49th Armored Infantry Battalion
Headquarters Co. - Company Diary
March 1945

Extracts (verbatim) Made By: 1st Lt. Howard L. Clark, Historical Officer
AT : Venlo, Holland 1500 hours, 16 March 1945

5 March 1945 and 6 March 1945 (by platoons)

    At 0430 we moved to Lintfort and occupied the town at 1000. There were pockets of resistance till 1200 but the town was finally cleared. Then we moved south of Rheinberg where resistance was heavy.

Assault Gun Platoon

At Lintfort, we moved forward to support C. Co. There, we encountered heavy mortar fire on the outskirts of town. Proceeded through town to the Co. assembly area at 1600/ Col. (Morgan G.) Roseborough took Sgt (John W.) Dauphinais' tank for personal reconnaissance. The 2 other tanks went to the assistance of C. Co. who was pinned down by heavy fire. (1 tank had Sgt. (Lionel W.) Cooke the other Lt. (James T.) Cheney making 6 man crews.) Both tanks moved forward and covering each other they shelled the house, emplacements and wooded area. Seeing a wounded man, Sgt. (Lionel W.) Cooke backed the tank up in front of him and under heavy fire assisted the man to the back of the tank and evacuated him. Pvt. (Frank A.) Lekosky, the A.G.'s medic, seeing this action from a half-track sped 200 yards across an open field under fire to assist Sgt. (Lionel W.) Cooke. Both men risked their own lives to aid the wounded man. With the help of the Mortar Platoon's accurate fire the house, wooded area and emplacements were soon cleared of the enemy. C Co. then took some 60 odd prisoners from these positions which seemed to contain the enemy. Drawing less than 20 yards from the house, he aimed at one window. Before he could fire, 4 more prisoners were taken. He then returned to the Co, assembly area to join the other tanks.

Mortar Platoon

After supporting C Co. at Lintfort, Capt. (Edward H.) Look took the anti-tank, mortar and assault gun platoons forward to support C Co. They were told to disperse upon reaching the front. The road jammed and dispersal was impossible. After a delay they moved in to support C Co. who was pinned down by heavy fire. With telling fire they helped clear the woods, emplacements and houses of the enemy. They also helped capture and search prisoners, then returned to the assembly area.

M.G. Platoon

The platoon moved forward near the end of action to help C Co. Pvt. (John) Bertolino seeing 2 hands waving for help rushed forward to aid 2 stricken men under heavy fire. Without concern for his own life, he administered 1st aid for 20 minutes and helped evacuate the men. Pvt. (Levi J/) Michaud also helped Bertolino evacuate the men. Returned to assembly area.

Recon Platoon

Helped evacuate prisoners and wounded all through the engagement.

March 6 1945.

The entire Co. moved with Bn Hq. to vicinity of Winterswick.

March 7, 1945.

Recon platoon prepared to follow tank force #2 which preceded Task Force #3 to take Wessel and hold a foot bridge. Resistance was too heavy in Ossenberg so #2 and #3 teamed up with 35th Infantry and attacked the town of Ossenberg. Under heavy artillery fire a tree burst wounded T/5 (Lester E.) Wilbur and scratched Sgt. (Joseph P.) DeDonato and Pvt. (Charles T.) Graham. Only Wilbur was evacuated. Sgt. (Paul) Tom's Section moved forward and operated on OP near Ossenberg. The rest of the Co. stayed at vicinity of Winterswick and was subjected to artillery fire.

8 March 1945

Mortar Platoon

Left Winterswick for Rheinberg in support of 1st platoon of C Co. En route to Ossenberg as objective. Proceeded to Rheinberg under heavy artillery fire. Dismounted at Rheinberg and proceeded under still heavy artillery fire to Ossenberg. One casualty was had. S/Sgt (Frank R.) McBride received shrapnel wounds in the buttox and thighs and was evacuated. Prepared for counterattack at 1800 yards from objective. Received a heavy artillery barrage that put one mortar out of action. During barrage, a German medic capitulated and said there were 3 German wounded in the house. Lt. (Joseph L.) Kaposta with Pvt. (Herbert L.) Shapiro and 1 man from C Co. went into the house and captured 2 live Germans. In the cellar 1 wounded German was found.

Recon

Continued O. P.

M. G.

Left Winterswick at 0730 to Rheinberg under heavy artillery fire. Dismounted at Rheinberg at 0930 to support C Co. C Co. left and M. G. platoon stood alerted till the next morning.

A. G.

Left 0730 for Rheinberg. Remained there all day.

9 March 1945

Mortar

Held position while Lt. Kaposta with Pfc (Allan B.) Jensen and Pvt. (Billy S.) Lewis established an O.P/ on the rt. flank of C Co. During an artillery barrage, 30 civilians were found in the basement of a house. 2 were Dutch and spoke fluent English. All 30 and also 7 Nuns that were found in a bomb-proof shelter were evacuated. During the barrage 2 polish forced-slave-laborers were found wandering along a road. With Pfc (Stanley W.) Kolakowski interpreting, Lt. Kaposta found 19 more in a bomb-proof shelter. A report was turned in to Bn. Hq.

A. G.

Established a forward O. P. under heavy artillery barrage at Ossenberg.

M. G.

Returned to Co. Area at 1100. Left at 1300 to clean town of Ossenberg of snipers and civilians. Dsmtd and continued under heavy artillery fire to town. Cleaned town and factories of snipers beyond C. P.

During action they were strafed by a P-51 American plane. A few minutes later, other P-51's pounced on the strafing plane and shot it down. It seemed certain a Nazi was at the controls of the strafing plane.

In underground parts of a factory about 660 forced-slave-laborers, mostly of Slovak Nationality, were liberated. Returned to half-track on outskirts of Ossenberg and received another heavy artillery barrage. After waiting for a bridge to be repaired they returned to Co, area in Rheinberg.

Recon

Continued their O. P. Lt (Charles E.) Young, Cpl (Thomas A.) Wallace, T/5 (Arthur H.) Frazee and Pfc (Harvey C.) Norris had their half-track shot up by direct tank fire while delivering ammo to the mortar platoon. Held down by artillery fire for 2 hours, the trip was finally finished in a peep with Sgt. (Andrew J.) Mancuso.

10 March 1945

Mortar

32 more forced laborers of all nationalities were found. They told many stories of the horrors of Nazi brutality. Women were included in that group. Searched factory for snipers but none were found.

M. G.

Remained in Co. area when S/Sgt (Robert J.) Pepi's section with Sgt. (George H.) Lauterback and Lt. (William W.) Kellner led by Sgt. Toms left to cover a bridge where enemy patrols had been sighted. At 0100, they returned to Co. area.

Recon

Sgt. DeDonato operated an O.P. on the right flank for observation. Sgt. Toms, Cpl. (John P.) Shaughnessy, Pfc (Royce E.) Everett and Pvt.'s (Herschell C.) Johnson and (Norman I.) Olsen went on a patrol to observe enemy positions on left flank. Enemy was discovered in houses and orchard.

11 Mar 1945

The entire company was relieved by the 75th Infantry Div. And left Rheinberg at 1225 for Venlo. Arrived Venlo at about 1530. Secured billets.