Download - 70th Infantry Division Association
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Company B rejoined the 1st Battalion by relieving Company E. Company K moved into the position<br />
vacated by Company B. Company E was placed on the Regimental right flank-and began to prepare<br />
defensive positions. All Battalions were now on line, with the 2d on the right, the 3d in the center, and the<br />
lst on the left. All Battalions improved their positions during the day of March 7th despite heavy enemy<br />
artillery fire throughout the day. Two enemy tanks were seen maneuvering into position in front of the 2d<br />
Battalion. Two "bazooka" teams, one from Company G and one from Company H, scored four hits on one<br />
tank which was left burning by the German tank crew. The other tank withdrew.<br />
O F C E L L A R H E L L<br />
FORBACH, Alsace, March 5 (UP).--American soldiers spent 11<br />
hellish days underground with 8,000 residents of Forbach while the<br />
Germans blasted the town into ruins.<br />
Men of the 276th <strong>Infantry</strong> Regiment of the <strong>70th</strong> <strong>Division</strong> had battled<br />
into Forbach Feb. 22. They quickly drove the Germans from three<br />
quarters of the city, but the attack stalled at railroad tracks. A 20-foot<br />
embankment protected the Germans. A "freedom attack" yesterday<br />
drove the Germans from their position after hand-to-hand fighting.<br />
Then for 11 days and nights the Americans stayed under cover,<br />
seldom risking the bloody streets as German artillery, mortars and<br />
rockets steadily pounded the town.<br />
The families of Forbach shared their homes and cellars with the<br />
troops, ate with them and died with them.<br />
Capt. John Bryant of Milton, Mass., civil affairs officer for the town,<br />
said about half of the population "wanted to get the hell out of there in<br />
the worst way." Since the only road out of town was under enemy<br />
observation and steady fire, military authorities would not permit a<br />
mass evacuation.<br />
Army trucks and jeeps risked the run into Forbach with supplies for<br />
the troops. The French Red Cross fed the people although for the last<br />
two days, the civilians chose hunger to the risk of walking to the food<br />
distribution center.<br />
I want to talk about a particular action on March 7th because my Lt., Charles Cheesem, is seriously<br />
wounded. We had an awful lot of casualties on this day. We were holding defensive position one and a<br />
half miles east of Forbach, France. Our company commander was killed in action. When we came up in<br />
this town of Forbach, we came into our jumping off position. My company departure time was 5:30 a.m.,<br />
so we were moving during the night in a column. As we were marching in a column, another company<br />
crossed at right angle to our column and two companies were in right angles to each other. Part of our<br />
company latched in with the other company and went with them. Of course, then we had only part of our<br />
company. When I found that out, I had to stomp around to find the rest of our company. Well, I finally got<br />
a hold of them, turned them around and got them back in the right direction.<br />
We were getting ready to get down near a railroad track. Forbach has a great big railroad siding and there<br />
are a lot of tracks and switching. The column stopped and when the column stops the first thing you do is<br />
sit down. We sat down and waited for the hand signal to move again. When the signal came the company<br />
got up and started to move again in the direction we were supposed to go in. Somebody tapped me on<br />
the shoulder and said, "Bru, we lost half our company again." I worked my way back to the end of the<br />
column and there is nobody there. There should have been two platoons. I asked the last guy who was