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War II

Railsplitters: The Story of
the 84th Infantry Division

[
booklet text only ]

"Railsplitters" is a small booklet
covering the history of the 84th Infantry Division. This booklet is
one of the series of G.I.
Stories published by the Stars & Stripes in Paris in
1944-1945.

T

he
following story is of you, actions and accomplishments to date. Much
history is yet to be made. Mere human words cannot express the valor,
human effort and suffering necessary for the writing of your glorious
history on the pages of life's book, but I, as your commanding general, am
deeply aware of your faith and courage. Many of our comrades have made the
supreme sacrifice on the field of battle. To them we dedicate this booklet
and for them we will complete our final mission.

A.R. Bolling
Major General, Commanding

THE STORY OF THE 84th INFANTRY DIVISION

J

AN. 16, 1945,
0945: Outside a farmhouse near the Ourthe River south of Petite Mormont, a
brawny infantryman, walked through the icy snow and shook hands with a
group of men who waited in two jeeps and an armored car. Then he handed
them a message.

"It is with the greatest pleasure that I greet you
across the Ourthe," the note read. "May we meet again, and soon, across
the Wilhelmstrasse."

The message was signed by Lt. Col. Lloyd H. Gomes, CO of
the 334th Regiment, 84th Infantry division.

This was the meeting of the First and Third U.S. Armies
which closed the gap of the dangerous German salient in the frosty
Ardennes of Belgium.

One month earlier, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt had
launched his mighty counter-offensive designed to split the Allied armies
in the north. For the Allied nations, end of a particularly anxious phase
of the war.

For doughs of the 84th, it climaxes two months of savage
fighting which saw them strike powerful blows in three critical sectors of
the Western Front.

Led by Maj. Gen. (then Brig. Gen. A.R. Bolling, they had
made a record crossing of the English Channel to rush into furious battle
in the Geilenkirchen sector of the Siegfried Line.

Operating with the Second British and Ninth U.S. Armies,
Railsplitters of the 84th took Geilenkirchen, then second largest German
town to fall to the Allies, and proceeded to knock out 112 pillboxes and
bunkers in Hitler's West Wall.

Trouble-shooters in Germany, they were chosen for the
important job of cracking what had been a stalemate. Hard-fighting men
from all the states did their job well -- a fact which Germans tacitly
admitted when they dubbed 84th doughs "Hatchet Men" for the way the
division hacked through the Siegfried Line.

Then Germans drove into the Ardennes through a
lightly-held line in the First Army sector, pushed towards the historic
Meuse River. Called on again as trouble-shooters, Railsplitters were
pulled from the Siegfried Line and sent to the Ardennes.

Although they faced numerically superior forces, men Of
the 84th, their flanks unprotected, made a rock-like stand south of the
important road center of Marche. Facing the main German threat, these
offensive-minded doughs lashed back with a vengeance, virtually destroying
one of the Wehrmacht's panzer divisions.

The German drive halted, the 84th was shifted to the
northern side of the Bulge von Rundstedt had created. Less than two weeks
later, it helped smash the Germans back across the Ourthe River.

Railsplitters now had driven to a meeting with Third
Army. The infantryman who walked out from the farmhouse on the Ourthe was
Lt. Byron Blankenship, Texarkana, Ark., leader of a 32-man patrol from the
334th. The men waiting for him were members of Third Army's 11th
Armd. Div. In the distance, they could hear scattered shots as the
defeated Wehrmacht retreated to the German frontier.

With bullets and bayonets, the 84th stood squarely
behind Col. Gomes in his expressed wish for an early meeting across the
Wilhelmstrasse.

RAILSPLITTERS SHARPEN AXE FOR GEILENKIRCHEN

T

HEN known as
the Lincoln Division, the 84th had landed at Cherbourg and Le Havre in
World War I, eager for action against the Kaiser's armies. Most of the
1918 Railsplitters got their chance at combat but not as a unit. The
Meuse-Argonne offensive and an epidemic of influenza had created a vast
manpower shortage, and the 84th, like many other divisions, was used as a
reinforcement pool.

The new 84th was activated Oct. 15, 1942, at Camp Howze,
Tex., about 60 miles north of Dallas. Then, as now, it was composed of the
333rd, 334th and 335th Inf. Regts.; 325th, 326th, 327th and 909th FA Bns.;
309th Engr. Combat Bn.; 309th Med, Bn.; 84th Sig. Co.; 784th Ord. Light
Maintenance Co.; 84th QM Co.; 84th Recon Troop.

Basic training for the division's 16,000 men began Jan.
4, 1943. It was cold on the wind-swept plains of north Texas, sharp
foretaste of what was to come two years later in the Ardennes.

From Camp Howze, the 84th went to the Louisiana Maneuver
Area for eight weeks of large scale war games beginning Sept. 19, 1943.
So-called "free maneuvers," combining the operations of infantry,
artillery, tank destroyers and other branches, climaxed the
training.

Brig. Gen. Nelson M. Walker, then Asst. Division
Commander, hailed Railsplitters as the "first team" on maneuvers,
predicted they would see combat in 1944.

During maneuvers, Gen. Bolling joined the division as
assistant commander, succeeding Gen. Walker, who went with another
division and was killed in action.

The 84th moved to Camp Claiborne, La., following
maneuvers. This was the one-time home of the 164th Inf. Regt., which
fought at Guadalcanal, the 34th Inf. Div. and the 82nd
Airborne, veterans of fighting in Europe.

In February 1944, regiments went out into swamps and
hills around the camp for unit training to test the effectiveness of
individual platoon leaders. Unit leaders were
strictly on their own. Virtually all movements
were made at night, camouflage was emphasized, at all times. To accustom
men to battle conditions, units were limited to one jeep each. Map
reading, patroling and security measures were stressed.

April saw the entire division in the field for the first
time since maneuvers, signaling the start of a series of problems which
featured development of attack against outpost lines and conducting active
patroling and air reconnaissance. To avoid losses in future amphibious
operations, hundreds of Railsplitters learned to swim at Valentine Lake.
Doughs received training in air transport operations, including the use of
parachutes and securing of equipment in planes.

Several important administrative changes were made. In
April, the division's first chief of staff, Col. Charles Barrett, was made
CO of Div. Arty. Col. (then Lt. Col.) Louis W. Truman joined the
Railsplitters in May to succeed Col. Barrett. Gen. Bolling took over
division command June 15.

With all phases of their training complete,
Railsplitters left Camp Claiborne in September for their staging area,
Camp Kilmer, N.J. By Oct. 1, they were in England.

Crowded conditions at Cherbourg altered the original
plan of landing at the Normandy port. Troopships docked instead in
England. One of the 84th's transports was the first troopship to enter the
English Channel and land at Southampton in World
War II.

Their headquarters at Winchester, Railsplitters remained
in England for a month. Mines and military police schools were conducted,
The division supplied personnel necessary for ten provisional
Quartermaster truck companies formed to assist in the operation of the
famed Red Ball Express, shuttling supplies to fighting fronts.

A

T Cherbourg,
Brig Gen. John H. Church, former 45th Inf. Div. regimental CO, joined the
advance detachment of Railsplitters as Asst. Division Commander.

The bulk of the division, preparing for action, waited
word that would start it to the combat zone. Orders came in late October.
First units landed, at Omaha Beach Nov. 1 with the remainder arriving the
next three days. Crossings were made in LSTs, LCTs and Liberty
ships.

Wasting little time, doughs sped through France and
Belgium into Holland. Rarely had a division been moved from the States to
the flaming Western Front with such speed as the 84th's. Within a week
after the division CP was set up, Railsplitters were attacking one of the
strongest sectors of the Siegfried Line.

For some time, Allies and Germans had been swapping
punches along the northern sector of the Siegfried Line with neither side
able to land a solid blow. Jutting out into Allied lines the enemy salient
at Geilenkirchen, a mining and transportation center with a population of
20,000.

Germans were just as determined to hold the city as the
Allies were to take it, and they prepared for a fight to the death.
Pillboxes, fire trenches, mine fields, tank ditches, dragon's teeth and
concrete shelters studded the area around this anchor of the Siegfried
Line.

Joes of the 84th, untried in combat but anxious to see
how they stacked up against the vaunted Wehrmacht, were given the job of
breaking the stalemate. For men whose combat experience had been limited
to mock skirmishes in Louisiana swamps, it was a large order.

Loaned to the Second British Army for the operation, the
84th hit the Siegfried with two of its regiments, the 333rd and 334th, and
attached Sherwood Yeoman Rangers. Its 335th was working, with the 30th
Inf. Div.

FIRST OBJECTIVE "A PERFECT OPERATION"

T

O the 334th
Inf. went the distinction of being the first 84th unit to seize the
initiative in the Geilenkirchen sector. It jumped off at 0700 Nov. 18 to
take Prummern. Subsequent thunderous action demonstrated the division's
offensive spirit.

When their tank support bogged down in mud, 334th
doughs, guns blazing under a pale November sun, poured through two gaps in
an enemy mine field near Breil, knocked out pillboxes to their right, cut
the road between Geilenkirchen and Immendorf, then charged into
Prummern.

These were men who had seen New York and London sights
just a few short weeks before. A dazed German officer said: "We knew we
were facing new troops and expected it to be easy, but these men fight
better than any troops I saw in Africa, Russia and France."

By evening, the 334th had moved through Prummern and
occupied high ground before Geilenkirchen. Germans scratched 450 more
names from their company rosters. Three hundred and thirty German fighting
men huddled behind barbed wire in the 334th PW cage.

Fighting raged through the night in heavy-defended
Prummern. From this knock-down, drag-out fight emerged the 84th's first
heroes of World War II.

Lt. Carl C. Palm, Brooklyn policeman, cut off from the
rest of his anti-tank platoon, climbed into a loft and spent the night
firing into a German CP across the street.

T/Sgt. Ellsworth Dover, Miami, Okla., and his platoon
laid a mine field from the front porch of the enemy CP to another house
across the street. During the night a Tiger tank plunged into the mines
and was wrecked.

Typifying the spirit of the 84th, this was just the
beginning. Nov. 19, another 84th combat team, the 333rd Inf., launched an
attack on Geilenkirchen. Germans, as expected, laid down a gauntlet of
fire from pillboxes, machine guns, mortars and 88s, but Co. B smashed
ahead to fight its way into the center of town within two hours. Hardly
pausing, troops swept on toward Suggerath.

Co. A met stiff opposition, engaged in bitter
house-to-house fighting. Germans hurled 88s point blank. Snipers lurked in
cellars, church steeples, on roofs. That night 1st Bn. took Suggerath and
dug in on high ground to the north, while 2nd Bn. cleared
Geilenkirchen.

In a few hours, Railsplitters had broken the
Geilenkirchen salient and, in crushing the resistance, had taken the
second largest German town to fall to the
Allies up to that time.

Wes Gallagher, veteran Associated Press war
correspondent, wrote of the operation: "It was revealed today that the
'Railsplitting' 84th Division was the American unit which teamed with the
British to capture the German stronghold of Geilenkirchen in a "perfect
operation."

While infantry did the heavy work, four division
engineers claimed credit for being the first Railsplitters in
Geilenkirchen. They had followed the infantry advance, had stopped to
clear the road of mines. Resuming the march, these engineers took the
wrong road and found themselves in the middle of the blazing town. To make
certain no one contested their claim, they brought back 47 prisoners as
proof.

In the next few days, Railsplitters pushed on from
Prummern and Suggerath to consolidate newly-won positions. Resistance came
chiefly from topflight Panzer Grenadier and SS troops. Gen. Bolling said:
"The crack P4nzer Grenadier and SS troops looked no different than those
that were met in the initial stages of the campaign."

R

AILSPLITTERS
were detached from the Second British Army Nov. 23 and joined Ninth Army,
XIII Corps. The Ninth was an offensive army and the 84th became one of its
hardest-hitting spearheads.

Back to the division came its still-fresh 335th Inf.,
operating during the early phases of the 84th drive with the 30th Inf.
Div., and the 2nd Armd. Div.

Before dawn Nov. 29, the 335th attacked Lindern, part of
the Siegfried's formidable Wurm-Beeck-Leiffarth-Lindern triangle. Enemy
infantry resistance, backed by pillboxes and tanks, was fanatic.

Lt. Creswell Garlington, Jr., Rollo, Mo., his platoon
held up by machine gun fire, crawled 300 yards to knock out two guns with
hand grenades. Lt. (then Pfc) Michael Citrak, Endicott, N.Y., silenced two
others.

Sgt. (then Pvt.) Robert L. Nordli, Milford, Ia., saw six
Germans running from a pillbox. One shell from his bazooka dropped
them.

Two Co. K platoons, with Lt. Garlington's unit, Co. I.,
fought into Lindern at daybreak. They held the town against fire from all
sides until help arrived.

Beeck was easier. Railsplitter artillery poured such a
heavy barrage into the village that harassed Germans withdrew that
afternoon. Two 333rd Inf. companies and two troops of the 113th Cav.
Group, attached to the division, entered the town that night.

Elements of the 333rd and 334th ripped through the
staggering Germans, taking high ground west of Lindern and north of Beeck.
Furious fighting raged for Lindern during the
night. Four or five Germans slipped back into the town and wounded a
battalion commander, but sharp-eyed Railsplitter riflemen cut them down.
By nightfall, Jan. 30, there was no question of who controlled Lindern and
Beeck. The division was there in force and had no intention of
leaving.

Germans had little time to catch their breath. December
was only two days old when doughs went after Leiffarth which fell before a
perfect infantry-artillery operation.

The 909th FA rocked Leiffarth with a vicious barrage at
1200. Simultaneously, a smoke screen blocked the enemy's view of the town
and high ground to the south. Five minutes later, when the artillery
concentration shifted to Wurm, Mullendorf, Flahstrass and Hornsdorf, Cos.
A and B, 334th, jumped off. Never more than 50 yards behind the artillery
-- "so close they looked as if they were walking midst the bursting
shells" -- 84th Joes moved into Leiffarth, dug
in north of the town. The operation required only half an hour.

Germans struck back the next morning with tanks and
infantry. Div. Arty. and bazookas quickly blotted out the attack,
Railsplitters broke up a second counter-thrust before it could get
started.

In preparation for future operations, the 84th spent the
next few days in special training for assault on pillboxes. Suddenly,
Krauts counter-attacked in the Leiffarth area, their most ambitious
assault against the 84th up to that time.

Two Wehrmacht battalions smacked Railsplitter lines, one
against the 335th's 2nd Bn., the other against the 334th's 1st Bn. Within
four hours, doughs had blunted the thrust. One group of 200 enemy was
boxed up. There were two choices -- retreat through mine fields or
surrender. A German battalion commander was killed, his successor
captured. This thrust cost the enemy 80 dead, 200 wounded, 73
prisoners.

Railsplitters had unfinished business -- taking Wurm and
Mullendorf. First Bn., 334th, cleaned up Wurth in less than two hours Dec.
18. German prisoners complained of the paralyzing artillery barrage
preceding the infantry attack. While 1st Bn. was taking Wurm, Maj. (then
Capt.) James V. Johnston, Portland, Ore., led
2nd Bn. against Mullendorf. Within 15 minutes, the major, a six-shooter
swinging from his hip, strolled from Nazi headquarters, smoking a cigar
and carrying a Nazi party flag.

So ended the original mission of the 84th which had
begun with the capture of Prummern a month before. Railsplitters, taking
stock, counted 1549 prisoners, 112 pillboxes knocked out.

TROUBLE-SHOOTERS RACE TO RESCUE

W

HILE the
division prepared further assaults against the West Wall, Nazis unleashed
a do-or-die counter-offensive through the Ardennes in Belgium. Von
Rundstedt opened his drive Dec. 16 against a thinly-held line
in the First Army sector. Three days later, strong enemy forces were
penetrating between Houffalize and Bastogne and driving south of Marche
toward the Meuse River.

Same day, the 84th was ordered to prepare for a move in
the general direction of the German threat. Railsplitters resumed their
trouble-shooting role. Preceded by Gen. Bolling and a small staff, the
crack 334th Inf. led the division into Belgium, arriving at Marche early
Dec. 21. Remaining division elements roared into town later that day.
Although the weather was bad, the entire movement was made without the
loss of a vehicle.

Railsplitters immediately were faced with problems they
had never known in Germany. Information about the enemy was lacking.
Reports circulated that German forces in American uniforms and vehicles
had spearheaded the drive, that disguised German
paratroopers had dropped in rear areas, that Germans were seizing American
supply dumps.

The division did know that Germans had overrun an entire
American division and had pushed others back as much as 40 miles. The
Luftwaffe was out in greater strength than at any time since D-Day.

As in Germany, the Railsplitter unit which met the enemy
onslaught was the 334th Inf. At Hotton, Co. F fought off an attack of
seven Mark V tanks, a half-track and 20 infantrymen. Four tanks were
destroyed. Co. E repulsed a sharp assault at Hampteau.

In the overall picture, these were mere skirmishes.
Establishment of a line was the big job and doughs were ordered to hold
rampaging Germans south of the Hotton-Marche road at all cost.

This was no simple job of digging foxholes and waiting.
Railsplitters lacked flank support; they were an island of resistance to
the all-engulfing tidal wave of German Panzers.

Hatchet Men calmly took positions along a 12-mile front
extending from Menil to Hampteau and on to Melreux. Foxholes were spaced
every 150 yards.

The greatest danger was a wide flanking movement that
would cut the division off from the rear rather than a direct assault on
its lines. To prevent this, Gen. Boiling sent out two battalions as a
counter recon screen.

Third Bn., 335th, was to hold Rochefort and set up road
blocks at Tellin, Grupont, Massigny and Harsin. First Bn., 333rd, shifted
to Wanlin, Beauraing and Wellin.

Companies and platoons often operated independently
during this confused situation. Co. L, 335th, was cut off between Marloie
and Rochefort. Co. K, led by Lt. Leonard R. Carpenter, Fall River, Mass.,
fought its way out of a trap near Grupont, then joined
Co. I in the defense of Rochefort which was under attack by enemy tanks
and infantry. Fighting raged for 18 hours, with the Germans losing six to
eight tanks. Later, hard-charging Railsplitters smashed into Marloie and
relieved Co. L, which had lost all its officers when Germans scored direct
hits on the CP.

First Bn., 333rd, the other unit of the recon screen,
skirmished almost continually with the enemy. Three times, the battalion
knifed its way out of a trap.

Lt. August Hundt, Madison, Wis., showed Germans how
Railsplitters can fight even against unfavorable odds. Ambushed while
leading a convoy near Wanlin, he drove his jeep full speed ahead, ran down
a German, was fired on at point blank range, jumped from his jeep when an
anti-tank shell hit it and then hiked back to his lines.

Germans weren't stopping the 84th. Enemy propaganda
tabbed Railsplitters as the "Terror Division." That was sufficient
praise.

It was bitter cold in the Ardennes. Hills and woods were
covered with ice and snow. ' The mercury dropped to zero. Ground was
frozen so hard it took five hours to dig a foxhole three feet deep. GIs
suffered, but fought savagely.

Surrounded by an entire German company, five members of
Co. G,. 334th, knocked out a machine gun, killed or wounded 45 Krauts
before returning to their lines.

Lone survivor of his ambushed patrol, Sgt. John E. Bell,
Jetersville, Va., killed three attackers, then returned to his company
through blinding snow.

Ordered to capture several Germans for questioning,
T/Sgt. Harold L. Howdieshell, Dayton, Ohio, crawled forward under heavy
machine gun fire. He snatched one Nazi from a foxhole by the nape of his
neck, ordered a second out at the point of his sub-machine gun.

When flaming guns failed, Railsplitters employed other
means. Pfc M. L. Johnson, Asco, Tex., a medic, was captured an his way to
a battalion aid station. Before night, he had talked his captor into
becoming his prisoner.

The 84th fought minor skirmishes for three days before
its flanks were filled in by two armored divisions. In the process, some
of the Wehrmacht's best Panzer outfits were badly mauled.

W

HEN the big
attack came, Germans hit the center of the 84th's lines; Third Bn., 334th,
spread out before the Verdenne-Marenne-Bourdon triangle, was in a hot
spot. By taking Bourdon, Germans would cut the Hotton-Marche road, whose
defense was the division's primary mission.

Because of widely spaced foxholes, Krauts had
infiltrated two reconnaissance companies behind Co. I into woods half a
mile west of Verdenne, Dec. 23. Supported by Co. A, 771st Tank Bn., doughs
attacked the next afternoon.

Railsplitters smashed back as Germans deployed for an
attack against Verdenne. While tanks spewed flame, yelling troopers closed
in with machine guns and rifles. Panic-stricken Germans attempted to
withdraw. The effort came too late. Sixty-seven prisoners were
taken.

Simultaneously, another German force drove on Verdenne
in a frontal assault, pushing ahead to a chateau 200 yards north of the
village. Immediately, Germans began reinforcing their troops, extending
the salient further north.

At 0100 Christmas Day, 1944, Co. K, 334th, and Co. L,
333rd, pushed back into Verdenne to catch surprised Germans in holiday
celebration. GIs, who spent the day cleaning out Verdenne and the
shell-riddled chateau, collected 305 prisoners. Smoking hulks of six tanks
and other German vehicles cluttered snowy fields near the village.

Recapture of Verdenne made a pocket of the salient to
the north. This pocket was approximately 800 yards long and 300 yards wide
in woods midway between Verdenne and Bourdon. Huge cedar trees concealed
at least two companies of infantry and five tanks.

Twice before dawn Dec. 26, Railsplitters clashed with
Germans in the pocket. First, Cos. A and B, 333rd, launched an attack
which was repulsed by heavy tank fire. Later, behind an artillery barrage,
Germans struck back with infantry and tanks. Div. Arty. broke up the
attack.

Shortly after daylight, Krauts tried to break out and
succeeded in pushing 100 yards into the division's over-extended lines
before being repulsed. Four tanks broke through to join the five already
trapped during the battle.

The see-saw scrap continued all day. Elements of the
354th, along with Co. D, 87th Chem. Bn., smacked the pocket in an attack
backboned by Div. Arty. Four German tanks were destroyed.

Before midnight, desperate Krauts pushed tanks and
infantry out again, but alert Railsplitters blasted away with everything
they had. Three more Nazi tanks were wrecked. Germans withdrew to the
woods to lick their wounds.

Meanwhile, another Railsplitter force handed the
Wehrmacht a resounding blow when Germans attempted to break through at
another point further north, between Marenne and Hampteau.

Eight tanks, ten half-tracks, several motorcycles, jeeps
and 80 infantrymen struck the positions held by Co. I
and a machine gun section of Co. M, 333rd. Hitting a string of mines
planted across the road, the lead tank exploded, careening into a ditch.
Bazooka teams went to work on the other tanks.

Pfc Clarence E. Love, Cherry Valley, Ark., and Pfc Alex
V. Tiler, Paris, Tenn., set a second tank afire, while Pfc Carl R.
Tisdale, Parteskala, Ohio, and Pfc Robert C. Holloway, Englewood, Calif.,
blew tracks off a third. Sgt. James M. Scanlan, Danville, Ky., a one-man
team, scored a hit on the fourth, then saw it strike a mine and
explode.

The second wave of tanks ran through Co. I's positions.
One hit another mine. Sgt. Jesse Tenpenny, Morrisson, Tenn., and Pvt.
Stephen Theil, Beaver, Pa., bagged a sixth with their bazooka. Two German
half-tracks tried to bull their way through, but Sgt. Scanlan sent one
into a mine field and set the other afire with his sizzling bazooka. Hand
grenades killed two motorcyclists who had opened fire on him.

In half an hour, the flight was over. Germans fled to a
nearby hill. Artillery was called and the big guns splattered them and
their equipment all over the hillside. Seventeen wrecked vehicles later
were counted.

What was left of the pocket at
Verdenne produced still another battle. Railsplitter artillery blunted
still another attack. When the shooting ceased, a patrol shoved forward,
scooped up 15 prisoners and returned with the report that the pocket no
longer existed.

"THESE GIs CAN DO ANYTHING"

G

ERMANS had
repeatedly attacked the Railsplitters -- Hatchet Men as they chose to call
them -- and had been set back on their heels, suffering heavy
losses. In the 334th's 3rd Bn. sector alone, the enemy had lost 16 tanks,
eight half-tracks, an armored recon car, three motorcycles.

Said Maj. Gen. J. Lawton Collins, VII Corps Commander,
to Gen. Bolling: "The Army and the Corps Commanders have commended the
division for its fine work since its arrival here. We nearly have them
beaten. We must keep holding them."

The crushing battles near Verdenne and Menil had been
enough for the Germans. As early as Dec. 27, prisoners admitted that the
116th Panzer Div., which had been one of the units facing Railsplitters,
no longer existed as a fighting force. Germans again were on the
defensive.

A decorated veteran of World War I, Gen. Bolling showed
admiration for American doughs when he said: "I'm forever amazed at what
these GIs can do -- anything!"

Railsplitters had been fighting with little rest for 45
days in raw weather. Harold Denny, veteran observer for the New York
Times, wrote that conditions in the Ardennes were the worst in which
American troops ever had fought.

W

HEN the command
had decided to push back the Germans without delay, the 84th was called
for a leading role. Gen. Bolling, completely confident of his troops'
ability, pronounced the division fit for any mission.

Railsplitters turned over their positions south of
Marche to British troops Jan. 2 before rushing to the upper Ardennes to
jump off in a new attack. The 84th now was teamed up with the 2nd Armd.
Div.

Spurred by fanatical officers, Krauts resisted strongly.
They had the advantage of dug-in positions, mine fields, road blocks.
German artillery and mortar fire were heavy.

Weather was against the doughs. Although Railsplitters
primarily functioned as support for tanks they usually led each assault.
Several times doughs found it necessary to attack unsupported by armor,
which was contrary to orders. The reason was that heavy
tanks couldn't move forward on slippery roads. Driving snow almost blinded
charging riflemen. Correspondents covering the campaign gave the weather
and German resistance equal space.

Railsplitters plunged through deep snow to hit the
Germans just as hard as they had at Geilenkirchen and Menil. Within three
days, the enemy suffered such heavy losses that he grudgingly began a
withdrawal.

Second Bn., 333rd, overran Marcouray. Bedraggled, cold
German prisoners were stunned. "We were told to expect armored attacks and
didn't know what to do when infantry attacked," they told
interrogators.

If Germans resorted to new warfare tricks to meet
difficult situations, Railsplitters proved they weren't born yesterday.
Twice repulsed in attacks on a small village, 1st Bn., 335th, under Maj.
William C. Stone, Brownwood, Ga., pulled one for the books. The major sent
a rush order to QM for enough white woolen underwear to outfit the whole
battalion. Doughs pulled long johns over their normal
battle dress, advanced 900 yards across an open field and got within 100
yards of the village before sighted. Eight German tanks pulled out,
followed by the infantry, which absorbed a solid drubbing.

First Bn., 334th, took Cielle Jan. 8, while 3rd Bn.,
335th, bore down on the important town of Samree. Here, Germans fought
viciously, groups of eight to ten tanks attacking north of the town. By
nightfall next day, heavy losses forced them to withdraw. Troops of the
335th marched into the shattered town the next morning.

Elite SS troops were taking a terrific lacing. By now,
Railsplitters virtually had destroyed the 2nd SS Panzer Div. Germans
rushed forth the 9th SS Panzer Div., but it fared no better. The 84th
rolled onward. Patrols of the 334th found Laroche, a key communications
center, practically deserted. Cavalry units attached to the division hardly bothered to occupy it next day when they moved
through.

Germans, who envisioned Christmas in Paris when they
launched their December counter-offensive, now ran like beaten dogs.
Railsplitters gave them little time to reflect on their misery.

Swift-advancing doughs grabbed Berismenil; cavalry
seized Barzee and Mabage. Next, Railsplitters gobbled up Nadrin, Filly,
Petite Mormont, Grande Mormont, Ollemont.

Maj. Roland L. Kolb, Fond du Lac, Wis., CO of 1st Bn.
334th, took a personal hand in disrupting German organization. Leading a
five-man patrol into the woods behind enemy positions near Nadrin, he
stuck a pistol into a tall man walking in the forest. His prisoner
commanded the battalion facing him. The Nazi was astounded by the speedy,
silent approach.

Houffalize, where the Germans were expected to make a
stand, was the next big objective in the drive against the Bulge. But
soundly whipped Nazis hardly paused in their retreat. A
333rd patrol under Lt. Jack Geneser, Chicago entered the town Jan.
16.

Earlier that day, a patrol under Lt. Blankenship,
established contact with Third Army south of Laroche to close the gap. The
84th was commended by VII Corps for being the first division to gain its
objective.

Railsplitters weren't finished despite two months of
continuous battle. Cold mists concealed three key villages -- Gouvy, Beho,
and Ourthe. In its last Belgian, operation, the division was assigned the
mission of taking, holding these points midway between Houffalize and St.
Vith.

Second Bn., 335th, jumped off Jan. 22 with its sights
set on Gouvy. Withdrawing after stubborn resistance, Germans left a road
block in front of the town. This obstacle overcome, Co. G entered the
objective only four hours after the attack was launched.

Meanwhile, elements of the 334th assaulted Beho, a
communications center. Against heavy opposition, 3rd Bn. swept into the
town next day.

The 84th's Belgium mission was a closed chapter.

A REPUTATION IN RECORD TIME

IN late March, 1945, Railsplitters stood on the banks of
the historic Rhine, eagerly awaiting the signal that would send them
across the river into the heart of Germany.

Back in November, new to combat, they had attacked the
Geilenkirchen sector of the Siegfried Line, knocking out 112 pillboxes and
bunkers within a month. Then they were rushed to the Ardennes in December
to help stem von Rundstedt's counter-offensive and drive back the Germans.
In January, they moved secretly to an assembly area in Holland. The Allies
prepared for the last round against the foe.

Before they could meet the bulk of the German armies,
these doughs had to cross the small but treacherous Roer River. Allied
commanders planned carefully. The 84th, resting after the Ardennes
battles, was picked to play a prominent role. Early in February,
Railsplitters moved to positions along the river under cover of darkness.
Feb. 23 was D-Day; 0330 was H-Hour.

A thunderous, 45-minute artillery barrage opened the
attack. Amid bursting shells, 1st Bn., 334th, pushed off in assault boats.
First waves received little opposition as Nazis were caught off
guard.

Soon after the attack began, engineers had thrown
bridges across the river and infantry streamed to the opposite shore.
Anti-aircraft batteries drove off German planes sent over the bridges in
bombing and strafing attacks.

Once across the Roer, the division experienced
particularly heavy artillery and mortar fire. The advance roared ahead,
Korrenzig fell, then Baal, Matzerath, Hoven, Golkrath, many others.

Battle-wise now, Railsplitters still kept their sense of
humor. When his 3rd Bn., 334th, took Baal, Lt. Col. William J. Sutton,
Fort Worth, posted an "Annexed to Texas" sign on a tree just inside the
city limits.

Under sledge-hammer blows from division forces, German
opposition weakened. Gen. Bolling sent a a motorized column battering into
German lines Feb. 27.

Commanded by Brig. Gen. John H. Church, Asst. Division
Commander, this task force was composed of the 334th Inf. motorized; 771st
Tank Bn., attached to the division; 326th FA, and smaller units.

Riding this time, 334th troopers lashed machine guns to
the sides of trucks. First Bn., aboard tanks, was the point. Task Force
Church moved out with all guns blazing. Behind, on foot, followed the
333rd and 335th.

The task force advanced 12 miles the first day, plunging
along roads in a breakthrough reminiscent of earlier victories in
France.

Doughs waved prisoners to the rear, kept going ahead.
One complete FA battalion was captured intact. An officer replacement pool
was overrun and the entire police force of one town taken prisoner.

Boisheim, important communications center, was attacked
by the task force that night when most of the garrison was asleep. One
officer, roused from his sleep, asked: "American, British or Russian?"
Told his captors were American, he said, "Good," and surrendered his
weapons.

Smoke still was spewing from Dulken factories when the
333rd delivered an ultimatum that the town surrender or be destroyed. When
the terms were ignored, the division's big guns plastered the town and the
infantry walked in to mop up.

Railsplitters were in high gear now. The 335th headed
for Krefeld, large manufacturing city. Down the road raced a German staff
car. Doughs opened fire. Out jumped a colonel, arms raised.

After cleaning up Krefeld, the 335th took Moers and
swept on to the Rhine Co. E was the first division unit to reach the river
bank.

Meanwhile, the 334th battled through to Homberg, fought
savagely for the town, then mopped up in the dark of night. Another 84th
regiment was at the Rhine.

F

ROM the Roer to
the Rhine in ten days -- an advance of nearly 50 miles. Railsplitters had
accounted for more than 9000 Germans killed, wounded or captured.

This was the pay-off to four months of fighting in the
mud of Germany and the snow and ice of Belgium -- bitter fighting that
tore chunks out of the German army. The trouble-shooters had built an
enviable reputation in record time.

Railsplitters now looked back on Geilenkirchen and
Lindern where they had crushed the enemy in their first taste of combat.
They looked back at Marche, where they had stood alone before the might of
the once-powerful Wehrmacht and where they held fast in the face of a
potential Allied disaster.

And they looked ahead -- ahead to Victory and to
Peace.

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