The History Of the 29th In Real Life part 3

M
ID-AUGUST, 1944: From Normandy, the crushed enemy fled eastward. Resistance ceased at St. Malo and Paimpol as German forces on the Brittany peninsula withdrew to the coast.

An estimated 20,000 paratroopers, along with marines and sailors, held Brest where defenses hewed from rock, concrete blockhouses, SPMs and artillery were backed up by giant coastal guns that could be fired in any direction.

Brest looked like a tough nut to crack, but the 29th was accustomed to rugged assignments by this time. After a 200-mile motor march from Normandy, division doughs launched their attack Aug. 25. Col. William C. Purnell's 175th, on the right of the division front, shoved off, its right flank protected by Task Force Sugar, commanded by Lt. Col. Arthur T. Sheppe. On the left was the 115th as the 116th smashed through the center. The 8th Inf. Div. took up positions on the left of the 29th. The attack was aimed at the suburb of Recouvrance, separated from the old city by walls and the Penfeld River.

Hedgerows weren't as high or as plentiful as in Normandy, but this terrain produced the same slow, dusty and bloody fighting as the division had experienced before.



Nazi paratroopers, personally ordered by Hitler to hold out for four months -- hold out to the last man, the last bullet -- contested the advance with fanatical zeal, yielding slowly and showing no signs of weakening. The artillery exchange was terrific. The mammoth 240mm coastal guns on Le Conquet peninsula crashed their projectiles into Blue and Gray lines, causing many casualties.

Commanded by Lt. Col. Arthur Ericksen, the 104th Medical Bn. followed close behind attacking troops, treating wounded on the field. Litter bearers crawled over hedgerows and crossed into open fields to carry wounded back to aid stations.



After repeated attempts, 1st Bn., 175th, drove up the rugged slopes of Hill 103, whose heights had afforded observation for German artillery, and overran the enemy's concrete gun emplacements in a rock quarry. The 115th came up on the left flank.

Hill 103 was the key to the city. Div Arty observers now could spot targets past Fort Keranroux and Fort Montbarey and in the city itself. American artillery hammered everything in the valley.

Protected by a sunken road, an estimated 30 Paratroopers with a machine gun stalled the advance of 2nd Bn., 175th, for three days. S/Sgt. Sherwood H. Hallman, Spring City, Pa., under covering fire, went forward alone, cautiously creeping to a point near the enemy position. Leaping into the road, he tossed hand grenades and fired his carbine to kill or wound four Germans as he yelled for the others to surrender. When 12 Nazis put up their hands, 75 more came out, yielding a position the entire battalion and heavy supporting fires had been unable to take.

Sgt. Hallman was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously. He died of wounds received the next day.



Commanded by Lt. Col. Claude R. Melancon, Oscar, La., the 2nd Bn. now swept 2000 yards along the valley to Fort Keranroux. Under the protection of heavy artillery and screening smoke, 67 riflemen took the fort and captured 100 Germans, Sept. 13.

Fort Montbarey, on the right, fell to 2nd Bn., 115th, Sept. 12, but was retaken by the Germans in a night counter-attack. Moving up to assist, the 116th pushed within 400 yards of the fort as the 115th shifted to attack the fortress from the rear. After the British 141st RAC Squadron poured flames on the fort from its "crocodile" tanks, 116th doughs captured it, Sept. 16.

Driving in for the kill, 2nd Bn., 175th, knifed through the closely-knit defenses of Brest, blasting through the massive wall to take the Germans completely by surprise. Next day, practically all of the division was fighting in the streets of the city.



Early Sept. 18, a delegation of four enemy officers was led through the 115th's lines to arrange for the surrender of the Brest garrison. At 0800, all resistance ceased. Weapons belonging to Gen. von Mosel and his staff officers were turned over to Maj. Tony Miller, CO, 2nd Bn., 115th. Approximately 13,000 Germans passed into the 29th's PW enclosure.

Gen. Ramcke, garrison commander, fled to the Crozon Peninsula to continue the fight against the 8th Inf. Div. He was captured two days later.

Division doughs prowled through Brest's musty, deep submarine pens, capable of housing 15 underseas craft anud constructed to withstand the heaviest bombs. A hospital large enough to accomodate 14,000 patients was found underground as well as enough food for a six months' siege plus vast quantities of wines and liqueurs.

Souvenir hunters had a field day. However, the 29th moved back from Brest Sept. 19 for a week's rest before packing for the long train and motor haul to Germany.