CHAPTER 6
With the capture of Cherbourg and consolidation of enemy positions on the Cotentin Peninsula, Allied forces of the First Army were poised along a front near the French town of St. Lô. The plan was for the First Army to punch a hole in the German lines, allowing the Third Army (Patton) to travel through in a long sweeping flank movement across the favorable tank country of northern France. The strategy was to en circle enemy forces, cut off their supply routes, and destroy or capture as many enemy units as possible.
On 26 July 1944, Companies A, B, and C of the 70th supported the 8th Infantry Division near St. Lô after a heavy air attack on the town by Allied aircraft. The actual targets destroyed were fewer than anticipated, but the intensity of the bombing demoralized and confused the enemy so much that they began to retreat. German armor could not move freely without being attacked by aircraft, which helped the 70th move more readily toward objectives. The vast number of Allied aircraft sorties had the undesirable effect of accidental bombing of the 70th near St. Lô after the battalion had been obscured by smoke from previous bombings. Casualties were sustained by the 70th and 8th Infantry Regiment, along with vehicles hit.
Despite all the confusion they pressed forward against significant enemy resistance, transforming the town of St. Lô and its countryside into a wasteland. Birds and animals lay dead in the fields along with burned-out hulks of vehicles. Bomb craters altered the agrarian countryside. The movement forward toward the St. Lô–Periers Road became a more rapid indication that the Germans were stunned and disorganized, with the province of Brittany open for the taking. On 1 August, the Third Army attacked through the sector, capturing Granville and Avranches, beginning its sweep into Brittany, and initiating the famed “Patton dash across France.”
Patton reveled in headlines, and this operation fit the bill. Admiration goes to the 70th and those units who slugged it out with the enemy to make the break-out possible. While the Third Army was attacking across France, the 70th moved southeast toward Villedieu les Poeles, Brecey, and Mortain, supporting the 4th Infantry Division. Company A was attached to the 8th Infantry Regiment of the 4th, Company B to the 12th Infantry Regiment, and Company C to the 22nd Infantry Regiment. Company D acted as a screening force. B Company attacked Villedieu and encountered stiff enemy resistance.
The attack progressed toward St. Pois, and the north bank of the See River was taken by the 8th Infantry Regiment supported by Company A. Companies B and C slugged their way to objectives north of St. Pois under heavy tank and artillery fire from the enemy. In early August, the battalion was cleaning up pockets of enemy resistance with no personnel and equipment lost. Shortly thereafter, the Germans prepared a counterattack to cut off the Third Army near the towns of Mortain and Avranches. Company B and Combat Team 12 moved to Mortain in anticipation of the counteroffensive. Company A and the rest of the battalion remained with Combat Team 8 as a reserve force. Company A had just received the new up-gunned medium tanks with the 76mm gun. The new gun was an improvement over the standard 75mm, as it had higher-velocity ammunition and more penetrating power. Still, it could not defeat enemy tanks in a frontal assault at distance, to the consternation of 70th tankers and the higher-ups at Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). An attack on an enemy tank usually was initiated from the side, since the armor there was considerably less thick.
The battle for Mortain was fierce, as the Germans tried to push the Allies back toward the sea. In the three days of 9–11 August, the 70th—along with the 12th and 22nd Infantry Regiments—held the line, thwarting the attack that eventually fizzled, initiating the enemy retrograde toward the German border (Siegfried Line). Headquarters, Service, and D Companies were now camped 8 miles southeast of Le Teilleul, located south of the Mortain–Domfront Highway. Service Company was now commanded by Capt. Thomas E. Barbour. The never-ending search for spare parts continued, and soldiers from Service Company would often travel to supply depots to get badly needed items for the tanks, half-tracks, and trucks. Because of the rapid Allied advance through France, supply units had trouble keeping up. Spare parts were in short supply and required a division-level requisition. Many times the 70th maintenance personnel were turned away because the 70th was merely a battalion, not a division. It did not take long for Service Company personnel to learn that in order to get spares, they had to call themselves the 70th Division and provide a case of liquor.
Mid-August days were uneventful, but night attacks by enemy aircraft were common. Bombs the size of 40mm mortar shells rained down on the 70th, resulting in casualties and the destruction of the kitchen unit of Company C. On 17 August, the battalion moved to a location midway between Pré-en-Pail and Carrouges where units of the French Army were encamped. From 11 to 23 August, the battalion performed maintenance but kept in contact with the enemy as they retreated rapidly toward Germany. The 70th traveled through St. Pois, St.-Laurent-de-Cuves, La Chappelle-Cécelin, Brecy, St. Hilaire-du-Harcouët, and Montigny with little enemy opposition. The townsfolk always came out to wave American flags and celebrate their liberation.
Because of the rapid advance, convoys often drove through the night, and tank drivers became hypnotized while watching the small taillight of the vehicle in front. Military vehicles had two sets of lights, one for normal driving and a small one for combat mode to avoid detection. The taillight slits were often called “cat eyes.” On 24 August, the battalion was in the vicinity of St. Yon, 20 miles south of Paris. Company A was at Villemoisson, Company B at Bois de Vincennes, Company C at Longjumeau, and Company D at St. Yon.
Company D, under the command of Capt. Herman Finklestein, was ordered to support the 12th Infantry Regiment under the command of Colonel Luckett as it moved into Paris. The unit entered the city through Longjumeau, Athis-Mons, Villejuif, Gentilly, by the destroyed Renault Factory to Porte d’Italie, which was the bivouac area. The French civilians were jubilant and celebrated most of the day, to the point that a fence had to be set up to keep them out of the camp where repair work on tanks and other equipment was taking place. Occasionally, French resistance groups (Free French of the Interior, FFI) would pass by and request gasoline so they could ferret out the remaining Germans.
Reprisals against suspected German collaborators started to occur, as mobs singled out individuals for “justice.” Typically a person who was thought to have been friendly with the Germans was tried, convicted, sentenced, and punished on the spot. The punishment was shaving the head, stripping, and painting with tar. Of course this treatment was repulsive to the soldiers of the 70th, but they were under orders not to interfere. The FFI were helpful, however, in keeping order around the 70th camp and preventing theft of food and equipment.
One day, when an attempt was made to assassinate General de Gaulle, a platoon from the 70th was ordered into the heart of the city to quell sporadic firing. The platoon paraded through town under the command of Sgt. Ray T. Hart and returned shortly afterward.
There were additional engagements of the 70th with the Germans at the northeast perimeter of the city, resulting in casualties. On 27 August, Company A moved to the vicinity of Montfermeil, and Company C to the vicinity of Clichy-Sur-Bois, with Company B between Companies A and C. On 28 August, Company D moved to the forest of Vincennes between Companies A and C. This movement was in pursuit of the enemy northeast of Paris, and the companies encountered stiff resistance. Four tanks from Company A, one from Company B, and two from Company C were lost.
On 29 August, the battalion as a whole unit (for the second time since Sicily) was ordered to seize the ground 2,000 yards south of Tremblay Les Gonesse and hold until relieved by Combat Team 22. Companies B and C led the assault, Company A was in support, and Company D was a screening force on the left flank. The line of debarkation was 9,000 yards southeast of the objective. Company D advanced toward Roissy-en-France and captured a platoon-sized unit of Germans. The Germans were stripped of their equipment and loaded onto trucks to be sent back to the POW camp. After the battalion seized the objective, they took approximately 300 prisoners and destroyed an enemy tank along with three antitank guns.
While in the vicinity of Livry Gargan, a significant change in command occurred. Lieutenant Colonel Welborn, who had been with the battalion since the days of training at Fort Bragg, was transferred to the 3rd Armored Division. The battalion executive officer, Maj. Henry Davidson, who had also been with the 70th since Fort Bragg, became its new commander.
Lt. Col. “Jack” Welborn was admired by the men of the 70th because he always led in battle. He was promoted to full colonel and placed in command of the 33rd Armored Regiment, a unit that distinguished itself during the push into Germany.
On 31 August the 70th moved into Pondron where V-1 “buzz bombs” were observed flying toward England. On 1 and 2 September, the battalion moved north and east toward St. Quentin and entered the city on 3 September, after encountering resistance from the retreating enemy.
The 70th had advanced from St. Lô across France to St. Quentin in approximately thirty days. The 70th, attached to the 4th Infantry Division of V Corps, pushed through the city toward the Meuse River and crossed it in the vicinity of Rocroi, entering Belgium on 11 September and cutting off large units of Germans as they fled to the Siegfried Line. From 6 through 10 September, the battalion performed maintenance on vehicles and struggled to get replacement parts, ammunition, and fuel, since the rapid advance had outpaced supply lines. They received four flamethrower tanks for the assault on the Siegfried Line. On 11 September, the battalion moved through St. Hubert, Boyigny, and camped in a large forest 1.5 miles from Winterscheid, Germany.
