Company K at the 346th Regiment Inactivation
Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945. From the 346th History
Orders were received on May 5 for a limited objective attack the next morning. So Third Battalion jumped off at 0830, meeting some small arms fire and a few rounds of artillery. Plans for the following day’s attack were stopped at 0525 on May 7 by a message from the Division Commander reading: “Sit tight, hold what you have, accept any surrenders. “
GERMANY SURRENDERS
At 0945 May 7 the following message was received from the Division Commander: “Representatives of the German High Command signed the unconditional surrender of all German land, sea, and air forces to the Allied Expeditionary Forces and simultaneously to the Soviet High Command at 0700, 7 May 1945 under which all forces will cease active operations at 0900, 7 May 1945. Effective immediately all offensive operations cease. Troops will remain in present positions. Moves involved in occupational duty will continue. Due to difficulty in communications, there may be some delay in similar orders reaching the enemy troops, so
full defensive precautions will be taken.”The commander of a German Artillery Battalion came through the lines to arrange surrender of his unit to the Second Battalion at 0500 in the morning. The German colonel did not know at the time of the surrender that the war had ended.
May 8 found the Regiment accepting the Artillery Battalions surrender at 0500 as previously arranged.
May 8, 1945
Germany
Dear Folks,
Yesterday sure was a great day for me. We attacked on the sixth and were supposed to shove off again yesterday morning. But instead of receiving an attack order, we were ordered just to stay where we were. Then a little after ten o’clock we got the news that the Germans had signed unconditional surrender. Even though it doesn’t take effect officially till tomorrow, it meant that we were though fighting. Boy oh Boy! What a feeling. The Lord has certainly been good to me. I’ve got lots to thank Him for.
The “Stars and Stripes” also brought us some pretty good news yesterday. It said that over half of the combat troops would get a furlough back in the States before they are shipped to the CBI1 The China, Burma, India Theater. Don’t plan too much on it because there’s just about as much chance against it as there is for it. But wouldn’t that be great!
Yesterday also I received a box from you and my name was turned in for a pass to Paris. It was the package containing pop corn and it really hit the spot. The corn was still as crisp as it was when you packed it. It would have done your heart good to have seen the fellows (and me) go after it. I wish I could send the box home and let you fill it up again.
If my pass had come a little bit sooner it might have kept me out of a little fighting but I’m glad to get it now. I’ll be going in a day or so. Considering everything that happened, wasn’t yesterday a pretty eventful day for me?
Well it looks like Spring again today. Maybe the weather is doing a little celebrating. We’ve really had some pretty rough weather for this late in the season during the past week. There has even been a little snow. I hope it stays nice now.
It’s been almost a week now since I got any letters but no doubt there will be two or three when they do come.
Hope everything is ship-shape back there. Be good and God bless you.
Love
Donald
Categories
Germany: May 1945
The following is the official “After Action Report” for the 346th Regiment, May 1945, from the 87th Infantry Archives
Categories
April 10-20: 2nd Task Force Sundt
From April 10th to the 20th, Task Force Sundt was reconstituted, again with K Company attached
Categories
Germany: April 1945
The following is the official “After Action Report” for the 346th Regiment, April 1945, from the 87th Infantry Archives
At the end of March, K Company was attached to Task Force Sunde
Following the crossing of the Rhine River, German resistance crumbled to such an extent that it was essential to form a hard-hitting, fast moving armored unit to reach into the German rear areas, disrupt communications, cut up German administrative units and installations. Such a force was organized and placed under the command of Lt. Colonel Harold S. Sundt and was to be known as Task Force Sundt.[…] Units comprising the Task Force were the 607th TD Battalion, less A and C Companies, plus Company A of the 735th Tank Battalion, the 87th Reconnaissance Troupe, K Company of the 346th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Platoon Company C of the 312th Engineer Battalion and supported by fires from the 155 mm howitzers of the 335th FA Battalion. The Task Force was divided into three hard hitting companies plus a CP group. Each company consisted of a platoon of tanks, platoon of TD’s, platoon of infantry, riding on the armored vehicles, and a platoon of the 87th Reconnaissance Troupe. The CP group contained the remaining forces. It crossed the Rhine at Boppard on a pontoon bridge and assembled six miles to the northeast at Dachsenhausen which was the limit of the Division advance.
The Task Force’s first objective was Nastatten, 12 miles southeast of Boppard. At 0545 March 27th the Task Force took off for Nastatten, the plan of attack being to advance along the high ground to Ruppertshaffen. and thence to Nastatten. By 0830 the Task Force had reached Ruppertshaffen, three miles west of Nastatten, where it assembled and regrouped.
The third Task Force Company, under the command of 1st Lt. Glen J. Doman, 346th Infantry Regiment [K Company], made the attack on the town at 0915. […] The infantry under 2nd Lt. Robert L. Picher, 346th Infantry Regiment, [K Company] swept through the town and cleared all enemy resistance […]
[…]
Captured enemy documents and statements of prisoners indicated that the area in the vicinity of Butzbach was an assembly area for stragglers of the Rhine defenses. Accordingly, on March 30 the Task Force received a mission of securing Hoch-Weisel, three miles southwest of Butzbach, and sweeping the woods to the north and west. At 0800 the 3rd Company moved there and the 3rd Reconnaissance Platoon and the Pioneer Platoon occupied positions between Butzbach and the woods to the west. The day was spent sending patrols through these woods. During the day the Task Force destroyed nine 20mm AA guns, eight 37mm AA guns on 21/2 ton trucks, one 40mm AA gun, three 105mm guns, seventeen 75mm AA-AT guns, four 88 AA-AT guns, and twenty-three vehicles. 519 prisoners were taken.
[…]
April 1st found all missions assigned accomplished, the Task Force dissolved and the Battalion assembled near Kleeberg. During the Task Force’s operation, it had taken 1485 prisoners and had advanced 76 miles.
Germany
March 20, 1945
Hello Folks,
I hope you get the letter I finished up this morning a day sooner by my cutting it short as I did. I wanted it to go out today and this one I can’t get started till tomorrow. You’ll forgive the abrupt way I ended the other one.
You can see in the other letter that I almost forgot that this is mother’s birthday, too. I just thought of it in time to mention it along the margin. I wish I had a birthday present to send. But what to serve as a birthday present is this. I want mom to wear the tiny pin or bar that came with my silver star till I get back. As I understand it, it is the part of the silver star I can wear after I become a civilian again. I’m sure it can be used for this other purpose, too.
It surprised me just a little to hear about the library work at school. I don’t believe that I even knew that Aunt Mary had the job. Hope mother isn’t trying to do too much by taking the job.
Boy I’d like to know the late news of Richard’s induction. I’ve read so often that most of the boys are being taken into the army that it almost has me worried. The Lord knows best so be thankful for whatever happens or rather has happened.
Daddy talks a lot lately about working in the honey house. I’d sort of like to see how the place looks now. As I remember it was just in the state of being planned when I was home last. And that reminds me of a request I’ve been intending to make for a good while. I left all of my pictures in my duffle bag and I doubt now if I’ll ever see it again. I’d like for you to send me some snap shots. The only one I have now is Richard’s senior picture. I received that after I hit combat. I’d also like permission to trim the pictures that I want to keep so that they will fit into my billfold. When you are taking pictures I wonder if you’d take one of Grandpa and Grandma Carver. I’ve never had a picture of them since I’ve been in the army.
Before I get completely off the subject of letters and get started on what I’ve been doing I want to thank you for something you’ve been doing. I really appreciate these little stickers you’ve been using with Bible verses on them. The including of scripture references does me a lot of good.
For the last few days I’ve been doing something just a little different. I’ll still have my old job but this will give me a chance to add a little to my knowledge and maybe help out a little. I am back at cannon company learning to be a “forward observer” (F.O.). The regular artillery always has a forward observer with the line companies and we even have an observer in our company for cannon company but I am learning the job so that I could take over in an emergency. To explain the terms a little: cannon company is a small artillery unit that is directly attached to our infantry regiment, and an F.O. is the observer who is right up with the fight where he can see the artillery is hitting and sends messages back telling how to adjust the fire. My other job will also come in handy along this line too. You can easily see that with the artillery pieces a long way back there must be some method of directing the fire. This will make just one more thing that I’ll have a little knowledge of. It’s almost like having a vacation by being back here, too, so I’m getting a little relaxation out of it.
Let’s keep looking up. God Bless you all.
Love, Donald
Germany
March 17
Dear Folks,
Perhaps this won’t be mailed for a couple of days or so but I’ve just a little time now so I’ll write something or other. I say that because right now I can’t think of enough news to really write a letter. I sure hope to be getting some mail one of these days and then at least I’ll have a letter to answer. There’ll be a little handful to read when I get them no doubt. I could almost get a little homesick right now trying to think what may be happening back there. Boy I wish this war were over and I could really be home. I guess that really will be a great day when I can hit the U.S. again. Being 7 or 8 hundred miles from home used to seem like a long distance but now I’d even be glad to be that close.
I guess one good we (those of us who really have seen things) are going to get from all of this is the ability to appreciate what we have. After really getting along on nothing for a while even bare necessities are sure appreciated. A chance to clean up and a place to lay down (even if it’s only a corner of the floor with a blanket over you) makes you feel like a king. A real vacation at home is something to dream about. Just think sleeping as long as you want, eating all you want of really good cooking and in general just doing what you want to!
I can’t complain too much about the last few days though. We’ve been still enough that we can get hot meals and can sleep inside.
March 20
Happy Birthday Mother!
This is sure a spread out letter but I’ll get it sent before too much longer now. I finally got some mail yesterday evening. There were four letters from you Feb 23 to March 5. I don’t think I’ll have time this morning to answer them but I was happy to just learn a little about what Richard found out. He has now taken his examination and knows for sure about getting into the Navy. Of course, I’m interested in that. I also got your little box containing the pocket knife. I think I recognize it and sure hope no one sacrificed his personal knife just so I could have one. Thanks. I’ll finish up in the next letter.
Love, Donald
March 16, 1945
Dear Mother and all,
Before I forget it, I want to wish mother a happy birthday. This will be late getting there, I know, but I hope you’ll forgive me. I thought about it before I wrote my last letter but forgot it again when I got around to writing. Lots of things slip up on me and I feel sort of good just to remember a date at all. I see by the date also that three days ago I passed my year and a half mark in the army. I guess I’ve got about five months overseas time in, too. If the situation doesn’t change in another month I’ll be entitled to an overseas stripe. Of course, it wouldn’t make me mad, though, to be back in the U.S. even before another month is up.
It’s been about a week now since I’ve had any mail. I’m getting pretty anxious to find out just what Richard is doing. No doubt by the time he is doing something or is about to. It could be (and I sure hope so) that this half of the war might not last too much longer. But things will be far from over even then. We’ll just have to keep our chins up and keep working and praying with our eyes always looking toward the complete finish. One of these days we’ll all be home for good.
I’ve been pretty lucky for the last few days as far as work is concerned. That is far from even implying that I haven’t been busy but I think you’ll understand what I mean when I say it hasn’t been too bad.
Did you get my V-mail a few days ago telling you that I received a raise in pay? Before my insurance is taken out I should be getting around a hundred dollars a month counting everything. Just to fill space I’ll tell you what I should be getting paid. The base pay for a Sgt. is $78, then I get 20% for being overseas, $10 combat pay (I think), $10 for the combat Infantry Badge and I think and $2 for the Silver Star. Say figuring that all up if I haven’t been misled somewhere it’s a good bit more than I thought!
As far as I know I’ll still be doing the same sort of work. Spending most of my time messing with the radio and whatever other communications is necessary to keep things operating. I guess I never really thought when I started to radio school, almost a year ago now, that it would ever really be my job. And not only that it’s turned out to be almost a full time job. All the communications wor I do seems simple and routine but I suppose if I realized just how much knowledge I have picked up altogether since I began I wouldn’t feel too bad about it.
Let’s keep trusting and praying. It really pays. Love,
Your son and brother,
Donald