How must it be for those who have experienced the hardships and violence of combat for so much longer than I?
Around me, the voices have returned but the stares are still there.
I have seen men throw themselves to the ground in fear when a bin is dropped, men who have experienced the heights of hardship in the presence of the enemy cowed by a simple sharp noise.
A Corporal, much respected by his men, wet himself in terror when a salute was fired over a fallen soldier’s grave.
Three of our comrades have not stayed with us, their tears and broken minds ensuring that they are taken to a place where they can be better repaired and cared for.
We are told to expect at least eight days more in this camp, where the US Army has tried to lay on every convenience and entertainment to help these weary boys recover.
Talk is that our part of the offensive is to be halted, and our successes held, whilst other units elsewhere take up the running.
There are no cheers at the news, for we all know that the Russian is not yet beaten, and there will be great hardship ahead.
My time with these fighting men is done, and I will be leaving them to their rest and recuperation first thing tomorrow.
I will miss them all, and I thank them for their companionship and acceptance.
Let us hope and pray that this hideous game called war is soon ended and these young men made safe again by its absence.
On your behalf, dear reader, I wish them well and that they will all soon be back across the Atlantic and safe in the bosom of their loved ones.
My future path is now clearer.
Rather than report on the horrors of war, I will now dedicate my life to working against the whole futile process that throws our young men against each other, for I never wish to experience, nor would wish the generations ahead to experience, this pointless bestial charnel house again.
[Author’s note. JTS left the rest camp at Saverne, in company with two men from other units. The three were never seen again, and their disappearance is a mystery to this day. There was some partisan activity behind the lines, but communist attacks were ineffective, as well as few and far between, as the groups were progressively culled by effective ‘behind the lines’ policing.
One rumour that surfaced is that a vehicle was possibly seen crashing into the Saar near Imling. There is no evidence that this was ever followed up, or indeed, happened.
In July 1996, a street market stall in Maastricht offered for sale a battered old Corona typewriter in its case.
The purchaser discovered all of Thornton-Smith’s correspondence within the case pocket. The Dutch national donated both the typewriter and letters to the ‘Het Persmuseum’ in Amsterdam, Holland, where they can be viewed today.
My thanks to the museum’s director and staff for granting me access and permission to copy the originals exactly. I should state that neither machine nor paperwork showed any signs of water damage.]
Lieutenant General Patch continued to drive his Seventh Army units forward, successfully linking up with British Fifteenth Army Group early on in the attack.
Brumath fell on the 13th April, after bitter fighting that saw the 76th US Infantry Division shattered, and CCB of 9th US Armored badly mauled.
The loss of Brumath brought about a small concertina effect, resulting in an American surge that took units to the shores of the Rhine at Erstein, Goldscheuer, Kehl, and Rheinmunster, and provided a valuable, but small, bridgehead across the important watercourse, centred around Rheinau.
General Patch pushed both the 9th US Infantry and 9th US Armored at the bridgehead, and they successfully held against severe counter-attacks between the 15th and 18th March, when the Soviets admitted defeat and reformed their line some distance back.
The 66th US Infantry Division, positioned in and around Wissenbourg and Lauterbourg threw back a large assault on 17th March. The Soviet infantry and tanks attacked from first light to sunset, suffering huge losses, but rendering the 66th combat-ineffective for some time to come.
A relieving assault by an adhoc task force from US XV Corps eventually turned the northern flank of the Soviet forces, causing them to quit the field.
On 20th April, two major US thrusts were finally halted. The southern attack took the tanks and infantry of US IV Corps to the outskirts of Memmingen, where 1st US Armored Division and 3rd US Infantry Division ground to a halt in the face of fanatical Soviet resistance.
The northern attack, in tandem with units of US 12th Army Group, came up 10 miles short of Sinsheim before intricate Soviet defences halted the attempts of a reinforced US XV Corps, resulting in the 6th Argentinian Division and 2nd Uruguayan Infantry Brigade being withdrawn from front-line service after sustaining heavy casualties in two days of cruel fighting.
Seconded from SAFFEC, both formations fought hard and well, ensuring that SAFFEC would be given more responsibility by Allied generals, and full respect by its previous dubious enemy.
After looking at his options, Lieutenant General Jacob Devers contacted Eisenhower, informing him that the 6th Army Group could go no further.
Chapter 143 – THE FIRST
The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person who is doing it.
The main attack had rolled through Hamm like a hot knife through butter, the Soviet defence, such as it was, swept aside in a burst of artillery and a rapid advance of panzers and panzer-grenadieres.
The weight of the German I Korps’ attack had been applied by the 1st Panzer-Grenadiere Division, which lay in front of Beckum, held up by a ferocious defence.
I Corps command ordered 1st Panzer-Grenadiere to orient towards the left flank, where the division again started to make progress, although not without some danger, as the rear was left exposed to a Soviet held position at Ahlen.
To counter this problem, a Kampfgruppe, mainly drawn from the 266th Infanterie Division, was sent forward to encircle and reduce the enemy pocket.
Oberleutnant Baron Werner Von Scharf-Falkenberg watched as the 105mm leFH howitzers peddled their trade, dropping shells in and around the enemy positions in front of Ahlen.
Enemy counter-fire was ineffective, a handful of casualties being caused by mortar fire before the guns were shifted and the threat silenced.
Bringing his binoculars to his eyes again, a fourth examination of his line of attack brought no additional information or relief; the difficulties were obvious.
His battalion’s advance would generally be centred on Route 671, with two watercourses to traverse before the unit could deploy into Ahlen proper.
Each of the battalions had two STUG SP guns attached, with the remaining four held in reserve, along with the Pionieres and both battalion’s panzer-jager companies.
The Battalion commander gave the order, and 3rd Battalion moved forward.
Von Scarf had been given extra troops from the Machine-Gun Platoon, Battalion supply train, and a short platoon of men leavened from other Battalion units. As he finished organising his force, the sounds of wounded men screaming out their last few seconds on this earth surrounded the assault group.