808 TD Btn Attached to 76th Infantry
See Intro - 3 April
9 February - 3 April 1945 - Companies A and C joined Company B with the 76th Infantry 22 February to 3 April, 1945 (I do not have a date for Co B joining the 76th.)
After the 808 tank destroyer battalion left the 80th Infantry they were
scattered for several months. Each company or platoon was in combat
everyday.
I have not been able to ascertain with certainty where everyone else
was.
"The 76th Infantry Division’s 417th Infantry Regiment is credited as being the first unit to cross the Luxembourg-German border to secure a foot-hold on the east bank of the Sauer River in the Echternach region." The 808 Tank Destroyer Battalion is credited with making this happen.
The Division stormed across the Our and Sauer Rivers at
Wallendorf, broke through the Siegfried Line, pursued the
fleeing enemy to Kaiserlautern, 20 March, and crossed the Rhine, 27-28
March, near Mainz.
They continued to press onward smashing the German resistance every step of the way.
The following information was retrieved some time ago from the website of the 76th Infantry. They no longer maintain the pages I found this info on so I have removed the link to their site but surely the info has not changed so I continue to publish it here.
Between
the 19th and 25th of February the 76th continued its studious reduction of
enemy defenses, availing itself of the 808th TD Battalion's 90 MM
guns whose shock effect on pillbox occupants was so severe that in many
cases the by now familiar white flag was hoisted before
the infantrymen had to close in for the assault.
The veil of a moderate fog had helped
the initial group in their river crossing, but by the time the
balance of the 1st Battalion set out to utilize the same bridgehead it
ran against very heavy mortar fire. the Germans, however, did not have
what it takes. By 0730 (25th), supported by the 808th TD
Battalion's accounting of five pillboxes and two observation posts,
... the battalion had reorganized on the east bank.
The 808th TD Battalion's second platoon of Company B was called up to the west bank of the river overlooking the town to train 90's on buildings housing the snipers. A few cannon rounds, a belt or two of .50 caliber machine gun fire, and the enemy felt differently disposed. As if from nowhere, three German soldiers appeared at the far bank's edge, one waving a white flag. Fire was suspended while the trio swam the river to the west bank. Their aquatic mission, it turned out, was to arrange for the surrender of a fifty-three-man enemy garrison. The three soaked intermediaries were given a boat to ferry some very docile Germans to our lines
Early
on the 27th (February), the 417th moved in a column of battalions
through Wolsfeld. ... The 2d Battalion, nucleus of a task force designed
to exploit southern advances on division order, was teamed with the
following cohorts: Company B, 808th Tank Destroyer Battalion;
Company A, 702d Tank Battalion; 76th Reconnaissance Troop minus one
platoon; one platoon of Company C, 301st Engineer Battalion; a
detachment from Service Company, 417th Infantry; a radio team from 76th
Signal Company; and sixteen trucks and proportionate driver complement
of the 76th Quartermaster Company.
When
taken, the Katzenkopf was found to contain, for instance, 10,000 rounds
of mortar ammunition. But the on-target firing of the 808th Tank
Destroyer crews zeroed in on the machine gun turrets and
quickly sent the Germans out of their subterranean stronghold,
thoroughly whipped and thankful to be alive.
On
the 6 March
The curtain rose on the real-life drama of blood and guts. A Corps
Artillery 155 MM "Long Tom" and two tank destroyers of the 808th Tank
Destroyer Battalion were brought into Echternach
from where they engaged a few of the pillboxes across the river.
13
March
Enemy concentrations in Erden and Losnich suffered the direct
fire of an 808th TD Battalion company. The 301st Engineer
Battalion swept the north bank roads of mines and sent reconnaissance
parties looking for bridging sites. The 76th Division was getting set to
cross the Moselle.
Co
C - 21 to 23 December 1944 4th Infantry Division
Company C is listed as an infantry unit in the chronicles of the 4th infantry for this period. Is it a typo?
Although its lines were dented, with the help of the 808th TD, the 76th Infantry managed to hold the Germans at Dickweiler and Osweiler.
Next - Liberation of Concentration Camp at Gotha
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