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CHAPTER VIII |
| The Maginot Line had been crushed by the irresistible
advance of American troops. Germany itself lay only a few kilometers to the
east, and in Germany lay the fortifications on which the enemy High Command
relied to save the "sacred" soil of the Fatherland. What ingredients were
fused to make the Siegfried Line were not known completely. The 90th
Division was soon to learn. In the meantime, the 10th Armored Division, which had crossed the Moselle in the wake of the 90th with the mission of probing north toward Saarburg, had run into a defensive belt running from Nennig on the Moselle east to Merzig on the Saar. This belt, as it developed, was a switch pattern of the Siegfried Line. Since nature of the terrain and the quality of defense denied passage to the armor of the 10th, the 358th Infantry was assigned the task of clearing a path in the vicinity of Tettingen and Oberleuken. On Thanksgiving morning, November 23rd, the 358th launched its attack. After making excellent progress initially the assaulting battalions became targets for violent artillery barrages. Pillboxes with well-defended communications trenches located in carefully selected positions provided the enemy with a perfect defense. Nevertheless, the attacking regiment moved forward in spite of a heavy toll in casualties. For three days they reduced one after another of the German strong points, driving north as far as Oberleuken and Butzdorf, capturing prisoners, destroying the Siegfried defenses. Two towns, and part of a third had been taken, 26 pillboxes put out of action, 500 prisoners captured, and the deepest penetration made of the switch that was to be effected during 1944. These achievements were accomplished, however, at a high cost. At the end of three days enemy action and trench foot had reduced the effective rifle strength of one battalion to a mere 100. The serious drain in the Regiment's strength, plus the grueling period of action it had seen during the preceding two weeks were more than sufficient reasons to effect immediate relief of the exhausted 358th. The XX Corps issued the necessary orders, and the following day the Regiment moved rearward for rest and rehabilitation. |
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