of the National Archives '

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AUTlh eG 6th Int DiT r

;t SE. CRET
DA,,Et U) Novuber
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INITIAt.S, \
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HlSTORIOF '.STH FIELD ARXILLERI BATTALION
. PU!Ol'J&NOT 44 to 30 N(;)"V' 44
1. Original 'fa ,
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.. Designation - No omango.
b. Date :ot orga:niza:tion - No ebaage;4J
o. Plaoe, ot organis..tiQn -No o:ha.D.goo
d. lwthority. tor organization -No oha:ngo.
2. Changefin orga.niC..tion - No ohaDgo.
3
0
' Strength ' Orrioer.
Wire
EnUsted. Mea
a. At beginnin& ot period 34
4SS
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b. Net mOTea.se during period
g
o
7 '
.i
o. Net deorease during poriod o o
o
d.At ond ot period 34 2
476
4. Stttthms- No change.
50 'Jbuoohes
From
To Date DiBtuoe
. Pretly sv .JIlo.elle tOr17
"'T1rov 1944 9' miles
Lorry
Vic Ghemmoi;; 10 NoT 1944 1$ mUes
Vic Cheminot les Goia 13 NOT 1944 6 mUe.
Vio Papy les Goin Vic VeJ'lJ\V'.
14 Nov 1944 S miiles
Vic Vern;v Vio Fluery 17 NOT 1,944 6m.11ea
Vic Flliery Vio Deux 2S Nov 1944 mile8
Vio Beu Vio Ste Suzannes Fme 25 Ifov 1944 18 miles
Vic Ste 'Suz.8.lmes Fme Vio Zimming 27 Nov 1944 ,Smiles
Vic Z1mm.iJlg Mets 28 NOT 1944 16 Diilea
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Tot.. ... I mUes
e. CampaiLps - Nene des:l.pa.ted.
'r. Batt1ea... The bat.taiiOl'l has partioipat8/d in the Battle ot GeI'Jll.&Y durmg the period o
thia a,l ' d.s1gna.tea. by th.e War ..t.
800 'lbe .1I1ell\Y - 1ilD.ell\Y el'ttllery durilig this period was-,alaeet oompletely ot the tort
me. 'Xh1swu ,espeo1ally true ot the eia;r.11p.rt of the period" rom 1 NOT
10 Nov' DO 'ft;smaile te ..o.\'UCe. tire 1aore.a.sedAmunediately
prlor:\ioi, the attaolt ,ei' the .xx Gcarp.,1Bd:l.oatillg' that the ene. expe.teaan attaok. 'b_t
did not tlle looatloD, -e.nd '.( 01' jUmp-eft. Fort SOlDIIV fired apptoximately210
roun.ds ot., 106,' mill,ime' , tel' ammun.1.tiC!)n:. uto Lorry. fmo. the general area in. .hi,ob the
in p08ition on the D.1.thte of 9..10e.nd 10.11 NoV 44. Persoll1iel _1'. ver;y
well the position. had been oooup1ed. for several weeki. Perswael ahelters
,:":
weTe large ,and OOJll!'leteJ.y8plb:ter.. .. railroad ties and earth ,oO'Nrea. theae
ehelters. whioh were UD.Clergro\Uld and equ:l.pped. with stoves salvaged fro.
deatroyei Duild1Drg8. were a180 proteoted by du-g in. parking sp8,oes with 8Ud.
bag revetments around the engine.
En8lUiV' artille17 teohnique 1IU Bot.ll cieveloped dving this period... 808 very little
massed ire was reoe:l:vedo It _8 even rare to ,reoe1ve reports or uuits as large &s,ix
, locat,d neutralbed 0r deatroyeclas
they fir.d.Caribera in oontaot1noln4ed ..1r,mn howitzers and -AI ,as.
88,mm dUfl:l purpc,segllUlS., iDt (Ru8s1an),. lO&mll LFH-18_ lSOmm howitzers of
both inantry and. a.ri;;illerr-typea. A rewNebelwerfei"a md. reoket tn8s' wre reported
,::tired on, forward element. b"t BO type. wer,e deinitely icientiUedo Sinoe the technique
used by. the ottirias only oDe'Voll. ,'fI11 of rookets ' from P,,OBit1OD.DWle i,t
_diftioulti:0118utra.lil:e orewa, it lftL. ' orcierea that a:ny- looated, of t .Ms type
would reoeiw a diTidon, artillory .S&veraltitilei. 10Bg, 'kl.u
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curving smoke trul. were reported arohing up into the sky, 'but there ftS no report of
such type :tire reoeived in our area. D1vision artillery TOTt. were fired on several
ocoasbn8 at 8u8peoted location. o:t launohing positlons.
En8ll\Y' artillery fired more relil.ble UIIIltmitlon in this period, with. :tewer reports o:t
llt8ll duds reoelved, in oontrast to the prenous perlod.
Enemy infantry was of low qu.ality- withJJ18.lily personnel reported by the 10th; lJl:t to
have physioal defects, and be elther very young, or older than previous eneMT enoounter
ed. Frisoners as old as 54 years and as young as 16 ware reported taken. Elements of
Landstrum Polioe units IU'ld Fortress type units wi.th overage personnel were used il?- the
ene. order of battle. First clan troops were preseBt in lSuffioiem:t quanities to maiJ:lllot
tain some order to the. ene. withdrawal, but the majority- of high quality troops were
withdrawn from the aotion in time for them to esoape to. the east, presumably to make a
stand at the Saar River and Sieg:tried Line. Morale o:t prisoners 'WaS reported low i:n
meat oases, with a few fanatios saying aerJllaJly WQuld still wim.
elements in oontact. Elements of the 719th Art,y .egt, the 17th SS Art"
Regt, the 416th Arty- and the 8l6th lieenes Flak ADg. Als. the defensive gUllS o.f
Forts SOlDlI\V' and Ste Blaise (Verdun. groups), L'Ais.e and Yser. . ,
b. Elements ettecting aotion - Weather had a detinite etteoton the aotion, in that
steady and prolonged rains. had flooqed many areas and rendered the gray and yeliow olay
soil too sott foroross oountry operation of most wheeled vehicles, at least without .
applioation of pioneer or field expedients. Good, defiladed gun positions were diffioult
to find beoause low ground was frequently too soft or flooded, and the water table was
so high that foxholes were invariably full of water. The weather also hampered observa
tion mU9h of the timeo Morning togs and ground haze limited the distanoe observers
oould see. Another factor limiting observation was the movement from the ridge on the
east of the Moselle River to the gently rolling ground to the east. Ob$erVerlil were
often foroed to preoede main infantry elements in Qrder to fire on emplaoed weapons
suoh as mortars and AT weapons with Qbserved fire. .
Ammunition was available for artillery targets and fire for effeot in
generous quanities after the Third .A:rmy attaok began. Rrior to that time, no firing
done beeause of ammunition restrietionso
0 0 Aotion - (1) During.the initial part of the period, from 1 Rov to 10 Nov, the
aotion was statio, and very little firing was done by the artillery_ However, on the
day preoeding the 5th Div attack to the east (9 Nov) Bome firing was done with propa
ganda shells. Nothing but oounterbattery fires were delivered in the way of preparation
for this attaok, the battalion oorn.manders of the loth Inf feeling that surprise waa more
than the limited effect on enemy known to be well protected in dugouts. This
feelingtwasverified when the attaok went rapidly, apparently oatohing the
ot the attack's direotion or objeotive. After this initial attack, in
which minefields were eneouli.tered with "S" mines and concrete stake mines in large
numbers, artillery played a very important part. Th., fought from village to
village, blowing viaducts, oulverts and bridges as he went. Many oa8ualtie8 were
duoed by our artillery-fire, adjusted by forward observers, on enemy inrantry moving to
the front as replaoements or reinforoements. Virtually the only artillery fire received
was on our most forward elements, a:m.d n0 extremely hea-vy- fire 88 ever reported.
As the a1otaok.progreised and turned north. the Forts of Verney kllG'WJI. as L'Aisne a.ml
Yser, fell without attempt to hold them. Had the enelq deoided to defend these
forts, dislodging him from-them might have been a diffioult operation. :Bois l'Hop1tal
was captured with the aid O.f massed fires and previoue air bombardaent, wi10h an ammun1- .
tion dump in it. The dump oonta.1m.ed a large quo!ty of small arms ammu:m.ition, muoh
artillery a.mmilnition of III.IUlY' oalibers, and t'w:ellty-nine thousand rounds of Frenoh 155mm
phosgene shells. .
As the attaok moved nearer Metz, the final objeotive, forts construoted after the
Fr.anoo-l?russi8Jl War of 1870.1611 were found used by the enemy in. his retrograde aot1on.
Most of these fell after moderate shelling without muoh resistanoe, exoept Fort ito
PJ;ivat" whose oommander, a Nad fanatic, held out until food and Wlil.ter ran low. The
ei1iY of JIG, WIiI.S entered atter considerable fighting im. the Gutskirts and tqrt area..
and takell, block by blook, without tho aid et: muo.h SB8lI\V' unite were
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fOUlld waiting in groups to surrender, while the usual few fanatios held out 1J1 pill
boxea and oellars. The oity was not badly damag.d .xoept im a few eu.tl1ing seotions
whioh reoeived muoh of our llI8..sed fire
Roads . leading from Metz 'Were fir.d 0]3. a, great deal, ainoe lll&lq en.emy troops
attempted to leave the oity that way. Ma.By vehioles were aotually observed destroyed.
and persGnnel ma.deoa,sualties by our fire on. oonvoys, sometimes reported by our obsel'''
verI to be a.lmost bumper to bumper. Time fire _s used on. scattering persennel with
ex<?ellent ei'feot. .
Displaoement was aooe.mplish.d by battery, a forward OF established in
order that .the battalion. oould render oontiauGus suppGrt. Reeni'oroi:ag UDits alae aided
the battaliGn during th... displao.ments by firin.g miBSiona relqed through our COJlDllU.
nioation channels.
During the period little was seen of the Luftwaff., while friendl1 airoraft were in
support every day th.....ath.r 'WOuld .p.rmit. Nigllt fight.rs were also reported overhead
and th.ystraf.d the same vehioular oolumns this battalion fired upon on the roads .ast
'of Mets. .
A:f'terlea'Ving Meta for an area east and neuthe Ni.d River, in general8up:port 01
the 95th !:at Div, the battalion returaed to fire upon Fort Jflanne D'Aro and Fert St.
Quentin on the west bank: ef the Mo.elle, overloeking Me,tz. A.t the end ot the perioel
these torts "fere still holding ou.t, but were merely be:ing oGDtainecfuntil the 1nev1table
surrender.
(2) . (1) &boveo'
(3) CoJlllllUllioatiGD. durixlg this peried 'Were a oombination of' wire aad rlAio. IB the rapid
movement ottorwa.rd elements wire line. oould not be layed rapidly en&lIgh. and r&die
1I8ed. Wire .... h101 _rfl read beund by the .ott wet ground, and wir.l1aea 1I8ue.111 fol
l .....d roads, with the ob'Vious f ...ilure. due to ....hioles and enenw ahellfire.
(4) Fires ef' the 46th Artillery Battalion were reenforoed by the 21st FA Ba.
177th F., Ba, 284th FA. Ba, and 243rd FA Ba. The 1181.1&1 maea:1ng of XX Corps Artillery was
oontinued during this period.
(5) Does not apply.
(6) Supply and ....ou.ttQ.- normal .xoep,," for saorte.ges of 80me aize. of tires. Rations
werepar:tly ..ugm.enteo.. by oaptured German d8.iX7 produots and oauued fruits with a amall
aJnO\Ul.t et oapturedbee. ,
(7) Oas'ualtieB - parAgraph (9).
(8) Command.i1:ag .Ofio.rs in important .ngagements I
Batta.liOl'l OOllllD&.llier Lt Oolonel Robert L Bruazell
Headquarters Ba't'tery Capt Charles M Hoge
Batt.ry "AU lit Lt SpiridiGn E Mahlatadt
Ba'ttery uB" 1st Lt JaoobR frohman
Battery 110" Capt Olark G Wealey .
Service Battery Dale:a Fallt
(9) L088es 1B action. - .
Killed 1B aotion - Won
lIiasing in action -
WODded in aotlona
2nd Lt Clinton 0 Wainright
Pto Leonard B Moore
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(10) Photographs - NeD. aT8.llableo
._.t For the Battalion GellllllaBder.l
1 Inolo
A:t'ter Action Against the :mn,,1I1' Report' .
J.6MES N LOW
'W/ Diary attaohed to 0'" oepy 8:n11'.'
Oapt, 41th FA Sn,
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