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This gave us a good picture of why the German people supported Hitler. He no doubt gave them a high standard of living at the expense of the subdued countries. Once that standard was obtained, they didn't want to lose it at any cost. What with all the Russian, Polish and French slave labor, they didn't have to turn a Hand on manual labor. They had the pick of the European conquered manpower at their disposal. These slave laborers were a pitiful lot. They've been mistreated to such an extent, they were no longer men but more like frightened animals. It was a common sight to see them raggedly dressed picking up scraps of food from the gutters.

We were now well into the Ruhr, taking towns, cities, and villages by the dozens. As we'd make the pocket smaller, it became tougher, because we were forcing the enemy to become more concentrated with it's men and equipment. One night we moved into the outskirts of the city of Werl after it had been taken.

The night was pitch dark, and the Company tanks were placed between the enemy and the city of Werl as a holding force in case of a counter attack. The enemy kept shelling us all night from concealed gun positions, and some shells were landing as close as twenty feet from the tanks. We were in an uncomfortable position, for the enemy knew where we were, yet we only knew that he was somewhere near. The tank cannons could not be used, because the muzzle blast would betray the defense line position against the dark night background. All night long Germans who were trapped in houses and barns in the area, would draw our small arms fire when they'd try to get back to their lines. In the morning light, our men were taking as many as twenty German soldiers from the houses and barns where their tanks were parked near all night.

One tank crew, having their tank parked on one side a building, discovered with daylight, a monstrous German Tiger Royal tank parked on the opposite side of their building. Luckily a shell had exploded on striking the building during the night and poured shrapnel into the open German tank, killing the crew. Two of the buildings in the area were German ammunition dumps, which luckily were not hit. That morning, we moved up into a small town. The Jerries opened up with artillery, and word came over the radio that they were counter attacking. We maneuvered to hold, but the attack never came. No matter where we moved that day, the enemy knew our exact position and kept shelling us. In the afternoon we took another village. The tanks were placed in position and about thirty of us were in a large courtyard surveying our new home for the night. We heard the dreaded whistle and automatically flattened out on the ground. For what seemed like a year, debris was raining on all of us.

On taking inventory we found that luckily the shell intended for us had missed by fifteen feet, and took part of the roof off our new found home. Roof or no roof, we scrambled to the safety of the house. It was suppertime, and as the saying goes, an army travels on its stomach, and we were no exception. We were tired of the monotonous army canned rations, so we developed a knack of living on the fat of the land. The Ruhr in particular was perfect for this because the homes had an abundance of food and fuel. After being in a house for an hour, some of the most appetizing dinners were served with wines of choice vintages. There was no K.P. to spoil that satisfied glow while smoking a good German cigar, for an easy way to clean a table and get rid of the plates was by applying the four corner table cloth tactics.

The going had been steady, and the rumor was quite strong that we'd be pulled back for a few days rest, after we'd taken two more towns. But instead, our company was attached to Combat Command A to help them take the city of Unna. We moved up to attack the following morning and formed on the outskirts. Part of CCA's task forchad already penetrated the city's defenses and were pushing on. German troops were now retreating, leaving a small force to fight a fear guard action. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and this was just perfect weather for the Air Corps units working with us. They had a field day dive bombing and strafing the retreating Jerries. Our tanks moved into town without incident. It had been cleared, so we were relieved and returned to our own CCB task force. That night we had no mission, so we enjoyed our long needed sleep.

The morning found us wondering what was our next objective, but we were told our sector of the Ruhr had been cleared, so our mission was accomplished after ten days of steady fighting. In our traveling so fast, the names of many places were not recorded or remembered, however here are some of the places we remember in the Ruhr Valley. Salzkotten, Lohne, Ost, Onnen, West Onnen, Stockum, Werl, Ostburen, and Unna.

We left the Ruhr, and headed east toward the main front lines. The column moved all day and night, stopping at the city of Wolfenbuttel in the morning. Our stay was cut short after being here long enough to refuel and maintain the vehicles. We kept traveling through many towns, until we reached the city of Halberstadt. It was very dark now and near enemy territory. No lights were permitted. Cautiously we drove through this freshly bomb torn city, avoiding the large craters in the middle of the streets. Blocks upon blocks were still smoldering, and many houses were bright with flame. We continued as a separate company until we reached our assigned town, Ditford, on April 14th, after traveling 204 miles since leaving the Ruhr.