"Attack!" is a small booklet covering
the history of the 35th Infantry
Division. This booklet is one of the
series of G.I. Stories published by
the Stars & Stripes in Paris in 1944-
1945.

HOSE of you who were with the Division when I addressed you shortly before we left Camp
Butner in April, 1944, will recall that I stated I would at times probably call on you to do
what seemed humanly impossible. Since that time this Division has traveled over 1300 miles
in battle, has gone in action from St. Lo to Venlo and the Rhine River via Mortain, Orleans,
Nancy, Habkirchen, Germany, Bastogne and the Lower Vosges, and has covered itself with
glory in eight different Corps and four different Armies. That is a record you as an individual
and we as a Division have a just right to be proud. But in accomplishing this feat, those Of
you who are here, and those of our comrades who are absent, have on numerous occasions
accomplished the impossible that I referred to in my talk before leaving Camp Butner.
It is only by the indomitable spirit displayed by each of you and a grim determination to
lick the best of the Boche under any conditions of terrain, weather, and other obstacles that
we have succeeded. I have often stated that I am proud, very proud of this Division, and I feel
deeply honored to have been its commander through all these actions. To those of you who
are old members, I express my grateful appreciation -- to those who receive this pamphlet as
new arrivals, I welcome you to the Division. I trust that as you glance through the pages of
this booklet and learn more of our history, you will be imbued with the spirit of this Division,
a spirit which cannot be downed and which is bound to carry us to victory on any field of
battle. A spirit to attack the enemy whenever and wherever found.
Paul W. Baade
Major General, Commanding
This is one of a series of G.I. Stories of the Ground, Air and Service Forces in the European Theater of
Operations, issued by the Orientation Section, Information and Education Division, ETOUSA... Major General
Paul W. Baade, commanding the 35th Infantry Division, lent his cooperation to the preparation of the pamphlet
and basic material was supplied to the editors by his staff.

A CID test of the American Army was von Rundstedt's last-ditch offensive in December,
1944. Into the Ardennes salient the Prussian war lord poured his finest troops and armor,
drove miles deep through Allied lines. To American soldiers withdrawal was new, distasteful.
They dug in, reorganized, counter-attacked savagely. The veteran 35th Division, infantry
spearhead of Lt. Gen. George S. Patton's Third Army, was called from another sector to blunt
the drive near Bastogne.
Fresh from their classic crossing of the Blies River into Germany's rich Saar region, the
35th's Santa Fe men slipped into Luxembourg and Belgium during the Christmas holidays.
They crossed the Sure River Dec. 27, 1944, then hit hard into the thick Nazi bulge.
Four elite Nazi units composed the iron fist of the German surprise blitz: The Fuehrer
Brigade (Hitler's bodyguard troops), 1st SS Panzer Div., 5th Paratroop Div., 167th
Volksgrenadier Div. The 35th met elements of each, smashed them back, and secured the
vulnerable right flank of the Bastogne
highway. Beaten back by Yank courage

T and skill, the Nazi blitz faltered,

sagged, then collapsed entirely.
HIS climaxed another major phase of the
35th's battle career which began in July,
1944, when it landed in France under the
command of Maj. Gen. 
Paul W. Baade. No stranger to German
military tactics, Gen. Baade was bringing a
division into battle on the same soil where he fought as an infantry officer In World War I.
When the fighting men of the 35th turned von Rundstedt's blitz into Nazi disaster, they
symbolized the spirit of all soldiers who have worn the Sante Fe patch.
Originated during the Indian Wars, the shoulder patch is a white cross on a blue field to
honor the men who blazed the old Santa Fe Trail. In the last war, the 35th distinguished itself
on the same French soil where Santa Fe troops now battled in World War II.
With a strong nucleus of Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri National Guard, the division
was mobilized Dec. 23, 1940, at Camp Robinson, Ark. A year later it became California's
adopted army when it was assigned to defend the West Coast after the Japanese attack on
Pearl Harbor.
Officers and men of the 35th were thoroughly prepared for war when they left the POE
May 12, 1944. The division had learned a lot in the tough Louisiana Maneuvers of 1941 and
the cold, wet Tennessee Maneuvers of 1943. It had trained diligently at Camp San Luis
Obispo, Calif., Camp Rucker, Ala., and Camp Butner, N.C., as well as at Camp Robinson.
And it was a fresh, eager outfit, representing every state in the union when it landed in
England two weeks later.
A month after the 35th arrived in southwest England it was inspected by Gen.
Eisenhower. The general was impressed with its fighting potential. He transferred the 35th
from Third Army, sent it to France to join Gen. Bradley's First Army in the fight for
Normandy.
O Nacross
Independence Day the 35th sailed
the choppy Channel. From
July 5-7, troops poured from landing craft
onto Omaha Beach near Colleville-sur-
Mere. Next stop was a concentration area
two miles west of Columbieres. The
division was attached to XIX Corps under

command of Maj. Gen. Charles H. Cortlett.

Mission: St. Lo.
Anchored in the base of the narrow Cotentin
Peninsula, St. Lo was surrounded by the toughest
offensive, best defensive terrain. Here was the
gateway to the French interior.
To smash through the heavily defended thick
hedgerows, root Nazis from deeply-entrenched
positions and take the city was a mammoth task.
Spearhead of the 
assault was the 35th which had the 29th Inf.
Div. on its left flank, the 30th Inf. Div. on the
right, across the Vire River.
Col. Butler B. Miltonberger's 134th Inf. Regt. was first to attack. Second Bn. moved into
front line foxholes near St. Nicolas, July 8. Its initial fire destroyed a mortar position and
killed four Germans. The 216th FA Bn., commanded by Lt. Col. Kenneth H. Reed, sent out
the first artillery round when Pfc Ralph Thompson, Trinity, Ala., pulled the lanyard of a Btry.
B gun. Capt. Jesse G. Beattie was Battery Commander.

I Na battle
the hot, jungle-quiet night July 10, the division moved silently along dusty roads to form
line running; southeast from the Vire River above La Meauffe to La Nicollerie.
The 137th Inf. Regt., commanded by Col. Grant Layng, was on the right and 320th Inf. Regt.,
under Col. Bernard A. Byrne, on the left. Behind them was the powerful artillery directed by
Brig. Gen. Theodore L. Futch.
The division's first casualty was recorded that night. While Co. H, 137th, was moving
into position, a shell killed Pvt. Owen J. McBride, an ammunition bearer.
Just before dawn July 11, more than 200 division guns and supporting Corps artillery
pounded Nazi positions in a thunderous barrage. Then, at 0600, infantrymen stormed "over
the top" of hedgerows.
The 137th rushed along the area following Highway 3 where the Germans awaited the
attack on a small road leading from the highway to the Vire Canal. Dungeon-deep foxholes,
connected by underground tunnels and heavily protected by mines, lined the road.
The regiment lunged forward with bayonet, grenade and point-blank fire. Green troops
fought like veterans as they punched along the narrow road until reaching La Meauffe. There
they ran up against Germans barricaded in houses and shops, where every building was a
converted pillbox. Yank artillery crashed in and levelled the strongest points with deadly
accurate salvos. Doughs rushed other positions, driving Nazis from the town.
 The 137th continued up the road to
"Purple Heart Corner," pushed the
Germans from a solid stone chateau used
as Gestapo headquarters, then took the
Chateau of St. Gilles, key defense in the
area. When Col. Layng was wounded by
machine gun fire during the battle, Col.
Robert Sears took command. Lt. Col. John
N. Wilson, 219th FA Bn. CO, was killed.
The 320th had been fighting from an L-shaped line on the division's left flank. To
straighten the line against a leather-tough salient and keep the battalions in constant contact
during the attack was an intricate, difficult operation. When 3rd Bn. was in danger of being
driven back by a strong counter-attack and losing contact with 1st Bn., Co. K, commanded by
Capt. Kenneth H. Trossen, called for more
ammunition. The remainder of the
battalion re-formed and attacked. Capt.
Thomas A. Swanson, 2nd Bn. Operations-
Officer, was killed while leading a patrol
against a machine gun position.
The 137th smashed through to the
north bank of the Vire July 18.
Meanwhile, the 134th, with elements of
the 737th Tank Bn.; the 654th TD Bn.; Co
A, 60th Combat Engrs.; Co. A, 110th Medical Bn., launched a drive north of St. Lo.
Immediate objective was tall, forbidding Hill 122, dominating the town.
The strength of the attack carried the
134th to Emilie which was taken in a
house-to-house fight. Here the regiment
was held up by extremely heavy German
resistance. Between July 15 and 17, Nazis
counter-attacked 12 times, netting only
100 yards.
On July 18, the 134th, with 2nd Bn.,
320th, attached, coordinated an assault
with air power and tanks on Hill 122.
While aircraft bombed and strafed, tank-
infantry teams destroyed machine gun
nests, other 
emplacements. Leadership was
outstanding. Infantry commanders rode tanks to direct attacks. At day's end, the 35th
controlled Hill 122; the road into St. Lo was open.
That evening, 134th's I&R platoon entered the city. Under 1st Lt. John F. Tracy,
Brooklyn, the platoon consisted of Cpl. Joseph Stefansky, Cleveland; T/5 Charles Piercy,
Elgin, Tenn.; Pfc Eutimio Espinoza, Blanca, Col.; Pfc Arthur Peck, St. Louis; Pfc Robert Lee,
Newberg, Ore.; Pfc Elgin Wilkinson, Venice, Calif.; Pvt. Edgar Hale, Little Rock, Ark. Maj.
Dale Godwin, North Platte, Nebr., also was in the scouting party. Under constant mortar fire,
the platoon reconnoitered the center of town and returned. Next night, the 134th entered St.
Lo in force. After 11 days of fierce, exhausting combat, the first mission was completed.

O N July 27, the 35th was assigned to V Corps with the task of shoving Germans back
of the Vire, breaking out of the Cotentin Peninsula beyond St. Lo.
 Next morning, both 320th and 134th attacked southwest of St. Lo, then pushed southeast
along the main highway. Task Force S was
created with the 137th as the basic infantry
unit, under Brig.. Gen. Edmund B. Sebree,
Asst. Division Commander. The force
included the 219th FA Bn.; one platoon
from the 35th Cav. Recon Troop; a
detachment from the 35th Signal Co.; Co.
B, 60th Combat Engrs.; Co. B, 110th
Medical Bn.; one company of the 654th
TD Bn.; the 737th Tank Bn.
Santa Fe men no longer were green.
Battle-wise and tough, they had thinned
enemy ranks, had taken many prisoners.
After 2nd and 3rd Bns., 320th, had
enveloped the strategic town of Torigni sur
Vire, Maj. Frank W. Waring's 1st Bn. buttoned up the town July 31. Meanwhile Task Force S
reached its first objective, the high ground southeast of Brectouville.
The task force pushed cross-country Aug. 1, steam-rolled Germans from Brectouville.
The enemy now defended a line from south of Mt. Hebert to the west of Pituanay.
Running into heavy resistance, Gen. Sebree outmaneuvered the Nazis, cut the Tessy-
Torigni Road and smashed through to
Domjean in a vicious night attack.
Capt. William C. Miller, Athens,
Tenn., Co. B CO, 137th, won the division's
first Distinguished Service Cross by
wiping out two machine gun nests,
coordinating the attack of Cos. B and C,
and turning an apparently hopeless
situation into victory for his battalion.
Task Force S pushed down the east
bank of the Vire, and reached the double
bend in the river south of Le Mesnil.
German mortar and artillery west of the river shelled troops fiercely, but the attack rolled on.
By Aug. 2, the task force had cleared the high ground north of the Vire and crossed the river,
contacting the 29th Division at La Touberie.
The 320th and 134th, operating on the left of the task force, advanced and the entire 35th
reached its objective. The Cotentin Peninsula had been cleared.

I whose
N early August 1944, the 35th was assigned to XX Corps of Gen. Patton's Third Army,
armored prongs were spearing into Brittany. A large-scale Nazi counter blow at
Avranches, juncture of the Cotentin and Croton Peninsulas, threatened to isolate Third Army,
trapped a 30th Div. battalion beyond Mortain.
In the word of the 35th's Chief of Staff, Col. Maddrey A. Solomon, the Santa Fe was
"literally flagged off the road" to fight for Mortain. Combat teams were formed on 30
minutes' notice. Scouts reported Germans dug in solidly at Barenton, Mortain and in the
Mortain forest.
 Combat Team 137th drove Nazis from Barenton after a sharp clash, then moved toward
the forest. The division was attached to VII Corps Aug. 8 as both 134th and 320th teams
aimed an attack to split the Germans east of Mortain. The 30th's "lost battalion" had to be
rescued. Food and ammunition were running out.
While 2nd and 3rd Bns., 320th, pounded the crack SS Das Reich Div. back toward
Mortain from the west, Maj. William G. Gillis' 1st Bn. rode 737th Bn's. tanks in the now
famous thrust from the south, cut through
the center of the Nazi pocket and joined
3rd Bn. in taking the high rugged Hill 317
overlooking Mortain from the east.
Capt. Homer W. Kurtz, Troy, Ill., led a
five-man patrol which located the lost
battalion Aug. 12. Later, 320th doughs
effected the rescue of the 30th Div. unit
which was too weak to continue fighting.
Cpl. Verlin D. Young, Lexington,
Nebr., and T/5 Hans Gehlsen, Gross,
Nebr., 35th QM Co., loaded a truck with
supplies and water, headed for the
surrounded battalion position convoyed by
three tanks. They dodged enemy fire, raced down rutted roads to reach the battalion with
supplies intact. On the return trip, 20 seriously wounded men were evacuated.
The 137th, with 3rd Bn., 134th, attached, continued its rapid encircling move, pushed
Nazis from the high ridge north of le Gil Bouillion, and forced a panicky German withdrawal.
American P-47s pounced on fleeing Germans and strafed them with precise artistry as the
finishing touch to the 35th's destruction of Hitler's last chance to balk the invasion.
When Third Army made its record run from the Croton Peninsula across France, the 35th
swept forward with it, protecting Army's right flank.
Attached to XII Corps, Aug. 14, the division moved east of Le Mans, formed combat
teams.
Task Force S, teamed with Combat Command A of the 4th Armd. Div., set out for
Orleans Aug. 11. Spearheaded by CC A's tanks, the task force raced down the Le Mans-
Orleans highway, overwhelmed Nazis, drove them to rout. Unable to cope with the speed of
the advance or replace battered guns and tanks, Germans fell back fast, left huge stores of
equipment.

B Y Aug. 15, the team reached Coulmiers and was in striking position to whip into Orleans
from the north and west the next morning. Opposition was formidable, but the task force
cracked through to the railroad crossing on the Ormes Highway at the outskirts of the city and
two hours later occupied the northwest zone of Orleans. That evening the City Hall was
taken, and occupation was completed the next day when all enemy troops fled across the
Loire River, leaving behind half-eaten stews and lukewarm baths.
CT 320th, with the 35th Recon Troop, attacking under heavy mortar and artillery fire,
seized Chateaudun and occupied Cloyes Aug. 17.
Orleans, where Jeanne d'Arc gave her life for liberty, now was rid of Nazi shackles. The
35th aimed at Sens, 60 miles southeast of Paris on the Yonne River. To take this central
supply point and vital communications center required a 90 mile thrust without flank
protection.
 The 137th, attached to the 4th Armd.
Div., left Artenay Aug. 21, sped from
Orleans to Ingrannes, then wheeled east
through Chene Pointu Forest and raced to
Villeroy. It moved so slickly into Sens that
Germans were completely surprised. Not a
single casualty was sustained by the
regiment as it captured the Nazi garrison
and a mountain of supplies. Sens was
further east than any other Allied troops
yet reported.
The 134th and 320th struck sharply in other directions. On Aug. 21, CT 320th grabbed
Pithiviers then went on to join CT 134th in taking Montargis. Both teams mopped up the
Cheroy-Bouchy-Montargis sector Aug. 25, netting 1134 prisoners. Backed by 35th
doughs, armored spearheads took Troyes and completed the sweep around Paris. The heart of
France now was liberated.
Setting its battle sights northeast to Nancy, ancient stronghold and fifth largest city in
France, the 35th went into attack Sept. 10, synchronizing its assault with Third Army's blow
at Metz and the German border.

T O take Nancy, the Meurthe and Moselle Rivers south of the city first had to be controlled.
The 137th and 134th drove from Houdelmont and Thuillery to reach high ground west of
the Moselle. Second Bn., 134th, crossed the river by bridge at night but was repelled by a
strong Nazi counter blow. Survivors swam back under fire as Germans destroyed the bridge.
Capt. Joseph Giacobello, Mt. Union, Pa., and a small group from Co. F, 137th, crossed
the river next day but were given up for lost when the remainder of the battalion was forced
to abandon a crossing. Although elements Of 3rd Bn. forded the river further south, they were
pinned down until late afternoon. In a coordinated attack by the entire regiment, 1st and 3rd
Bns. each put two companies across in assault boats manned by Co. B, 60th Engr. Bn., near
Lorey and St. Mard. The attack developed in fury during the night but 1st Bn. had cleared all
Nazis from the Lofey area by morning. Second Bn. crossed the river next afternoon, then
worked back along the east bank to be greeted by Capt. Giacobello and his men.
Same day, 320th crossed the Moselle, attacking on the right of the 137th. Tank-riding
doughs took the high ground between Saffais and Coyviller, cleared Rosieres and the Boche
belt between the Moselle and the Meurthe. Frantic Germans reeled, fell back. By Sept. 16
most of the division's armor and infantry not only had crossed the Meurthe but also the Le
Sanon River and the Rhine-Marne Canal. That evening CT 320th pushed to Haraucourt and
Buissoncourt. The task force chased Nazis from Mazerulles next day, cutting the main supply
route and highway from the east and clearing the approaches to Nancy by swinging into
Azelot, Mononcourt and St. Nicolas.
 Task Force S, commanded by Gen.
Sebree, with the 134th as the major unit,
flowed down the Toul-Nancy highway, its
south flank covered by Task Force T,
under Lt. Col. Robert S. Thompson, 127th
FA Bn. CO. The rough spade work had
been done; Nazis were too groggy to put
up a fight for Nancy. The task force rolled
into the city without opposition and was
greeted joyfully by grateful Frenchmen.
The 134th then forced a crossing of the
Meurthe, capturing high ground to the
northeast.
In the thick Champenoux Forest south
of the Nancy-Saarbrucken highway were
stubborn Nazi concentrations which had to
be erased. Second and 3rd Bns., 137th, attacked across open ground Sept. 20. But the
Germans had an ideal defensive position, fought grimly and held. Two days later, impatient
with delay, doughs mounted 737th Bn's. tanks, rode to the edge of the woods, then jumped
off to annihilate Germans in a bloody hand-to-hand fight. Nazis fled to Gremercey and the
Chateau Salins Forest, another stronghold. They reorganized, counter-attacking Sept. 16
along the Chambrey-Pettoncourt highway, and threatened to encircle 3rd Bn. with tanks and
infantry. For three days the fight see-sawed viciously, but the Nazis were thrown back with
heavy losses. The 137th attacked with support from 6th Armored, cleared the Bois de
Chambrey and took shell-battered Chambrey, Sept. 31.

During the next week, the division pushed and prodded the Nazis without letup. It
established a firm line from Ajoncourt through Fossieux to the Foret de Gremercey down to
Chambrey. The 35th now prepared for the next big push.
S TEADY rain plus a surprise skip-
bombing of the Seille River dam by P-
47S to thwart a possible German flooding
of the area had turned Lorraine into
bogland. But Nov. 8, Third Army started a
drive to force the Nazis out of France. The
35th slithered forward at dawn after a 70-
minute artillery barrage, the 137th seizing

Jallacourt and Malaucourt and reaching the high

ground east of Fossieux. The 320th entered
Fresnes and completed the capture the following
day, then drove into the southern rim of the
Chateau Salins Forest.
As the regiment seeped through the heavy
woods, the remainder of the division attacked
north and northeast. Coutures, Amelecourt,
Oriocourt, Laneuville, 
Lemoncourt and Delme fell in rapid order.
The non-stop drive continued through Gerbecourt,
Delhain, Hellange and Haboudange despite
Hitler's "Stand or die" order to his troops. In the
Chateau Salins Forest, the 320th, assisted by
134th infantrymen, overcame the last stern
German resistance, and the division outfought the
enemy to take Villers sur Nied, Brehain, Pevange, Marthville and Destry.

C APTURE of Achain was credited to one man, S/Sgt. James J. Spurrier, Bluefield, W. Va.,
a former farmer, and Co. G, 134th, squad leader. When 2nd Bn. attacked Achain Nov. 14,
the 22-year-old sergeant entered the town alone from the west while his company drove in
from the east.
Spurrier shot the first three Nazis with his M-1. Then, picking up BARs, Yank and
German bazookas and grenades wherever he found them, he systematically began to clean
out the town. He crumbled one stronghold
with bazooka shells, killed three more
Nazis with a BAR, captured a garrison
commander, a lieutenant and 14 men.
Another defense point was silenced when
he killed its two occupants. Out of
ammunition and under fire from four
Nazis, Spurrier hurled a Nazi grenade into
the house, killing the four Germans.
That night, the one-man army had
charge of an outpost. While checking
security, he heard four Germans talking in a barn. He set fire to a supply of oil and hay,
captured the four as they ran out. Later, he spotted a Kraut crawling toward a sentry, killed
him when there was no reply to his challenge.
According to 25-year-old Lt. Col. Frederick Roecker, his battalion CO, Spurrier killed 25
Germans, captured 20 others. In March, 1945, Sgt. Spurrier was awarded the division's first
Congressional Medal of Honor.
Nazis ferociously defended their garrison and supply depot at Morhange. But the 134th
closed in and squeezed the Nazis from the city Nov. 16. Racrange fell the same day.
Completing its initial objective, the Santa Fe, chalking up victories near Morhange and in the
Chateau Salins Forest, netted more than 1500 prisoners and considerable enemy supplies.
Morale was sky-high.
Two days later, the division renewed its attack, seizing Harprich, Berig-Vintrange,
Vallerange and capturing Bermering, Bertring, Virming, Gros-Tenquin, Erstroff and
Francaltroff.
At Freybouse, Nazis twice attempted to burn out Lt. Thomas R. Travis and 20 Co. K,
137th, doughs from their shelters. The "Travis Twenty" had killed 15 Germans and captured
eight others in taking the first house in town. Germans threw phosphorous grenades on the
roof of a second house to set it afire. When the roof collapsed, the men moved downstairs and
continued to fight until the flames seared their window positions.
The group fought its way back to the first house, prisoners in tow, and held out all night
against automatic and bazooka fire. Next morning, the Yanks were told to surrender or be
burned. Lt. Travis' reply was "Go to Hell!" Enraged stormtroopers set fire to the roof. The
group was completely surrounded when the lieutenant spotted a tank destroyer edging into
the outskirts of town.
"Watch my tracers!" he shouted. "Watch me!"
TD men spotted the SOS. Following tracers, they knocked out four machine gun nests,
forcing the other machine gun and bazooka teams to pull out hurriedly.
The 35th continued its assault northeast, grabbing nine more towns by Nov. 23. The
320th took Nelling, Rening and Insming next day. To wrest the key town of Uberkinger from
the claws of German armor, Co. A footsloggers acted as their own engineers and TDs.
Crossing on a hand bridge improvised during the pitch black hours preceding the dawn
assault, the company, led by 21-year-old 1st Lt. Charles W. Bell, Valentine, Tex., mauled
armor with bazookas and Molotov cocktails. Aided by artillery, doughs blasted tanks and
half-tracks.
In the sector facing the swift, wide Saar River, the 35th was blocked not only by thick
natural defenses, but by mammoth
concrete pillboxes of the Maginot Line.
Troops prepared for the new attack with
realistic training in pillbox assault and
river crossing.
Cold and muddy, the division moved
out against the rough defenses in the dawn
mist Dec. 4. Hoping to catch Germans by
surprise, artillery fire was withheld. The
ruse worked. The 134th swept into
Puttelange without a casualty, capturing 75
sleeping Nazis. The 320th met an enemy
column which had just arrived. After a sharp fight the regiment pushed on to take Diderfing,
Bettring, Helving, Richelling, Grundviller, Ballering and Hambach by dark Dec. 5, exactly
five months after the 35th's first elements landed in France. The anniversary was observed by
Btry. B, 127th FA Bn., firing the first Santa Fe shell into Germany near Harweiler.
Infantryman Col. Miltonberger pulled the lanyard.

T HE city of Saareguemines is split by the Saar River. To take the western half, the 134th
drove Nazis from a maze of trenches and pillboxes between Puttelange and the town. Led
by Lt. John Davis, a night patrol from Co. G crept into the city, captured an 88 intact, killed
eight Germans and made such a commotion that the enemy withdrew its entire force across
the river. Other elements of the regiment entered the city and established a line along the Saar
for a mile and a half. Meanwhile, the 320th's veterans of "Foret de Chateau Salins" pushed
seven miles through the Saareguemines Forest. By Dec. 7, the 35th held the entire west bank.
The same afternoon, Lt. Col. Botchin's 60th Engrs. planned crossing sites. At
Saareguemines, a railroad bridge had been
partially destroyed by retreating Nazis, but
the bridge-building veterans of Co. A
under 2nd Lt. John S. Parker made the
necessary repairs. An assault crossing was
prepared at Zetting.
The attack began before dawn Dec. 8.
First Bn., 134th, ran top speed across the
repaired railroad bridge, soon was
followed by the entire regiment. Meeting
strong opposition, the 134th was counter-
attacked by 15 tanks carrying infantry.
This tank attack was broken in 15 minutes
by what terrified Nazi prisoners described as "automatic artillery." Second Bn., 320th,
crossed the river in assault boats, stormed a fortified hill and grenaded Nazis from their
trenches. In the middle of the regimental sector, 1st Bn. made an assault crossing and pushed
east to take Didering.
Once a foothold had been established
on the east bank, engineers began to build
supporting bridges. The 81st Chemical
Smoke Generating Co. covered the Saar
River valley with thick smoke. Under this
screen, engineers put a treadway bridge
over the canal at Saaremensing and began
construction of two Bailey Bridges.
Although engineers were constantly
under fire by SP guns, they worked 48
hours without let-up to complete the
bridges. Tanks, TDs, vehicles loaded with
supplies raced across the bridges; the
bridgehead was Gibraltar-strong.
Recalled from division reserve Dec.
10, Col. William E. Murray's 137th
crossed the railroad bridge. Second Bn.
was to seize Saareguemines on the east
side of the river and widen the bridgehead.
Co. F overcame and killed 43 SS troopers,
captured 27 others after a rough scrap in a porcelain factory. The last Nazi was ejected from
Saareguemines and considerable equipment captured Dec. 11 as 3rd Bn. nabbed Nuenkirch.
Nearly a thousand U.S.S.R., Polish and anti-Fascist Italian PWs were freed. Third Bn.
captured the airfield and town of Frauenberg. The 35th now had driven to the edge of the
swift, icy Blies River, the last barrier before the Fatherland.

D EC. 12, 1944, 0100 hours: Across the Blies, Germany lay in an ominous black shroud.
On the French side, four GIs from Co. K, 137th, paddled softly in a small boat toward the
opposite shore. When the prow of the boat cut into the soft bank, the first 35th man to set foot
on Nazi homeland jumped ashore. He was 1st Lt. Clarence Sprague, Catskill, N.Y.,
accompanied by Pfc Richard Iles, Pittsburgh; Pfc Charles Golombek, Newark, N.J.; and Pvt.
John Friday, Madison, Wis. The men prowled the shore several hours, obtained information
and returned as quickly and silently as they had come.
First to stay and fight was Co. C, 134th led by S/Sgt. Thomas Wese, Beverly, W. Va., and
seven men from the 60th Engrs., who captured 65 Nazis. The company fought and beat off
repeated counter-attacks throughout the night. Opposing them was a picked Nazi
guard battalion, ordered to die before allowing Americans to remain on German soil.
Meanwhile, engineers had assembled nearly 1000 feet of footbridge, the first built near Blies
Ebering. Next morning, Cos. B and C, 134th, crossed into Habkirchen, reinforced "Club 21"
and held it against attacks of tank-supported SS troops. Both companies were hit hard, but
Capt. William Denny told the remaining men they were "the toehold of a bridgehead." Tired
doughs clung tenaciously.
Third Bn., 320th, spurted on to Bliesbruck, where it encountered heavily mined areas and
fierce German tank and automatic fire. Cos. I and L, 134th, crossed the river north of
Habkirchen, then were pinned down.

T HE 320th aimed its next punch at Hill 312 northwest of Bliesbruck. Using the strong-arm
support of Div Arty, 1st Bn. spanned the Blies in a surprise attack and took the hill. Third
Bn. bored into a portion of the town as 654th TD Bn. and 737th Tank Bn. charged in to break
the solid wall of German resistance. At Habkirchen, Gersheim, Reinneim, Neidercailbach and
Bliesmengen, Nazis were annihilated in cellar strongholds. Between towns, 137th doughs
battled Germans at farms converted into forts. Thirty-five stormtroopers were captured in a
single "farm fort."
After a week of constant attack the division was ordered to hold and consolidate. Brave
men had carved a bridgehead in Germany. Completing 162 days of almost constant front line
action, the 35th was relieved by the 87th and 44th Inf. Divs. Dec. 20-21.

Y ET, an extended rest period could not be realized. Germans had launched a tremendous
offensive in Belgium and Luxembourg. The Santa Fe moved to Metz where the road
pointed like an arrow to the Ardennes.
At Metz, massive church bells tolled the peaceful music of Christmas. Within the fortress
city, 35th soldiers rested briefly and enjoyed a turkey dinner. Dec. 26, the division launched a
deft, miracle-fast move that ended 24 hours later with troops ready to attack from front lines
north of Arlon, Belgium. There, tentacles of von Rundstedt's frenzied blitz had clawed as far
as the Sure River.

T ARGETS of III Corps strategy were relief of the besieged 101st Airborne surrounded at

Bastogne and to crush the threat to the Arlon-Bastogne highway. Gen. Baade expertly
organized his veteran forces to make a silk-smooth assault in conjunction with the 26th Inf.
Div. on the right, the 4th Armd. Div, on the left flank.
 At 0800 Dec. 27, the 35th churned through knee-deep snow and attacked boldly across
the Sure into the quivering belly of the Bulge. The 137th crossed to a point southwest of
Tintange, reached Surre and captured the town after a hard struggle. The 320th
doughs invaded the opposite shore by wading waist-deep in the bone-chilling water. The
rushing tide of their attack quickly engulfed Boulaide and Baschleiden.
For attacking soldiers, the freezing cold and snow were foes as brutal as Nazis who had
murdered American prisoners. Many Germans wore American uniforms, utilized captured
vehicles and weapons, or camouflaged
themselves with white hoods and capes.
Third Bn., 137th, inched to a hill
southwest of Villers-la-Bonne-Eau Dec.
28, while the 320th occupied an important
road junction. Third Bn., 134th, came out
of reserve to relieve 1st Bn., 318th Inf.,
90th Div.
Next day, 1st Bn., 134th, shot into
Marvie, three kilometers northeast of
Bastogne. This was one of the first units to
break through the Nazi ring around
Bastogne and reach the 101st Airborne. Spearheading the battalion were Cos. A and B, led by
Lts. William C. White, Millidgeville, Ga., and George Melochick, St. Claire, Pa.
When the iron knuckles of the 35th fist pounded as far as Villers, Lutrebois and Harlange,
Germans punched back viciously with armor and infantry. It was in this action that the 310th
captured an entire Nazi battalion. Cos. K and L, 137th, which had slashed into Villers alone,
were cut off. Germans maneuvered SP
guns near houses where the men were
holding out, blew holes in the walls and

N turned on flame-throwers. More than

200 men missing from the regiment
Dec. 31 either had been killed or captured.
AZIS continued their all-out attack into the
new year Of 1945, but the division's big
guns were taking the punch out of the
panzers. From Jan. 3-7, Santa Fe artillery
fired more than 41,000 rounds. Nazi PWs
reported 40 to 60 percent of their
casualties had been caused by shelling. Fourteen tanks were destroyed one day alone when
enemy armor tried to storm the 35th's lines. The 654th TDs blasted four enemy tanks with
four simultaneous shots, then combined with CC A, 4th Armored, to annihilate 150 foot
troops and 11 more tanks.
The pulse of battle beat violently for three weeks but after a 13-day assault, the 137th
avenged the men lost at Villers by crushing all resistance in the town. Lutrebois was captured
after a fierce five-day fight and Lutremange was taken Jan. 11, the day after Villers fell.
By Jan. 17 the Nazi threat to the Bastogne highway was neutralized. Santa Fe doughs
drove to the high wooded ground north of Harlange and gripped important ridges
commanding the road net. The 320th captured the road center of Oubourcy, grabbed 215
prisoners, including a Nazi battalion CO and five staff officers who were surprised at a
breakfast conference.
The division rounded up 1034 prisoners between Dec. 27 and Jan. 17, captured much
equipment, wiped out enough Nazis to wither the salient in that sector. Mission completed,
the 35th moved back to Metz Jan. 18. Left behind were the 134th, 161st FA Bn., one
company of the 654 TD Bn., and a 448th AAA Bn. battery, all attached to the 6th Armd. Div.
to clean out remaining Nazi pockets in the dwindling Bulge.
Stop-over at Metz again was brief. Nazis were attacking in Seventh Army's sector to the
south and the 35th sped to Alsace Jan. 23 to tighten snowbound defense lines. Attached to the
XV Corps, the division planted itself in the Domaniale Forest. A week later, the 35th made
one of the longest infantry shifts of the war. From Alsace it traveled north, picked up the
134th and other elements and continued non-stop to Maastricht, Holland, near the German
border. The leap covered nearly 300 miles.
The 35th was assigned to XVI Corps of Ninth Army which was under Lt. Gen. William
H. Simpson, who commanded the Santa Fe from Oct. 1941 to spring of 1942.

T HE division relieved the 155th British Brigade Feb. 6 and took over positions in Germany
along the Roer River from Annendall south to Kraudorf. Ninth Army was making plans
for the biggest push of the war to date -- the drive for the Rhine, and the 35th geared itself for
the jump-off which came Feb. 23.
The 320th kicked off and moved 1500 yards in three hours to the west bank of the Roer,
achieving its first objective. The 134th sent strong patrols into Hilfarth across the river. Then
it stormed the town in force with a sharp night attack, mopping up next morning. The 137th
plus TDs and tanks pushed across the river on the right flank of the 134th.
The regiments knocked out a great many pillboxes of the Siegfried Line and braved heavy
artillery, mortar and small arms fire to reach all objectives. Roads and fields were loaded with
mines, causing casualties among engineers bridging the river as well as doughs who crossed
the bridges to fight against fiercely defended enemy strongholds.
Div Arty supported the attack
continuously, firing particularly heavy
night missions and blinding enemy OPs
with smoke shells. Preceding the jump-off,
the big guns threw a tremendous sustained
barrage across the Roer.
Crossing the Roer was made easier by
capture intact of a strong bridge at
Hilfarth, which had been mined but not
blown. Steady artillery mortar and small
arms fire denied the use of the bridge to the Germans, only partially damaged it, and allowed
35th troops to cross swiftly.

T HE division rolled 30 miles along the flank of the Siegfried Line in less than a week,
captured 23 towns in two days. As the offensive sped into March, Task Force Byrne,
320th, and Task Force Murray, 137th, rang loud echoes in the Hall of Fame. Task Force
Byrne took Venlo, Holland, so quickly that amazed British sent recon boats over the Maas
River to check whether the city actually had been taken. The task force continued its
lightning drive through Straelen, Neukerk, Sevelen, and Kamp. Its final objective was Drupt,
only four kilometers from the Rhine.
As the 134th cleared towns in its zone, Task Force Murray stabbed into Rheinberg,
pushed up "88 Alley" into Ossenberg and drove the Nazis from the Solvay Works in a battle
which cost Germans many dead and wounded, two tanks, an SP gun and 63 prisoners.
Reduction of Ossenberg allowed adjacent units to cut off Nazi escape routes across the
Rhine.
Within touching distance of the Rhine, the 35th now converged on Drupt and a crossroads
north of the town which was the roadnet center of the remaining Nazi bridgehead in the Ninth
Army sector. Troops encountered the heaviest artillery and mortar fire they had yet
experienced. Nazis resorted to every conceivable trick used in the Ardennes offensive. Some
clothed themselves in American uniforms and fired on unsuspecting Yanks. Every house and
building in the path of the 35th was a fort. By March 11, the 35th had completed the
reduction of the Wesel sector and stood before the battered, once magnificent Wesel bridge
and the Rhine.

O NCE the opposition was cleared from the west bank, the 35th's task would be to cross the
Rhine. The task of spearheading Ninth Army befitted an infantry outfit which had
traveled a rough, twisting road more than
1300 miles long through France, Belgium,
Luxembourg, Holland and into Germany.
It had fought in eight different Corps, in
four American Armies on the Western
Front. With nearly 6000 prisoners taken in
the latest operation through March 11, the
35th's total PW haul since D-Day topped
the 17,000 mark.
Division officers and men had won
approximately 3000 awards including the
Medal of Honor, Distinguished Service
Cross, Silver Star, Bronze Star and Legion of Merit, and had shed blood for many Purple
Hearts. Approximately 100 enlisted men had received battlefield commissions.
The fighting men of the 35th looked across the Rhine. Beyond lay the fat Ruhr region,
industrial plasma for the bloody German war machine. And, as always, the 35th would not be
long awaiting the familiar signal -- ATTACK!
Printed by: Desfosses-Neogravure, Paris
Photos: U.S. Signal Corps