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To: Any interested former members of the
191st Field Artillery (especially C Battery)
From: Barrett J. Whiteley (C Btry, Oct. 1942
to May, 1945 – Service Btry, May to November, 1945)
SERVICE IN ETO
In February of 1987, I was able to spend 2
½ days at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., researching WWII
activities in areas of interest to the 191st. I have always
realized that our view of the war was limited. I was anxious to know
why certain actions took place and what was
happening outside our small sector of action. Perhaps some of
my notes will interest others of you who were also involved.
Who Won The War?
In a 1956 history of the U.S. Army, the
author, R. Ernest Depuy, quotes Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., as saying, “I
do not have to tell you who won the war – you know our artillery did.”
This may be an overstatement, but is nice to be appreciated.
Separate Battalions
Members of the 191 will remember that in
1942 the Regiment was eliminated and the two battalions became independent
– 191 and 959. Thereafter, we operated as separate battalions, with the
next higher unit being a F A Group. Author Russell F. Weigly wrote about
this decision by General Leslie J. McNair in a 1967 history book:
To ensure the flexibility of this plan,
McNair proposed that all troops not organized into divisions should be
formed into permanent units of the smallest size compatible with
efficiency. Then such small interchangeable units could be shuttled into
and out of corps and armies in just the quantity that any situation
demanded. If an occasion arose to use a large mass of non-divisional
combat troops, three or four battalions could be brought together in a
group. But the group was a tactical organization only, each battalion was
supposed to remain self-sufficient in administration and supply, and the
group was not a permanent formation.
You will remember that the 191st
supported several divisions (principally the Fourth Armored, but also the
Fifth and Thirty-fifth Infantry, among others). We were also under the 192nd,
193rd and 177th F.A. Groups. At times, while with
the Fourth Armored, the batteries were even separated to support different
“combat commands.”
Commendations
Each member’s personal record at the end of
WWII showed that he was entitled to four battle stars: Ardennes-Alsace,
Central Europe, Northern France, and Rhineland.
I was surprised to find that the 191st
F.A Bn. was given another award five years later. The information is
recorded in Dept. of the Army Pamphlet 672-1, “Unit Citations and Campaign
Participation Credit Register,” published by Hdqrs, Dept. of the Army,
July, 1961.
According to this register, the French
Croix de Guerre was issued to the 191st Field Artillery
Battalion for action between 12-29 Sept., 1944. The official announcement
of this award is found in Department of the Army General Orders 43, dated
1950. I did not have time while in Washington to pursue this matter, but
any individual using the information above may direct inquiries to: The
Adjutant General (Attn: AGPS-AD). I have other addresses pursuant to this
which I will gladly supply if anyone is interested.
30 Days in Wales
I remember well that throughout the
30 days we spent in the camp at Llanover, Wales (near Abergavenny), Col.
Goddard was being questioned daily about the plans for our battalion. He
couldn’t give us any specifics – not only because of security, but because
no one in higher echelons seemed to know what was going on. To illustrate,
I quote General Lentz, XII Corps Artillery Commander, to whose command the
191st belonged at that time. “I had 48 battalions scattered all
over England and I did not know where some of
them were.”
In May if 1987, Eleanor and I visited the
site of our camp at Llanover, Wales. I had remembered that our Nissen huts
were scattered around through a landscape dotted with trees, with
sufficient space between for all the buildings. What I was not prepared
for on our 1987 visit was a thick forest of trees! Caretakers of
the 2000-acre Herbert Estate (where we were encamped) explained that the
buildings were torn down, the concrete slabs were covered with straw, a
forest of trees were planted, and the undergrowth was encouraged to cover
the scene.
I have taken pictures of the area. One
picture shows open fields beside the (new) forest. Another shows the
undergrowth and the forest of trees. Underneath that brush is straw (it
can be seen if you examine the picture carefully). I carped it aside and
underneath I found the slabs where the buildings had been.
Lt. Col. George Dyer, writing for the XII
Corps History Assn., published an excellent book in 1947, entitled, “XII
Corps: Spearhead of Patton’s Third Army.” In it, he says, “Twelfth Corps
history in combat would have been a far different story without XII Corps
Artillery blasting holes through enemy defenses for the armor and infantry
when the going got tough.” He adds, “Corps Artillery was the hammer that
drove the steel spikes of XII Corps into the coffin of the Third Reich.”
If that isn’t enough to make us proud,
listen to these words of Col. Dyer: “Among the F.A. Bns listed for
England, it would be impossible to pass over without mention such
hard-hitting outfits as the 191st F.A. Bn. and the 267 F.A. Bn.
These were to be among those magnificent dispensers of
firepower-in-the-rough which supplied the XII Corps Sunday punch all the
way from the Beach to Bavaria.”
Remember Arracourt?
In his book on the XII Corps, Col. Dyer
reports the following Letter of Commendation from Brig. Gen. John Lentz
(the same one who couldn’t find us in Wales).
“1. The performance of Corps Artillery
battalions in recent operations has been outstanding.
- They have been out in front generally. Many have
been under small arms fire with no thought of withdrawal. One medium
battalion laid directly on hostile assault guns. The observers of
another, in the absence of infantry or other troops, fired charge I at
tanks over a low crest, turning back the tank attack only after two
direct hits were made on tanks within 200 yards of the observers.”
Surely everyone who was at C Btry that day
will remember when the order was given to shift right, over 1600 mils! I
won’t forget how you moved those 155s around as though they were toys.
Everyone realized the urgency of a low trajectory Charge I. The target had
to be close at hand! Some you may remember that we could actually watch
those slow moving shells in flight. As I remember it, 1st Lt.
Roy Bullock (from B Btry) was the observer, but I’m open to correction.
Two side-notes to history concerning that
event:
- Lt. Col. Creighton Abrams was heading the combat
command whose advance we were in position to support. The column
returned and entered into one of the great tank battles of the European
war. That engagement, which our side won, with the destruction of 60 to
80 of the Germans’ newest and best tanks, stamped Col. Abrams for
greatness. He later led all our forces in Vietnam, and before his early
death from cancer, he had risen to Army Chief of Staff.
- The original panzer attack was ordered by Hitler
himself, who had fired a general and ordered his replacement to attack
and to “annihilate” all American troops in that area. The “new”
commander was Gen von Manteuffel, who was to show up later in the Battle
of the Bulge.
Understanding the Facts
Some light has been shed on events by
post-war military historians. Unfortunately, events which historians may
have thought were insignificant, loom very large in the eyes of the
participants. For example: The ETO Hdqrs published a book called, “Attack:
Footsteps of the 35th!” It speaks of the fall of Troyes with
these words. “Backed by the 35th doughs, armored spearheads
took Troyes and completed the sweep around Paris. The heart of France was
now liberated.” I have read all the unit histories available at the
Library of Congress and have found no details about the taking of Troyes,
with the exception of “The History of the 191st Field Artillery
Battalion” (which, incidentally, is available for reading at the Library
of Congress).
The 191 history records that C
Btry was attached to the 66th F.A. Bn of the Fourth Armored
Division on 24 Aug, 1944, and became part of the “North Column.” Some of
you may be able to recall riding the prime movers in utter darkness
through thick woods both before and after crossing the Seine that night.
We could hear occasional machine gun blasts, and we were crawling along
behind Sherman tanks equipped with dozer blades. After coming into the
open fields, we drew ourselves into a wagon-train circle of defense until
it was light enough to deploy and to start firing on troops escaping from
the city. We were in enemy held territory at the time, but the Nazis had
their hands full saving their own necks. I remember that we rejoined the
battalion for the attack on Vitry Le /Francois.
Here is another example of understatement
(from “The 4th Armored Division from the Beach to Bavaria” by
Kenneth A. Koyen). “On the way to Hersfeld the division met a smatter of
enemy armor for the first time since crossing the Rhine. Hersfeld, 25
miles northeast of Lautenbach, surrendered the afternoon of March 30 to
CCB.” It is significant that the history of the 191st Field
Artillery Battalion records the death of Wayne D. McClary (Headquarters
Btry) on the next day, March 31, in Hersfeld. There is more to the story.
The German officer who surrendered the city either practiced deliberate
deception as a trap, or did not have command of the troops he claimed to
be surrendering. As told by those who witnessed the events at the autobahn
just outside the city, Col. Abrams sent troops in after the “surrender.”
Among them was a jeep containing Maj. Harvard Smith. “Mac” McLary was his
driver. As I remember it, a C Btry jeep was also there, but I am not sure
who was in it. The occupants of the jeep came upon one of the first
Shermans to enter, parked on a street. They did not realize that a single
armor-piercing shell from a Tiger tank had entered it from the front and
killed the entire crew. As the occupants of the jeeps got out to
investigate, the same tank fired on them. All except Sgt. McLary escaped
by running through the basement of a house and then running all the way to
the autobahn. Witnesses told me shortly thereafter that Col. Abrams,
stunned by the deception, pointed to the city of Hersfeld and ordered,
“Burn it!” Since my evidence is hearsay, I cannot vouch for that part of
the story. Perhaps others who read this may have more evidence. I do know
that a heavy artillery barrage ensued. Shortly after this severe pounding
of the city was concluded, I entered the city, saw the disabled tank, and
viewed McLary’s body where he fell, a few feet from his jeep. However
insignificant such events may be to others, they are never minor events to
the participants.
Mud, Mud Everywhere
The Fall months of 1944 bring memories of
rain and mud. The official War Department History of the Lorraine Campaign
states, “The average monthly precipitation in Lorraine during September,
October, and November is between 2.4 and 3.0 inches. In the autumn of
1944, however, the rain which fell on the underlying Lorraine clay was two
and three times the amount usually recorded. In November, 1944, 6.95
inches of rain fell during the month.” But rain alone didn’t account for
all the mud. On November 8, the Third Army stated an offensive. After a
long, heavy barrage by our artillery, the attack began, but slowed down
quickly because of mud. Our battalion was later to experience this med as
we moved to new positions near Hoeville, France. The med was not caused
solely by rain. Let Col. Dyer tell the story.
“Part of our troops, consisting of the
advance elements of our Main Line of Resistance, were on the East side of
the Seille River in the section between Nancy and Chateau Salins and the
rear elements were on the West side. (Note: 191st was 1500
yards forward of Leyr – on the West bank). The Etang de Lindre was formed
by a dam up the river near Dieuz (in German territory), which if blown
would flood the entire river valley. We were afraid that if we crossed all
our troops, the Krauts would blow this dam and cut us off, so it was
decided that we should blow it, control the flood waters, and thus it
would no longer be a danger to our troops and would eliminate the element
of surprise.” P47s were called upon to blow the dam. They were successful,
and now you know why you waded through mud at the time.
Conclusion
There are many more stories – covering all our time in Europe. Someday,
perhaps, I can compile them in better order. Meanwhile, those of you who
were there are welcome to copy and distribute these remarks if you desire.
I would welcome your own personal anecdotes on your experiences.
Obviously, my own recollections are subject to forgetfulness or fancy and
published histories don’t tell the entire story either. It would be
helpful if you will correct me, where necessary and add your own
viewpoint. |
