| In spite of the incessant shelling to which they were
exposed, in spite of casualties suffered in the river itself as boats
capsized and sank, the valiant attempt to supply the troops continued.
Somehow a few motor launches managed to get through, somehow the wounded
were evacuated. On November 11th the bridge at Malling was
completed, but the water on the causeway approach was so deep the vehicles
were unable to reach the bridge. Nevertheless, the three regiments forged ahead. The 359th, on the left, despite dogged resistance and fierce enemy shelling, succeeded in retaking almost all the ground lost to them in the previous day's counterattack. In the center of the Division zone, the 357th sliced deep into enemy territory, drove down the line of Maginot forts, advanced through hilly wooded terrain devoid of routes, and in a brilliantly executed maneuver reached a line considerably ahead of the adjacent regiments. In the 358th's zone, the inviolable Fort Koenigsmacker, defended by an entire battalion of the enemy fell. In what was possibly the most dramatic episode of the 90th Division's career, the Fort, symbol to the Nazi of solid impregnability, to the American a most painful stiletto thrust in the 90th's back, succumbed to the decimated elements of the 1st Battalion. For 72 hours the doughs on the top of the Fort had fought without respite, for three days and three nights they had accepted heavy casualties and still fought on. On the third morning the Division commander issued orders to halt the costly assault on the Fort. The answer was typical of the spirit which motivated the 90th during those hopeless days in November. "This fort is ours ! I could not ask my men to leave here now. They are more determined than I to finish the job". The attackers poured gallons of gasoline into the ventilators, ignited the gasoline with white phosphorous grenades, touched off the hellish ingredients with a satchel charge. More charges were dropped through other ventilator shafts, the steel doors were blown from their hinges. The enemy, blackened by smoke and flame, raced desperately from the man-made holocaust. In the meantime, another company had gained access to another section of tunnels in the rear of the Fort. The frantically fleeing Germans found themselves cut off from all avenues of escape. At the day's end the 90th Division could truthfully say, "This fort is ours". And so, without a bridge, without adequate supplies, without armor, without rest, warmth or sufficient food, the Division doubled the area of its penetration in a single day. At six in the evening, the Moselle, too, surrendered. The crest of the flood had been reached and now the waters began to subside reluctantly and sullenly at the rate of 3/4 of an inch per hour. Soon the bridge would be secured and adequate support would reach the other side. |
|
|
|
- 37 -
|
