Haguenau

As of 1 December, the 79th Division still fell under the control of VX Corps, 7th U.S. Army. The 44th Division had been replaced by the 45th Division "Thunderbirds" from the brutal Italian campaigns. The 44th remained in the Vosges guarding the Saverne. The next stop for the 314th Regiment was Haguenau.

At 0800, 1 December, 2nd BN was dispatched in a limited offensive to secure Meyershollam Farm located just forward the Regimental line. Some small arms fire erupted from the buildings, but the farm was taken by 0940. F/Co advanced, but took a beating from 20-mm flak guns cutting the road from Haguenau to Winterhausen. E and G/Companies followed, securing positions in the woods beyond at 1230. To the right, 1st BNs A/Co sent a patrol to a walled farm at Walk Chateau, and drew some fire. The patrol regrouped and held the area, tying into the 3rd BN position; holding a line to the right of the 1st BN in the woods overlooking a pasture. Everyone buttoned up for the night.

The next day, 2 December, the 1st and 3rd BNs held their positions, with A/Co facing one counter-attack at Walk Chateau, but the 2nd BN had some organizational problems and needed to straighten their line. F/Co moved one-half mile to a quarry on the battalion's left. They faced arms fire and mortar from a waiting enemy, but advanced through it to put the 2nd BN back in alignment.

The attack zone had the 314th headed to Haguenau, the 313th moving north to Bischwiller, and the 315th leading off to take Kaltenhaus - all supporting the other's attacks if necessary. On 8 December, the battalions special unit commanders met at the Regimental CP in Niederschaeffolsheim to coordinate. The 315th was to lead off the attack at 0645, 9 December, while the 314th activated at 0715 laying fire to thwart a German attack to the left.

On the afternoon of 8 December, the 315th moved into position on the right flank. That night, 314th's 2nd BN pushed up a few hundred yards, but could get no further. Patrols reported heavy enemy activity, and the 314th jump off time was pushed back until 1400 the next day. The 313th and 315th moved out as originally planned.

Early 9 December, B/Co sent out patrols, but they were stopped by enemy fire just beyond Walk Chateau. B/Co attempted, along with the 315th's 3rd BN, to align with the A and C/Co positions at Walk Chateau. 2nd BN was facing heavy resistance, but was able to insert G/Co along with F/Co at its quarry position. By nightfall, 2nd BN was still well behind the time table. 3rd BN faced heavy fire, but was able to reach the southwest edge of Haguenau before dark. I/Co patrolled the woods and captured 25 POWs. 1st BN was situated on 3rd's right flank. 1st BNs A/Co was now sharing the position with 3rd BN on the edge of town. 2nd BN, seeing more resistance than the others, sent E/Co over to Walk Chateau to guard the Regiment's right flank, and went into reserve.

Germans had moved back into the 3rd BNs zone on early 10 December, and the jump off was delayed by one hour to deal with the threat.

The advance into Haguenau had A/Co on the right, L/Co in the center, and K/Co holding the left. It was slow going as the units worked house-to-house, all the while dodging mortar rounds. As the advance came up to Haguenau proper, the progress was halted because a crossing bridge over a deep railroad track had been blown.

German defenses were only 50 yards away, and were secured in reinforced positions in the houses. The companies moved to a three-story building beside the railroad tracks to regroup and plan. E/Co sent out a patrol to the tracks east of Haguenau to gauge crossing the 2nd BN there. They made it to within 30 yards of the tracks when it was attacked. They retreated. A second patrol sent out at midnight was also heavily fired upon. With the bridges out, armored support was out, and any attack fire was returned in kind by the Germans.

At 0500, 11 December, 2nd BN, coming out of reserve, swept around to the right. By 0825, they were at the tracks due north - close enough to see A/Co and the 3rd BN crossing the deep tracks. Miraculously, the Germans had withdrawn sometime during the night.

The units closed in on Haguenau, and had road blocks in place north and east by 1400. The townspeople were gracious and surprisingly pro-Allied. The engineers set about repairing the bridges so the armor and the other vehicles could cross.

The next stop was to be Soufflenheim, eight miles east through the Foret de Haguenau. The 313th was already there facing a fierce fight. On 12 December, a scouting party from the 1st BN was sent out to determine the route. They discovered the bridge west of Soufflenheim mined, but whole. The demolition engineers cleared the explosives, and the 314th reached town at 0830, and ordered to hold in place and support the 313th Regiment.

The 13 December orders had the 314th moving north through the Foret de Haguenau to the town of Niederroedern. The assignment was to set the stage to cross the German border into Scheibenhardt - the edge of the Siegfried Line. Troops were loaded on any vehicle that moved for a fast-paced mechanized advance. Speed was a must for this move to be successful. Along the way, however, were dozens of streams at which the Germans had blown every bridge, and had left tanks to guard the positions. Roughly four miles short of the objective town, 2nd BN moved to Leutenheim, the 3rd BN fell back all the way to Soufflenheim, and the 1st BN, never having began the move, remained there as well.

With the routes to Niederroedern congested or impassable, the 314th was ordered to swing out right to Seltz and cross there on the heels of the 313th. The 3rd BN reached Seltz, and the orders changed - again. 2nd BN moved out to assemble in Wintzenbach, but word reached the Regiment that Wintzenbach was overcrowded, so 2nd diverted to Schaffhausen. The 1st BN moved out later, and assembled at Seltz across from the 3rd BN position. The 314th was finally in line - right behind the 313th Regiments' drive north to Lauterberg.

Riding on tank hulls, the troops got the first look at Hitler's Germany across the Rhine. On 15 December, 1st BN assembled in Neewiller, while 2nd and 3rd BNs billeted in Wintzenbach awaiting the next battle plan.

At 0645, 16 December, the 314th was alerted to prepare for crossing the Lauter River and move up through the 315th's position near Scheibenhardt. The approach was a forested area, and there would be no cheering townspeople. The 314th prepared to invade Germany.

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