RHINE CROSSING TO CZECHOSLOVAKIA
We deported from Drais, Germany at 1500 hours, 23 March 1945 and moved a distance of
approximately 35 miles to descend into the Rhine valley at Dienheim, closing into an assembly area at
1700 hours to await darkness – and to sweat out our turn to cross the Rhine River! The crossing was to
be made on a pontoon bridge established by the 5th Infantry Division at the ferry site just north of
Oppenheim, Germany. Orders came at 2100 hours to follow the 915th FA Battalion over the river. The
bright moonlight made blackout driving relatively easy, but the same moonlight also made enemy
aircraft active at the crossing site. Plenty of excitement ensued when a strafing plane set fire to a loaded
gasoline truck approaching the bridge entrance from the north just as the head of the 345th column was
about one third of the way across the river. The column halted on the bridge for approximately one hour
while a 915th FA Battalion 2½ ton Service Battery truck which had jumped the track with its front
wheels was placed back on the bridge. The Heinie planes continued to maneuver and strafe, friendly
antiaircraft artillery pumped shells into the air, and the gasoline truck continued to burn and light up the
bridge site bright as day. Fortunately there were no casualties sustained at the crossing site or on the
remainder of the movement to the next position area in the flats northwest of Leeheim, Germany. There
were some near casualties though, the incidents are humorous … now! Captain Decker, Battalion
Communications Officer, and Captain Douglas, BC of D Battery of the 537th AAA Battalion were in
Leeheim making a “reconnaissance” before our Battalion arrived. Captain Decker had done right well.
His pockets were bulging with eggs. As the two officers were walking down the street, the Krauts
suddenly put in a perfect concentration of artillery. Although some shells hit just a few yards away,
neither of the officers were scratched as they lay biting the dirt in the gutter. Captain Decker’s eggs
were a total loss; his coat went in for salvage!
This position area also will be wi11 remembered, for though we were situated far enough from
the bridge site to be out of the way of enemy planes, and far enough from Leeheim to be out of the way
of enemy artillery firing into the town, we were situated at the end of the trajectory of American anti-
aircraft artillery and AA machine guns defending the bridge. This friendly fire made things lively for us
during our two nights stay. We found foxholes very comfortable.
In the Leeheim position area, the firing batteries did excellent shooting under the observation of
Lts. O’Connor and Hertzog. We destroyed two 88’s, five 20mm anti-aircraft guns, five 40mm anti-
aircraft guns, and one heavy machine gun in the vicinity of Wolfskellen; this eliminated enemy
resistance holding up the 90th Division’s advance to the east.
Again the 4th Armored Division passed through us to take battle position on our Division’s south
flank. With enemy resistance broken along the Leeheim-Darmstadt road, the division quickly advanced
both east and north to positions along the Main River east of Frankfurt. There on the 28th of March, the
357th Infantry forced a crossing of the Main river at Rumpelheim, and the 358th Infantry forced a
crossing of the Main at Dornigheim. The 345th supported CT 358 in the river operation, and we crossed
the river at 2230 hours on the night of March 28th.
On the 29th, we were assigned the mission of reinforcing CT’s 358 and 359 in their mission of
following and mopping up behind the 4th Armored Division in an advance to the northeast – and thence
southeast of Hof, Germany, near the Czechoslovakian border. We started this operation on 30 March
1945 at Enzheim. Often we occupied two, three, or four positions daily. Our route passed through the
towns of Merkenfritz, Schlitz, Ausbach, Vacha, Bad Salzungen, Bad Liebenstein, Wiesenthal,
Schmalkalden, Zella Mehlis, Gehlberg, Ilmenau, Gehren, Volkmannsdorf, Schlaga, Schonbrunn,
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