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243 13 Winter Battles Following the relief of Bastogne, the division was kept out of major combat operations for a month. The 112th Infantry functioned as part of XVIII Airborne Corps’s reserve through the end of December, with only the 2nd Battalion carrying out an attack as an attachment to the 75th Infantry Division. Through much of January its men manned a position between Givet and Verdun.1 Nelson ’s regiment was in the best condition of any and conducted some substantial patrolling during the first couple of weeks of the month. It captured, for instance, “200 prisoners . . . in Spineaux” on the 7th.2 The 112th did not return to Cota’s command until January 13.3 One of the Bloody Bucket’s main tasks throughout January was reconstituting itself and incorporating replacements. The rifle regiments absorbed “droves” of green troops and trained diligently, with the 110th functioning as the division’s reserve formation.4 When the 28th moved to Charleville, a town about seventy miles east of Paris, it began to put its rifle regiments back togethermoresystematically.Refittingthe109thand112thRegimentswasrelativelyeasybecausebothwere “ingeneral,inexcellentshape.”OnlyCompanyE of the Old Gray Mare had taken severe losses. Nelson’s regiment needed seven hundred replacements, but he had received enough so that his companies were in good order. Even after a month of combat, the 112th evinced good morale. Rebuilding the 110th was another matter. Headquarters Company and 2nd Battalion had enough of a cadre left so that they were manned first, and any straggler or troop returning from the hospital who was a member of those formations rejoined them. The division rebuilt the 1st and 3rd Battalions almost from scratch, however, establishing “Company X,” which formed cadres to reconstitutethem .Replacements,4,168ofthem,atestamenttotheseverityofthe fighting during December, then brought the units up to strength. By January 25, over 3,000 soldiers once again populated each rifle regiment, and the divi- 244 | Guard Wars sion was at full strength.5 Such were the recuperative powers of the American forces that every division save the 106th Infantry had been replenished within a month of Wacht am Rhein.6 As a part of this reconstitution, Lieutenant Colonel Rudder trained the juniorofficersandNCOsinthe109thInfantryandensuredthattheypracticed small-unit tactics. He recognized that the patrols near Verdun helped his new officers gain needed experience. He also forced his sergeants to learn how to lead by depriving them of constant supervision. Consequently the NCOs gained more responsibility and had to ensure that the men were fed and were keeping their equipment in good condition. As a result, the soldiers respected theirsergeantsmore.7 Becausereplacementshadfilledthe110th’sranks,Daniel Strickler graded his regiment as “FAIR,” the best he could grade it given the prevalence of greenhorns. The 110th had to carry out only one minor mission thatmonth,capturingthehamletofLeNorment,France,onJanuary28.Losses of only four killed, sixty-three wounded, and none missing or captured made clear that it was a slow month for the regiment.8 These GIs would not receive months of time to train together and learn theircraftthewaythedivisionhadayearprior.TheGermanArmywasreeling, andtherewasnotimetowasteinkeepingupthepursuit.BeginningonJanuary 17, the men who did not have to drive the division’s vehicles stuffed themselves into boxcars for a move to Ste.-Marie-aux-Mines. They were transferred temporarily to the French II Corps on the 20th before coming under the XXI U.S. Corps’s command (15th Army, 6th Army Group) on the 28th.9 For over two days the men huddled in boxcars, warming themselves around charcoal fires in small buckets.10 The journey from the railhead to the front reintroduced them to the random unfairness of the combat zone. A truck full of two dozen soldiers struck a mine, which exploded its fuel tank. The men who were wearing rain ponchos were lucky, for they were able to save themselves by throwing them off their bodies. A couple who were wearing just jackets suffered third-degree burns. “Their bodies were masses of charred flesh, seared together with their clothing by the heat of the burning gas. They looked as if they had been roasted over an open fire. We tried everything we could think of to separate the clothing from the burned men without pealing [sic] the skin off in large pieces, but without much success.”11 Once they arrived at Ste.-Marie-auxMines , the Keystone soldiers carried out patrols and raids, but did not have to participate in an operation of the magnitude of the Ardennes. Only eleven were killed in action during January. For one two-week span its artillery did [3.144...

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