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Chapter VIII For their next mission, the Rangers became a part of General Patton’s Third U. S. Army, and were further attached to the Sixth Cavalry Group for operations. It was a cold, muddy December Ist when the Rangers moved out for their next campaign. “A” Company joined Troop “A” of the Sixth Cavalry Squadron at Longeville les St. Avold, -- “D” Company joined Troop “B” of the Sixth Cavalry Squadron at an assembly area in the vicinity of St. Avold, -- and the remainder of the battalion moved as far as Porcelette on trucks and then marched to Grunhoff. A five man patrol was sent out from Grunhoff to reconnoiter the town of Diesen, and that night, the battalion moved up, setting up the Command Post in Diesen. Next morning, “B” and “E” Companies attacked, crossing the Diesen-Carling Road and advancing Northeast. “C” Company followed, one hour later, and the entire attacking force met scattered but stubborn resistance, and heavy artillery fire bursting in the tree tops, hindered but could not stop the advancing Rangers. That night, Company “C” moved into position, contacting Company “C” of the Tenth Infantry on its left and Company “E” on its right. Meanwhile, Company “D”, after a brief reconnaissance of L’Hopital, attacked the town under the supporting fires furnished by Sixth Cavalry’s Troop “B” and a Cannon Company of the Tenth Infantry. The Rangers advanced despite the heavy enemy artillery and small arms fire, but ran into very determined resistance in the center of the town, and since they had no artillery support, they were forced to hold fast. A heavy outnumbering enemy counter-attack forced the Rangers to fall back 500 yards, but there they held, after suffering twenty Ranger casualties and killing thirty Germans. Company “A” was used by Company “A”, Sixth Cavalry Squadron, to reinforce the line along the woods South of L’Hopital. Their attack had been called off, as the Cavalry guides had became lost. For the first day of fighting, the Rangers sustained thirty-five casualties, took eight prisoners and killed approximately sixty-five Germans. Next morning, the enemy hit Ranger Company “B” with a heavy counter-attack, but “B” held its ground and the enemy paid for its folly with twenty-eight killed, thirty wounded and one prisoner. “F” Company then attacked the town of Lauterbach, advancing across open ground, under a hail of mortar and small arms fire. The first assault wave left the woods on the run, across the open fields toward the town. They were exposed to enemy observation from high ground to the front on both flanks. 200 yards from the town’s edge, this wave came under the unmerciful machine guns of the enemy, one machine gun firing from an emplacement on the left and two firing from emplacements on the right. Here, a Ranger gave his life in exchange for that of his fellow Rangers, -- gave his life in one of the greatest displays of courage, heroism and self-sacrifice and made his name a symbol of achievement to the other Rangers. His name, -- Leo G. Samborowski, Private First Class, a B. A. R. gunner. From an exposed position on the forward slope of a hill, he poured a full magazine burst into the two emplacements on the right, while his comrades found slight cover from the machine guns. Realizing that the greatest danger came from the emplacement on the left, he ran forward until he could train his gun directly on the open emplacement, and firing eight full clips of ammunition, he eliminated the Machine Gun, while his comrades reached the houses on the edge of the town. The machine guns on the right flank fired at him until they killed him. Leo G. Samborowski was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, -- Posthumously. “F” Company reached the first six houses, where they had a constant fight with a Tiger tank that brought a wall down on Captain Reveille (then Ist Lt.) and six men, but they scrambled out of the house, unhurt. In the next house, Corporal Andrew (Pappy) Speir was having a private battle with the Tiger tank. He was firing at it with a Bazooka and it was firing back at him, point blank, tumbling him from his perch on the top floor of the house. Each time he scrambled back up, unhurt, to fire again, and this went on and on until some Ranger mortar men drove the infantry away from the tank, -- and the tank retreated. Meanwhile, “A” Company, waiting in the adjacent woods for an opportunity to cross into the town, directed artillery on the enemy tank and also knocked out an enemy Command Post. Then under cover of darkness, “A” Company were guided across the ground by non-coms of “F” Company under the very barrels of enemy machine guns, and into the town. “C” Company attacked Northeast through Carling to contact Company “F”. However, heavy, artillery, mortar and small arms fire held up “C” Company with eight casualties, and a patrol was sent through enemy lines to contact “F” Company. The patrol returned with sixteen prisoners, but did not contact “F” Company. An assault platoon was immediately dispatched to try again, but the enemy fire was impenetrable and the platoon failed. “B” Company captured twenty-nine prisoners from an enemy platoon that got to its rear, and then progressed into Lauterbach to join “A” and “F”. Company “F” of Sixth Cavalry Squadron was unable to furnish effective supporting fire, because the mud made their tanks immobile, and the 602nd TDs met the same difficulties. These were no days for tanks or vehicle warfare and it remained strictly a doughboy’s fight. The next town to fall was Carling. Company “E” met little resistance as the Rangers took the town and went on to coordinate with “B” Company who was poised outside the German barracks at Aspenhubel. Together they struck, clearing the Barracks area and taking nine prisoners. “D” Company, however, met stubborn resistance in taking L’Hopital, and after advancing 400 yards, were forced to dig in South of the town, for protection against the heavy enemy mortar fire and small arms fire. Meanwhile, Companies “A”, “B”, “C” and “E” advanced into a zone of action which included the northeastern portion of L’Hopital and the woods bordering it. They met little opposition and contacted “D” Company and elements of the Sixth Cavalry Squadron. L’Hopital was taken and the entire battalion assembled and attacked toward Carlsbrunn, taking the town without resistance. Plans were made to capture the Volklingen Factory, intact, by crossing the river at night, and taking the well-guarded factory by surprise. However, this plan was cancelled by the Commanding General of the Fifth U. S. Infantry Division. The battalion remained in an assembly area in Ludweiler, Germany, conducting rehabilitation, keeping two companies alerted for use as a mobile reserve force for the Sixth Cavalry Group. Enemy action and the cold, muddy winter had caused the strength of the Fifth Ranger Battalion to drop dangerously near an ineffective figure. On December 8th, “A” Company assumed a defensive sector with “C” Troop of the Sixth Cavalry Squadron, while “F” Company was attached to “B” Troop with a mission of containing and patrolling along a line to the Saar River. The remainder of the battalion was kept in Ludweiler as a reserve force. The two patrolling companies had minor clashes with the enemy and were constantly under heavy mortar and artillery barrages, but suffered few casualties, while taking a respectable toll of enemy killed and captured. On December 11th, Companies “C” and “D” relieved “A” and “F” and patrolling continued. On December 13th, the battalion moved to a new area at Ziegelhutte, Germany, and then to Stein-B, Germany, where the Rangers assumed responsibility for a new sector of the front lines. Ranger patrols kept contact between Ranger Companies and Cavalry, after meeting large enemy patrols and having brisk fire fights. The Ranger Companies also set booby-traps for unwary Germans, as they were patrolling a Division size front with an understrength Ranger battalion. The booby-traps served nobly as they accounted for a number of very unhappy Germans. On December 21st, a platoon each of Companies “C” and “D” faked an attack to draw the enemy’s attention away from a raid objective. One battalion of medium artillery was thrown on the objective, followed by a battalion of light artillery that boxed in the target area on three sides, as a raiding party of Company “B” rushed in and killed twenty-eight enemy, wounding twenty-five and took one prisoner. The raiding party suffered one lightly wounded casualty. On December 24th, the Rangers were relieved of their mission and moved to Metz, France, where Christmas was celebrated with Church Services and a huge dinner. Tally for the campaign; |
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