Hellcat News, (Springfield, Ill.), Vol. 31, No. 5, Ed. 1, February 1977 Page: 20 of 24
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: Abilene Library Consortium and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.
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A Look Backwards
By Ernest Wallander A/17
JANUARY, 1945
The new year found the 17th
Armored Infantry Battalion encamped
at Insviller, France carrying out routine
training exercises. On 7 January the
unit moved to Schweighausen and on
14 January was attached to CC-A for a
tactical operation involving the
elimination of a German bridge-head
west of the Rhine River inthe vicinity of
Offendorf.
Before daylight on 16 January the
battalion moved out through Brumath
to an assembly area west of the town of
Weyersheim. At 160920 attack orders
were received by the 17th to move east
across the Zorn River behind the 43rd
Tank Battalion and follow them to the
railroad tracks which ran south from
Herrlisheim to Gambsheim. When this
objective was reached the battalion
was to continue to the southeast and
attack the town of Offendorf from the
south, assisted by fire from the 43rd
Tank Battalion.
At 160935, the reserve company,
commanded by 1st Lt. Carl Lawson
and composed of men from
Headquarters Company and the anti-
tank platoons of A & B Companies,
moved out of Weyersheim and joined
the two assault companies, A & B, for
the attack. At 160950 the battalion
crossed the LD and the fateful "Battle
of Herrlisheim" began.
The objective, the railroad tracks,
were reached by 161345 and both
companies began digging in. Very
heavy artillery, mortar and anti-tank
fire was being received from the front
and the flanks. Both of the units
suffered heavy casualties but it seemed
that the 43rd Tank Battalion was much
harder hit. Almost every time an 88
fired another tank was hit.
About 161600 an air strike was made
on Steinwald Woods at our right front
and about a half-hour later the order to
withdraw to a shorter line east of the
Zorn River was received. This was
jiecessary because the adjacent units
had failed to reach their assigned
objectives and thus left the 43rd Tank
Battalion and the 17th Armored
Infantry Battalion in an exposed
position.
Both infantry companies set up a
very tight perimeter defense and dug
in. Blankets and overcoats were sent
forward from Weyersheim, those of us
who were there will recall it was a bitter
cold night. During the night orders
were received to renew the attack the
following day on the town of
Herrlisheim.
The assault companies, A & B,
moved out under cover of darkness
and guiding on the Zorn River were in
position to attack at daybreak. Until
about 171200 the attack progressed
fairly well. The Germans slowly
withdrew or surrendered as we
advanced under harrassing mortar,
artillery and small arms fire.
Approximately two hundred twenty-
five prisoners were taken during the
morning advance.
During the afternoon four separate
counterattacks by the Germans were
repulsed. At 171225 an attack was
launched from the direction of
Offendorf, this was repulsed by the
excellent artillery fire of the supporting
company. Again at 171405 and 171550
enemy counterattacks of tanks and
infantry developed from the direction
of Steinwald Woods and these were
again driven back by the very accurate
fire of the artillery. It should be noted
that the Artillery Forward Observers
often went beyond our front lines to
direct this fire and that many of them
with the 17th were severely wounded
during this operation.
At 171620 the most serious threat of
the day developed when simultaneous
attacks from the north, east and south
threatened to overrun our positions.
Again it was the accuracy of the
artillery which drove the Germans
back.
Throughout the afternoon and night
of 17 January the Battalion CO, Major
James Logan, requested reinforce-
ments be sent in to assist in securing
the town but no positive action was
taken by higher headquarters. At
171930 the Battalion S-2, Captain
Willis Rowe came forward to
Herrlisheim with a special combat
team, supply vehicles and orders for
the battalion to mop up and secure the
town of Herrlisheim on the following
day. The Battalion Forward CP was set
up in a storage cellar, a defense
position was established and the men
prepared for what might come during
the night.
Early on the morning of 18 Januarya
very heavy artillery concentration fell
on our positions and around ,the
outskirts of the town. At 180330 a
strong enemy counterattack
supported by tanks developed from the
north end of the town. Most of the men
were caught in cellars where they had
been driven by the artillery barrage. At
180408 the Battalion Forward CP in
Herrlishheim ceased radio communi-
cation with a report that they were
surrounded and that German tanks
were firing into the buildings above.
From this time until daybreak small
groups of men from the battalion
managed to work their way out of the
town and take up a defense position
along the Zorn Canal to the southwest.
20
First Lieutenant Raymond Ebbage
took command of the troops and with
the assistance of Second Lieutenants
Robert Edgren and Dayton Warren
directed the action of this force.
At 181430 the group was ordered to
withdraw to the west side of the canal
and later, under a smoke screen laid
down by Headquarters Company's
Mortar Platoon, the men were
withdrawn to waiting halftracks and
returned to Weyersheim where the
attack had commenced two days
earlier.
At 181745 the battalion moved to
Guedertheim in Division Reserve. Little
rest was gotten for at 190900 the
battalion moved back to Weyersheim
with the mission of preparing plans to
counterattack the enemy positions
west of the Zorn River. At this time the
effective combat strength of the
battalion was 150-170 men including
drivers, mechanics, cooks and all other
available men.
At 191700 the battalion was ordered
to secure in Weyersheim and prepare
defense positions. On 20 January the
battalion moved thru Geudertheim and
Schweighausen to Gougenheim. On
21 January Lt. Col. Douglas Cameron
assumed command of the 17th
Armored Infantry Battalion Vice Major
James W. Logan, MIA, and the unit
moved again to the vicinity of
Kienheim. The morale and strength of
the battalion was very low. A trickle of
reinforcements began to arrive while
the men who had been in Herrlisheim
just rested.
On 25 January the battalion moved
to Breuschwickersheim where more
reinforcements were assigned and a
training schedule was begun. "C"
Company, which had been detached
on 16 January, rejoined the battalion at
this time.
The casualty report for January,
1945, showed seventeen enlisted men
killed in action, one hundred and
fourteen enlisted men wounded in
action, ten officers and one hundred
and fifty-six enlisted men missing in
action.
A copy of Stars and Stripes of about
28 January 1945 had this to say about
the last large group of men who left
Herrlisheim.
"12 Escape Siege Thru Nazi Lines"
With the 12th Armored Division,
Seventh Army, Germany
A dozen 12th Armored Division
doughboys who withstood an enemy
seige in a burning building foran entire
day, then escaped through the German
lines under cover of darkness have
been awarded the Bronze Star.
The 12, all members of "A", 17th
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Springfield, Ill.), Vol. 31, No. 5, Ed. 1, February 1977, newspaper, February 1977; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410719/m1/20/?rotate=90: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.