After Action Reports and Interviews
7th Armd. Inf. Bn. - S-1 Report, Feb 28, 1945
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HEADQUARTERS 7th ARMD INF BN
8th Armd Div
APO 258, U. S. ARMY

S-1 JOURNAL
0001, 28 Feb 45 To 2400, 28 Feb 45

Time   Incidents, Messages, Orders, etc.Action taken
  28 Feb 45
0015 Co B moves out.
0035 Colm halted at Gerdarath
0045 Colm moves out of Gerderath.
0100 Co B halted 3 km S.E of Wegberg.
0120 8 rnds of large cal. Arty land along side of the road; head of clm encounters small arms fire.
0140 Head of clm engaged in light fire fight in vic of Wegberg.
0310 Co B moves out, returns on a super highway around Wegberg.
0315 Co B stopped on super highway outside of Wegberg while engrs clear road block
0445 Co B pulls out of Wegberg.
0520 Co B halted on road leading fr Wegberg to Merbeck about 1 km S. of Merbeck.
0525 SS Panzer Lehr Div just identified 6 mi E. of Merbeck, as of 0340. Road block 500 yds SE Merbeck protected by doughboys - originator: G-2 net.
0550 Clm moves out again.
0605 S-2 to CO 7th: Co B held up by Jerries at Merbeck. They are going to pull a rat race.
0630 Merbeck shelled by med arty.
0633 Co A, 18th Tk fires direct fire into the church on outskirts of Merbeck fr positions along the road 1000 yds to the SE.
0635 Tks move toward town pouring direct fire into the church and 2 barns to the W. Co B will move in behind the tks and mop up.
0640 Tks call for flame throwers.
0645 Tks encounter road block consisting of felled trees across the road just to the S. of the church.
0650 The church, the barns to W. and bldgs along the edge of town begin to burn. The tks turn W. across country and outflank the road block.
0700 Co B asks tks whether they can move thru town, that they are ready to follow.
0705 Tks move into town.
0710 Co B mops up.
0712 Tks fan out on W. edge of town.
0715 1 PW brought in by Co B. PW rpts: 1 Co of 169th Pioneer Bn holding town. Says his Bn had been used as Inf only for the last few wks. He did not know the whereabouts of other units of his Bn.
0730 4 PW's, Co C, 1176 Pioneer Bn brought in. These PWs are probably elements of the 175th German Inf Div.
0745 15 civilians sent to rear fr Merbeck bo Co B - 10 women, 4 men, and 1 child.
0800 PW reports that when tks began to shell Merbeck, most of his unit took off for the next town.
0805 15 civilians sent back fr Merbeck: 3 men, 9 women, 3 children.
0820 Town cleared.
0830 Trp C, 88th moves up followed by Co A, 7th, both units passing thru Co B which is preparing to mount up. S-2 calls for sqd to handle PWs.
0840 1 PW taken at Merbeck and sent back. Our arty begins to cover area N. of Merbeck.
0846 7 PWs come in under white flag - picked up by I & R Plt.
0900 German arty fire falling in Merbeck. 3 PWs taken fr 2nd Bn, 159th Regt, 176 Div.
0915 Co A dismounts in Merbeck and moves up to the N. edge of town under orders fr Col Crittenden (G-3 Task Force Cmdr.) with mission of taking Tettelrath about 1000 yds to the N.. Co B meanwhile mounted up on its vehicles and took over the S. edge of town.
0927 Co A moves dismounted for Terrlerath - situation reptd to CO, 7th.
0950 Lt Fredrick, Co A, W.I.A. 2 PWs taken.
1043 Co A has succeeded in getting one plt up to the AT ditch about 500 yds S. of Tettelrath. The second plt got up to the top of the high ground about 150 yds N. of Merbeck when both plts were pinned down by small arms fire fr both rt and left flanks and Mg fire fr pill boxes fr the left front. The houses in Tettelrath also poured small arms fire. 3 tks fr A Co, 18th moved up to the high ground to try to silence this small arms fire but unable to due to superior dug in positions of Germans.
1045 Bn Hq halts at Schwanenburg.
1045 Mortar fire begins to fall along the road betw Merbeck and Tettelrath.
1107 Med cal. Arty fire begins to fall on Merbeck and the road to Tettelrath.
1115 7 casualties in Co A. 3 casualties reptd by Co B in the taking of Merbeck.
1117 1 Yugoslav PW taken by Co A.
1230 Co A and Merbeck receiving hwy arty-mortar fire. Co A completely pinned down by arty and small arms. Tks can not go forward along the road because of the AT ditch and the mines flanking it. Engrs are working under fire on the mines.
1235 All task force Co Cmdrs called back to Merbeck by Col Crittendon to receive new atk orders.
1310 Crittendon plan of atk: Co B, 7th will move up in the woods on the left of Merbeck, when in position he will send up a flare, on this flare arty(398th) will lay down preparation on Tettelrath. End of arty prep will be signaled by a blue flare. On this flare Co A, 7th and the tks will take off for Tettelrath. H hr should be about 1345.
1315 1 more unidentified PW sent back.
1400 Arty fire still very hwy fr east and west.
1430 Gens Devine and Colson reach Merbeck and receive a bit of shelling.
1510 Co B in position: Co A loads up tracks preparatory to atk on Tettelrath.
1515 Co A jumps off.
1520 1 plt and 4 tracks reach Tettelrath. Arty covering road knocked out lead vehicle of 2nd plt and dominated the road fr that point on, making it impossible to get vehicles thru.
1530 3 PWs taken fr a pill box on the left of town and sent back. Tks and Inf working on Tettelrath.
1535 88mm gun dominating road in the woods on the left, cleaned out by Co B.
1600 Co B being surrounded by German Inf on the left flank. 5 PWs sent back.
1600 German arty fire still continuing.
1620 Co A has consolidated Tettelrath.
1630 Crittendon to Co A CO: push 1 plt on to the high ground beyond Tettelrath. Co B, 7th will pass thru A and move on. More tks are coming up.
1640 Co B pulls into Merbeck.
1650 Co A asks for more aid men (approx. 30 cas reported in taking Tettelrath.0
1651 CO, Co A says A will move out as point. B will take over Tettelrath.
1750 Plans changed: Co A hold Tettelrarh and outpost high ground to the NW with one plt and the tks; Co B hold Merbeck.
1755 Co B has pulled out of the woods on the left and escaped entrapment. 60 PWs brought in fr the woods on the left flank.
1800 Co B, 3rd plt, which had been cut off returns sefely.
1810 Bn Hq moves out fr Schwanenburg.
1815 1 more PW taken fr cellar in Merbeck
1830 Units dig in for the night: Bn Hq halts at side of road in vic of Wegberg; Temp CP set up in Wegberg.
2300 Bn Hq at Wegberg - CO, 7th gives FO: CCA has been divided into 2 task forces: no 1 - Task Force Goodrich, No 2 - Task Force Mossman. No 1 consists of 18th Tk minus Co A plus Co C, 7th plus one Co TDs plus one Co Engrs plus medics. No 2 consists of 7th minus Co C plus Co A od the 18th plus a plt of Engr plus medics. TF Goodrich will move out first followed by TF Mossman. Order of march in TF 2 will be Co B, AG plt, Mortar plt, Mg plt, Tks, Co A, Medics. Trains, Kitchens will be atchd to trains and non-combat vehicles of Bn Hq. Route of adv of TF No 2 will be fr Merbeck N. to the R.J. just S. of Silverbeek, then NE to Waldniel - fr Waldniel north to Stocken. Rate of march: 10 MPH. The area fr Waldniel to Stocken has been covered by the 84th Inf. TF 1 will go ahead of us to Waldniel and fr there NW to St George. In order to do this, they must pass thru us and we will fall behind.
2331 CO Co A says ten tks and Inf have moved in, in front of him but he has not confirmed rept. Co A will move vehicles still in Merbeck up to Tettelrath individually during the nite so that by morning Co A will be concentrated in Tettelrath and B in Merbeck ready to pull out behind TF Goodrich when they pass thru.
2400 No change.