1910 hours, November 6. The Battalion departed from Mercy 1e Haut, en route to a position
near Seutzich. Moving over rugged terrain and mucky roads, blacked out the Battalion went into
position at 0030. Every driver on that march deserves high praise for bringing his vehicle through. It
was a helluva night! The Battalion set up their CP in Fort 688 of the Maginot Line. The scheduled
assault of the Moselle River was postponed, because the steadily rising waters of the once peaceful and
narrow stream. The dangers in crossing grew as time became more precious. Finally at 0330 November
9 the first wave crossed in assault boats.
The enemy was well protected in it’s fortifications, while our own doughs with the rain and cold
to combat along with plenty of enemy artillery and tanks were finding the going tough. This they could
lick, but nature seemed against us for the rains continued, and the once placid Moselle became a raging
torrent, nearly a mile and a half wide. Bridge after bridge was broken and washed away by the
rampaging river. Rafts and boats were capsized. The infantry, separated from its artillery and supply,
by the muddy tide, became desperate for supplies. Figuring a little was better than nothing, Lt. Watland
loaded his cub with medical supplies and despite the weather and enemy landed the precious craft across
the river. This initiated a series of mercy flights by the Div Arty “Air Corps”, and earned the undying
gratitude of the doughs, and a DSC for Lt. Watland.
Finally after losing bridge after bridge to nature or enemy artillery, the reluctant Moselle was
finally spanned. The badly needed tanks, TD’s, and all kinds of supplies began a steady flow across to
the Koenigsmacher side of the river.
The artillery was kept busy day and night firing on enemy positions. Many targets were marked
with smoke for the air force to bomb. Captain Clint W. Bracher and Lt. William D. Tatsch went up to
replace Captain “Fearless Fosdick” Weinrich and Captain David E. “Molasses” Graf who had been
wounded as Liaison 1 and 3. For “Pappy” it was his second time. Both had been up on liaison since the
beginning and had been doing “crack up” jobs.
14 November the entire battalion was across the river and in position near Koenigsmacher.
Shortly after the CP was set up, representatives of the Division informed us that Division forward
Headquarters and Div Arty Headquarters were moving into the town and that “we might be a little
crowded”. We took the hint and moved forward to Elzange. We didn’t like the idea of being kicked out
of town, but that night we sat snug and smug in our new position while the Krauts shelled hell out of
Koenigsmacher. There wasn’t a round that landed in our position.
I guess life is like that.
The next morning the 343rd personnel were up bright and early. Some time later the Div Arty
Executive Officer entered the CP and informed Colonel Reimers that the infantry was pushing out fast
(the same into that we had sent Div Arty some time before) and that we would have to displace forward
by leap-frogging the batteries. He explained that he would show how it was done. During the
conversation he was looking directly at the Silver Star awarded to Colonel Reimers by General McLain
for the Mayenne-Le Mans engagement for giving artillery support at all times during this fast moving
engagement.
16 November the body of Lt. Henry R. Dutkiewicz, Able Battery’s FO, was found. He had been
missing since the 9th when he and his radio operator Cpl. Joe Sellitti crossed the river with the infantry.
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