Hellcat News, (Kirkland, Wash.), Vol. 31, No. 3, Ed. 1, December 1976 Page: 3 of 19
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RETURN TO GERMANY
. -
£
1945
Kenneth A. Warnes, Sr.
504 Clearwater Drive
North Aurora, Illinois, 60542
Dear Ken:
Enclosed please find check in the
amount of $4.00 for membership dues.
During September of 1976 my wife
Kay and I toured Germany by car. We
retraced the route of the 12th armored
through Feuchtwangen, Heidenheim,
Steinheim, Burgau, Augsburg, Gunz-
burg, etc.
1976
In enclosed envelopes you will find
pictures taken in 1945 and also, the same
buildings taken in 1976. It was quite
interesting showing the old pictures to
residents who remembered the time we
spent in occupation. Most interesting,
was the fine reception we received when
we visited the Gasthaus in Steinheim.
This building is now converted to
apartments upstairs where formerly
there were rooms where we slept. The
dining room and kitchen is still there and
is operating as before.
1945
Adjacent to the Gasthauswas the
Molkerei (Dairy) which is no longer in
existence. This will explain the milk pails
the kids are holding in the old pictures.
I cannot identify all the soldiers in the
picture except William (Bill) Ahearn
(with the large group of kids) and myself
sitting in the other picture. The
Gasthaus picture with five soldiers are
fellows whose names I cannot recall.
However, I recognize myself standing in
the doorway to the right.
As mentioned before, the kids came
1976
along for the milk at the dairy and also
candy and gum from the G.I.'s.
I hope these pictures will be of some
interest to the fellows who recognize the
area of occupation. When conversing
with the older inhabitants who
remembered us, I felt a great deal of
emotion, after all, it was a part of our
lives thirty-one years ago.
Sincerely,
Fred J. Huber,
Administrator
A Look Backwards
On 2 December 1944 the battalion
arrived in Luneville, France after a
march of three days. On 5 December we
were ordered to pack all unnecessary
clothing and equipment for storage and
be ready to move out in the morning. By
evening the battalion was assembled in
an area north of the city. "A" and "B"
Companies were attached to the 23rd
Tank Battalion and "B" Company of the
23rd was attached to the 17th for the
move. Early on the morning of 6
December the column moved out and
arrived in the vicinity of Rahling, France
on 7 December as part of the XV Corps,
7th Army.
On 7 December the 17th Armored
Infantry Battalion was ordered into
combat action for the first time. The bat-
talion was to move to the town of Bining
and relieve a battalion of the 26th
Infantry Division which was holding the
southern edge of the town. The relief of
the infantry unit in Bining was completed
by 0430, — 8 December under harrassing
artillery and mortar fire. The remainder
of the day was spent in improving our
positions in Bining and trying to establish
and maintain communications between
the three companies and the battalion
CP.
At 0800, 9 December the 17th launched
its first combat attack against Bining
Barracks on the north end of the town of
Bining. "C" Company on the left, "A"
Compnay on the right with "B" Company
in support was the attack formation.
Resistance was very light and by 1030 the
objective was taken and fourteen
prisoners were sent to the rear. The
weather turned very cold and during the
night of the 9th it began to snow.
At 0830, 10 December the battalion
again attacked with the town of Rohbach
and the high ground north of the town as
the objective. The attack met only light
resistance in the town but encountered
heavy small arms and artillery fire on
reaching the high ground about 1330. The
men were ordered to dig in on the reverse
slope. Their digging was accompanied by
88 mm fire and more snow. By night the
foxholes had become filled with slush and
water and many cases of frost bite and
trench foot were evacuated.
The next day was spent in improving
our positions while under constant
artillery, mortar and sniper fire. At this
point our morale was very low, and many
weapons would not function due to the
freezing weather. Colonel John Evans,
CC-R, was placed in temporary
command of the battalion effective 1600.
At 0200, 12 December "C" Company
moved forward with the mission of
seizing pillboxes along the route of
advance. "A" and "B" Companies
jumped off at 0400 but not without a great
deal of confusion. Capt. Carl Helton, "A"
Company Commander, even tried to
rouse a dead German to join his company
while everyone else was wondering
exactly where they belonged and what to
do. Fortunately there was no enemy
resistance and we succeded in reaching
the objective by daylight.
CP's were set up in pill boxes of the
Maginot Line and hot coffee, rations and
dry socks were handed out. At 1400 "A"
Company was given the mission of
attacking and occupying the village of
Hoeling. No resistance was encountered
and the town was taken by 1530.
"C" Company was now pulled back to
Bining Barracks but not without enemy
fire hounding their footsteps.
Fortunately, it would seem, Lt. John
Speedy lost the way to the half tracks
and the men had to walk back thus
missing the worst of the fire on the road.
Major James Logan was assigned as
Battalion Commander on 13 December.
On 14 December the batallion was
relieved and moved to Eywilier. Here
Christmas Packages started to arrive,
equipment was cleaned and a memorial
service held for those in the battalion
who had been killed.
On 20 December we moved back to
Bining Barracks as Division Reserve and
"C" Company was detached from the
17th and attached to the 23rd Tank
Battalion. Christmas was spent at Bining
with rumors of German paratroopers
and numerous visits to the latrine as we
had all contracted the GI's.
On 26 December we moved again, this
time to Inviller. The Casualty Report for
the month of December, 1944 for the 17th
Armored Infantry Battalion shows:
Killed in Action 18 Enlisted Men
Died of Wounds.,. .1 Officer and 2
Enlisted Men
Wounded in Action ... 3 Officers and 43
Enlisted Men
Ernest Wallander (A)
"A RETURN TO EUROPE"
By Jim Johnson, Div. Arty
I don't know if this could be classified
as "News" or not, but you may be
interested in a report on a two week trip
which my wife and I took to England and
France this summer.
We accomplished all our major
objectives, and had a wonderful time
crowding a multitude of activities into a
brief span of time, and all at relatively
reasonable expense. The rate of
exchange for the British Pound Sterling
at the time (about $1.80) aided
immeasurably — For instance: Room
and full English breakfast at an elegant
quaint old English inn in St. Albans
(about 30 miles North of London) for 8V2
Pounds (about $15) for TWO.
We flew to London direct from Detroit
and stayed a couple of days at a modern
new hotel (The Penta) which was
included with our round trip
transportation package, put together by
a travel club to which we belong. Took
some sightseeing tours in London, then
on to Paris via British Airways (I had
made this reservation separately in
Detroit before we left the U.S.)
Spent three days as guests of a French
family in St. Cloud (a suburb of Paris)
whom I had visited on two 3-day passes
in 1944-45 and had not seen since. This
contact dates back to my high school and
college days when I studied French and
corresponded with the family.
They treated us like visiting royalty
and saw to it that we covered more of
Paris in 3 days than the average tourist
could cover in a month. Wonderful
people!
Back to London to pick up a rental car
which I had reserved in advance. Spent
the next six days touring Southern
England with stops which included
(among many) the Cathedral at
Salisbury, Stonehenge, and the Roman
Baths at Bath. Also drove past Tidworth
Barracks (Remember?), now a huge
military installation, virtually a
self-contained city, on the way from
Salisbury to Stonehenge, both of which
are only a short distance from Tidworth.
At Stonehenge, we ran into Ray Buch
(and his wife Marylou) of the 11th
Armored, who was thoroughly familiar
with the 12th and our association. I
recognized an 11th armored pin he was
wearing and, after introducing myself,
we had quite a chat over old times. He
now lives in Pittstown, N.J.
Returned to our London Hotel after
dropping off the car and spent the next
two days sightseeing and shopping in
London before packing to come home,
heavily laden and weary, but happy and
satisfied.
Best regards,
Jim Johnson, Div. Arty.
22664 W. Outer Drive
Dearborn, Mich. 48124
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Kirkland, Wash.), Vol. 31, No. 3, Ed. 1, December 1976, newspaper, December 1976; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410055/m1/3/?q=%22~1~1~1%22~1: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.