No Victory in Valhalla

by Ian Gardner

  Shortly after passing through one of the I Co OPs in the “Eye,” the senior man (who had answered the door) arrogantly began talking to his comrades in rapid German. “After telling him to shut the hell up, I called the guy forward and asked him to kneel on the ground. Again I asked for information but he flatly refused. The intelligence was vital and it didn’t matter how we got it; after all, these troops were by no means conventional.”

  In front of the other prisoners, Ed placed the muzzle of his .45 automatic on the man’s forehead. Once more Shames requested information: “I made it clear that if someone didn’t speak up within the next minute I’d give the Feldwebel the ‘deep six’ treatment.* The Kraut snapped at his men to remain silent so I gently squeezed the trigger and blew the back of his skull off. That really got the attention of the others, who quickly told us everything we needed to know. Afterwards, I sent the prisoners over to Regiment but was never told what became of them.” The decision to kill the enemy soldier certainly did not come easily but these were times of extreme duress and almost unimaginable combat stress. Ed Shames feared for the lives of the men under his own command as well as the greater American force surrounded in Foy if they were to be infiltrated.

  Word quickly spread about the capture of the German imposters. “Before first light on January 2, after all our patrols had returned safely, the MLR went on to high alert,” recalls Jim Martin. “This was followed by a 2-hour ‘window,’ during which any unscheduled ‘American’ activity coming from the area in front of our positions could be instantly targeted without challenge.”

  Previously Capt Doughty had turned a blind eye to S/Sgt James West (1 Ptn) making regular unsanctioned trips down to Degives Farm on the southern edge of Recogne. Although the farm had been abandoned two weeks earlier, Nestor Degives had left behind a well-stocked wine cellar. Despite the “lockdown,” West, accompanied by Pvt Charles Hunton, decided to ignore what was going on. Route Madame was the boundary between G/506 and the 502nd. As usual, West informed whoever was manning the OP before passing through. However, while the two G Co men were relaxing down at the farm, the H/502 OP shift changed and the new guard was not updated with the situation.

  An hour or so later, as Hunton and West were returning along the beech-lined road, the soldier in the OP opened fire with a machine gun and both men were killed instantly. The stupidity and risk of Jim West’s actions almost beggars belief but death and horrific injury on the front line around Bastogne were something that everyone became accustomed to. A few miserable days later, Ed Stein was also badly wounded by shrapnel while on OP duty with Shames.

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  By early January on the eastern MLR, 2/506 were preparing to cross the Bizory road in preparation for a frontal attack northeast alongside the 501st, through the Bois Jacques into the Bois des Corbeaux (Crow Wood). The idea of the maneuver (which commenced at 0930hrs) was to advance through 1,000 yards of dense forest to an old farmer’s road that ran from Foy to Ourbourcy. At 0600hrs on January 2, 1st Bn moved forward from Savy to take over the 2/506 MLR. During the move Maj Harwick’s battalion came under attack from the Luftwaffe and suffered a number of casualties.

  Initially resistance was light until the paratroopers reached the road. By late afternoon the objective had been taken and a new MLR established with F Co on the left and E Co in the center. Ed Shames and 3 Ptn were designated to patrol the right-hand flank of the incursion and took up positions alongside D/501 near an iron bridge over the Bastogne/Gouvy railway. By this time 2nd Lt Hughes was having difficulty walking and removed his boots for a foot inspection by Ed Shames, who recalls: “Both of Hughes’ feet were black and we tried to warm them gently over a small fire in the bottom of a foxhole. The man was in so much pain that I had absolutely no choice but to call the medics, who evacuated him immediately. We learned later that another day or two on the line and Hughes would have lost both feet.”

  The iron bridge (scrapped in 2009) was utilized by local farmers for moving produce and livestock from Foy and signified the entry into “bandit country” for Shames, who recalls, “We would have to approach the bridge from the west through the dense forest alongside the old drover’s road and then claw our way down the embankment onto the tracks.” The enemy were holding the woods on the other side of the bridge where Shames was instructed to carry out combat patrols to keep the Germans on the eastern side of the tracks.

  At night the area around the bridge was pitch black and the trees that lined the steep embankment either side of the line difficult to traverse. “‘Skinny’ Sisk used to throw pebbles through the gap under the bridge to solicit any possible response before deciding if it was safe to continue,” recalls Ed. “One night we came back off patrol and it had been so cold that I could feel the chill deep inside my bones. McCardle, my runner, came over and said, ‘Sir, we’ve got a hot meal for you!’ I was speechless and inquired how on earth they’d managed to prepare such a thing. McClung had shot a jackrabbit but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat the meat because of the disgusting smell permeating from the carcass. This was crazy because although I was starving hungry I couldn’t swallow a single mouthful of that hideous concoction without retching.”

  Thirty-six hours later the 501st took over the newly established front line and 2nd Bn began to exfiltrate in several phases toward an area of woods recently vacated by 1/506. 1st Bn had been held in regimental reserve directly behind the original 3 Ptn E Co positions and had departed for Savy late the previous afternoon (January 3).

  Over on the western MLR, things had been relatively calm for 3rd Bn except for the usual incoming artillery and mortar fire, as Bob Rommel recalls:

  I swear that we could never see or pinpoint any muzzle flashes when we came under regular artillery fire. For this reason we suspected the enemy must have been firing through dampened burlap sacks or something similar. This wasn’t the case with the Nebelwerfer rocket launchers or “Screaming Meemies,” one of the most devastating weapons we experienced after New Year. When 2/506 re-occupied the Bois Jacques on our right flank, they came under the most horrific attack. From where I was it looked as though the entire ridgeline behind Foy erupted in smoke and flame. The rockets made a terrible noise and we could actually see the projectiles traveling through the air into the 2nd Bn positions over on the other side of the N30.

  Back in the Bois Jacques, D and E companies were in the process of crossing the Foy/Bizory road when they were hit by the “Screaming Meemies.” The initial devastating attack lasted 5 minutes. Ed Shames and Paul Rogers frantically organized a human chain to evacuate the wounded, which was abruptly cut short by a second, even more deadly, saturation. It was around this time that “Buck” Compton finally imploded after seeing two of his men, Sgt Bill Guarnere and Sgt Joe Toye, horrifically injured. As 3 Ptn were reorganizing one of the men ran over to inform Ed Shames of an officer from another platoon who was nearby and behaving strangely.

  Shames dashed across and found 2nd Lt Ernie Mann from 1 Ptn sitting at the bottom of a shell crater staring blankly into space. “I’d known Mann since Toccoa. ‘Ernie, Ernie can you hear me, it’s Ed, Eddie Shames. I was in I Co with you … remember?’ Nothing I said seemed to connect and he just sat there motionless like a zombie, his unblinking eyes looking right through me. There was nothing I could do except keep him warm and tell our company commander.” Norman Dike quickly arranged for Ernie Mann (who had won a battlefield commission in Holland) to be evacuated and Ed never saw him again. Further along the road to the east around 1530hrs, elements of D Co were caught out in the open as radio operator Cpl Richard Gleason recalls: “I was with Sgt Allen Westphal moving down the road along the edge of the woods when the first rockets screamed in. We all hit the deck, and in the ensuing panic Westphal managed to wedge his boots against my face. A chunk of twisted casing whistled past and glanced off Westphal’s leg before piercing the tire of a jeep parked on the road. 1st Lt Robert Gage was just beyond the vehicle and got another piece of shrapnel in hi
s right hip. It went quiet for a few moments and Westphal rolled up his trouser leg to check that he was OK.”

  As the men began to move off there was a big explosion from the other side of the railway near Detaille Farm followed by a rising column of black smoke. Moments later two tattered and bleeding tankers appeared over the embankment and staggered toward D Co. Suddenly Cpl Gleason and the others came under fire again. “Crawling on my hands and knees, I had just made it to a small clump of trees when it felt like someone had punched me in the ribs.” Dropping the radio Gleason began to remove his equipment. “I knew I’d been hit but couldn’t figure out where. Then something struck my helmet and blood began to run down my face.” After a quick inspection Gleason discovered a jagged half-inch hole through the steel, but that was the least of his worries. “My left shoulder had been penetrated by shrapnel and was now beginning to stiffen. Fording a nearby stream, I made my way to a half-track ambulance and was evacuated an hour or so later.”

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  Shortly after Jack Foley took over Buck Compton’s platoon he stormed into Ed Shames’ area, complaining about a small fire they had burning in one of the foxholes. “After the recent rocket attack,” recalls Shames, “I turned to Foley, who I figured was only trying to make a point, and replied sarcastically, ‘Lieutenant, you think they don’t know where the hell we are? Now if you don’t mind I have patrols to organize – remind me again what it is exactly that your platoon does?” Foley’s face was like thunder as he turned around and went back to 2 Ptn, spitting nails. Like Compton, the E Co commander, 1st Lt Norman Dike, had not performed well over the last few days and was now under close scrutiny. After being relieved by the 501st, 2nd Bn were finally pulled out of the Bois Jacques at 2130hrs on January 4, before rotating into regimental reserve in the Bois Champay behind H/506 and later G Co.

  One morning in early January a German ambulance came trundling through the mist out of Foy and stopped on the N30 opposite the H Co lines. Ken Johnson recalls the vehicle pulling up opposite 2 Ptn. “When the German orderly clambered out and put his hands in the air, I promptly told him to get back in and keep going up the hill under a white flag of truce!” The driver, who had become disorientated, followed Ken’s orders and continued to the Route Madame, whereupon the medical detachment took his surrender and commandeered the vehicle. Afterwards the ambulance was put to good use as a temporary shelter for the growing number of frostbite victims.

  A couple of days later Johnson was working at the H Co OP in the Dumont house, when he managed to trap a malnourished rooster. “I brought the bird back up the hill to treat the squad to a nice chicken broth. Sitting down on my steel helmet, I began to pluck the bird when a mortar barrage exploded around us. One round landed a couple of yards away, wounding two tankers who were parked up with their Sherman. Thank goodness I wasn’t resting directly on the ground because a piece of shrapnel made a 3in hole in my helmet! However, another penetrated my left ankle and lodged in the bone.” As Ken was being evacuated, Pfc Frank Malik took over and melted some snow in a rusty old bucket before adding in the chicken and a handful of rotten vegetables. As the stew came to the boil another barrage slammed in and Lt Wilkinson grabbed the bucket by the red-hot handle and carried it cursing all the way to his foxhole. After the shelling, Malik placed the stew back on the heat to cook. Before Ken departed for Bastogne, Lt Wilkinson trotted over to wish him luck and jokingly said that he would be sending the recipe home to his wife!

  The same day Johnson was wounded (January 5), 13 men from the 501st Demolition Ptn were killed at the seminary in Bastogne. The soldiers were most likely unloading a truck full of mines and dead bodies when the vehicle exploded. It would seem that a random artillery shell might have hit the vehicle, causing a chain reaction. The only identifiable remains to be found were an arm and head belonging to S/Sgt Leon Brown. Completely unaware of the accident, Johnson passed through the town and was taken by ambulance to the 40th Evacuation Hospital before being sent to Paris by train, where the shrapnel was removed. “For a few days, I was on a ward full of amputees. The nights were horrendous, with guys constantly crying out in pain. From here I was sent to England before being shipped home to the USA on the RMS Queen Elizabeth. I was on the promenade deck at the stern with eight other guys, opposite the bar, which unfortunately remained shut during the entire high-speed voyage. I was discharged in September 1945, after a long stay at Hammond General Hospital in Modesto, California.”

  I Co maintained a strong presence along the edge of the “Eastern Eye,” as Harley Dingman recalls: “Captain Anderson was dug in nearby and suffered the same deprivations that we did. Anderson and I worked closely on company administration, general assignments, and daily passwords. The passwords were vital and were mainly for the benefit of other patrols moving in and out of our area.” Sgt Manny Barrios and Pvt Bill Chivvis were on constant OP duty although they were working in different parts of the “Eye.”

  Chivvis was over in the 1 Ptn area and recalls the following:

  As so many of the guys were getting sick, myself and Pvt Jim Meade volunteered to stay out there almost permanently. During the early part of January, Pfc Don “Duffy” Susak was badly wounded and I recall a couple of replacements that were sent to us – Pfc Eugene Smith and Pvt Florensio Valenzuela. Eugene was such a nice boy but there was some doubt in his mind as to whether or not he could pull the trigger. We called him “Vic” because he had chiseled features like the Hollywood actor Victor Mature. A few days later I heard that Vic missed his chance and was shot dead while still trying to decide. As Bob Chovan had been wounded in December, Valenzuela was offered his old job of second scout but wasn’t in the least bit interested.

  Subsequently, Valenzuela was put forward as a machine gunner (because David Dillon had also been wounded in December). He knew that both jobs were risky, so Florensio opted to be our platoon runner. Jim Meade eventually took over on the machine gun and like me continued through the war unscathed, which is more than can be said for Valenzuela.

  Col Robert F. Sink, Commanding Officer, 506th PIR, 1942–45. (Donald van den Bogert)

  LtCol Lloyd Patch successfully led 3rd Bn through Bastogne to the end of the war. (Currahee Scrapbook)

  The Commanding Officer of H Co, Capt James “Skunk” Walker. (Currahee Scrapbook)

  Regimental XO LtCol Charles “Charlie” Chase, pictured before Normandy in the United Kingdom while on exercise at Marridge Hill training area. (John Reeder via D-Day Paratroopers Historical Center, St-Côme-du-Mont)

  Mourmelon, December 1944, Sgt Bob Martin (right) and senior NCOs from 1 Ptn H Co, joking with newly commissioned Don Zahn. L to R: 2nd Lt Zahn, Sgt Lou Vecchi, Sgt Hank DiCarlo, and S/Sgt Frank Padisak. (Hank DiCarlo)

  American Red Cross Club Gare de l’Est Paris, December 1944. L to R: Sgt Lou Vecchi, S/Sgt Ralph Bennett, T/5 Bruce Paxton, Helen Briggs (ARC), Pfc Spencer “SO” Phillips, and Sgt Hank DiCarlo. (Mark Bando)

  Pfc Ken Ross joined the 101st at Mourmelon after his older brother, Don, had been captured on D-Day while serving with 3/506. (Ken Ross)

  Pvt Bob Izumi, 3 Ptn G Co, photographed in August 1945, Paris. (Bob Izumi)

  Pfc Jim Martin, 2 Ptn G Co, shortly after qualifying as a military parachutist in January 1943. (Jim “Pee Wee” Martin)

  S/Sgt Harley Dingman, 3 Ptn I Co and later Battalion HQ, Austria 1945. (Harley Dingman)

  Sgt Harold Stedman, 3 Ptn I Co, pictured here in the USA during early 1943. (Harold Stedman)

  Pvt Richard “Richie” Shinn, 1 Ptn I Co. During his military career, Shinn represented the regiment at least 30 times and after the war became famous as a professional fighter. (George Koskimaki)

  The 501st PIR were among the first to leave Mourmelon for Bastogne. Members of 2/501 can be seen here waiting to board. (NARA via Joe Muccia)

  American soldiers captured during the opening German attack. (NARA via Donald van den Bogert)

  Artillery Commander BrigGen Anthony “Tony” McAuliffe was in
charge of the 101st Airborne Division for the first nine days in Bastogne. (NARA)

  Doctor John “Jack” Prior, 20th Armored Infantry Bn, Task Force Desobry, 1944–45. (Robert Clam)

  3rd Bn medic T/5 Johnny Gibson worked from the aid station in the Bois Champay throughout the campaign. (Reg Jans)

  M1 155mm Field Gun “Long Tom” and crew in the Ardennes. (John Gibson via John Klein)

  Pvt Ray Nagell (center) and his crew from B Battery 321st GFA manning their 75mm Pack Howitzer in training. (Ray Nagell via Reg Jans)

  Paratroopers from the 506th PIR advancing passed Caserne Heintz (right) through the rain along the Route de Houffalize (N30) to Noville. (NARA via Reg Jans)

  2/506 turning onto the N30 from Route de la Roche bound for rearguard positions behind the Main Line of Defense in the Bois Jacques. (NARA via Reg Jans)

  Men from the 506th PIR moving north out of Bastogne along the N30 towards Foy and Noville. (NARA via Reg Jans)

  The remains of the schoolhouse at Foy after the battle. (Joël Robert)

  Noville’s ruined church (l’Église St-Étienne) and presbytery as seen from the Bourcy road in 1945. (Reg Jans)

  View north along N30 towards Houffalize from Noville in late January 1945. Detritus of the conflict litters the crossroad outside the presbytery (right). A German Stug III can be seen in the foreground. (Reg Jans)