90th Infantry Division Pic of the Week: Habscheid, Germany
January 2, 2012
Posted in 90th Infantry Division, 90th Infantry Division Pic of the Week, Habscheid Germany, Siegfried Line, World War II
Tags: 90th Infantry Division, 90th Infantry Division Pic of the Week, Habscheid Germany, Siegfried Line, World War II
Happy New Year! I hope all are well into the recovery phase of their weekend journeys. It’s the first Monday of 2012, and time for the 90th Infantry Division Pic of the Week–a German pillbox from Habscheid, Germany.
My first day of combat began in Habscheid Germany on the 8th of Feb.’45.
Three of us replacements were brought into a pillbox (bunker) on the night
of the 8th and joined E. Co with a Sgt. Hobart Mueller as our squad leader.
Ten days later I was the only one left of the three of us as Robert Roper
and Irving Wigton were killed by a German 88 artillery shell. The Seigfried
Line was slow going as there were hundreds of pillboxes to be flushed out
and we were in the coldest winter in fifty years and really prepared for the
extreme weather. This is a great website with lots of history.
Vern Schmidt
Hello Mr Vernon Schmitt,
In your Time in the 8th, do you come to Kelberg?
Can you remember to this City?
Best Regards
Manni
My father, James Maddi, served in the 357th Regiment. Today is the 72nd anniversary of D-Day and I’ve been searching online about the 90th Division to get an idea of my father’s war service.
He was captured inside Germany on Feb. 8, 1945. So I searched for “357th Regiment and February 8th, 1945.” I found a report on February, 1945 90th Division operations at http://www.90thdivisionassoc.org/afteractionreports/PDF/Feb-45.pdf
On page 8 there’s a report of a battle for some pillboxes near Habscheid. For Feb. 8, “At 0500 several hundred Germans with assault guns and tanks counterattacked Company K 357th in attempt to regain Hill 511. The pillbox on the Hill changed hands three times in the severe fighting which continued throughout the day. Supporting tanks moved up to help repel the attack only to be knocked out by enemy high velocity and artillery fire as they moved down the forward slope. At length the attack was beaten off with 15 men captured by the Germans.”
I don’t know what company my father was in, but he might have been one of the 15 soldiers in Company K captured, as described in this report. I don’t remember my father ever talking about his service in WWII. He passed away in 2004, so it was a revelation to read this report.