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Mortain
It seems that Hitler, against the better judgment of his
general in Normandy, had ordered a full scale attack on August
7th by four Panzer Divisions in the LX-VII Corps, to break
through the American lines at Mortain and drive due West to
Avranches on the coast 18 miles away with the intent of cutting
off the 3rd Army from the first Army and driving the Americans
into the sea. These were the best German divisions in the
West and included the tough and hardened 1st SS and 2nd SS
Panzer Divisions, the 2nd Armored Division and the 116th Panzer
Division. These crack troops had driven six miles into the
American lines and had the 30th Division on its heels in and
West of Mortain.
American strategy was to attack a counter-offensive,
so at 2030 hours on August 7th, the 35th Division
moved into an approach march to find and hit the
Germans in and South of Mortain. The 137th Infantry
moved on the right eastward toward Barrington,
a little village 7 miles South of Mortain. The
134th Regt. moved parallel to the 137th and about
four miles from Mortain. Objectives: find the
Germans and roll them back and try to circle to
the northeast around the Panzer spearhead. Meanwhile,
the 320th Regiment moved along the St. Hilaire-Mortain
road, hitting the Germans head on. All three regiments
quickly contacted the enemy and began to drive
them back, but handicapped by nightfall and the
melee and confusion of blind gladiators. It was
then learned that the Second Battalion of te 30th
Division’s 120th Infantry Regiment had been
in a defensive position on Hill 317, a high rocky
ridge on the East edge of Mortain, perhaps a mile
in length which afforded excellent observation
points to direct effective artillery fire on advancing
German armored units. when the spearhead hit Mortain,
the Second Battalion had held and continued to
hold against steady attacks. Now the battalion,
reduced from 700 men to half that strength; was
running out of ammunition, water, supplies, particularly
medical supplies, food, everything except determination.
Aerial drops had been unsuccessful. Medical supplies
sent in hollow shells fired on to the hill were
insufficient and it was thought the battalion
could not hold much longer.
The 320th Infantry was given the mission to rescue
the “Lost Battalion” and the 1st Battalion,
under command of Maj. William Gillis, a West Point
football star, was assigned to break through the
2nd SS Panzer encirclement. The 737th Tank Battalion,
54 tanks strong, moved up to the lower reaches
of the hill in column, stopped for G.I. riflemen
from B and C Companies to mount up, and following
a 10 minute artillery preparation, dashed toward
the German lines. By nightfall, the battalion
and tanks had advanced a mile. At daybreak, the
attack resumed, met by everything the Jerries
could throw until finally the tanks stopped and
gave covering fire while the infantrymen spread
out and went the last 500 yards on foot, in hand
to hand fighting. First to reach the top was Lt.
Homer Kurtz and an intelligence section from the
Third Battalion. Two drivers from the 35th Quartermaster
Company manned a 2½ ton truck and accompanied
by three tanks dashed up the hill carrying supplies
and munitions to men on top of the hill, returning
shortly with 20 of the most severely wounded.
Thirty of the 737th Tank Battalion tanks were
lost out of the 54. Casualties to the 1st Battalion
Infantrymen were heavy, but the lost battalion
came out, one of many examples in the war where
G.I.’s risked everything to help other G.I.’s
in trouble, soldiers whom they didn’t know.
Distinguished unit citations were given to the
30th Division Battalion and to the 1st Battalion
of the 320th Regiment and to the 747th Tank Battalion
for their heroic selflessness. It also proved
that the 35th Division soldiers were a match to
the elite troops of the German Army, a source
of continuing pride for all divisionnaires thereafter.
The full 35th Division continued its attack on
the 1st and 2nd SS Panzer Divisions until relieved
on August 14th by the 2nd Division and assigned
again to the Third Army. This time, the division
was placed in the XII Corps, along with the 4th
Armored Division. The German counter offensive
at Mortain had been halted and there began at
last a full scale but controlled withdrawal of
the entire German Seventh Army toward Paris, more
specifically toward the open ends of a horseshoe
like line at Falaise and Argentian, some 75 miles
West of Paris. Gen. Patton was moving toward Argentain
to cut off the Germans in the gap that was forming.
The failure of the British and Canadians to close
more rapidly from Falaise permitted a large part
of the trapped German Army to escape, much to
Gen. Patton’s ire who had asked to be permitted
to close it with the Third Army and was denied.
On August 15, the 35th Division again mounted
trucks and left the Mortain area, moving 70 miles
to a new assembly area southwest near Le Mans.
On the same day, the U.S. 7th Army began the invasion
of Southern France.
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