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6 The Saarlautern Interlude January 28-March 5, 1945 ~ OPERATIONAL BACKGROUND At the conclusion of the Ardennes campaign the Third Army was stretched along a front of nearly a hundred miles, from the vicinity of St. Vith, Belgium, to Saarlautern, Germany (see Map 6). In the north, with hardly a pause, the trio of Third Army corps that had participated in clearing the Bulge pressed on across the Our River into the rugged Eifel region of Germany, between the borders of Belgium/Luxembourg and the Rhine River. Significant gains were registered during February in the southern half of that sector, where, operating over some of the most forbidding terrain on the Western Front, VIII and XII Corps punched through the West Wall and some twenty-five miles beyond. On the extreme right flank of the Third Army sector, life was considerably quieter, however. The American response to the crisis in the Ardennes in late December had shifted the center of gravity of Patton's army well to the north, with XX Corps left to conduct a holding operation on the southern end of the line. This stretched along the west bank of the northeasterly-flowing Moselle River to roughly the southern border of Luxembourg. Then the line doglegged eastward for a few miles until it reached the Saar River, which it followed south to just below the city of Saarlautern, where the Seventh U.S. Army zone began. The Saar River itself represented an imposing obstacle, the more so since the strongest fortifications of the entire West Wall lay along its east bank. At this time the American forces' lone bridgehead over the Saar, and toehold in the West Wall, was immediately east of Saarlautern. This lodgment had been achieved at considerable cost by the 95th Division in mid-December, just before operations on that front had been suspended to respond to the German assault into the Ardennes. Saarlautern itself, which lay on the west bank of the river, had posed no difficulty. But the transpontine suburbs of Saarlouis-Roden, Fraulautern, and Ensdorf were bristling with pillboxes and fortified bunkers, 126 of which the 95th Division had managed to reduce in bloody assaults. General Patton had been concerned to hold on to this dearly bought 160 • THE SAARLAUTERN INTERLUDE bridgehead after that sector of the front had gone inactive following the shift of attention northward. After a brief rest, the 95th Division had been returned to maintain an active defense of this vital toehold in the West Wall. There it remained until relieved by the 26th Division on January 29, 1945.1 [P.R.] Jan. 28-Feb. 4, 1945. The 26th Division is transferred to Saarlautern, where Egger joins them in the cellars of suburban Fraulautern. OTTS We loaded on trucks before daylight on the 28th and traveled eighty miles to the village of Berviler, France, arriving late in the afternoon . Some of my platoon were already there and had our house picked out. Everyone had a wonderful glow from just being away from the continuous shelling and in a warm building. The next afternoon, January 29, we loaded on trucks and drove into the heart of the city of Saarlautern, where we detrucked and went into buildings in order not to be seen in the streets by the German observers in the hills to the north. According to the 2nd Battalion history, Handcar White [p. 47], Saarlautern had been a city of 30,000 before the war but was now practically deserted. Across the Saar River, which looped around the north side of the city, were several suburbs (see Map 7). The steep hill beyond bristled with pillboxes whose guns commanded the entire area, keeping up a steady fire on any American troops spotted on the roads and bridges or in the buildings. This was one of the most formidable sections of the West Wall. We stayed in the buildings until after dark then marched through the snowy streets and across the bridge over the Saar River. Beyond the bridge was an open area for about a quarter-mile where any movement drew small arms and mortar fire from the pillboxes in the hills. This sector always had to be crossed at night and at high speed, which was not easy for foot soldiers carrying bedrolls and equipment. Our destination was the battered suburban town of Fraulautern, where we were met by guides from the unit we were relieving. In Fraulautern we went through three factory buildings on our...

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