When the captain commanding the assault was severely wounded at the beginning of the action, Staff Sergeant Charles E. First, Company A assaulted the German-held town of Kindwiller. For their bravery, Keeby, Weaver, Ingram, Bass, and Greer would be awarded Bronze Stars.Įxtended action resumed on March 15, when the 614th was ordered to accompany the 103rd Division as it pushed across the border into Germany. Shocked, the remaining six Germans in the mill surrendered. Keeby then tossed a grenade that killed another German defender. Leading the way inside, Private George Bass of Columbus Georgia, sprayed the room with his automatic rifle, forcing the Germans to take cover. Augustine, Texas, meanwhile, discovered another German machine gun nest and killed its two-man crew before it could open fire. Private First Class Henry Weaver of Baltimore, Maryland, spotted and shot a German automatic rifleman and Private First Class Thomas Ingram of Fort Worth, Texas, picked off the enemy machine gunner. Inspired by Keeby’s strong presence, the attackers didn’t hesitate. Nevertheless, as they approached the mill, alert German infantry took the Americans under accurate machine gun and automatic rifle fire.Īmerican infantry advance through Germany's Siegfried Line, 1945. Keeby of Chicago, Illinois, prepared the raid with exquisite care. Pressed into service normally carried out by the regular infantry, the platoon, commanded by First Lieutenant Joseph L. On the night of February 4-5, 1945, a reconnaissance platoon of the 614th was ordered to carry out a raid on an old mill held by the Germans, which the 103rd Division infantry had tried and failed to take. Later, the three-inch (76.2mm) M5 guns of the 614th were called upon to knock out enemy pillboxes and other positions in support of raids by the 103rd Infantry Division, to which the unit was attached. On New Year's Day, a German patrol isolated and attacked an outpost of the 614th, only to be beaten back at the cost of nine killed and two captured. Fighting here was intermittent, but wholly to the Americans’ credit. National Archives photo.Īfter the tough fight on Climbach, France, on December 14 that had blooded the African American 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion and resulted in the awarding of several medals for heroism to men of the unit, orders came to shift to Sarreguemines, France, near Germany’s critically important Saar region. Top Image: American infantry and tanks advancing in Germany, 1945.
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