Battered Bastards of Bastogne

by George Koskimaki

  We collected a full load of ammo, including two extra boxes for the machine guns, and explained the attack plan to the men. Our platoon was on the extreme right against the railroad, with the rest of ‘I’ Company about 50 yards to the left and other companies of the 501st to the left of them. The Battalion CP would move up to our line of departure after we started forward, Lt. Morgan told us to keep the line of advance even, so that nobody would be too far in front in the thick woods and in the line of fire of our troops.

  We moved out at about two o’clock and went forward about two hundred yards before bumping into a German patrol in a small clearing. Shear shot one and we captured two others. One got away in the woods beyond the clearing. Mortar shells began falling around us. Lt. Vaishvilla caught a piece of shrapnel in his arm. The medic put a bandage on it and the lieutenant told me to take over while he went back to the aid station.

  We went on through the thick woods again, over the rough ground near the tracks; I was carrying a box of machine gun ammo in addition to my tommy gun and everybody else had a full load. The trees in this part of the forest were small, only six to eight inches around, and close together. It was impossible to walk among the trees without hitting branches and dumping a load of snow down on our heads. Our platoon, down to eight men now, along with our first aid man, whom everybody called Medic, seemed isolated in the dark woods. Troopers of the 502nd were supposed to be across the tracks to our right, but we didn’t see or hear anything of them. We could hear rifle and machine gun fire on our left—it was hard to tell how close it was.

  A burp gun fired directly in front of us and we hit the ground. Crawling forward, we saw a clearing along a trail that must be our objective. There was rifle fire coming from a group of foxholes, but the Germans were all down in their holes, and the fire was going over our heads. I crouched on my knees behind a little tree and fired two bursts from the tommy gun. Something hit my helmet and knocked me over backwards—one of the Germans must have been aiming. I grabbed the helmet from the snow and saw a bullet hole almost dead center, but just high enough so that the bullet had deflected up, making just one long hole. The helmet liner had broken and cut my scalp a little.

  I straightened the liner and put my helmet back on. By that time Crotts and Shear had a machine gun firing from behind the bank that sloped down to the railroad. When Medic saw the hole in my helmet and blood dripping down my forehead he said, ‘Are you hurt, Sergeant?’ ‘No, just mad. Let’s get them out of there!’ I told Crotts to continue spraying the foxholes while two men with the other machine gun circled around to the left. They started to set up the second gun, but I told them to fire from the hip and keep moving. It was hard to aim, but a light machine gun could be fired this way and throw a lot of lead in the general direction that we wanted. The two men kept moving around until their fire was going in toward the foxholes at 90 degrees to our other gun on the railroad bank. I took another box of ammo over to them and told them to set the gun up and fire in bursts skimming the foxholes.

  No fire was coming back at us now, so I told Crotts to stop firing while Medic, who could speak a little German, shouted at them to surrender because they were surrounded. In a little while, we could see a white handkerchief being waved from one of the foxholes. Some of us shouted to them in our ‘good’ German ‘Kommen zee hier, mit der hands hoche, macht schnell!’

  We heard ‘Kamerad, Kamerad,’ and two men appeared with their hands up. Medic shouted at them that everyone had to come out or we would begin firing immediately.

  More white handkerchiefs and ‘Kamerads’ and in a few minutes there were twelve standing with their hands on their heads. We searched them for pistols and then, while Crotts covered the group with his machine gun, the rest of us raced across the trail, firing at dug outs we could see among some bigger trees. Franklin and I ran up to what looked like a big covered dugout; he started to throw a grenade into the opening, I shouted to him, ‘Stop, don’t throw a grenade in there—we will use that dugout tonight and don’t want blood all over it!’

  A burst of tommy gun bullets and the ‘Kommen zee hier’ routine brought four men scurrying out. Three of them had big, red crosses on their arms. That seemed like too many first aid men for one dugout and, when we went in the dugout, we found three rifles.

  Shear and the other men had rounded up five more Krauts from along the bank of the railroad cut, so we had a total of 21 prisoners. There would be a problem getting them back through the thick woods to Battalion HQ. Mel Ponder suggested marching them back down the tracks, so he took my tommy gun and stood on the bank while they lined up in single file and set out with hands on top of their heads.

  Crotts set four men in foxholes along the bank at the edge of the trees, while the platoon medic, Shields, Berry and I went into the big dugout It was ‘just like home’ with blankets on the floor, a roof of logs covered with dirt, and some candles set in shelves dug into the wall. It was way below freezing outside so we were glad that the Germans had built a good home for us.

  As I came out of the dugout, I heard a man calling for help from the woods ahead of us. Medic and I went to check it out and found a German officer shot through both legs. He had probably been hit when the machine guns were spraying bullets around. We picked him up and carried him to our dugout and then decided to take him to the battalion CP.

  We sat him on a German rifle held between us and started back, with our passenger complaining all the way. It was very hard going through the snow and over the rough ground with our heavy load, but we made it after threatening to throw the German on the railroad track if he didn’t keep quiet. About half way along we met Ponder coming up after having delivered the other 21 prisoners.

  Battalion HQ was set up where we had started from earlier in the day. We were told to stay in the positions we had taken and to expect a company from the 327th to go through the next day.

  Medic and I picked up a five-gallon thermos can marked for 3rd Platoon, ‘I’ Company, and started our return trip. The can was easier to carry than the wounded man, but it was dark now, so again the going was slow. We came to the clearing where we had captured the first 12 Krauts and had started across when we saw a flash from across the tracks ahead of us. We hit the ground and ‘Whissht-bang!’ The explosion followed almost instantly on the whistle of the shell.

  We lay in the snow for a minute and then got up to start on with our can of food. We had gone only a few steps when there was another flash with the shell whistling right over us. The 502nd was supposed to be on the other side of the tracks, but apparently they weren’t up that far. It was dark, but when we started across the open space the enemy could see us against the snow. We were only about 25 yards from the trees by our dugout, so we made a dash for it while another shell whistled and exploded behind us.

  We were concealed by the trees now and got the can into our dugout. Medic, Berry and Shields filled their mess kits with warm chilli while I went to tell Crotts to send men into the dugout one at a time. His foxhole was at the edge of the woods, so I lay in the shadows to talk to him. He said that there was a tank across the tracks; they had seen it come in before dark. Another flash and ‘Whisshtbang’ and the shell exploded against the side of the foxhole, throwing dirt all over me. I ran to the dugout and got Medic to help me check on the wounded men. Crotts and another man were killed, but Shear, Franklin and Ponder were okay.186

  There was nothing to do about it now, so we settled down with two men to stay on watch in the foxholes while the rest slept in the dugout.

  On the morning of January 13, what was left of Houston’s platoon, and the rest of “I” Company, would be relieved by the men of “Ace” Company of the 327th. The glidermen would attack through the “I” Company positions.

  January 13

  This day would find elements of each of the four infantry regiments on the move to the northeast. Guiding on the railroad, headed toward Bourcy, the 502nd Parachute Regiment, led by 1st Battalion, was moving up the east side
of the railroad. On the west side, the troops of 1st Battalion of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment would sweep to the northeast

  The open terrain, with a snow depth ranging from one to two feet, and the heavy enemy machine gun and small arms fire supported by tank fire of the well dug-in and concealed Germans made the going slow for the regiment with its left flank up against the elevated railroad grade in that sector. The 502nd jumped off on time at 0830.

  The troops of the 327th had moved from their reserve quarters at Champs and had experienced much difficulty in reaching the jump-off point assigned to them. The guides assigned to lead them were unfamiliar with the terrain and had become lost as they led the glidermen to the positions. However, once they had launched their drive, the troops moved along rapidly.

  Descriptions of the actions on the 502nd drive are provided with the morning report account of the “A” Company actions as recorded by the first sergeant Ted Beishline.

  0715—Alerted for attack at 0830. 0830—Able 1 on left, Able 2 on right supported by Able 3 and four tanks crossed LD. Keepsake Blue (3rd Bn of 327th Glider Regiment) on left, Baker Red on right. 0945—Reached phase line one. Intermediate shelling. 1000—Enemy opposition heavy. Much small arms and mortar fire received. Casualties inflicted both upon enemy and our own forces. Able 3 moved on line. 1300—Advanced to phase line 2. Able 1, 2 and 3 on line. 1410—Reached phase line 3. Defense set up and EM dig in. Maintain sound and sight contact throughout night. 2400—Casualties this date: Dagostino and Lenz KIA. Lt. Wise, Graham, Smoot, Kessel, Taylor, Lyons, Shaw, Tippins, Lee, Ciriaco, Koeller, Merlano, Baker H. W., Soliz, Bergeron WIA. Grosvenor MIA later reported KIA, Bergeron, MIA later reported WIA. Kehoe, Lemos MIA.

  One of those casualties listed above was 1Lt. Albert J. Wise whose platoon was now at squad strength, described his part in the action of the 13th:187

  The 2nd Platoon was down to nine men, including me, on Jan. 13th. Our mission was to take a patch of woods occupied by the Jerries approximately two hundred yards to our front and up a slight rise. Two tanks were assigned to assist. I split the ‘platoon’—gave four men to Terwilliger to move to the left flank approximately 50 to 100 yards and try to take the woods, or at least distract the Jerries, while my three men and I tried to make it straight ahead with the tank support. About half way out (100 yards) into the clearing, am sorry to report the lead tank stopped and refused to go any closer to the woods, claiming he couldn’t go into them. I tried to persuade the tank commander (a captain) to at least lower his tube and fire his 76mm as low as possible into the woods—anything to cover us. I was up by his bogey wheel sighting for targets when I was hit. So for me, I’m sorry to report, the fight ended by 0800 that morning—was shot through the mouth, jaw and shoulder. Merlano saw the whole action as he was right behind me.

  Mortar sergeant Lou Merlano was in on the action with 1Lt. Albert Wise and this is his recollection of the action:

  Early Jan. 13th, Lt. Wise, who was now my 2nd in command in 1st Platoon, and I were given the duty to go out with him and we had two tanks to cut through the barbed wire entanglement outside the area toward Houffalize at 0830 in the morning. We were caught in this move by several Tiger tanks which turned around and destroyed the first two tanks. I saw Lt. Wise get hit in the face with a shell and I moved on through the barbed wire entanglement and proceeded to lose fifty percent of my men. I was then hit again—for the third time, in the right arm and hung in there until late that evening when I lost all mobility in the arm.

  We took a pasting but we held our ground, I am proud to say. The boys, despite the odds, hung in there. I was evacuated and sent back to Paris and placed in a hospital and that ended my episode back at Bastogne.

  In a letter he had written to his friend, Lloyd Brazell, with whom he had served in World War II, Cpl. Elmer G. Nicks, a machine gunner with the 1st Battalion of the 502nd, relates his experiences of the drive on January 13th and 14th when he lost a close friend:

  After General Patton broke through the ring around Bastogne, we had expected to be relieved but apparently things were a lot worse than we knew. We were regrouped and put in the spearhead to attack the Germans that had surrounded us. Companies were down to 25 men or less and our machine gun platoon was like two squads, but they were expected to cover the same amount of ground. We had attacked and moved into positions alongside a high railroad embankment with a dirt road running along both sides and with heavy planted forest on both sides of the railroad. The fighting in the planted forest brought a lot of terrifying experiences. You never knew what you would meet as you pushed through the heavy foliage.

  We had fought, up to a point, the night before (January 13) and we had taken over some German positions. My hole was a typical German dugout, very deep with a place to sit and stand, with only your head and shoulders barely out of the hole. It had been a rough day and a miserable night. Sub- zero weather, snow was waist deep—constant mortar and artillery shelling. No food and only a fool would light a fire or smoke a cigarette. My feet had been killing me but I noticed the next morning they didn’t hurt any more. I didn’t know until the next day the reason they didn’t hurt was because they were frozen.188

  The coldest part of the winter was now upon the troops as will be described by several of the troops in their accounts. Pvt. Gerald B. Johnston of “C” Company relates what he witnessed and experienced during this attack. He wrote:

  The odd thing is we found a dead trooper in a foxhole, wearing a tan jump suit and galoshes. Everyone else was wearing green. How did this man get into the cold weather wearing a jump suit? The galoshes were new to us; no one in our crowd had them. They were Lt, Wall’s size so Hollingsworth and another fellow wrestled them off the frozen body and they were put to some use—he didn’t need them anymore. The snow was deep. Running was not possible so it was just a matter of a slow slog across a field towards a wood line, wondering when the first shots would greet us. There were a few shells but no small arms fire. The great dilemma was whether to take your glove off to free your trigger finger (and freeze your hand) or leave it on and hope you could get it off quick enough should you need to shoot.

  God, it was cold! My overcoat got full of moisture from body heat one night and I took it off to dig. When we moved out at dawn, it was frozen, still in a folded shape. It was too awkward to carry, with the ammo and other stuff, so I just had to leave it

  All the German bodies we came across were frozen solid and often stripped of their outer clothing, some even to bare legs. One was wearing American galoshes stuffed with straw to try to escape the cold. By this time my feet were board-like, numb.

  The Drive into Bois Jacques

  The ranks of Companies “A” and “C” of 1st Battalion of the 327th Glider Infantry Regiment had been badly decimated in the January 3rd and 4th enemy attack northwest of Champs. Now they were being called on to be a part of the attack toward Cobru and Noville on January 13 as the troops of the 101st were to drive through the Bois Jacques. Capt. Joseph B. Johnson of “A” Company describes what was done to make a more effective unit:

  After the defense of Bastogne was successfully completed, we went on the offensive. Walter Miller was the commander of ‘C’ Company at Bastogne and between my Company ‘A’ and his ‘C’ Company our unit strength was only about 40 percent of what the to provided. In order to be more effective, we merged ‘A’ and ‘C Companies and it was called ‘Ace’ Company and we fought as that unit until our offensive was completed and we were withdrawn from offensive combat

  The attack through the Bois Jacques (Jack’s Woods) was to be the third and final action in the Ardennes campaign for “C” Company, led by Capt. Walter L. Miller. He related:

  We remained in Champs until I received orders to attack through another unit in the woods with the objective being Bois Jacques. Most important for the Bois Jacques attack was that ‘A’ and ‘C’ Companies had been combined due to the lack of man power and we were now called ‘Ace’ Company. The company now consi
sted of roughly 120 men, with many being cooks and supply personnel. They did a magnificent job in accomplishing their mission.

  The guards provided to lead us, got lost and I phoned in that we would be late and received orders to attack within a half hour. An artillery barrage would be laid and I was to get off or else!

  The segment of “Ace” Company which was composed of “A” Company men had few topgrade non-coms left. S/Sgt. Jack (Eleopoulos in wartime) Williamson was trying to ease the tensions of his men before the actual attack through the area toward Noville took place. He related:

  We were rounded up from several different units. We were to attack toward the town of Noville. We needed to break the line so the tanks of General Patton’s outfit could roll on through. There was one other sergeant and myself. I turned to the other sergeant and said, ‘You bring up the rear and make sure no one runs off.’ He was lying there in the snow. He had his billfold out and was looking at some pictures. I decided to walk back forward to encourage the troops who were scattered about, some were smoking a last cigarette. I believe they cheered me up more than I cheered them. One soldier said, ‘Sergeant, I want to do a good job but I’m scared. I wish I could be like you and not be scared.’ If the truth was told, I was more scared than he was. I held out my hands and they were not shaking but I guess, after a time, I had reached the point where I could hold it within me. It is damn sure I was shaking on the inside.

  The description of the actual attack is best described by platoon sergeant Jack Williamson, who was angered by the behavior of the other sergeant. He related: