. .

AUTRa 8G 6TH DF DIV

31 DEOEMBER 1944
HEADQUARTERS
lilTIALSc .
46th, Fi;el.di"ArtilleryBa.ttalion
) .'If ' [)fi"V 1" ?- --.rt""' .--o":'"'!" '
\.
AFTER ACTIOlf AGAINST mE ENEMY REPORT f..{7. .,:' . r)" .' Y
f.$r104 .1,.. .. to 1/_ i i "',,::<,: ,-
l.PEtiSOmtEL y ./..AY1l 7
. ' totAl effeotive atreugth.
(1) Begimd:ng of period 34 Ollieere 2 Warran'bOffioerl 468
(2) Endc)f' period 34 Offieers 2 Warrpt Offioers ' 458
t ' .' . '
1n acti()n.-:Ma.j or Clare B. Cond.... 2d L'b Willie li).Bryan, . !e" E.
Atkins.Pto Bill "S. Harris.,Pfo SalYeiSterRainone.':
,. ' . , ' .
00 Wounded in act1()n,. :Ma.jor .Charles Ballou. Teo 5 W .Fulkerson,. .Pvb Ha.u,
Pn ,W:i,lliam Bo_. 1st Sgt A. PtoJames L. Webster, Cpl Verriok D.Jlilrtin,
. Teo 6 Fred .Napier, WSgt Herbert E.Be:rming, 01'1 Leo Jackson" ';pn LB. _ .01'0',
Pvt W..l'l"oeBiggs, I) Jame8Pa.l.tnore,Teo SEllner :a. Gip801'1,'l'e. 6 JOY T. Walah,:
..O'Oonnell, .pyt Joseph. Pia&8&18.6 .
W

,d. J(bsing .1n aotion-ls:b Lt"' ''urioe C. Sba.:n:non

e. Repl&derdnts.. Information not available. \\
. Returned to duty .. InformatiOn not available.
:D,,, ,
.during initial part of the peri0.d. especially during 'the attack: ", :
the Saar River# ,showed skill and cunning,. with great ,determiu.tiol'l to :make ,thlll ' gro_
taken .from, him coat.uch materiel and personnel. .em,vtroop' were not .fou,nd to
quality troops, but W1its, .re composed' of a nuoleWl of high quality personnel
remainder relatiwly low ,grade troop8# mcstly oft,rage. Units of the Dtlllitjlj!J}jte8
.apeople.arJ'I(V. were nooatered a.rotmd ,SaarlU:ver, efferiDg little ' .
ad'VU.Ces. I:nterrogatiollr.ftalled some men as old as sixty years, armed .
rifles and silltcartridge.. T,his. was the exception hO"1'er. linoe in most oasea . +\11'0, ',.......
appeared to have .adequate.tocks of amtnu:riitioll "for. both stn&ll anna and supporting
and did not hedtate to use it. i
Theinitj"al aotion of the month took: plaoe around. WiedenisBe, in the be;11) of tb., \
French 'Ma.giilot line. Th.eeneD\V did l'lo'\i use the fort1fioatioM of the aginot Line to d.,\
fend the ..,arby German 'border. The Frenoa fortiticatioDB in the area oonsisted o.f ..
wire obsta.cle., surrounding elabora.te bunkers, underground barraoks, Uld. armored gun
t1lrrets and epa .. The attack. of our .foroe,s oontinually foroed the to 'Withdraw. until '.'
he took uppositions in the 13:1",,.,ted Line FortiificatioXl8 on bank of the Saar
" the time, tho 5th lnfantryl>iviB1on relieved the 95:'h lnt'antry. Di'V'ision in the .
brldgeheadi, areas of ,13aarla,utern and. Enscilor.f,; the battalion had its first ; opportunity ,to
fire. on tqe .LiCht artillery,roved to have no effeot . ol\1 f()rtifioationa, i
but eausod he8,vy.,; oasualt1es' among th.erelativel1 low grade .fortress de.fense troop.
defend-ing !from. f?r:t1t,ioations ' outside the p1l1boxes. The enem#o:ontinued his past .
policy-of LCOmIJ.!.l.ttJ.Dg h:l.8, best troop"! for counterattacks. " ;
. EnelI\Y artillery in the from the vicinity to ,the 13aar River.
was 'actiVe f'iringsome massed fires ',on forward elements, and some ha.ras,sing (fire lnthe i
rearal'!ealS'. Guns lUld hoWitzers calibre were identified from lnfol"llllll.tion ,,'
and tioAs. '. ' ide,ntif'ied were 10..
.16Omm howitzers, .and, .1,10IiDn guns.o ;: ,In. th.e bridgehead and support areas, much i'irewas re- :
ported of ,106mmand"l50mm calibr,e; and 88:mm' direot fire was reoeived on the hridgj
from Saarl,autern to Jrraulaut'ern The guns were located in cone,rate :
, fortifications" and ditf:i.0ulrt , to put out of' action. In general, artillery teohni.que :
in t.he Saa.rlautern are;a.showe.d the enenw, to ,bo 'pre13ent in strength, at least .five regiments)
r
'. ' . . ' , _ ' , _'I... { . . ,." . " . .
. 8.lld massed concentrat:Lons . were the '.1;he located his pieces in well def11aded I
.U areas, so that sound a.n<lf'lash loea:tiio:ms ,were difficult. :
.l' ' ,; ' . " In., the area. 0 f the enell\Y used .battalions of .artillery , :
" , and fired all ty'pes off1re ,WJ. th and ,speed. One enemy f'Grward observer was !
i" 1captured with his radio and equipment, i; 'i?t$1icating that use was being made of observers wi1::h/
. : forward el,el[lents. , In. addition to effect the ,oIlel!liY obta.ined from his artillerl
., he used and, nmnerou.s of rooketsoi' 15. em. and 210m 09.1ibra. Cases ot]
' these rockets are about .o.quarter inch}thiok, and the large explosive charge does not )
:.oause ,usually ope end of the case ' and blast .is reported as j
I great., r.ookets .e11; in'bhe raar areas. ' s.:l1 fireo.f being in large volume a.nd 1
! covering .a condderaple area on .the seotor.... Inoidenta.lly.d.a.tes sta:mped on these ,l
,', ,;dUr;mg,the, , Of ' , __ : rooket pr?jeotles indioated , , . :N, iii .44 . &..... _
enemy elements i _ , " .. ", ,6 Ar't,vRegt" i
Arty ..' . ' , CH)(pED ro / ' I ,
b. . Prisonersoaptured - 6 ,. ,' .' CAN'" L E'. J Ct , /. lo r
'I ' .'-., . D '. .t2f. .7D
&3c.
7
'._ .
Re;Jb;;d from the the National Arohives:
.'
3. Out"
Dur'mos:S 01 the period the 46th FA Bll. performed nomal mission of direot sup...
loth CT. For short ped,ods the battalion was lon gen.eral support ot the 5th
Intantr Division, reenforcing the fire. of another battalion. The initial attaCk durixg
the perl-od' ot this report wa.s 1II8.de from the Maginot Line in the vicinity ot :r'iiederrisse
to the Saai'River in the vioini'by' ot Volkl..:lpgen; orossing the Germaa border between
Cruezwald and Uberherrn. Qa 2 Dec 44 TF B611havingreverted to 5th ht Div, attaokea
with 5th Rangers and 6th Cav Recon Grou.p-in the night. The En rendered oontinuous 8tapport,
displaoing by ..Btry Terrain in this area is very hilly to gently rolling, and illlSGlIle
places den.se torests cover considerable. 'areas. These torests p..trer oC:mS:id.,rable obstacle
to adva:noe, inasm.u.oh as it is impossible to see more than 100 yards through the trees.
Beoause ot this condition, obser'ved fires _re few in number.
SuocessiTe positions 'were ooo".pied at :Niedervisse,;:lUim soua Varsberg, Cruezwa.ld and
Frederiokwieler in the attaok of '1'F Belltoward thiL.Sltar River. Observer$ andlia.iaon
personael were ordered to the 6th Cav Reoon Group,!n"a.ddition to the 'Usual perso:mnel
sent to the battalions of the loth Infantry. This. imposed a. considerable strain on the
Bn., but sinoe the. acti. was completed in a short time, no diffioulty.was encountered.
Observers aceompanied each ritle compam;r in prder to obtain the maximum number at obser
ved missions, but relief became impossible beoau.e all personnel with suitable qualifi
cations were alreadyongaged in observations. As a result of. the operations through tAe
dense woods observers were subject to a greater amount of .:mall ar.lllJl and mortar fire.
Observer Lt Bryan died of wounds reoeived, and observer Lt Maurice Shannon was reported
missing. The first report, of h-ls capture came from two enemy PW offioers oaptured 'by the
loth ht, 'Who reported th.e evaouation or this officer through their medical oh.a.nnels.
On reaching the objective of "bhe Saar River the 46th FA Bn. continued in direct sup_
port ot the loth Inf, and fired in support or the 5th Rangers and the 6tp. Cav Recon.
Group in are... these units were responsible for, and formerly the responsibility ot the
loth Infantry. .
On 11 Deo 44 LtCol Robert 1... Brunzell, 46th li'A Bn Comdr, was evacuated (a non battle
casualty),: and Major Charles B. Conde, Bl\l Ex, assumed oomma.nd.. On 13 Dec 44 Major Charles
B. Ballow waaasd.gned to the 46th FA. Bn and assumed the duties of Bn Oomdr.. Major .
Robert C.Oaaadq, after several years service With the 46th FA BIl, was assigned to the
19th FA En.
During the period, loth to 1'1th Dec 44 missions oontinued in support of the loth at.
The period was also spent in stressing maintenanoe of equipment, and. in particular _in
tenanoe ot ordnanoe. En 1W-derwent inspection of vehiole., messe., hOWitzers, tactioal
installatiotY,sm.a.ll arms, instrUlllents and personnel. Organic obeervation PO$ts were
established"and.operE)-tedin olose.connection with the Inf Liaison Officer.
DetaUed reoonnaissanoe and plans were made in antioipation of -the. passage ot the
5th :u,.t Div!thi'o-ugh 'lih. 95th Div bridgehead at Saarlauteu. During the seoond week th1.s
work was aocomplishect.,and Q:D. 1'1 Dec 44tae Bn moved in position west of' Beamanain
(Sehonbruck) 'in general support of the 5th In! Div, and reenforoing tires of. the 5O.th
FA En in. attack on Saarlautea.n and)imsdorr bridgehead areas,. Missions were almost en... '
tirely "owdubted by forward.. dlUtl;.tO haze and smoke.
Os. 19th of Dec 44 the Bn started a '16 mile move west, to an assembq area atKunt
zig,.through Thain,;-ille and Luxemburg to area near .Ernster where positions were pre..
pared tor'seoond (!.elenae line behind elements ot Div in cOntaot with enemy. For this
operation i>he Bn was attaohed to the loth CT. .
.. The Bn moved to the vioinity of Beok to support the MLR on 21 Dec 44. Tra.fic on
was ""heavy , but the 5 miles was oovered without incident. Communication was,
establisMdwith other FA units 'in vioinity' to facilitate masdn, ot tires. Registratio:IL
was'oondueted by high bursts. The Bn reverted to Div Arty and fired in d:l.reot
support of the loth Int, 'Which attacked in the direction of Echtemaoh en "the border
between LUxemburg and Gel'JJllUly. FrOnt line elements received the heaviest en.etlI\Y artillery
tire sinoe the initial attaok 'in the direction of Metz. The En fired oounterbattlJry
against enem;y 21 cm Nebe1warfares with some material effect in that fewer rounds were
later reoeiwd in the eonoe:n.trations. Observed fires were in close support ot ina.utry
attaoks and produced som.e or the most deadly effect yet observed. Tree bursts, time fire
and rioooohet fire'oaused many casualties even on that in partly oovered slit
trenohes. Aneenell\Y counter-attack of four SF guns and infantry (estima.ted one oompaJ:l)
.was repulsed almost cQmpletely by artillery.
The En.. moved to the vicinity- of Ermsdorf and actually acoomplished reli"t of 212th
Armel FA Bn on 28 Dec 44,and contin-ued missions in support of 10th Int. At 2140. 28 Dec
44 an enEim,y plane circled the vi;l.lal5e of Ermsdort f'our times, and on the fourth pass
dropped -estimated lOOkg bomb onthe Ell. CP, killing ;5 and wounding 15 (all wounded
were not evao'Uated). .' .
on 29Deo 44 Ma.jor B. B. Blank assumed oommand of the 46th FA En.
4.. 'Supply and evacuation
a. Suppl,y normal.
b. Evacuation normal.
5. Recommendations
a. No recommendations.
.... r,."
I
For the Batta.lion Comrnanderl

LOW
Capt, 46th FA En,
8-2.
...
_.... -""