The period 4 February to 7 February was devoted to maintenance and cleanup. During this period the white camouflage was removed.

At 081640 February, the Battalion moved to an assembly area east of Sittard, Holland, closing in at Bocket, Germany at 2145. Here the Division was operating under XVI Corps as a part of Ninth Army. The towns east of Sittard were located in Germany, and British 7th Armored Division, which had preceded us into that area had mauled them over pretty badly. Bocket was no exception, and it illustrated the condition of the area quite well. Few of the roofs that were left relatively intact failed to leak. Furniture had been piled up in yards to make billeting space, and the town was generally unsanitary. As far as natives were concerned, it was a ghost town which the 398th shared with a colored 4.5 inch gun outfit which had one battery just east of the place. Remnants of brick structures in the surrounding communities had been further demolished and used as fill in the road net which had been proven inadequate for military traffic. While such rubble made substantial fill, it also made life miserable for the wheel vehicle drivers repairing nail punctures.

In this area, the 398th was under Division Artillery control. At 090630 February, an advance party consisting of elements of Headquarters Battery and one gun per firing battery moved into firing positions in the vicinity of Haas, Germany, to the east of Bocket. One gun from 'A' Battery registered on a base point, and that was about the extent of the artillery activity in that area. The forward elements were in a precarious position, inasmuch as they were practically manning outpost lines in a very quiet sector. German soldiers could be seen in a village some two or three thousand yards from the forward CP. German patrols operated around the town while the forward elements were at Haas, necessitating alertness. Morale of the troops was excellent during this operation due to the high tension that existed.

The high tension is well illustrated by a serious incident which later brought forth only amusement. During the night, coal gas from a heating-stove rendered the occupants of the room in which it was located groggy. The gas alarm was raised, sleepers were awakened, some quite rudely, and gas masks were adjusted. The only casualties were a couple of headaches.

At 181700 February the forward elements manning the outpost lines returned to the remainder of the unit at Bocket.

During this period the unit became acquainted with the German V-1 bombs, which went over the position in a generally westerly direction. One crashed and exploded close to the Service Battery area at Saffelin, causing buildings to shake and jumpy nerves. Likewise we learned to identify the drone of the non-synchronized two-engine German planes which flew over the position almost nightly on reconnaissance. In addition, the first difficulty with mines was encountered. A Service Battery six-by-six enroute to various units struck a mine which caused sufficient damage to require a replacement. Occupants escaped injury, and the truck was replaced.

While at Bocket, Captain Mellor, Battalion Surgeon, returned from the hospital, having been robbed of about twenty pounds by pneumonia. Four reinforcements, 2d Lieutenants Matheson, Bergmann, Hall and Margin, arrived at this time. The Battalion executive oriented them with regard to the existing situation and past and pending operations of the organization. Lt Bergmann, one of the reinforcements had been assigned to the organization formerly back at Camp Campbell.

Late in the evening of 20 February, Bocket began to receive some harassing fire of heavy caliber at ten minute intervals, one or two rounds at a time for a total of eleven rounds. The CP was bracketed well for deflection by the first two rounds. Except for a couple of overs all rounds were air bursts, and there were no casualties. Two officers thinking that the show was being put on by the adjacent 4.5 inch gun battery continued to remain on a third floor to sleep, after having removed a picture from the wall which annoyed them by rattling.

At 210700 February, the 398th began infiltrating vehicles into the vicinity of Diergaarde, Holland, where it was to be in direct support of CC 'B' in a sector roughly between St. Odilienburg and Viddrop along the west bank of the Roer River. The unit replaced the 3d RHA Regiment of the British 7th Armored Division. The enemy had strong well prepared positions across the river, and it maintained patrols on the west bank over which it had good observation and fields of fire. All batteries registered and miscellaneous targets were taken under fire through our observation posts at St. Odilienburg, Paarlo, and Posterholt, together with the air Ops.