|
|
| Task Force Spiess, consisting of units of the 773rd
Tank Destroyer Battalion, the 712th Tank Battalion and 90th
Reconnaissance Troops, was subdivided once more into Task Forces Kelly and
Dye. The mission of these forces was to drive through to the Rhine River,
clearing out the area from Boppard to Saint-Goar. Within two hours after
jumping off from Ehr, Task Force Kelly had reached the Rhine. Task Force
Dye, however, ran into a heavy fight with SS troops blocking the road to
Boppard. The enemy was eventually dispersed. The Field Artillery was having its day, too, on precision targets. Three steamers and five barges, loaded to capacity with German troops and equipment attempting to escape across the line, received direct hits. More and more pressure was added. In the south Seventh Army had broken through the Siegfried Line and was advancing to close the trap around the enemy according to plan. On the 90th's left the 87th Division had crossed the Moselle in its drive to take Koblenz. On all fronts was any effort made to hold a line. Only here and there was a crossroad or a village defended, a strategy which could cause casualties but hardly influence the course of the war. Boppard and Saint-Goar fell to the 90th on the 17th, and the area between the two Rhine cities was cleared with little opposition. By the 18th the 90th had cleared the west bank of the Rhine from Boppard to Bingen and extended southward along the Nahe River. It was now planned to send yet another combat team in the wake of the 4th Armored, while the remainder of the 90th would hold along the Nahe. But Corps suddenly assigned a new mission to the 90th. The Division would cross the Nahe, drive southeast, and capture the highly important city of Mainz. Previously, the 90th's activities had somehow been confined to villages, hedgerows, rivers and hills ; but it was nothing if not versatile. Hardly pausing, except to study its maps, the T-O Division stormed forward toward the city on the Rhine. With the 2nd Cavalry Group attached, the 90th crossed the Nahe River on March 19th against no opposition, and before nightfall had expanded its bridgehead to a depth of six miles. Once more Task Force Spiess was called upon to exploit the breakthrough. Divided into three smaller columns Task Force Spiess broke through weak defenses, and by nightfall its leading elements had reached a point only three miles from Mainz itself. Heavy resistance was encountered in the town of Nieder Olm, and the AAF (Army Air Force) was called upon for assistance. Fighter bombers strafed and bombed, tank destroyers and assault guns moved up to destroy enemy vehicles attempting to escape the town. White flags appeared, but when elements of the Task Force moved in they were met by fire of 20 mm and 88 mm guns. That was deliberate treachery, and American artillery responded sharply. Nieder Olm fell shortly thereafter. |
|
|
|
- 72 -
|
