Hatten and Rittershoffen January 1945

It looks like it may not have been saved. I looked through your recent posts to see if it was accidentally posted in another thread, but couldn't find it. It looks like you may have to write it up again. Sorry for the bad news.

 

Tommy, thanks for trying to cheer me up. But I learned something ... I will never write a longer post here at once without having a copy or something.
Because it seemed that my first post is lost in „Nirwana“ of the internet I will give it a second try:


First I will try to give some detailed informations about the moves of the US troops in the sector during the time 5[SUP]th[/SUP] of January till the first German assault on 9[SUP]th[/SUP] of January 1945. Then I will give an overview about the moves of the German units and their preparation for the attack, especially about the 21. Armored Division (21. Panzer-Division) and the 25. Panzer-Grenadier-Division.


The 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] battalion of US 314. Infantry-regiment had relieved by the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] and 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] battalion of the 242. Infantry-regiment (TASK FORCE LINDEN) in the sector of Hatten on 5[SUP]th[/SUP] of January 45. The relief was done on 5[SUP]th[/SUP] of January 0700 am. The two battalions of 242. US IR were located at this moment in Niederbetschdorf (2 miles west from Rittershoffen) and the two of 314 IR in Schwabwiller and Oberbetschdorf (the next two small villages on the road westward from Niederbetschdorf – Schwabwiller is 4 or 5 miles west from Rittershofen).
A little later this day the 1[SUP]st[/SUP] battalion of 242. Infantry-regiment moved into position to Hatten. Hatten was part of the northeastern sector defended under control of 79[SUP]th[/SUP] Division. The 1[SUP]st[/SUP] battalion of 242[SUP]nd[/SUP] Regiment was on the right flank, defended the MLR on a frontage of nearly 4.000 yards, both north and south of Hatten, from road junction east of Oberrroedern to the edge of the forest of Aschbruch. The B company was on the right of the railroad tracks and A company on the left (C company in reserve). (You will not find these railroad tracks on modern maps anymore-the tracks were disassembled)).

The command post (CP) of 1[SUP]st[/SUP] battalion was set up near the church of Hatten, not far from the butcher´s house. On the other side of the street, not far away, was the CP of the D-company. On the steeple the battalion set up an observation post.
The 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] battalion moved into their positions in an area called Aschbruch (it´s a little northwest of Königsbruck in the Haguenau forests (7-8 miles in southeast direction of Hatten, including Casematte de Rittershoffen and the bunkers/pillboxes southeastward of it).

If you may ask about the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] battalion – it spent the night from 4[SUP]th[/SUP] to 5[SUP]th[/SUP] of January 45 in Brumath (around 20-25 miles southwest of Rittershoffen) awaiting transportation. But the 30 trucks to make the move were not available. That was the reason that Major Norman G. Reynolds (commander of the Battalion) decided to use the battalion´s own transportation for the move. But (cause of the shortage of transportation) nearly only one company could be transferred at a time. At this moment the strength of the battalion was 35 officers and 747 enlisted men.
First elements of the E-, some of the H-company and the Second battaillon Headquarters Company were moved from Brumath to Rittershoffen to relieve the 314[SUP]th[/SUP] Infantry as well due to go into reserve in Hatten.
When major Reynolds arrived in Niederbetschdorf , he was told to send G Company to Bischwiler (10 miles northwest from Brumath) in order to secure the town. While he was hurrying back to Brumath, US engineers got ambushed in Bettenhoffen (the outskirts of Gambsheim*). At 1025 came the message: Gambsheim surrounded by a German assault” (it´s near the river Rhine, 30 miles south from Rittershoffen).
Immediately plans were made for a counterattack. General Wyche instructed General Linden to “attack at once with anything he could get in his hands on from Weyersheim to Gambsheim”. So the plans for 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] battalion were changed: the remaining companies had to move to Weyersheim, detruck west of town and attack along the road to Gambsheim to capture the town. The counter-attack failed by many reasons and the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] bataillon had heavy losses. For example the F-company lost all of his officers (killed, wounded or missing). (If you´re interested in more detailed informations about the counter-attack at Gambsheim – tell me).
The 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] battalion was relieved in the evening of 7[SUP]th[/SUP] by 232 US IR (after the assault on the German bridgehead at Beinheim/Gambsheim has failed). The battalion (or better the little rest of it) arrived in Rittershoffen on 8[SUP]th[/SUP] of January. Joe Neilson of H-company described the soldiers of his battalion:“totally exhausted, totally demoralized, without spirit left to fight what we were going to face, a group of zombies.” In Rittershoffen some of the soldiers got their first cooked meal in three or four days. More than half of all men of 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] battalion were billeted in small groups in houses. Their mission was to prevent enemy infiltration into Rittershoffen (and to get some rest from the heavy fighting they went through).

On the left side of 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Battalion 242[SUP]nd[/SUP] InfDiv. was the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Battalion 313[SUP]th[/SUP] InfDiv., 79[SUP]th[/SUP] Division in position. First the 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Battalion 313[SUP]th[/SUP] InfDiv. occupied positions between Aschbach and Stundwiller. Then between Hunspach/Hoffen/Hatten after the MLRhad been driven in.

I guess we should have a very clear description of the positions of the US units now before the German assault started on 9[SUP]th[/SUP] of January. Next time I will describe the moves of the German units till the evening of 8[SUP]th[/SUP] of January. I will send a little map with all the positions later ...

[FONT=&amp]*During the night from 4[SUP]th[/SUP] to 5[SUP]th[/SUP] of January German units of 553. Volksgrenadierdivision crossed the river Rhine near Gambsheim. The assault was successful. The Germans captured Offendorf, Herrlisheim and Gambsheim in a coup (the area was defended by TASKFORCE LINDEN (here: 232. IR and 42. US ID) and the Germans were able [/FONT][FONT=&amp]to built a bridgehead. In the evening the Germans were able to occupy Rohrwiller also.[/FONT]

 

I'm going to be in Europe the next two weeks, and will be spending some time in Alsace. My father, Robert Schnotala, served in the 3rd. Battalion, 313th. Regiment. He was a Staff Sgt. in HQ Company, with a communications unit. I have a copy of the unit citation that you mention. I'm amazed at how much information is available about the unit. My brother and I plan to try to follow the route of the 313th sometime in the next few years. We have a copy of the book on the history of the 313th, and my brother has framed a four panel set of maps showing the route, with dates and some brief notes.

While we wait, I'll put out the call for information about the 3d Battalion of the 313th Infantry Regiment that was holding Oberroedern and the Maginot positions on the ridge to the north. This seems like the untold story of this battle and may have been critical to the outcome. I have seen that the 3d of the 313th Infantry earned a Distinguished Unit Citation (PUC today) for this action but I have not been able to track down the write-up.[/QUOTE]

 

Here's my father's champagne story I mentioned in an earlier post. I post it here just for local color.

The I&R platoon stayed in a schoolhouse that night (Jan. 4th). We found a cache of 1934 Mumm champagne in a cellar in the town. There was a French guard on it, but they ran him off and everyone in the Company shared in the haul. It was top-of-the-line champagne, in straw wrappers and supposedly had been consigned to Macy's or some other big company in the US. Our platoon must have gotten six cases. The next morning Snuffin, Snapp and I were riding in a jeep and popped a cork - but only realized a few moments later that the Colonel was in the jeep just behind us. The cork must have almost hit him. We went to Nieder-Betschdorf that day, were billeted in a farmhouse near the middle of town, and we poked champagne bottles in the haystack, partly to hide them and partly to keep them cold. The champagne lasted 5 or 6 more days, rationed out rather carefully, but we were never quite sure that we'd gotten it all out of the haystack. The French complained to higher authorities about their loss, Bill Twiss of the Wire Section was arrested, threatened with court martial, and almost sent back to SHAEF Headquarters in Paris. But the German attack a day or two later stopped all that, Twiss was released, and actually ended up winning a Silver Star within a week. However, the whole company had to give up $5 each out of our next few paychecks to smooth things over with the French. Without question, it was the best champagne I've ever tasted.

Dad is still around. He probably can't help much with unit information since he was just a PFC and the officers had all the maps. At the end of the war all the maps were being discarded and he hung on to the Hatten one. I've been to Hatten twice back in the mid-1960's. The town and the curve still had many bullet holes and damaged buildings back then. I found lots of artillery shrapnal in the bunkers that had been assalted. Dad showed me old foxholes on the ridgeline where he and his platoon had dug in. Looked pretty miserable even on a reasonably nice day.

 

Please share any and all you have related to the battle and its participants. We might find some unknown connections.

I am particularly drawn to the story of these green American divisions, their troubled training program and unfortunate introduction to combat. While defense is a somewhat easier tactical problem than attack, defenders are at the mercy of an attacker who can choose the battle conditions most favorable to the attacker's strength. Once the attacker has the initiative the defenders can only react.

I would also be interested in any insight into the functioning of the I&R Platoon. It seems during training these men were often hand-picked by the platoon leader or the regimental S-2. And while some commanding officers thought they would be special combat troops, I think in combat they found the I&R Platoon performed the more mundane but critical function of maintaining contact among the battalions. This could be a dangerous job where a wrong turn could put them into the enemy line rather than Red Battalion's headquarters.

 

If one goes to Google Earth and types in Hatten, Fr it will take you there. Enlarge a little and click on the photo icons in the wooded area south and east of the town and you will find numerous photos of Maginot emplacements, many showing copulas with massive damage, numerous block houses, fortified roads, great stuff. The city of Hatten has a somewhat electric museum, WW@ stuff but post war as well.
A Sherman sitting on to of a portion of the Maginot for exampled.

I copied many of the pictures and am trying to figure out how to post them here, am not a computer guy and still work 50 hours a week at 72 . But I am doggedly trying to post them. I would be glad to email them to someone to post.

Gaines

 

Good suggestion, Gaines. I don't often bother with the pictures on Google Earth, but I may have to change that.

As for posting pictures, you should have a toolbar above your Quick Reply text box. On the right hand side, you should see an icon that looks like a picture with black dots on the corners. Click on it and select "From Computer" to select the pictures on your computer that you want to upload. If it doesn't allow you to upload a picture, it may need to be downsized. If that is the case or if you are having some other problem, send me a PM.

 

Tommy, Thanks, I will give it a try and PM you if needed. But try Google Earth, I was amazed at the pictures of the Maginot fortifications around Hatten and other towns as well as well. We took a trip from Nancy to Strasbourg a few years ago and found many small Romanesque and Gothic churches dotted about Lorraine and Alsace and many had clearly restored steeples but probably half had modern steeples that really stood out. Seems the Allies and Germans both shoot them up to prevent observation. Maginot fortifications are abundant and extremely varied. Google earth has many, pretty well photographed. It is fun looking for them, just keep clicking on icons just outside the villages. Some south of Saverne as well. If you Google Neiderbronn-les-bains, fr, just to the east of Hatten and look just east of the town center near a big woods you will find a German military cemetery, 14,000+ soldiers buried there from WW2, if you enlarge it you will find numerous photos.

Gaines

PS, I have Post quick reply and go advanced but no tool bar nor photo icon.

 

Gaines, The ultimate website for pix of the Maginot Line is http://www.lignemaginot.com/ which has literally thousands of images. They also have downloadable powerpoint presentations - the links are in post #76 of this thread (on p.4). These are large files that may be slow to download.

The pillbox with the Sherman tank on top is a museum (Casemate Esch) operated by the organization that owns the above website, L'Association des Amis de la Ligne Maginot d'Alsace (ALMA). They also operate the large museum at the Fort de Schoenenbourg, one of the big artillery forts. On their website, click the link for Le Fort De Schoenenbourg, then on the right side of the page scroll down to the link "Le Schoenenbourg en trois dimensions (3D)". It contains a series of 3D renderings showing how the fort was designed. Very Cool.

Richard

 

Earthican, If you haven't already found it, the following link is to a monograph written after the war by one of the officers of the 232nd Inf (42nd Div). Covers his unit's experience in Nordwind.

http://tinyurl.com/cozwpvg

The author is a recipient of the Silver Star.

Richard

 

Earthican, The attached pdf file is the text of an article that appeared in the June 26, 1945 edition of Lorraine Cross, the bi-weekly newspaper of the 79th Division. It's about the 79th Reconaissance Troop, the division's organic mechanized recon unit. It describes their participation in the relief of the 232nd men trapped at Stattmatten as also described in Maj Harold Houser's monograph (see link in the above post). The "approximately fifteen riflemen" referred to by Houser were accompanied by the "dismounted dozen" described in the newspaper article. It is interesting to compare the two different accounts of the action. Houser does not identify the involvement of the 79th, and the 79th article does not mention Lt. Col. Custer....

Richard

 

We'll have to check into that. As an alternative, you could use a photo hosting website like Flickr, Photobucket, ImageShack, to name a few. These are all free, but you do need to set up an account. You just upload your photos to your account and they generate a URL that you can pasted into your post on the forum.

 

Richard,
As you said, interesting reading different accounts indeed. I've attached info from both the 827th TD and 781st TK describing actions around Sessenhiem. The 827th makes no mention of the town until the 18th when they fired on the church steeple. It doesn't sound like they were part of the US counterattacking task force on the 17th as indicated in the Houser narrative? The 781st mentions knocking out two Mk IV's on the 17th as part of the TF. The 781st was hammered on the 19th in another counterattack on the town, losing 6 tanks that day.

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Great finds, Richard, and thanks for sharing. I'll study those links later, I actually signed-in to post a recent find of my own.

While doing a completely unrelated Internet search I came across this book written by a veteran of the 19th AIB, Keith Christensen. The section on the R-H battle is brief (2 or 3 pages) but is the only first hand account of the late fighting in Hatten that I have seen. The passage starts on page 106 (page 115 of the PDF).

http://www.swsupply.com/downloads/HeroForADay.pdf

Print version for purchase here:

S & W Supply Co. - Jim 'Whiz' White - Ponsness-Warren, Perazzi Sales & Gunsmithing Services


Happy Independence Day, Bastille Day and Canada Day everyone!!!!

 

Thanks, Earthican. I started skimming that book and couldn't put it down. Parts of it are absolutely hilarious.

Regarding his time in Hatten, see also page 284.

Regarding the two items I posted about the action at Statmatten, the tanks involved were from the 781st Tank Battalion. Here's what they had to say about it in a unit history:

"Other actions by elements of the battalion were more successful. For example, while attached to the 79th Infantry Division’s 79th Cavalry Recon Troop, the 1st Platoon of Company D surprised a battalion of Germans from the 553rd Volks-Grenadier Division in Stattmatten on 6 January. When the carefully coordinated attack was over, the Americans had seriously disrupted the German battalion, killing at least 60 and capturing 30 more, including the battalion commander and his staff. Three members of Company D were killed and one wounded in the lopsided victory."

781st Tank Battalion Combat History

Richard

 

Steve, thanks for the pdf's. Regarding the unit history of the 827th TD, do you have the page that covers January 9 and 10?

Richard

 

Richard, check out post #116 on page 5 of this thread. When I originally posted that one, I was missing pages. Jan 9 and 10 are covered there. The journal only covers from the 10th forward. I also have copies of the hand written journal but it too starts on the 10th. I have all the records as indicated on the "Index of Records" for the 827th from College Park now. The documented activities during their combat time are very brief, I was glad to get the three somewhat "dark" pages to help flesh out the Jan 45 narrative a bit.

 

Not sure if this has been posted here before, but I just ran across a study written in 1950 at the Armored School, titled The Armored Division In The Defense (14th Armored Division In The Battle of Hatten - Rittershoffen 12-20 January 1945). About 100 pages including maps. Day by day, with great detail.

Battle of Hatten Rittershoffen: 14th Armored Division, 12-20 January 1945. :: World War II Operational Documents

 

I just scanned through the thread and it seems you get the credit for this find. Well done.

 

I picked up some new documents at the Eisenhower Library for Task Force Linden (42nd ID) and the 68th AIB. Don't know that there's anything new but it adds to the big picture. Only copied TF Linden docs prior to and thru the Hatten action, perhaps I should have continued thru the Sessenheim section also?


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