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SAINT LO TO THE SIEGFRIED LINE

August 9 - September 12, 1944

 

The last three months and three days have been hectic. I haven't had much chance to write in any detail in this diary. I will try to recall the happenings of this past month. Have seen plenty of action since being assigned to the 33rd Armored Regiment. I have done a lot of sweating. Have seen and experienced about everything. Bombings, dog fights, both American and German planes fall from the sky, artillery bombardment, shot at by snipers, taking German prisoners, receiving thrilling welcomes from French, getting kisses from French girls, receiving wine, cognac, and flowers.

Once we were lost for three days and lived off Mother Nature in the woods. We were finally picked up and we took the wrong route and landed in a town occupied by the Germans. We were greeted by a barrage of small arms fire and mortar shells. It was a very close call.

This incident shows what a guy can do when his adrenaline rises. As we were being fired on, we had no protection. I had my full pack on (it weighs about seventy-five pounds). I spotted a brick wall which was about eight or ten feet high. I was so scared. I climbed the wall as I was being fired on and made it. We were at a disadvantage because the Germans were holed up in the houses around us. The wall gave me protection. Luckily several of our tanks came rumbling by and silenced these snipers.

NOTE: Today 1988, I often think about this incident and wonder how I ever made it. Was the Good Lord watching over me? I'm sure He was.

After this incident we found that we were the lead American solders. We were the advance troops. We were even ahead of Reconnisance Company. This same day we went through Soissons, France, and again found that only five minutes ago the Germans fled leaving many snipers on our trail. These past two days we had to constantly shoot our way through towns. We were constantly being shot at. The strategical reasons for this was that the Germans let our heavy stuff (tanks) go through the town and concentrated on our supplies. Without gas, ammunition and food, the tanks would eventually be useless. Furthermore, this was a delaying action for the fleeing Germans.

During this rapid advance toward the Siegfried Line we rounded up over 400 German prisoners and I was assigned to guard a truckload of them. We had to stop outside Soissons to drop these P.W.'s off. There was a temporary stockade built to handle the prisoners. Looked just like a cattle corral; about five or six strands of barbed wire. There apparently were few high ranking officers in this bunch, for when we unloaded these prisoners there was a large group of civilians who were sniping, hollering, pointing their fingers and spitting at these guys. They were irate. A group of men came up and begged to take these guys to the rear. A few minutes later we heard bursts of gun fire. It turned out that the P.W.'s we had taken were the guys that were in charge of the German occupation of this local town. During the occupation they killed and tortured many civilians. War is Hell.

Shortly after this I had another close call as we approached Mons, Belgium. We entered Belgium about September 2nd or 3rd. We were once again delayed by snipers. I took shelter in a nearby barn along with another G.I. The snipers saw us and sprayed us with machine gun fire. Bullets were ricocheting all around us. One whizzed by me and hit my buddy in the leg. After we got the snipers with a bazooka (they were in a nearby church steeple), I called for the medics and they came after the injured G.I. and took him away. Our first sergeant got hit this same day, along with a few others. I often wonder about this G.I. I never heard anymore about him.

After this shooting incident we finally overtook these snipers. Those that weren't killed we rounded up and taken prisoner. We loaded about a truckload. They were mean, surly and fanatics. I was assigned to guard them. I rode behind the truck in a jeep. The jeep had a 50-caliber machine gun which I was manning. I was so grateful that I had the training to use this gun. It came in handy later on.

As we were going through a small town, once again we were pinned down by snipers firing from a church steeple. The officer told me to spray this machine gun over the heads of the prisoners in the truck. He said that way, they won't get the idea of escaping while we were worrying about the snipers. The damn gun sprayed bullets all over the place. The same officer who gave me orders to use the machine gun called upon two tanks to knock out the snipers in the church steeple. I was sure glad to unload these prisoners at a nearby, hastily built stockade.

Another incident: We were pinned down and I took cover under a culvert. A tank stopped over the culvert and fired several rounds at a sniper nest. What a deafening noise.

We passed through Charleroi, Belgium. One of the largest cities in Belgium. It was a coal mining town. I was surprised at this. Reminded me of Windber, PA. We received a tremendous applause as we passed through.

That night we slept beside a house and were awakened by the inhabitants who served us breakfast. What a change. Waffles, syrup, and coffee. They served us at their table. Was the first time I ate at a family table since my last three day leave on May 20th.

We left and traveled the next day without any incident. I received good news that evening as we bivouacked. I was called to the command post and told that Service Company needed a radio operator. I was elated to be assigned to this company.

My elation soon disappeared as we were bombed and strafed this evening. I later learned that C Company had a lot of casualties. The following morning we collected over a thousand German prisoners. I learned something this day. Because of the large number of prisoners and short supply of empty trucks, the drivers would load a bunch, then start down the road, rev up their engines, pick up speed, then slam on their brakes. The P.W.'s would be forced forward, allowing more empty space to load more prisoners.

As I received my assignment to Service Company, 33rd Armored Regiment, I thanked the Lord for watching over me, for I had heard it was one of the best companies in the Regiment. I was sweating out being assigned to Recon Company. Recon Company in any outfit are always the advance troops. They lead the way. They actually were used to draw fire in order to see where the Germans were. They had 400% casualties. That means that their company was replaced four times.

Once I got settled down and got to know Tex Bolt, Carl Kieffer, Captain Paul Woods, and Paul Lubke, I learned an interesting story. Service Company had the rosters of all us replacements. During the hasty drive toward Germany, weeks went by before they could replace their casualties. During this period, nine radio operators got hit in Reconnaissance Company and Service Company had two radio operators killed. Service Company was the divisional baseball champs in England. They looked over the list and saw my name - RUTH! They decided right then and there that this guy Ruth would be a baseball player. Maybe after the war they would play baseball waiting to be sent home. So I can thank Babe Ruth for this good fortune. I was immediately called George Herman and this name stayed with me during the war. No one knew my real name was Bill.

NOTE: To this day, when I receive correspondence from my Army buddies, they still greet me as George Herman.

I also learned from Tex Bolt who was chief radio operator of our half-track (I was his assistant) and Carl Kieffer, the driver, of the events that brought me to Service Company. I wrote in my diary the following: "The man I am replacing was Vernon Jensen. He was in a half-track that had the Company Commander, Captain McGhe, Claude Dempsey, De Grand Champs, Joe Michaels, and McGrew. They took a wrong route near Liege, Belgium. They got a direct hit from a German tank. All were killed." (end of diary notation.)

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