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| And suddenly the picture changed. In the north, in
Luxembourg and Belgium, General Von Rundstedt hurled his best divisions into
a final counteroffensive. Before the fury of the attack the American lines
bent back. In the Moselle-Saar triangle another enemy assault was in
preparation. The spearheads across the Saar were exposed and vulnerable. In
view of these rapidly altering developments, the 90th was ordered
to disengage, to return its forces to the west bank of the Saar. Never before in the history of the Division had it disengaged, and its first experience was fraught with difficulty and danger. Only one ferry, one footbridge and few assault boats were available for the maneuver that was to move the entire Division across the river under enemy observation. On December 19th the withdrawal began. As the troops retired they destroyed all equipment which might possibly be of aid to the enemy, mined the areas they abandoned and moved slowly westward. For three days the operation continued, while the enemy remained in complete ignorance of what was occurring. Crews, working on the bridge and ferry sites, performed miracles in moving vehicles and armor across the Saar. Roads on the eastern side became impassable, and each vehicle required winching through the mud and over the steep banks. Enemy artillery destroyed the ferry, and with only a few hours remaining in which to complete the withdrawal, 25 armored vehicles remained on the wrong side of the river. In the darkness and in the freezing waters, under continuous shelling the men at the river slaved through the night to salvage what they could. Only the wreckage of six vehicles remained as a prize for the Germans when the withdrawal was completed. And so the crossing of the Saar was successfully accomplished, the Siegfried Line cracked, and another triumph almost with the grasp of the 90th. But the fortunes of war had not entirely erased the Division's achievements at Dillingen. For now the men of the 90th knew that the Siegfried Line could be broken, and they knew also that if they had done it once they could do it again. The opportunity lay not far in the future. |
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