..

5 .. \;
I
. :'
IIj- ' .
2. qhangesin organization,':'
'S.Strength,: , , Offioers Enlisted .:en

a. . At of . period 468
b. Net inorease, during period o o o
Co Net deorease; during period 2 o o
d.At end of period ,32 2 468
(
4. ,Stations' " No' ,ohange,.
Matches:
hQm To Date Distanoe

'N'redarvissa --r15'eo 44 32 miles
Niedervi'sse aQua Varberg 2 neo 44 5 mile'S
"
Ham aoua Varberg Oruezwa.ld 4: Dec 44 2 miies
Cruezws.ld Wi,llhemsbroon 5 Deo44 :3 miles ,
WillhemSbroon . Friedrioh.eler 6])eo 44 5 miles' "
Friedrichsweiler ' Beamanaia (Schnonbruok) 17 Dec 44 11 miles
. Be,amanaia (Schonbruok) Kuntzig' 19 Dee 44 miles
Kuntzig ' . Erns-ber 19..20 Dec 44 76 miles
Ernster : Beoh 22 Dee 44 5 miles
Bech Sohiedgen 26 Dec 44 6 miles
Sehiedgen lilnnsdor 28 Dec 44 12 tniles
. !
.,
Total - laa mIle's
6. ' Campaigns - No ,ohange. '
7., ' Battles , - The batta.;ion has, partioipated in the Battle of Gel'l1W'l d1iring the period of
this repori:;. as dengna.ted by the War Department.
. , . .j
a.The ,eneroy- The in1tial actiE)nof the month took plaee around Niedervis.se, j.n. the beli; I'
of the Frenol:i Ma.ginot Line. The .fortifioations of the Magin.ot Line were not used by the ,
Germans' for' defense of the nearly Germa.nborder. The French fortifioations, in this area eon,.. !
siated of elaborate bunkers 9.l'.l:d underground barl;'aoksi. armored gun and OJ? turrets surr.ounded
barb wire.ntanglementa and The 'enemy weres'teadly pushed back aoross - i
the German border to the Siegfrie4Line fortifioations on the east bank of, the Saarltivero' ;
The nucleus qf German troops wasefhigh ClUa.Utywith the remainder of men being
average 01" of'. low grade. Although the enemy appeared to amplesupl>ly Q,fammunition and
men were. equliped With obsolete guns and only ) cartridges. ' ' . . '
. . Duri:q.g the attaok from Nledervisse to the$aar enemy artillery delivered s()me massedl
fires <on for:vrard .. elementsanQ. some harassing fires in rear areas... . Shellreps identified. 100mm
and 150nun h0'Y{itzers and 170Illlll gUllS,. In the -bridgehead and support areas fire was reported
from lOfujlmand 1.50 mm: ealibres., 76mm. and 88nnn direot fire was received fromSaarlautern and
Fraulautern' almostcon"tinuously:. The were leoated in ooncrete fortifioations and behind and
in .buildings imaking them diffioult to put out of action.
Inthe Luxembourg area ilhe enenw used lIl8JJY battalions of artillery with ,precission and .'
speed. The enenw, obtained exoellent ef;f.'ect. and in addition he massed,numerous oonoentrations '
of :15 Cm and ,21cm. oalibrerock,ets on our forward elements; AU fire ,of,. this type 'Was of
large volume . and had little or no effeot on perso:t1Jilel. Cas.as oi: these IINoktelbs are about one..
inoh thick and the explo13iv,es oharge 'l'tsually 1'laresoneend of' case with very poor
t'ragmentati.on but 'has great blast. . Dates stamped on these rockets indicated manufacture dur
tng seoond week, of November 1944. .
'!';; i" lnown enenw elements in contact were 347 Arty Regt, 861 Arty Regt, and 17th as Axty
'Elements ... Weather in some oases had a definite effect onbheaGl'tion.. ,
;timell beoaus.e ,of ,snow and cold weather, ohanging to mild 'weather, maintenance of ordnance I
difficult.. ,
" 'Hazeand overcast maQ.e observation poor for the greater part of the period.,
Snow"awi freezing water, made vehiole movementhe.zardize.
I '
o. Aoti(ln - (1) During most of the period the 46th FA Bn its normal "mission .
:>f :direct 8up,port;. of the loth OT. For shQr-\i periods the battalion was in generalsllpport of :ki\
bho5th Infantry Division. , reenforoing .th8 firi.es ofancltherbattal:Lon. The initial attQ.Ck .
ililzting tJ1.e po,dod of, this report wastnade :t'rom tko Maginot Line in ,the vi'cillityof Niedervi.830 i
;;0 River in the vioinityof Volklingell, orossing the Gernie,nporder ' Qetween ' Cruozws.ld :
tndUborherrn. , On 2 Dee 44 TF Bell having reverted to ,5th ,InDiv,atta,okedWij;h 5th Rangers
Ul4 6th ,CavReoon Group in, the night. :The Bi'lrendered oontinuous
th,is area is very hilly to gently roll,ing, anc;l in sOmO ,p;l.e.o,es ,
,;1\>,;;;;4 ;..... ". ,,,"",,u ..."... .,'llli>!" 1 :.,'.... ... ..>...,,
WBtl"y'..
dens., forests
J :., _eats offer to advanee. iMsmuch as .it . ;'
is than 100 yards throup the trees. Beeauseof this condition.
observed fires weI'.e tew in number0 . .
Successive positio;ns were .ocoupied at Nied.rviase" Hem SOUS Varsberg. Crueawald and
Frederiohweilerin the attack of TF Boll toward the Saar River.. ObserVers &l1d liaison
pers:onnel.reordered tc the 6th ce.v Recon Group. in addition to the usual ,ereomel sent
batta1iona of the loth Inta.ntrrtt ," This itnposed a oondderable strain 'Oil the Bll. but
dnoe QOlllpleted in a . shol"t time, no dif'fioultywas encountered. Obso.rvers
acoollPanied:eMh rifle oomi;>fU\Y' in .order to obtain tb.e maximum. number of' observe4dmissiona.
but relief beoa.me ilnpossib.1e'beoallse all personnel with suitable qualifications were already .
. engaged in observEl:b::1.on.As .. a. resllt of the operations through. dense woods observers
were subj$ot to a greater amount libf small arms and mortar fireo .
. Onr;eaohingtile objeoti,-e of the Saar River the 46th FA Bn oontinued in direct sup
portof thO'101:;h Infantry. and fJired in support of the 5th B.a.Jlf&Elrs and the 6th Oav Recon' !
Group inat"ea;s thele units 'f\I'ere'-responsible for. and formerly the responsibility of the lOth:
Infantry:. , ." .' .
. Detailed reoonmaisanoe.and plans were made in of the passage of the 5th .
Inf'Div thrOUgh the 96th Div bridgehead at Saarlautern. Durl.l1g the SOQo:mi week this work
wasa.coomplished. and on 17 Dec 44 the Bn moved in position west of' Be;amana.in (Schonbrtlok)
in ge .ral support o:f'the 5th Inf Div. and reenforoine fires of the f01Iilt FA Bn in attaok on !
Saarlaut!IJrn aD4 hadorf bridgehead area.. Missions were almost entireq oonducted 'by for-
Ward observers due to haze and smQke. .
On 19 Dec 44 the Bn started a 76 mile move west, to an assembly at Kuntzig,
through Thoinv111e and Luxemburg to area near Ernster where pos1tloD were prepared f0r
, aeeo:n.Q .defense line behind elements of Div 1n oontaot with enenw. For this opera.tion the
B.n ....aattaohed to the loth ..
The:B:n moved tothe vicinity ot Beeh to aupport the l4LR o:a 21 Deo 44. Traffics on the
roads was heavy, but the 5 miles wreoovered without inoident. OQmmup,loa.tion was establish-I
ed with other FA. units in vioinity to facilitate massing of fires. Registration ft. conduot..1
ed by high burst. the Bn reveRed toDi". Arty oOlltrol and fired in direot sUppert of the !
10th lDt. whioh attacked in the d1r80t108 of Eohternaeh on the border between Luxembourg and I
Germ8ll\V.. , Front line elements received the heaviest enelI\Y artillery- fire sinoe the initial j
attaok in tlae direction of Meta. .The Bn fired oQunterbattery tire against eneIlliY 21 Qn.]
Nebelwart'ares . 'With some material ee.,1;, ,i,n that fewer roucls were later reoeived b. the i
concentratiou. Observed fires 'wre in close support ot the 'irit'antry e;t;tl.Oks andproduoed
some ot' the mQst deadly effect yet obs.ned.. hu.,st ,t:i.me fire andrioaooh.et fire
oaused. mll'J oas.a.lticae... on em.em;y that were in partly ooveredslit treaohes. An entU\Y'
oountorattaokof' four 8Fguns and infantry (eBtimated one oompatlJ) u.s repuleed almost
oompletelyby arti;tlery,. '" .
Bn;'moved tot he vicinity of Ermsdort and actually acoomplished. relief 01' 212tb
ArmdFABn on 28 Dec 44, and cottt1nued. mis,e1ona in support 01' lOth Inf. At 2l4 >. 28 Doc 44 .
plQ.8 oiroled the vll1ago 'ofEnnsdorf four auel on tho fomrth pau dropped an .1
..stJJll&ted' lookg bomb on the Bn OF. k1l11ng Band wounlil.ng 15 (all wounded were not
,(2)$0,0(1) a.bove.
(3) during tho. period wore .. oombination ot: wire and radio. Due to tho
number ot: oocupied and the d:\.sta.nce tra.veled. reoovery of serviceable wire was
diffioult but aooomp11shed W1th a small peroentage of lose. When rolieviag other units .,
their 'W1re I;l.ets, .were taken over e.nd With Gem' adjustment., were made suit..blo for our use,.,
(4) .Fires of the 46th FABn werereellforoed by the 21st ancfl tbe 19th FA Bns. The usual
m.a.ss:ng tt Oorps,and during the latter period of this report, the XII Oorps, was
oontJ.nued.: . ..
(5) . not apply.
(6) Supply and evacuation - normal.
(7) .Casual'ties - see paragraph (9).

(?J Commanding Ot;ficers in important engagements,
. BattalioB COmmander ' Lt Colonel R.obert L Brunzell
Major Clare BConde
Major Oharles E Ballou
Major B. B. Blank
Headquarters Battery Capt Oharles M Hoge .
Battery "AIt
1st Lt Spiridion.E lIAhlstadt
Battery "B"
1st Lt Jaoob R Trohma,n
Battery tlO"
capt Clark G Wesley
Servioe Battery Capt Dale It ]'aut
capt Grant T Johnson
" _t
.1
I
(9) Losses in a.o-t.-ion
Killed in a.etion:
. Major Clare Conde
2nd Lt Willie De BryaQl,
Tis Robert E. Atkins
Pte BillS. Ha.rris
Pto Salvester Ra.inone
Missing aqtion:
1st Lt Maurice O.
Wounded in a.etion:
Major Ea.llou
lst,Sgt A. Albreota.
MlSgt Herbert F. Benning
d'pl Vorriok D. Martin
Cpl Leo Jaokson
T7.9 W. Fulkerson
Tis .FredNapier
Tis James Palmore
TIs Elmer R. Gipson
i/5 John T. Wa.lsh
pre Jam.es L. Webster
Pto William 'P. O'Connell
P'II't Ben H. Hair.
P'II't William Bova
fvt L.. B. MOQre
Pvt Biggs
P"{'b Joseph ,
(10) Ph9tographs - None
1 Inel.
,. ,
Arter ActlonAgainst the
w/ Diary atta.ohed to one copy only.
r