
clean out a German pocket and
hope it dosen't take too long. I have more than enough
points to get a discharge with and
hope it turns out O.K.
May 14. Well we didn't have to go up and clean out the
pocket as they surrendered so we
are glad of that. We are now just sitting here waiting
to go home we hope.
I have 104 points and only need 85 so thats a pretty
good average.
Just got the news yesterday that all men with 85 or
more points will be out of the 41st by
June 26 to July 27 so at that rate should
be a civilian by August or Sept. All censorship is
lifted now so thats pretty nice too.
We got another battle star the other day for Germany
and now have 109 points.
We stayed in Salzberg for seven weeks and finally
moved out.
We are now in Homberg Germany. Drove thru Munich,
Frankfort and up the line to
Fritzlon. Stayed there two days and moved to here. We
are in a big German barracks
which isn't so hot.
Well all of the high point men in the division have
left the old Third now and are in the
69th Div. I am a staff sargent now and mess sgt of HO
Btr of D (?) of the 69th.
We are in Hoenbach Germany about five miles from the
Russian border. It is such a
small town I don't even think it is on the map. I'm
high point man in the whole battery.
The men with 102 point and over left Hoenbach three
days after we got there and
we are now in the 14th repple depple waiting for train
shipment to Marsailles to catch the
plane for Casablanca. We expect to leave here in five
or so days and expect to get home
by the 15th of Sept. We about 10 miles fom Fliorville,
France.
Aug 23 Enroute to Le Havre, France. Well all plane
trips were cancelled after the
Japanese surrender so we are going by boat. We expect
to arrive at Le Havre at 11:00 PM
tonight. We left the 14th Repple Depple at 7:30 PM on
the 22nd. Has been a slow trip
but we are riding in pretty good coaches so it isn't
too bad. Expect to be in La Havre
about 48 hrs. and hope it isn't any longer as we're
pretty anxious to get on that boat.
Spent 10 days at Twenty Grand camp and finally loaded
aboard the boat at Le Havre,
France at noon Sept 3rd.
Sept. 4th on the high seas headed for the good old
USA. Left Le Havre at 10:00 this
morning and are well on our way now. Can see nothing
but water everywhere which is
O.K. with us. We are on the MS Torrens a Norwegian
boat. It is a pretty nice boat but
overloaded 400 men but I am lucky enough to have a
bunk. The chow is good but the
lines are plenty long. We expect to hit the states in
about 8 days. When we left Le
Havre the signs said 7900 miles so it is quite away
from home. We expect to land in New
York Sept 5 on the high Seas aboard the M.S. Torrens.
May 14. Well we didn't have to go
up and clean out the pocket as they surrendered so we
are glad of that. We are now just
sitting here waiting to go home we hope.
I have 104 points and only need 85
so mats a pretty good average.
Just got the news yesterday that
all men with 85 or more points will be out of the 41 st by
June 26 to July 27 so at that rate
should be a civilian by August or Sept. All censorship is
lifted now so mats pretty nice too.
We got another battle star the
other day for Germany and now have 109 points.
We stayed in Salzberg for seven
weeks and finally moved out.
We are now in Homberg Germany.
Drove thru Munich, Frankfort and up the line to
Fritzlon. Stayed there two days and
moved to here. We are ina big German barracks
which isn't so hot.
Well all of the high point men in
the division have left the old Third now and are in the
69th Div. I am a staff sargent
nowand mess sgt of HO Btr ofD (?) of the 69th.
We are in Hoenbach Germany about
five miles from the Russian border. It is such a
small town I don't even think it is
on the map. I'm high point man in the whole battery.
The men with 102 point and over
left Hoenbach three days after we got there and
we are now in the 14th repple
depple waiting for train shipment to Marsailles to catch the
plane for Casablanca. We expect to
leave here in five or so days and expect to get home
by the 15th of Sept. We about 10
miles fom Fliorville, France.
Aug 23 Enroute to Le Havre, France.
Well all plane trips were cancelled after the
Japanese surrender so we are going
by boat. We expect to arrive at Le Havre at 11:00 PM
tonight. We left the 14th Repple
Depple at 7:30 PM on the 22nd. Has been a slow trip
but we are riding in pretty good
coaches so it isn't too bad. Expect to be in La Havre
about 48 hrs. and hope it isn't any
longer as we're pretty anxious to get on that boat.
Spent 10 days at Twenty Grand camp
and finally loaded aboard the boat at Le Havre,
France at noon Sept 3rd.
Sept. 4th on the high seas headed
for the good old USA. Left Le Havre at 10:00 this
morning and are well on our way
now. Can see nothing but water everywhere which is
O.K. with us. We are on the MS
Torrens a Norwegian boat. It is a pretty nice boat but
overloaded 400 men but I am lucky
enough to have a bunk. The chow is good but the
lines are plenty long. We expect to
hit the states in about 8 days. When we left Le
Havre the signs said 7900 miles so
it is quite away from home. We expect to land in New
York Sept 5 on the high Seas aboard
the M.S. Torrens.
It is a beautiful day but the sea
is rocking a little today as we are out of the English
Channel. The chow is very good
compared to what we ate on the way over here. We eat
two meals a day and have sandwiches
at noon every day. Every day seems like a year but
we're getting closer every minute.
Sept 7 On the high Seas Enroute to
New York.
We are having a rough sea tonight
and the ship is doing the Conga. The storm has been
brewing all day and will probably
be a pretty rough night are about halfway home
now and getting plenty impatient.
Nearly fell out of my bunk that time when she rolled
over.
Sept 11
Well we are still aboard ship and
waiting for land to come into sight. We had two really
rough days but I didn't get sick.
My breakfast came up to my adam's apple a couple of
times but I held her down. We are
due to get off this bathtub at 7 tomarrow morning and
am certainlly anxious to get going.
We expect to see land about midnight tonight:
AMERICA HERE WE COME LOOKOUT.
Sept 13
We are going to leave here today
for home. We are going to have pullman cars and
expect to get there in about 5
days. Called Annette Bodda up on the phone and had a nice
talk with her. Nice weather here
and everything is really swell here in Camp Shanksand
they treat us like white men for a
change.
Well we are aboard a troop train
and just left Lima.Ohio. Went through New York state
and Pennsylvanniaand Ohio. We'll be
in Chicago at 6:00 tonight.
Sept 14
Well be home Monday morning the
16th.
We laid over in Chicago all night
and left for St. Paul in the morning. We arrived in St.
Paul the next night and stayed all
night there. Are near Butte Montana now.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Aug 7
Dad
Birthday
Nov.28
Mom
Birthday
Aug 30
Everlyn
Birthday
Thor
Nov.8
Birthday
GIFTS I HAVE
RECEIVED FOR WHICH I WANT TO EXPRESS APPECIATION
This book and
stationary
July 30, 1942
Mom and Dad
Candy
July 24, 1942
Jewell
$5
July 24,1942
Grandma
Radio
July 30, 1942
Evelyn
PLACES
I HAVE BEEN
Fort Lewis Nice
place and close to home.
Camp Roberts Not
bad in the wintertime.
got my first taste
of army life there.
Fort Ord Rather
sandy but nice and cool in the summer
San Diego A nice
town but too many sailors. No place for a soldier.
Tijuana Mexico
Just a place for tourists to buy trinkets, but at least I could say I had been
to Mexico.
Santa Barbara had
nice swim in the ocean there at 3:30 AM in the morning. Would like
to stay at the Mar
Monte hotel there on my honeymoon.
*
Camp Pickett,
Virginia We have been here about two months. This is a fairly good
place except when
it rains. It is quite a bit like home.
Washington D.C. & New York.
Were nice places but pretty big.
Africa Some pretty country but on
the whole the people are pretty crumby.
Sicily A nice place for sunshine
and fresh fruits. Mostly mountains.
Italy Nothing to brag about and
pretty well shot up.
Pompeii was pretty interesting.
Anzio beachhead. The less said
about it the better.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Headquarters Third Infantry
Division
Public Relations Office
A.P.O. #3
******
Following is a brief history of the Third Infantry division during 26 months of
combat in World War II, prepared by the Division’s Public Relations Office. It
has been approved by the chief press censor and may be mailed home.
**********
Members of the Third Infantry Division in World War II can be proud of the fact
they belong to the division that wears more battle stars than any other
division of the United States Army in the European Theater of Operations. Since
the November 8, 1942 landing at Fedala, French Morocco, the Rock of the Marne
of 1918 has taken part in seven separate campaigns, and rolled up a fighting
record second to none in the entire United Nations group.
The Third bears a glorious history. It won undying fame for itself and for the
American Expeditionary Forces as a whole through the deeds of valor performed
by its members of the battlefields of France during the first war, and has
repeated in this war through French Morocco, Tunisia, Sicily, Southern Italy,
Anzio, and the drive to Rome, and again in France and Alsace.
Perhaps the division is best known in World War I for its famous defense of the
Marne River on July 15, 1918. On this day, along the shell swept banks of the
Marne, the Third Division, taking part in its initial action of the war, turned
back two divisions of German shock troops.
On the night of July 14/15, 1918, it fell to the lot of this division to meet
the massed attach of the German army in its last great effort to break through
our lines. With cool courage and determination our troops, most of whom had
never been under fire before, stood their ground through the German artillery
bombardment and subsequent attacks by masses of German infantry and machine
guns. The result was that those troops composed of the best regiments of the
German army were thrown back in confusion.
After taking part in pinching off the St. Michel salient, and operation of 48
hours, accomplished what many had been wishing to see done for four years. The
Third Division moved to its last great task of the war, the Meuse-Argonne
offensive. During this great battle, the division was in the line for 26 days.
It advanced six miles against German defenses that has been organized for four
years and succeeded in penetrating the Hindenburg line, the mighty hinge of the
German defense.
Although the Third Division was organized in 1917, its real background is
rooted in the glorious past of the famous regiments, which constitute it. Their
battle honors include the campaigns of 1812, the Indian Wars, the Mexican and
civil Wars, the Spanish-American War as well as two World Wars. The 7th
Regiment was first organized in 1798, mustered out in 1800, reorganized in 1808
and has had continuous service since that date. Its long list of battle honors
begins with the Battle of Tippecanoe in the Indian War of 1811.
The 15th Regiment was first organized as a unit of volunteers to serve against
the British in the War of 1812, and spent 16 years as garrison troops in China.
The 30th Regiment is recorded as participating in the War of 1812 and in the
Civil War, but the history of the present 30th Regiment began with the
formation by Act of Congress, February 2, 1901, and its organization at Fort Logan,
Colorado.
The division saw its first combat of this modern war at 0445 hours on November
8, 1942. At that hour the first troops of the 7th and 30th Regiments began
landing on the beaches north of Fedala. By 0900 hours the 30th Regiment had
captured Botterio du Pont Blondin, a battery of four 138mm guns located five
miles north of Fedala, and was well on its way to securing the crossing of the
Qued Nefifikh, a deep gorge which formed a natural defense line on our
northeastern flank.
The 7th Regiment was met at the beach by a company of Senegalese riflemen, who
promptly surrendered, and were sent back to their barracks in the northeast
part of Fedala. The following day, the division began its advance southwest
toward Casablanca, meeting little initial resistance. On the night of D plus
two, our troops consolidated positions and prepared for a coordinated attack on
Casablanca. However, the French asked for an armistice the following morning
(November 11), and at 0655 General Patton arrived at Third Division
headquarters to call off the attack.
Between November and March, the division occupied bivouac areas in Casablanca,
Fedala, Rabat, and Port Lyautey, while the 30th Regiment moved to eastern
Morocco to provide security against a possible enemy attack through Spanish
Morocco. In April of ’43, the division moved to Port-aux-Poules, near Arzew,
Algeria, and began training for an amphibious operation. General Lucian K.
Truscott had taken command from General Jonathan W. Anderson on March 6, and
instituted his training policies, which stressed physical conditioning plus
speed and aggressiveness in attack. On April 30, the division was ordered to
move to Tunisia, where it was assigned to II Corps and moved into the line to
complete the destruction of the Afrika Corps. On May 9, 1943, the 15th Regiment
was moving up to attack when the enemy surrendered, and the II corps mission
was completed without our division firing a shot.
Amphibious training was continued at Jemmapes, Algeria, and early in June, the
division returned to El Alia, near Bizerte, where it made final preparations
for the Sicilian operation. At 0200 hours, July 10, all three regiments,
reinforced by the 3rd Ranger Battalion and numerous combat attachments,
including CC “A” of the 2nd Armored Division, began landing on the beaches east
and west of Licata, Sicily. There followed an operation which is classic in
military annals for speed and success. The division expanded its beachhead to
more than 100 square miles on D-day; on D plus seven, Argigento fell, and only
five days later, division patrols entered Palermo, 100 miles to the north. The
bulk of this distance was covered by all three regiments in three days; in one
34 hour period, the 3rd Battalion, 30th Regiment, marched 54 miles through mountainous
country and participated in the successful attack of San Stefano Quisquina.
After a week’s rest at Palermo, the division relieved the 45th Infantry
Division at San Stefano di Camastra on the north coast of Sicily, and in 17
days, drove 90 miles along the single coastal highway, against stubborn German
delaying action, to capture Messina. During this advance, the division fought a
tough four-day engagement at San Fratello, finally cracking the position with a
deep “end run” through mountainous terrain to assault the ridge from the south
flank; executed two amphibious landings made by the 2nd Battalion of the 30th
at Sant’Agata and Brolo, and reconstructed the highway, where it had been blown
off the fact of the cliff at Capo Calava, in 18 hours.
Exactly one month after the fall of Messina (September 17, 1943), the division
began its move from Palermo to Italy. On the evening of September 10, elements
of the 30th Regiment engaged German troops south of Acorna, and from then on,
for 59 consecutive days, the division never lost contact with the enemy for
more than a few hours at a time. The capture of the road center of Avollino
threatened the German position on the Naples plan and contributed to the fall
of that great port; the terrific drive across the Volturno, on October 13,
broke a strong natural defense position and upset the German withdrawal
timetable; the pursuit through Dragoni, Baia e Latina, and the capture of the
Pietravairano ridge system dept the outfought, outguessed enemy on his heels.
But it was on the mountainous approaches to Cassino that the division ran into
its toughest opposition and displayed its greatest offensive prowess. Heavily
reinforced by new divisions brought in from other theaters, the Germans sat on
MonteRetondo, MonteLungo, and Monte la Defensa, ringing Mignano on the north,
determined to hold at all costs. With winter, rain, and cold closing down, and
supplying it mountain forces by man-pack, the division captured MonteRetondo,
the south nose of Lungo, and II of atop, barren La Defenso, except one summit
guarded by a 200-foot cliff. This fighting was the most bitter and
heartbreaking the division had every undertaken, but forced the first
approaches to Cassino and gave other troops a good toehold for their later
attacks.
The division came out of the line November 17, 1943, rested until the end of
December in San Felice and then went to Pozzoli, where the troops went into
training for the Anzio operation.
At 0300 January 22, the three regiments of the Third Division began landing on
beaches two to three miles south of Nettuno, and established a large beachhead
on D-day with virtually no opposition. Unfortunately, shipping and reserve
troops were not available to permit the division to exploit its landing
immediately, and by the time the 45th Infantry Division had landed a week
later, the Germans had built up their defensive forces by hurling into the line
small fragments of mobile units from the southern front, from army reserve, and
from northern Italy. Houses between Castorna and Mussolini Canal were fortified
and strongly held, and enemy tanks were brought up to support the infantry.
Consequently, when the division attacked Castorna on January 30, progress was
slow and casualties high, although tremendous losses were inflicted on the
enemy, who was often compelled to counterattack across the open through our
murderous artillery fire. In two days our depleted battalions smashed their way
within 1000 yards of Castorna from the south and southwest, but were not strong
enough to be left in such exposed positions, and were somewhat withdrawn.
On February 2, the division was ordered to assume the defensive, which it did
from that time until March 28, when it was relieved by the 34th Infantry
Division. Under orders from Hitler to destroy the beachhead, Kesselring’s
forces launched tremendous attacks on February 16 and February 29, the second
attack being directed entirely against Third Division positions. On February 16
and again on March 1, the force of the enemy attack was broken and many
prisoners taken. In both cases counterattacks were delivered with great vigor
and effectiveness, and all ground initially lost was regained, and the
beachhead line again stabilized.
The division changed commanders on February 17, when General Truscott moved to
assume command of VI Corps and was replaced by Brig. Gen (new Maj. Gen.) John
W. O’ Daniel, formerly assistant division commander.
From April 16 to May 1, the division was back in the line in the
Carano-Padiglioni sector, southeast of Corrocote, its main activity being a
series of small and generally successful attacks which resulted in the capture
of more than 100 prisoners and retaking some important terrain. Patrolling and
infantry-tank cooperation were outstanding in this period.
At 0630 hours on May 23, the division dumped off on the toughest, yet most
spectacular assignment of its career—the breakthrough at Cisterna. Suffering
heavier casualties than ever before, yet working terrible destruction on the
enemy, the division completely smashed the powerful German defense system, took
Cisterna, reached and captured Cori in three days. On the evening of the fourth
day, reconnaissance entered Artena; on the fifth day Artona fell. There
followed a three-day buildup in the Artena sector, and on June 1 the division
collided with the fresh Hermann Goering division, smashed it to bits, and that
night crossed and blocked Highway 6, the main German escape route from the
south. On June 2, Valmontone and Labica fell, and the division, blocking to the
north with an attack, which cut the lateral road to Palestrina, turned toward
Rome. At 0900 June 4, elements of the 3rd Rocan Troup entered the city limits;
during the day and following night, the division cut Highways 4 and 5, brought
Hiway 3 under fire, and the following day entered the city in company with
other units of II corps.
During this great drive, 1800 prisoners were taken by the division, countless
enemy tanks, vehicles, and guns were smashed; the 362nd and 715th Infantry
Divisions were annihilated (credit 1st Armored division, 133rd Infantry
Regiment, and 1st SSF with assists), and the Hermann Georing Division was badly
cut up. Capture of Cisterna, Cori, Artona, and Valmontone were the labor of the
Third Division alone.
The division garrisoned and guarded Rome for two weeks, spent a few days in the
field near the Lido, then moved back to the Naples area to start amphibious
training again. On August 15, 1944, at 0800 hours, men of the Third Division
waded as heroes on the French Riviera. It was their fourth amphibious invasion,
more than any other division in this theater, and was called, by high-ranking
militarists, the perfect landing.
In the first 24 hours, the division broke through the enemy’s costal defenses,
captured close to 1000 prisoners and started its inland chase. Once the initial
defense line was broken, the enemy had no chance to set up another defense, and
its only chance was to head for Belfort Gap in hasty withdrawal.
First strong opposition came at Brignoles and later at Aix-en-Provence, but
both cities were taken without any great amount of trouble. Covering a front
sometimes as much as 10 miles wide, the division headed west and isolated the
ports of Toulon and Marseilles, broached the Rhine river at Avignon and then
headed north in the beautiful Rhine valley. The most spectacular occasion of
the dash occurred of the dash occurred at Montelimar, when enemy vehicular and
train convoys were intercepted by the division’s artillery. In a 12-mile
stretch of road north of Montelimar, Third Infantry Division artillery and
infantry destroyed nearly 2,000 vehicles, knocked out four trains and five
railroad guns, killing 900 Germans and taking 900 prisoners.
The first large fortress town in southern France to fall was Bosancon, which was
captured after a sharp, bitter two-day fight. The enemy moved a fresh division
into the forts surrounding the town with orders to hold for ten days, but when
one regiment was whipped out and the division commander was killed, all
resistance collapsed. After the liberation of Vesoul, the Third entered the
Vosges mountain campaign, which lasted roughly from the first of October until
the last week in November. The division crossed the Moselle and Moeselotto
rivers, then shifted north to cross the Marengo river near Bruyeres and in less
than three days cracked the enemy’s main line of resistance along the Marengo
river and headed for the high ground overlooking StDio from the west.
Following the original breakthrough, one regiment drove along the main axis from
Bruyeres toward StDio, capturing Les Rouges Eaux and Les Hautes Jacques, the
latter being worsted from an extremely efficient mountain outfit brought in
from Austria to stem the drive down the valley, but it was decisively decimated
by our hard hitting units. Les Hautes Jacques is merely an insignificant spot
on the map, but to the men who fought and won the battle there, it will be long
remembered for the bitter battle the Huns put up. It will also be remembered by
military strategists, who realized the value of winning this key point to
support the success of future operations.
Meanwhile, other division troops swung to the north to clear the Meurthe River
plain, taking a number of small places all bitterly contested by the enemy.
Once in Meurthe River was reached, it was time for another river crossing, this
time more difficult because there were not bridges standing. So the Third
attacked two regiments abreast—the 30th and 7th—at night, crossing the river on
rubber pontoon bridges erected that same night under the Krauts’ very noses.
Nightly patrolling along the river by the 15th Regiment had led the enemy to
believe this was just another routine operation.
The attack began November 20, and just seven days later troops of the Third
rolled into Strasbourg and reached the Rhine River south of the city. Another
night attack, done in inky blackness, proved the clincher and broke any German
hopes of spending the winter in Vosges. Infiltrating through an elaborate
system of bunkers, pillboxes, trenches, and tank traps, one battalion arrived
in Suelos before bewildered Germans knew American troops were within firing
range of the city. Suelos was the first Alsatian town taken by troops of the
Third Division and was followed immediately by Saulxures. After a battalion of
enemy, who had intended to counterattack Suelos but were forced to fight
defensively at Bourg-Bruche, has been wiped out, the division raced through all
opposition in the Vosges plains. One small unit stopped momentarily at
Natzweiler at a large SS concentration camp, previously evacuated, and another
infantry company, plus a group of engineers, finally knocked out a fortress
full of Germany by rolling a captured personnel carrier, loaded with 7000
pounds of TNT, against the fortress’ side. In the lightening thrust, and the
first time in military history that the Vosges Mountains had been successfully
crossed, the Third captured close to 2,000 prisoners and killed countless more.
When the backbone of the enemy’s winter line was broken, the withdrawal was
reminiscent of the drive through southern France, with its hundreds of
prisoners, huge amounts of captured equipment, and hastily abandoned command
posts. Following the Vosges campaign, the division spent a period as police and
garrison troops in the largest town and capital of Alsace-Strasbourg, putting
Allied troops in the city for the first time in four years.
Prior to this war, no military force had ever been able to capture Rome from
the south, nor had troops ever been able to hurdle the Vosges. The Third
Division did both. The division had been well rewarded for its illustrious
combat record. Old-timers in the division wear seven combat stars—more than any
other division—14 fighting men with the Third have been awarded the
Congressional Medal of Honor—more than any other division—and four separate
units have been cited with the Presidential Unit Citation. The 30th’s “I”
Company and 2nd and 3rd Battalions and the 15th’s “L” Company were all cited
for outstanding action—the 2nd Battalion in Sicily, the 3rd BN and “L” Company
in southern Italy, and “I” Company on the Anzio Beachhead.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for COLMAR
French Croix de Guerre, World War II, Fourragere
Presidential
Unit Citation (Army) for COLMARThe
Fighting Third
Here is the story of
the men of the famous Third Infantry Division, who fought from the beaches of
North Africa to Berchtesgaden; who traveled farther, made more amphibious
landings and won more Congressional Medals of Honor than any other American
Division on the Western Front.
HENRY J. TAYLOR
"The sweep of armies
in war," General Eisenhower told me before D-Day, "is too broad and
confusing to visualize. Pick a single division. Trace it through its actions.
That's the way to get the picture."
I had been with the
Regular Army's Third Infantry Division in North Africa. I had been with the
Third Infantry Division in Italy. I saw the Third Infantry Division in France.
I watched this unit break the Siegfried Line. I crossed the Rhine with the
Third. The war in europe ended for me on V-E Day yith the Third, at Berchtesgaden.
So this is the story of
the famous Third Infantry Division. Its career unfolds as the war as a whole
unfolded for millions of American Boys fighting in so many other divisions in
europe. There can be no singling out of any one division as the "best"
or "greatest" for their assignments and their lengths of service and
their opportunities differed a great deal. But simply on the record, the
amazing achievements of the Third Division, the casualties and decorations, the
tragic losses and sensational gains, the landings made and the terrain covered
and the overall achievements of the Third, give it a record which is
unsurpassed by any other American Division in World War II. This is a large
statement. But here is the record. Here is the war in a chronicle of
this single unit.
Members of the Third
Infantry Division wear more battle stars than any other United States Army
division that fought in the European Theater.
The Third battled
through more separate campaigns, covered sore territory from its first landings
to V-E Day, made more amphibious assaults and received more individual
decorations for its men, than any other American unit.
From Pearl Harbor to
V-E Day, Congress awarded 23P Congressional Medals of Honor: 162 in the Army
and 77 in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Of these 239 Congressional
Medal of Honor Awards, thirty one went to members of the Third Infantry
Division, thirteen awarded posthumously. This means that approximately one out
of every eight Medals of Honor, among l4,000,000 men, went to men in this
single division, containing never more than 15,000 soldiers. This record stands
alone in the annals of America's armed forces.
The Third's battle
honors and individual honors also extend far back, and are rooted in the glorious
history of three famous component elements which comprise the riflemen units in
the division: the Seventh, Fifteenth, and Thirtieth Infantry Regiments.
The Seventh Regiment,
first organized 147 years ago (1789), carries battle honors from campaigns of
1812, the Indian Wars, the Mexican and Civil Wars, and the Spanish-American
War, as well as both World Wars.
The fifteenth Regiment
started as a unit of volunteers to fight against the British in the War of
1812, served through the Civil War and the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and spent
twenty-six years u garrison troops in China.
The Thirtieth
participated in the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The present organization is
the result of an Act of Congress, February 2, 1901, and its chief
participations were in St.Mihiel and the MeuseArgonne offshelves, the
Chateau-Thierry operations and the Champagne-Marne defensive in World War I.
In this war, the
division's two and a half years of combat started in French Morocco. At 4:45
a.m. November 8, 1942, troops of the Seventh and Thirtieth Regiments landed on
the beaches north of Fedala and scored the Division's first victory in World
War IX with the capture of Batterie du Pont Blondin. It was never out of action
except for a few weeks at a time in the thirty-one months that followed.
From November 1942,
forward, the battle route of the Division hu reflected every type of problem in
our overall strategy in europe and a slice of all various terrains over which
any of America's armies fought for final victory. From the desert sands and
rocky passes of North Africa the rain drenched hill traps of the Italian
Mountains and the rooling valleys of France, to the snow swept tops of the
Vosges and the broa~ river areas of the German Reich, the Third Division
combined the experiences of our troops as a whole on the European fronts. And
its saga of "Blood, sweat and tears" was universal among our combat
units overseas
This regular Army
outfit had a reasonably easy time in North Africa after its landing in the
Casablanca zone. Between November, 1942, and March, 1943, the Division occupied
bivouac areas there, and in April, 1943, moved to Port-aux-Poules, near Arzeu,
Algeria, to train for its second amphibious operation. Major General Jonathon
W. Anderson had been in comand when Major-General Lucian K. Truecoat took over
on March 6. General Truscott, who finally defeated the Germans at Anzio when
the Division reached there, remains a hero to its officers and men to this day.
The training was cut
short, however, when the Division was ordered to move to Tunisis on April 30
and effect the destruction of Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps in its final
days, On May 8, Division Unit: attacked, but the enemy surrendered. "The
mission was completed without firing a shot." General Truecoat told me,
"and I tried to remind our men of this later at Anzio. But even with
Anzio, the Division was on the short end of the law of averages."
All three regiments,
reinforced by numerous combat attachments, next entered active fighting on July
10, 1943, by landing on Sicily's shores in the operation known under Army code
as "Hocus."
The Division expanded
its beachhead to more than 100 square miles on the Sicily D-Day, and twelve
days later entered Palermo, 100 miles to the north of its landing place
(Licata). Most of this record breaking accomplishment was achieved by all three
regiments in three days, The Third Battalion of the Thirtieth Regiment, for
instance, marched fifty-four miles in thirty-four hours through mountainous
country, and then participated in the successful assault at San Stefano
Quisquina.
The Division rested
only a week at Palermo. Then it struck again. In seventeen days it drove ninety
miles along the coastal highway, battling German resistance all the way and
capturing Messina, on the shore of the narrow strait separating Sicily and
Itay.
Thirty days later,
September 17, 1943, the Division moved against Italy proper. On September 20,
its men stopped the fanatical German troops near Acerno, and then for
fifty-nine consecutive days the Third never lost contact with the enemy nor
ceased combat action for more than a few hours at any time.
This seemingly endless
campaign was followed by the Thirds terrific drive across the bloody Volturno
River, breaking up the German's strong natural defense positions to which the
Volturno was the key.
There the Third
Division began to accumulate its heavy casualties in dead, wounded and missing.
In the course of the war these losses were to necessitate frequent replacements
in its ranks: More than 35,000 Americans passed through the ranks of the Third
Division in its Thirty-one months in combat.
After Volturno the
losses continued to grow, for the Third fought next in the mountain approaches
to Cassino. This mountain fighting was among the most desperate in the War.
Kesselring's forces sat tight on Mount Rotundo. Mount Lungo and Mount la
Difensa, instructed to hold these points at all costs. Fighting in the worst
winter recorded in thirty years, with rain and cold hampering the unit on all
sides, and forced to supply its mountain forces not even mule-back, but by
man-back, the Division captured Mount Rotundo and immohilized the other two
obstacles.
General Truscott said
that this fighting was the most bitter and heartbreaking the Division had ever
undertaken up to that date. But its success forced the first approaches to the
German anchor to the South (Cassino) and gave other American units their toe
hold for later assaults on that famous place.
On November 17, 1942,
the Third Division went into training for the Anzio Operation. Time may dull our
recollection of what happened at Anzio for so much has happened to occupy the
headlines since then. To obtain the official version of the ground action, I
asked General Mark Clark, the overall American Commander to review what
happened, this is what General Clark told me:
Although Kesselring's
force opposing our landing was small, the Germans reacted quickly. On D-Day
(January 22, 1943) the Third and other Divisions landed 36,000 men against the
Germans 20,000. Our superiority was not enough, however, to advance far before
securing a satisfactory beachhead. By D-Day plus-3, Kesselring forces had grown
to 41,000 while we had only 36,000 and the enemy buildup was steadily
increasing.
New German forces came
in with amazing rapidity. Hitler ordered to Anzio one division from France
(resting there after earlier battles in Russia), one from the Balkans, three
from northern Italy and two from the eastern side of the Italian Peninsula, but
only a division and a half from the southern front where the Germans were
containing our Fifth Army on the Casaino line. General Clark said that eleven
days after the Anzio landing, in spite of our efforts to block the German
movements, the enemy had put 98,000 troops at Anzio, compared to 92, 000 of our
own.
Under orders from
Hitler to destroy the beachhead, Kesselring's forces launched tremendous
attacks on February 16 and 29, the second attack being directed entirely
against the Third Division's positions. The Third stood there and took
everything the Germans could muster, counting their casualties as they mounted
hour by hour, but never wavering in the line. The Third counterattacked. First
the beachhead was again stabilized. Then the Third broke through.
The Germans were beaten
at Anzio. Even after V-E Day, most of our military leaders in Europe, including
General Eisenhower, agreed that no fighting at any time on the continent-the
breakthrough at St. Lo, the battle in the Bastogne Bulge or any other action-
was more bitter and dreadful than the final breakthrough at Anzio. "There
was no harder action in this war," is the concensus.
Brigadier General John
W. "Iron Mike" O'Daniel, formerly assistant division commander, was
given command of the Division on February 17, when General Truscott was
promoted to command the Sixth Corps.
It was under General
O'Daniel that the Third participated in the next accomplishment-the capture of
Rome.
The Division garrisoned
the Italian capital for two weeks, but this is all the relief it had. It then
moved back to the Naples area, to start amphibious training again. It left
General Clark's other Italian Forces and as a part of Lieutenant General
Alexander M. Patch's new Seventh Army (General Patch himself was brought from
Guadalcanal to command this force), the Third was scheduled to attack the
southern coast of France.
On August 13, 1944, at
eight o'clock in the morning, the Third's assault boats completed their
Mediterranean crossing and struck the shoreline of the French Riviera. This
action established another record - it was the division's fourth amphibious
landing, and represented more landings than any other division in the European
theater.
In the first
twenty-four hours the Division smashed the German coastal defenses, captured
nearly a thousand prisoners, and gegan a major advance inland from the baches
at St. Tropaez. Its route now led to the Belfort Gap, the historic route into
Germany from the southwest. But the way was barred by the strong German
positions in the natural defenses of the Vosges.
"This was the
place for the Germans to protect the Rhine", General O'Daniel said,
"and they tried to do it".
First, the Division
captured the fortress city of Besancon, annihilating one regiment of a fresh
division the Germans had moved into forts surrounding the town, and capturing
all remnants when the resistance of the beaten troops collapsed. Then the Third
entered the Vosges Mountain Campaign, which consisted of two months of nearly
impossible fighting in a passage which European military historians have
claimed since the earliest days could not have crossed in winter.
The Third Division beat
the weatherman to the punch and breached the Vosges by the last week in November,
fighting as well to relieve the French trapped in the Colmar Pocket.
Next, the Division
crossed the Moselle and the Mosolotte Rivers. The Rhine naturally took the
headlines later, but these earlier operations were as fully as difficult as the
Rhine crossing and generally, speaking more effectively opposed. The Third
followed up by immediately crossing the Mortange River as well.
In the five days
between March 15 and 20, 1945. The Third reached
the Siegfried Line and
captured Zweibrucken. The Rhine crossing was made at Worms, March 26. The
Division crossed the Main four days later. With the two rivers behind them, the
Division began its final attack on Hitler's redoubt.
The German SS Troops
were making a last ditch stand in the south, and the Third encountered them at
Nurnberg. General O'Daniel describes this as the Third Division's last hard
fight of the war, and when I asked him how it ranked with the Third's other
most severe battles he put the Nurmberg fight fifth. "This is in order of
severity," he said. "Anzio, in a class by itself; next the Vosges
Campaign; then the Colmar Pocket, Mignono and Nurnberg."
Nurnberg was captured
April 18-21, and the following week the Division crossed the Danube River to
capture Augsburg. On April 26 the Third and other divisions of Lieutenant
General Alexander M. Patch's Seventh Army captured Munich.
The finale for the
Third, and for the war, came in the last week of April and the first week of
May. May 5, three days before V-E Day, "Iron Mike's men ended their war in
Europe in the hide-away house of the Nazi Master himself. The Third Division
hoisted the Stars and Stripes, and its own battle standard on Hitler's flagpole
at Berchesgaden. No other division in Europe traveled so far for VICTORY
........ The End.
· Technically, the
normal strength of the Third Division was 13,407 men, but during action it was
usually closer to 15,000 because of assignments of more special units, such as
tank-destroyers, artillery observation planes, Etc.
Picture of Evelyn Soderqwuist carried by Jim through the Second World War.
Jim Merritt’s Stories of War as Heard by Gordon Merritt
One time we were in a village and a large shell fell on the
road and rolled down to where we were.
Lucky for us, it did not blow up; it was a dud.
When we were cooking in a field kitchen at Anzio one day; we
were gone from the kitchen for a time.
One of our artillery shells fell short and flew holes in one of our
stoves.
At Anzio, we could not go out during the day to the latrine,
as the Germans would shoot you.
One night I felt bad about the location of my pup tent. I moved it before going to sleep, and the
next morning there was a large shell hole where the tent had been.
I remember seeing a line of men across the road from our
field kitchen. They were lined up
waiting for a meal. A German plane
staffed the road and killed most of them.
At the Division Reunions a friend always tells me that I had
saved his life. We were in a village
talking and I heard a shell coming, but he didn’t. I pushed him out of the way and he always
says that I saved his life.
The children in Italy were starving and begging all the
time. At the kitchen we did not have
enough food to take care of our men and them too. I was very hard to see them go hungry.
I did not like the way the officers treated the men. It was a real class system and very
unfair. One of the officers running our
Battalion was a migrant farm worker before the war; I could not respect him
much, and did not think much of his decisions.
Some of the officers made some crazy decisions. In Naples there was a practice amphibious
landing before the invasion of Anzio.
The weather was so stormy that our Battalion lost a lot of men and
equipment. We lost all twelve 105
cannons when all of our DUWK’s sank.
In North Africa each morning you had to shake out your boots
so you would not step on scorpions
hiding in them.
I remember cooking for a truck driver one early
morning. He then drove an ammunition
truck and it exploded. Nothing was found
of him or the truck.
One time at Anzio, we were cooking, and the shelling was
bad. It was so dangerous the men would
not come out to the kitchen tent to get their food. We were put in for bronze stars for cooking
under those conditions. We never were
awarded the medals, and some officer probably got a bronze star.
One time we were looking for souvenirs and saw a perfect
German Lugar on a table in a shed. We
would not take it as the Germans set up anti-personnel mines in such
places.
I remember coming home from France on the boat. When we saw the Statue of Liberty in New York
Harbor the feeling I got was overpowering.
Some of the guys I knew got a chance to take a plane home to
the West Coast. I took the train. Their plane crashed and they were all lost.
After the end of the War, I was in a camp, waiting to go
home. In a tent, a new guy was waving a
pistol around. I got very angry with
him. He said it was not loaded; but I
did not wanted to be shot by accident after surviving the War.
I had a case of malaria in Italy and had to go to the
hospital with a fever. I got over it and
did not have a recurrence. Some of the
guys got Malaria and had recurrent fevers, sometimes with convulsions. I was told I could not give blood, for the
rest of my life.
I have seen a soldier get food ladled onto his shirt when he
was delaying and not deciding what he wanted in the kitchen tent serving
line.
If a soldier asked that a serving plate be passed to him,
and someone passing it helped himself to some of it, they were in trouble.
We did not think we would make it through the war until near
the end. I told the guys that I thought
that we would all make it, and we did.
One of the cooks I trained with died of his wounds on
Sicily, when the truck he was driving drove over a mine.
My Dad had a dry sense of humor. Once he sent me a letter that had me rolling
of a log with laughter. He told about a
neighbor kid who looked into his basement window and told his parents that he
thought he saw a body down there. The
first thing Jim, Sr., knew was when he was woken up by a policeman shining a
light in his face. He looked up to see a badge with 8-7-77 on it, which was his birthdate.
All of the old artillery men at the reunions were wearing
hearing aides. They wore no hearing
protection during the War.
I was able to find two Lugar pistols during the War. I sold one at the end and kept one with a
pistol. It was dated 1918. I sold that one to a friend about 1995. I also had a Hungarian 43 caliber pistol and
holster. I sold this in about 1995 to a
friend.
I bought two of the books called “History of the 3rd
Infantry Division in World War II”.
These were sold after the end of the War. Someone offered me fifty dollars for one at a
reunion, but I would not sell it.
I got a call at the end of the War from an Army Surplus
Store in Seattle. They had my
footlocker, with my name on it with all the battles that we were in, that I
painted during the War. I told him
that I did not want it. I wish now that
I had bought it.
The German soldiers sometimes had a chain, like a dog chain
with wires that stuck out along it, like a training collar. They used them for leading prisoners, who
were hurt the more they struggled against it.
At Hitler’s place, Bertesgarten, we were among the first
ones to reach it. The British had bombed
it pretty well, but we found a cave like warehouse, that had uniforms for
Hitler’s guards. I got one of the
Helmets that had never been issued.
I remember our first hike in North Africa. After a few miles, it was so hot, that guys
threw away their small stoves, and big heavy wool overcoats. I kept mine and was glad that I did. The trail was littered with all kinds of
equipement.
