A Tank Gunner's Story: Gunner Gruntz of the 712th Tank Battalion

by Louis G. Gruntz

  I seen one boy. What happened, we got replacements. One boy was called to the Army, and his brother volunteered; at that time they let them do this, to stay together. So they came in as replacements while we were in France. Both of them came to our company. One was in the first platoon, and the other was in the third platoon. So the day that one of them would go out and the other didn’t, he stayed behind and worried about his brother. Finally, one day, one of them got it – I think the younger one – and the other one, they sent him back behind the lines. It got to him pretty bad. I never did see him anymore.17

  Even though HQ was not safe, it afforded a higher degree of safety than being on the line in B Company where the tank crews were subject to constant threat of enemy fire. Dad said the remaining weeks of combat were uneventful for him with one exception. Dad and Leon Fowler were ordered to take a bulldozer tank to a front line unit to clear destroyed enemy equipment from the road. Dad explained, “When we traveled these roads we did not know what was lurking around the bend and we had to travel with caution. Even the houses looked deserted. One time I was in a bulldozer (tank) with Leon Fowler and we took off, we were separated from the company. Just he and I were in the tank and we took off down one of these roads and we traveled over a dozen miles and we never saw a thing and we knew we were in enemy territory.” They had taken a wrong turn someplace along the way. When Dad and Fowler realized their circumstance, they turned around immediately and raced back in the opposite direction.

  As the war was drawing to a close the 712th and 90th approached towns with caution. Usually the residents had resigned themselves to Germany’s defeat and would hang white flags from the windows. If no white flags were flying as the tanks approached the town, the lead tank would fire three or four rounds into the town and usually white flags would come out.

  Other times the town would contain SS soldiers, Hitler Youth, or fanatical Volkssturm, who would resist until overpowered, and who, more often than not, inflicted casualties on the American troops.

  By mid-April, the 712th and 90th were spearheading the Third Army and was near the border between Germany and Czechoslovakia. On April 18, tanks from A Company along with the 358th Regiment of the 90th crossed the border and thus became the first American unit to sever Germany across her waist.18

  The Battalion’s last battlefield KIA casualty occurred on April 30, 1945, in the village of Capartice, Czechoslovakia, eight days before the end of the war in Europe. A platoon from A Company was ordered into the town, two tanks were knocked out by enemy fire. Tec 5 Paul Shannon was killed and six others from A Company were wounded.

  In time, Dad came to appreciate Vutech’s action in transferring him to HQ Company. It probably saved his life.

  CHAPTER 12

  V-E Day and Occupation

  The one honor which is mine and mine alone is that of having commanded such an incomparable group of Americans, the record of whose fortitude, audacity and valor will endure as long as history lasts.

  General George S. Patton Jr., to the Third Army, May 9, 1945

  V-E Day, May 8, 1945, found the 712th spread across several towns in Czechoslovakia. A Company was in the town of Stachy; B Company was billeted in a castle at Tynec; C Company occupied a schoolhouse in Maly Bor. D Company was housed at Besiny, while Service Company found itself in the town of Mestys Zelezna Ruda. Headquarters Company had the most luxurious quarters of all in the town of Susice.

  For days prior to VE Day, German units were surrendering to American units. Throughout the war, individual German soldiers and small groups of German troops surrendered to Allied forces as they overran the German positions. I questioned Dad on the procedure the tank crews used when the Germans surrendered. He said, “We didn’t keep them too long. When we captured them with the tanks, when they came out with their hands up, we made sure that their guns were gone. Then we told them to just go back the road. We didn’t fool with them, we couldn’t we had to keep on going.”

  But a mass surrender occurred just days before V-E Day, when the 712th and the 90th first entered Czechoslovakia; a German division wanted to surrender to the Americans. From this point on there are several versions of the surrender.

  The B Company History reads: “On May 5th at Kotzing the 11th Panzer Division surrendered intact to our combat team.”

  The After Action Report of the 712th Tank Bn, reads:

  The Battle Route for the Central Europe Campaign. (The History of the 712th Tank Battalion)

  Company “B”: […] 4 May (Kotzting): The Third platoon acted as guides for the 11th German Panzer Division which surrendered to the first platoon and second Battalion, 359th Infantry Regiment. C Company commander, Lt Krieg, and first sergeant worked the entire night assembling the vehicles of the 11th Panzer Division in a field. They started at 0930 hours and the vehicles continued to come in until 0900 hours, 5 May.

  Dad indicated that, under German military tradition, when a General surrendered his troops, he would only surrender to another General, then afterwards they would sit down and have a drink of wine. Dad, at that time, was with Headquarters Company; the story that he had heard from his buddies in B Company was that Lt Stanley Gagat was at the head of the column when it was approached by the Germans seeking to surrender.

  Lt Stanley Gaget and new friends. (Company B photograph)

  Gagat got a battlefield commission as a lieutenant, the Germans were trying to get away from the Russians, they didn’t want to surrender to the Russians, they were coming into the American lines. So when they got to him, a German General said, “I’ve got a whole Division I want to surrender.”

  So Gagat said, “OK have them throw their guns down.”

  The General said, “No, I want to surrender to a General.

  Gagat said, “You either surrender to me or you don’t get to surrender.”

  The General said again, “Give me a high ranking officer.”

  Gagat said once more, “You have to surrender to me.”

  And then he surrendered to Gagat. Gagat was just a lieutenant, that was beneath him, he wanted a high ranking officer, he wanted someone with prestige.

  Lt John H. Cochran Jr. of the 359th recounted that day:

  The 90th became the Corps reserve as it remained on its objectives near the Czech town of Vseruby, but on the 4th of May the 11th Panzer Division offered to surrender.

  A soldier under a white flag of truce approached us. He was brought to me and I heard his demand. He insisted on being taken to the chief of staff of the 90th Division. No German soldier was going to tell me what to do, so I returned him to our perimeter. He was told to return to whence he came. Later, I learned that we were to prepare to receive the 11th Panzer Division into our lines. It was surrendering.

  The bearer of the white flag got into the 90th’s lines somewhere else, and had a letter with him. He hadn’t shown me a letter. It said:

  Division C.P. 3 May 1945

  11th Panzer Division Commander

  The development of the military and political situation makes it desirable to me to avoid further losses on both sides.

  I have therefore ordered the Major, the bearer of this note, to negotiate with you the cessation of hostilities.

  Von Wietersheim

  Lt-Gen. and Division Commander1

  The 712th Tank Battalion Operation Journal reads:

  04 May 45 – 1900 hours – Today the 11th Panzer Division, German, surrendered to the 90th Inf Div, American. B Co and D Co, 712th Tank Bn are assisting in the large task of bringing them in.

  It is obvious that Dad’s friends in Co. B had embellished the story about Gagat when relating it. No doubt, the German Major had approached Gagat after being rebuffed by Lt Cochran. After receiving the same rebuff at the hands of Gagat and obviously frustrated that these American lieutenants were not aware of the proper protocol for receiving an enemy surrender, and, in order to avoid capture by the Russians, he provided Gagat with the letter he had not displayed to Lt Cochran. After reading the
letter, Gagat, in all probability, forwarded the letter back up the chain of command.

  Gen. Earnest was now in command of the 90th and he “referred the matter up to the Third Army and Gen Patton approved. All of this took a couple of days.”2

  The History of the 712th records the event,

  And then, just as the Division prepared to go into reserve on Corps order, General Von Weitershiem of the 11th Panzer refused to surrender to any other unit but insisted on having “the honor” of surrendering to the “elite 90th Div.” On 3 May he met Gen’l. Earnest and unconditionally surrendered his entire outfit which consisted of close to 10,000 men and over 2,000 vehicles. B Co. and 359 were hard put marshaling these troops as they poured into the American sector.3,4

  The History of the 90th Division detailed the surrender indicating that the German officer bearing the surrender note was blindfolded and taken to the 90th Division Command Post, where the arrangements of the “unconditional surrender” of the 11th Panzer Division were completed. Lt-Gen. von Wietershiem arrived at Vseruby later that afternoon to confirm the terms of the surrender. One hour later the long columns of the surrendered division poured in.5

  Remembering Dad’s amusing story about basic training, how tankers considered themselves the toughest soldiers in camp, it seems that the tank crews in both armies were alike. In giving his account of the surrender of the 11th Panzer Division, Capt. Colby stated that the only potential troublemakers in the German column were their tankers, who did not like the idea of surrendering. The German tank crews drove into the road block area with the barrels of their tank guns elevated as though on parade and the tank commanders standing in the turrets at stiff attention. The American captors had to have the German commanding officer order one crew to exit the tank in order for the Americans to enter and disarm the tank guns.6

  And then the day arrived – on 7 May 1945, Headquarters received Field Message #95, 90th Inf. Division which contained the following paragraphs:

  A representative of the German High Command signed the unconditional surrender of all German land, sea and air forces in Europe to the Allied Expeditionary Force and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command at 0141 Central European Time 7 May 45 under which all forces will cease active operations at 0001 9 May 45.

  All offensive operations by Allied Forces will cease. Troops will remain in present positions. Due to difficulties of communication there will be some delay in similar orders reaching enemy troops so full defensive precautions will be taken. No release will be made to the Press pending an announcement by the heads of the Three Governments.7

  Although all hostilities were to officially end on May 9, 1945 at 1 second past midnight on May the 8th, V-E Day has officially been recognized since as May 8, 1945.

  Dr McConahey wrote:

  One of the telephones rang. An officer answered it and then turned to us and said: “The war is over!” No one cheered. No one fired off his gun. The news was too big for that – too awesome. We simply stood there looking at each other and saying, “The war’s over at last!” Then the telephone rang again, and we received the division orders. We were to remain in place, take any German prisoners who came in, and not fire unless fired upon.8

  Dad, along with the rest of Headquarters Company, was in Susice, Czechoslovakia on that day. The people in Czechoslovakia were celebrating and welcoming the American troops. It was a double cause for celebration for them – they were liberated from the Nazis, and the war had finally ended.

  Susice Czechoslovakia. (Author’s collection)

  Czechoslovakian girls in native dress. (Author’s collection)

  Ed Swierzcyk sitting on a Jeep at the V-E Day celebration. (Company B photograph)

  The simultaneous arrival of American troops and the promise of a lasting peace aroused a frenzy of jubilation among the Czechs who played host to the Americans with all the enthusiasm and hospitality that can spring from gratitude. Each city and village was garlanded with flowers, dances and parties and street festivals were the order of the day. The girls dressed in colorful native costumes, while musicians sang and played until the hours of the dawn.9

  The Americans soldiers had been told the war was over, but Dad was still skeptical whether all the German soldiers had received the same news. He explained, “V-E Day, I was in Czechoslovakia. And they said the war was over, well we knew it was just about over. They said at night you can use your flashlight on guard duty. I said ‘You’re nuts, if you think I’m going to let some stupid German shoot me with a light.’ I pulled guard duty without a light.”

  Shortly after V-E Day, the Soviet Army arrived in the towns occupied by the 90th and the 712th.

  On May 15, the occupation zones had been determined by the Allied leaders and the 712th had to move 118 miles west, back across the Czechoslovakian-German border to Amberg, Germany. The liberation of the above towns in Czechoslovakia by the 712th and the 90th was short lived; their occupation was ceded to the Soviet Army. Immediately after World War II, the Iron Curtain fell across Eastern Europe and Czechoslovakia remained under Soviet domination until the fall of communism in December of 1989.

  Czechs greet the Soviet Army in May 1945. (Company B photograph)

  Amberg, Germany

  After V-E Day, the 712th was ordered to pull back into the American sector of occupied Germany, to the town of Amberg. Dad and I included on our itinerary a brief stop in this town where Dad was stationed during the occupation.

  In 1945, Amberg was a quiet little Bavarian town with an estimated population of 30,000. It was founded in the year 1034 and its name originates from the brook that slowly flows through the town, called the Am. The town had been virtually undamaged by the war and retained much of its old world charm, with narrow, crooked streets, tiny dark alleys, an ancient moat and wall, battlements and arched gates at every entrance. Around the outside of the Stadtmauer or city wall, there was a long, shady promenade, and quiet parks with benches.

  During the occupation, the 712th Tank Battalion was assigned to occupy a German World War I camp in Amberg, known as Metzer Kaserne. It was home to a glass factory, then an ordinance factory between the wars, and the barracks in the camp housed a German artillery unit at the beginning of World War II.

  Although Amberg was virtually unscathed during the war, American bombers did damage the glass factory located in the camp, as well as the roofs and windows of the barracks buildings. The first night the 712th moved in there was no water available. The first order of business was to make the camp livable. Civilian labor was utilized for fixing windows, shingling the roofs, carting away the rubble and trash, scrubbing the floors, and removing all Nazi decorations. Among the mass of junk in the surrounding warehouses, the 712th found sufficient chinaware and silver, and a full size Battalion Mess was in place, in operation with cooks from all companies as well as German cooks. On Saturday evening June 2, 1945, one of the camp’s necessities had been built from scratch and became operable – a beer tank.

  An elaborate system of underground wiring connecting all nearby camps was discovered and repaired and eventually a switchboard was put in operation. “Mudholes were filled in and graveled over […] civilians took care of policing up so that the men of ‘old Blood and Guts’ were thus relieved of mud and butts and could turn their attention to more interesting pursuits.”10

  The new home of the 712th was named Camp George B. Randolph in honor of the Battalion’s late commander. Flanked by the tanks and other vehicles which formed the “armored fist” of the famed 90th Infantry Division throughout its combat days, the officers and men of the 712th were addressed by Brig.-Gen. Joseph M. Tulley during ceremonies on June 13, 1945.

  “You men formed a vital and important cog in the 90th Division team!” Gen. Tulley asserted, after reviewing the history of the 712th. “From the time you joined us until the final hour of our victory – in the hedgerows, through France, at Metz, during the river crossings, in the Bulge, in the Siegfried Line, across Germany and into Czechos
lovakia – you have served us ably and well.”11

  Gen. Van Fleet, who commanded the 90th during the Battle of the Bulge, wrote to the 712th, “No fighting division ever had better armor support than did the ‘Tough Ombres’; in fact, in many engagements the tankers were attacking and the other arms were in support. I do know there was a great feeling of loyalty and mutual respect among our several fighting elements – the tanks, the TD’s, the artillery, the doughfeet, the air. These were the major combat units which made up the team of the 90th Division along the front line.”12

  Combat was the only thing the battalion was engaged in between June 28, 1944 and May 8, 1945. Now there was time to burn. To keep time from moving too slowly, the men turned to sports. Volleyball courts, horse shoe pits, and soft ball diamonds were soon established in and around camp. Being summer, the men also enjoyed swimming, first at a lake about 3 km east of camp and then in a pool in Amberg; finally a concrete water reservoir behind the Mess Hall was converted into a pool. A stable was refurbished and horses obtained for horseback riding. Sightseeing tours were organized to visit the various resort spots in the vicinity of Amberg. Hunting and fishing was available for the outdoor enthusiasts.

  Tanks at Camp Randolph. (Company B photograph)

  A dark room was built for the many GIs who now possessed German cameras and photography classes were offered. On June 18, the first issue of the camp newspaper, Tank Tracks, was published. It contained news of the various events around camp, it included a sports section, as well as general information and army news.

  By the end of June a full service laundry and tailor shop was operational, complete with pressing machines to provide crisp military neatness in the tanker’s uniforms.

  Time was also spent repairing and refurbishing the military equipment that had just come through the war. “The Germans were a beaten people, they gave us no trouble,” Dad said about the days in Amberg. To make sure the Germans maintained a healthy respect for the American occupiers, military parades were held through Amberg from time to time. The first such parade took place on June 29. The parade was an “impressive sight with the infantry looking quite military and ‘sharp’; the tanks looking like they just came off the assembly line.”