Battered Bastards of Bastogne

by George Koskimaki

  Lt. Robert Coughlin went immediately to Marvie to reconnoiter the platoon sector that would be assigned. He took along the three squad leaders with him so they would know their assignments.

  Lt. Steinhaus, his assistant and S/Sgt. Ferra were to bring the platoon to the triangle where Lt. Coughlin would take us to our assigned squad sectors.

  There were some buildings burning in Marvie and, due to the snow on the ground, the area was pretty well lit up.

  As we started out to the assigned sectors by squads, we began receiving some artillery and mortar fire but it was more or less to our left rear.

  On the way to our squad sector, we ran into ten or twelve men from the 327th. I remember two men told me they were from ‘G’ Company. Also, I recall a few who stated they were from ‘E’ Company. They were moving north into Marvie. We tried to get them to accompany us to our positions but a few stated, ‘We have been fighting this armor for three days and don’t think it can be stopped here now.’

  Apparently a lot of research had gone into Carowick’s report as he had contacted a number of men from his platoon to get their recollections of the actions. These were accompanied by a map on which their positions had been marked and where the actions had taken place. The reader need only refer to his map, following his coded references. Carowick wrote:

  The 3rd Platoon took up positions on an east-west line north of a small stream (#3 on map). The 1st and 2nd squads had a fence row along the small stream (which was covered with snow) and the banks along the stream were such that tanks could not negotiate them along our two-squad front. Also, there were foxholes on the two-squad front that had previously been dug so we were very fortunate for this.

  Crew served machine guns for 1st and 2nd squads were set up at approximately position #4 on the map. Each of the rocket launchers (bazookas—#4) were positioned at the large half culverts which were at least 4-1/2 feet high. The culverts had stone walls for guard rails.

  I remember, after setting up my air-cooled machine gun, I could hear tank traffic on the road to my front (#6 on map). They were moving quietly as the engines were not revved up. The bogie suspensions were not making any noise.

  Then, about fifteen minutes later, a flare went up and the area was lit up. I saw the three tanks (#7) and also saw infantrymen with the tanks. (They were clad in snow suits.)

  It seemed like everyone saw these developments about the same time as they all opened fire.

  MG’s #2 and #3 (indicated by #4 on the map) were water-cooled weapons. Privates Mason and Murry from the 1st squad, and Privates Becerra and Reardon on #3 were firing at the infantry. When tanks #2 and #3 saw the two positions, they fired simultaneously at the machine guns. I saw the bursts of shells exploding above them when they struck the small trees in the fence row.

  Mason and Murry stopped firing (later said to ‘have the enemy think we were knocked out’). Becerra and Reardon continued firing. They received another round into their position. (This was probably from tank #3 as they were moving more rapidly now.) Due to the fact my MG was behind the view of the tanks, I did not receive any fire from the tanks. Also, I took out the tracers where I had a tracer every 15 rounds instead of five.

  S/Sgt. Ferra thought MG’s #2 and #3 were firing at the tanks. He sent a runner (crawling) to tell MG #2 to stop firing at the tanks. As the runner was crawling to within a few feet of #3 gun, he was killed by the second round fired at Becerra and Reardon’s position. I don’t remember the names of the men on #4 gun in the 3rd squad.

  Pvt. Kenneth Knarr was in on the same actions but viewed them from a different position on the line. His recollection of that incident is as follows:

  I remember one night when the Germans attacked us with infantry and four tanks. Duffie knocked the track off one tank and stopped it. At the same time, Manuel Becerra, with Paul Borkowski as his loader, opened up with his light .30 caliber machine gun on one of the tanks. Just then a sergeant, who was an Indian, was crawling to Becerra to get him to stop firing at the tank when it opened fire with its 88 and killed the sergeant. Borkowski was deafened for a while. Becerra was not hurt and received the Bronze Star for his action.

  MAP 12—B/326 Engrs. at Marvie

  Pvt. Edward Carowick continues his story in what was an action-packed span of time. He wrote:

  After the flare went off and the platoon fire power of six machine guns and M1’s cut loose, the enemy infantry began yelling. It didn’t sound like a charging yell. It was more like people getting hurt and wounded.

  As the firing of small arms and machine guns continued, one tank tried to cross the big culvert on the center road into Marvie (#5 on map with #2RL—rocket launcher.)

  At the culvert was a barn by the stream, about four to six feet from the culvert. Privates Duffie and Knarr were guarding this approach with a bazooka. There was a window in the barn facing the culvert. When another flare was lit, they saw the tank coming up the road. Pvt. Duffie opened the window and put the bazooka out to fire. As the tank pulled onto the culvert, Knarr barely finished wiring the round. Duffie pulled the trigger and got the tank. The round hit and demolished the right front sprocket disabling the tank (#8 on map). Both Knarr and Duffie left the barn and joined the squad on line.

  Suddenly, the tank commander thought he had hit a mine on the culvert. As he raised up from the hatch he yelled, ‘Minen, Minen, Minen!’ After the crew shot up all the ammunition that was in the tank, they fled the scene. They sure played havoc with Marvie as they destroyed a lot of buildings with the A.P. shells and also started quite a few fires.

  After the tank crew fired its remaining rounds, all action stopped on both sides.

  I don’t know how long this action went on but it seemed like hours. From the time it started, until it ended, there were no more than 125 to 135 yards of movement from when we first saw the tanks to the one that was disabled.

  Lt. Niland’s Men

  The men from “B” Company of the 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion had no knowledge of what was going oh in other sectors of Marvie. Their concern was the area at the bridges over the stream at the southern end of the village.

  The decimated platoon, led by 1Lt. Tom Morrison of “G” Company, was dug in around a building on Hill 500, just to the south of Marvie. Morrison was about to be captured for the second time in four days. A platoon of Company “C” of the 326th Engineers led by 1Lt. Harold Young would be forced to withdraw. Some of its members were captured. With that strong point taken out, the Germans approached “B” Company positions near the bridges with some of their tanks. Others had used different routes to get into town to assault 2nd Battalion’s command post.

  During the evening attack on Marvie, 1Lt. Thomas J. Niland, intelligence officer for 2nd Battalion, played a key role in stopping the attack. The enemy had succeeded in penetrating the center of the battalion, opening a passage to the battalion command post and Bastogne. Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Niland immediately organized intelligence, supply men, cooks and other command post personnel. Under very heavy enemy tank and small arms fire, he established a defense by placing these men in key positions. Continually exposed to heavy shelling, Niland guided and placed into position two Sherman tanks which greatly assisted in repelling the German attacks. Lt. Niland then led a patrol to contact friendly forces which reinforced nearby positions.102

  The most vivid action for 1Lt. Tom Niland in the Bastogne campaign took place on the evening of December 23. He describes the furious fighting that involved troops of “G” Company as well as members of 2nd Battalion’s Headquarters Company:

  The enemy overran Lt. Stan Morrison’s place at the outer edge of Marvie (called Hill 500). We, in Battalion headquarters, supported by two tanks from Team O’Hara, were able to stop the attack in Marvie by this action. The Germans were denied access to the main road to Bastogne and forced to withdraw. The S-2 squad played an important role in this action. Panik and Feeney killed a German machine gun team that had infiltrated Marvie when t
he attack began. It seemed like we knew exactly what they were trying to do and positioned ourselves to stop them at all costs.

  We had two 37mm regimental anti-tank guns that were under the direction of 1Lt. Neil J. Fahey. He and most of the crew were killed during the mortar and artillery fire in the attack on December 23.

  In on the same actions was PFC. Harry W. Bliss from the heavy weapons platoon. When the enemy attacked the positions of his unit, his machine gun section was assigned the mission of supporting the withdrawal of the command post. Realizing that one gun was disabled, PFC. Bliss, under heavy artil lery, mortar and small arms fire, moved his gun to a new position to support the withdrawal. When the enemy tried to penetrate the line again, PFC. Bliss killed all but one of the enemy with his machine gun fire and killed the remaining enemy soldier with a hand grenade.103

  Closing out his narrative, 1Lt. Niland wrote: “Our previous battle experiences were of great value to us. We could anticipate the situation and did not panic when it happened. Everyone took it upon themselves to stop the attack. I quote the old adage, ‘Having the right people there at the right time.’”

  CHAPTER 09

  CHRISTMAS EVE

  “Fox” Company of the 327th

  There was a continuing action in the 2nd Battalion sector of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment on Christmas Eve. After the successful enemy attack on Hill 500 south of Marvie during the evening hours of the 23rd, part of the German force was shunted to the left toward Remifosse and the positions of “F” Company.

  Over in the 501st sector, Company “A” had been ordered to send a platoon to the Marvie sector to assist 2nd Battalion in resisting the assault that was threatening to overrun completely the positions in and about the small village. Upon arrival at the northern outskirts, Captain Stanfield Stach’s men had been directed to the area of “F” Company which was now feeling the force of the tank and infantry assault.

  After two relatively quiet days, action picked up for “F” Company in the western end of the 2nd Battalion sector. PFC. Charles Kocourek had this recollection of the actions of the night of December 23rd. He was still on outpost duty on the flank with two comrades. He related:

  We had it all cleaned out there—it was pretty quiet. Nothing much was going on until night—10 to 11 o’clock. Then all hell broke loose. The shooting broke out on the right side—then the left side, but none of it came out by me. There was noise behind us, too. I told the other two guys to stay put. I was going back to the main line to find out what was happening. As a parting shot, I said, ‘If I don’t come back—you guys pull out and move straight back to Bastogne.’

  So I went cautiously off to the left and was challenged. The guy says, ‘You almost got shot—there are Germans all over the place!’ He added, ‘Go back and get the other two guys’ and I did and they gave me a neighboring foxhole. I got in that hole and fell asleep. Someone woke me and said, ‘Let’s go—we’re gonna withdraw!’ This is when I discovered my rifle was useless—riddled and bent. I was told we were shelled furiously and yet I didn’t hear any of the shelling. I was so tired. We started moving back toward Bastogne. I didn’t have a rifle and I was the second to last in line. We had only 15 left of the 33 who started out in Mourmelon. The medic was behind me. As we moved out in the dark, I could hear the Germans digging foxholes in the same woods we had recently used as our CP.

  A house-barn combination a half mile northwest of Marvie would become an unlikely meeting place of members of “A” Company of the 501st and PFC. Charles Kocourek of “F” Company of the 327th as the night of December 23-24 wears on. 1Lt. Joseph B. Schweiker, executive officer for “A” Company, is confused as to the time and the date (after 48 years) as he describes being part of a force to assist the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment at Marvie.

  On Christmas Eve about 8:00 p.m., ‘A’ Company moved up to help stop the breakthrough at the town of Marvie. When we arrived, we were setting up road blocks in around the high ground as directed. I can still see Colonel Harper moving about with an M-1 rifle in the dark, setting up a defense against the Germans. Captain Stach and Colonel Harper set up ‘A’ Company’s headquarters in the farmhouse overlooking the town of Marvie with the rest of the company dug in around the farmhouse. What sticks in my memory was in the basement of the house. There was a room with several women huddled in that room, fearing the return of the Germans. This never happened, but we spent Christmas Eve and more in that position. The enemy kept trying to break through our defense while we were covering the 327th moves. The enemy was not successful.

  At the time “A” Company of the 501st was called over to help reinforce 2nd Battalion of the 327th, Pvt. Christopher McEwan was confused about the location as the troops were sent from one section of the MLR to another. The town he describes in his story is not Bizory but Marvie, over in the 327th sector. He wrote:

  We later moved to another defensive position. I believe it might have been on Hill 510. We dug a foxhole, another trooper and me. It was very cold and blowing snow. I believe the town of Bizory was off our left. It had been burning furiously all night and day.

  From my position, I could see five German tanks pounding that town with fire. I wished that I had an anti-tank weapon so that I could have gone down there. I had a good opportunity to hit them all from the side. We were short of weapons and there weren’t any available.

  “Hey, We’re Americans!”

  It was now early morning of the 24th. Moving about on the MLR at night is extremely hazardous. Two soldiers from different units wrote about the same action which turns tragic. PFC. Charles Kocourek continues his story of pulling back from the forward positions as the enemy attacks northward during the night:

  We started moving up the hill behind us. Division sent a bunch of paratroopers behind us to back us up. As we were going up the hill, all of a sudden, a machine gun opened up on us. I remember I dove in a water-filled ditch and we all started shooting back toward our rear. Pretty soon someone yelled, ‘Hey, we’re Americans!’ A guy out there says, ‘Americans—get up here fast because we’re gonna start mor taring that area!’ Sure enough, as soon as we cleared, a barrage came down. One guy said, ‘What the hell are you shooting at us for?’ The machine gunner said, ‘I was digging a foxhole and I looked out there and saw all those tanks. I continued digging and then saw something moving and jumped on the machine gun and opened up!’

  ‘Without challenging?’ We were mad. We lost two good guys—Dennis, a bazookaman, and a guy named Cy.

  As a machine gunner in Company “A” of the 501st Parachute Regiment who had accompanied his platoon to Marvie to support the 2nd Battalion of the 327th Glider Infantry, Pvt. Christopher McEwan describes what happened as troops were falling back on the positions being prepared by his platoon:

  One night we thought we were getting a frontal attack just over a little ridge. There was a BAR man off on my left flank. Someone raised a white parka in the air and started waving it. The BAR man shouted, ‘It’s a trick!’ and opened fire. I then started firing with the machine gun and raked the top of the ridge because I couldn’t see them. We later found that it was some glider troopers. I think they were 327th. One of them died.

  A trip through a water-filled ditch on the way back from his outpost position had left PFC. Charles Kocourek soaked so he needed to get some place where it was warm so he could dry out. He headed back to the shelter of a building. He added to his story:

  We went back and joined the paratroopers. I think Captain Stach was in charge of those guys and Colonel Rouzie was back there about fifty yards from our lines. There was a building and we’d go in to get warm. There was a fire. I was soaked to the skin and shaking. a woman was there and she saw me shaking and went and got me a blanket. Boy, did that feel good! I stayed in the bam until I got fairly dry and then went back to the front lines.

  The same night that PFC. Kocourek and his fellow “F” Company glider troopers were driven from their positions to the west of Marvie, the men o
f “A” Company were now in position around Colonel Rouzie’s headquarters. Pvt. Christopher McEwan describes an attack on the house by a German tank:

  That same night, a Tiger tank came out of the woods on our right and fired three rounds. He didn’t see us but one of the rounds hit a hen house off to our right. It sent the chickens flying about fifty feet in the air. They were making all kinds of racket and flapping their wings like mad. Well I tell you, they were the highest flying chickens that I have ever seen.

  Engineers of “Able” Company

  Situated in position to cover the secondary road that led to Assenois and the railroad track that wound to the southwest, PFC. Harry Sherrard and his fellow engineers continued to maintain their positions in the vicinity of the small concrete blockhouse. These positions would become the meeting place between the engineers and the 4th Armored Division tanks on the 26th of December.

  On the 24th, “A” Company was experiencing some of the same pressure that “F” Company of the 327th was getting. In the case of the engineers, there weren’t tanks involved in the attack. Sherrard wrote:

  After a few days, it snowed. One morning, early, we looked out to the southwest of our positions across the road and tracks and the field beyond to the next tree growth. It looked like the snow was moving. It was German troops in white camouflage outfits getting ready to assault our positions hoping to move past us along die tracks and into town. When they got close enough, we fired with our M-1’s but that’s all it took—they had us zeroed in and with machine guns and burp guns had us pinned down during the attack which we repulsed. Each time we moved, it seemed one or two Krauts were just across the road to blow trees apart just above us. I don’t believe there were any tanks involved in this attack.