The History Of The 29th In Real Life part 4

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GGRESSIVE patroling and diversionary attacks were the 29th's initial assignments when it went into the line in Germany, Oct. 1. On the left flank of Ninth Army in the Geilenkirchen area, the 115th quickly seized the Siegfried Line towns of Hatterath, Birgden and Kreuzrath.



Day and night patrols pushed out to Bauchem, Geilenkirchen, Busherheide, Waldenrath, Schierwaldenrath and Niederheide as German defenses were probed, casualties inflicted and prisoners taken.

This activity kept constant pressure on the Germans, kept the Nazis from sending these troops south to aid the defenders of Aachen, who were nearly encircled by American troops, The main German escape route from Aachen was the road to Alsdorf, which ran northeast from the besieged city. With attached battalions from the 66th Armd. Regt., 120th Inf. Regt., and 99th Inf. Bn., the 116th moved against Wurselen, five miles north of Aachen, Oct. 13, repulsed a counter-attack, cut the Alsdorf Road to seal the Aachen Gap.

By the end of October, the 19th had moved back across the Dutch border to the Herzogenrath-Kerkrade area where it trained daily for the impending offensive.



Rumors made the rounds. "The 29th is going back to the States as demonstration troops..." "It's going back to Paris to guard the railroad yards." But the Army had other plans. Replacements arrived and immediately attended the division training school at Trebeck, Holland. Opened back in Normandy, the school offered battle facts straight from the front lines as well as such division SOPs as: "Chin strap on point of the chin"... "Soup twice a day"... "Two up and one back"... "I don't know but I'll find out."

Nov. 16, 1944: Massed artillery hurled tremendous preparation fires. Tanks rumbled out in roaring escort. The 29th Division surged across cabbage patches and beet fields along a line that ran through Bettendorf, Oidtweiler and Baseweiler.


This was the big push through the Siegfried Line aimed at the Roer River and Julich, last barriers before the Cologne Plain. Ninth Army had waited days for the attack. Dark, rainy skies had grounded air support. Now, the sky was clear and Aldenhoven and Julich were being saturated with bombs.

The 116th and 175th moved abreast, gaining three miles in three days of rugged fighting. The assault pounded through the towns of Siersdorf, Schleiden, Aldenhoven, Setterich and Durboslar which formed the outer defenses of Julich. The Roer River towns of Koslar, Bourheim and Kirchberg still were to be taken before the river could be crossed and the prize city of Julich taken.

Bourheim fell first as 2nd Bn., 175th, stormed two platoons into the town against small arms fire the afternoon of Nov. 20. The Germans smashed back with fresh troops that night, driving 2nd Bn. doughs from the town except for a group of 20 men who remained with Capt. Robert W. Gray, Skowhegan, Me., Co. F CO. Crouching in doorways with their M-1s, the men peered down the dark streets, guarded their precarious foothold. In his cellar CP, Capt. Gray destroyed his maps, waited for relief.

First and 3rd Bns. succeeded in retaking the town two days later and relieving Capt. Gray's force. After the doughs had slugged their way into Bourheim, German artillery pounded it relentlessly. Enemy infantry and armor unsuccessfully counter-attacked on five occasions. Against the final counter-assault, six P-47S swooped low over the attacking tanks and 500 infantrymen, bombing and strafing with fury.

Second Lt. (then T/Sgt.) Paul F. Musick, Jr., Grantville, Ga., won a Distinguished Service Cross for his action at Bourheim. Racing across a field being pounded by enemy artillery, he directed mortar fire on attacking infantrymen, dispersed them. When two German tanks appeared, Musick climbed into an abandoned light tank, manned a 37mm gun and chased off the armor. Out of the tank, he next silenced three

snipers who had the area under fire. Returning to his original position, Musick repaired a three-inch gun and recruited a crew which fired six rounds at an enemy observation post.

German guns across the Roer hammered the 116th as the regiment struck Koslar. After a rough fight, 2nd Bn. clawed its way forward, gained the western half of the town. The terrain to the battalion's immediate rear was as flat as a table, under enemy observation and couldn't be crossed in daytime. Cub liaison planes flew through flak to drop food, ammunition and medical supplies.

Attacking before dawn, Nov. 27, 1st Bn. broke into the east side of the town, drove off the Nazis and held its ground against two savage, tank-supported counter-attacks.

When a machine gun pinned down his company outside of Kirchberg, Pfc Harold J. Speer, 115th, crawled forward alone. Twenty-five yards from the enemy nest, he leaped up, tossed a grenade, charged with fixed bayonet. After shooting the gunner, he pulled the gun from position and killed the four other members of the crew. Kirchberg, last of the three bastions before Julich, fell to 2nd and 3rd Bns., 115th, after dogged house-to-house fighting.

Living conditions were rugged in the trenches and foxholes along the Roer River. Water and mud were ankle-deep. Trenchfoot sent many doughs to hospitals.

The Roer's west bank still wasn't completely cleared. Between Koslar and the river, Germans held the Julich Sportplatz and the Hasenfeld Gut, northeast of the village. Taking advantage of the high ground behind them and long fields of fire to their front, Nazis clung stubbornly to these strong points. Reducing these fortresses was one of the toughest battles the division fought in Germany.

The 116th hammered at these positions for nearly a week. The Gut, a heavily-fortified estate, held out against two bitter attacks. Supported by fighter-bombers from the XXIX TAC and heavy artillery, the 116th stormed the Sportplatz six times only to be thrown back by concentrated machine gun, mortar and artillery fire.



Eight-inch howitzers were brought up as the fighter-bombers dove, skip-bombed. But the Germans still held.

Relieving the tired 116th Dec. 7, the 115th took up the battle. In a pre-dawn attack, doughs drove in on the Sportplatz from two sides, fought hand-to-hand in the dark. When the savage struggle ended, the bastion was owned by the Americans.

Screened by smoke, 3rd Bn., 115th, then struck out for the Gut. Surprisingly quick, the second strong point succumbed. Only the Roer River now stood between the 29th and Julich.