Download - 70th Infantry Division Association

As of this date, replacements required for the regiment were listed at six officers and 281 enlisted men.
There were 23 evacuations during the period covered in the report. Rations for three days and gas and oil
for one day were on hand. There had been no ammunition expenditures listed for the period. The regiment
was short four 1/4-T vehicles, 31 1-1/2-T, one 2 1/2-T and six 1/4-T trailers.
On January 7, 1945 we launched an attack east of Lichtenberg France at 9:00. We advanced 2,000 yards
and encountered no enemy We marched by foot at 1500 to Zinswiller, France, and arrived at
2130, a distance of approximately 5 miles. Now, 2130 is late at night and I remember as we traveled
along the road somebody gave the command "lock and load". While we marched, we had no rounds in
our rifles; but when the command came down the line to "lock and load", everybody put a clip in their rifle.
I don't know if you can imagine 190 men loading and locking heir rifles, but I would imagine half of them
never did lock their rifles. If you just took your rifle by the barrel and jammed it on the ground quick, the
safety would go off. And if you can imagine the fear of the trigger-happy Americans (every bush, every
rock, every shadow or silhouette. was a 6'10" German) that order never should have been given.
Somewhere along that column, after the order of "lock and load" was given, we halted for one reason or
another; They must have seen something and they were being cautious. When we stopped, we laid down
on the side of the road again in the ditches. One guy started to shoot and pretty soon the whole company
was shooting. It took the officers twenty minutes to get the thing stopped. Shooting at everything, we must
have killed sheep, cows, shot windows out of houses. I don't know what we were shooting at and nobody
else knew either.
On January 8, 1945 at Zinswiller, France, we took 13 enlisted men to the hospital as casualties and
probably half of them had trench feet. We had two pairs of socks with cotton toes and cotton heels and
wool lining. We had shoe packs on that were made of leather to the top of the boot and rubber at the
bottom of the boot. When you marched all day, your feet would sweat. We were not educated enough in
the care of feet. We didn't understand that you had to take your feet out of those boots at night because
your feet would chill and when they did chill they would freeze since the temperature was around zero
and we were laying in the snow. With trench feet, your feet look like when you soak your hands in soapy
water for a long time, all wrinkled. and white. So to avoid getting trench feet, we carried two pairs. of
socks; one you wore and the other pair you would wrap around your belly. As you marched along during
the day, the heat from your body would dry out your first pair of socks and then at night you changed
socks. Maybe your socks weren't clean but at least they were dry. But, everybody got trench feet to some
degree. My feet never got so bad that I had to leave the outfit. Some of the guys got so bad that they
couldn't walk. Anyway, out of those 13 men, I would say 50% of them had trench feet and others were
probably wounded in battle.
The attack to be launched at 0700 9 January 1945 has as its objective the taking of four hills in the. area
southwest of Baerehthal. Prior to the action, S-2 listed the enemy units in contact as 1st Battalion, 952nd
Regiment, 361st Division, and 2nd Battalion, 476th Regiment, 256th Division. No reserves had been
located. The enemy's activity consisted of defensive action in the regimental zone to include artillery fire
throughout the area. Strength of the enemy at Obermuhlthal was estimated at one battalion of
approximately 100 men. Morale of enemy troops was reported generally low.
S-2 concluded that the enemy had three capabilities: To reinforce present positions and defend; to
reinforce present positions with sufficient force to attack; to fight a delaying action on successive
positions.
The 1st and 2d Battalions jumped off at 0700 and the 3d Battalion at 0715, all advancing without
opposition until about 1030. At that time Company C received sniper fire from Obermuhlthal, a town in the
area of the 275th Infantry. Meanwhile, the 2d Battalion contacted the enemy in its sector.
Informed that fire from Obermuhlthal was hampering the attainment of the lst Battalion's mission, G-3 said
that the 275th Infantry on the right would aid in taking that town. On our left was the 313th Infantry.