Germany...Into the Siegfried Line

As the 314th Regiment moved north from Haguenau, it passed the French Maginot Line. Thankfully, the forest was void of enemy troops. A few miles ahead, however, lay the Siegfried Line which was manned heavily. The plan to move into Germany had the column crossing with 1st BN in the lead, 3rd BN, and 2nd BN in the rear. At 0900, word came in of a delay due to a bridge was repaired on the main road between Buchelberg and Lauterberg to allow armor to precede the ground troops. The bridge site came under heavy enemy fire, so repairs took longer than anticipated. The move was postponed until 17 December.

A/Co was still to the left, one trail over. To avoid more road blocks, the units moved eastward. B/Co, with two tanks, had been tracking C/Co when they encountered an enemy defensive position 400 yards east of the road. B and C/Companies spent the rest of the day observing the enemy. K/Co met resistance to the left of 1st BNs position. By nightfall, the placement was following: B and C/Co facing enemy to the right of the main road into Kandel, A/Co tied in at the road but behind slightly to the west. K/Co, to A's left, was at the junction of Berg and Scheibenhardt-Buchelberg, with I and L/Co to it's left position. F/Co was north of Scheibenhardt with the remainder of 2nd BN into town proper. At midnight, K/Co patrols reported an enemy presence of unknown number left of the 1st BN sector.

At daybreak, 18 December, the 1st BN reconned their forward area slowly. B and C/Companies breached an area of pillboxes, capturing one. Artillery fire in the area was heavy, and the 1st BN only succeeded in pushing close to the Line unable to penetrate, but gained valuable intelligence. Another failed attempt to gain ground by the 1st BN took place later in the day. The 313th Regiment had lost its forward position by a German counter-attack.

On 19 December, the 2nd BN marched a reconnaissance in force around the left side of the Line. They met blockades of felled trees across the road. E/Co advanced cleaning out small pockets, but the enemy fire was relentless. The next two days were spend sending out patrols for spots to exploit in the German's defense of the Line.

2nd BN was called in from its recon run on 23 December, and 3rd BN sent forward to secure a good jump off position, and maintain a defensive line. Troops set mines and booby traps all along the German side of the Line behind the Lauter River. On 24 December, the 314th withdrew to the new Regimental line - 2nd BN at Lauterberg and Berg, 3rd BN to Scheibenhardt, the woods beyond and Neewiller. 1st BN established a position on a ridge between Neewiller and Lauterberg.

On Christmas Day, an I&R platoon along with the 79th Recon were patrolling between Lauterberg and north along the bank of the Rhine. Defenses were bolstered by AT mines, demolition preparations for bridges, barbed wire, TD and tank positions, and overall ground weapons. The 314th's line of defense was a little over 9000 yards; the covering was thin due to support troops being pulled and sent to assist in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne.

Over the next four days, 26-29 December, the troops spent the time patrolling and observing the German troops crossing the Rhine. Orders came in for the 314th to move gradullay to a new position six miles southwest - the old French Maginot Line. This new line ran from just above Rittershoffen, south through the Foret de Haguenau, to Koenigsbruck. The Regiment moved out 30 December.

Enemy artillery fell on the 314th's positions throughout the nights of 30 and 31 December, 1944, while the second line was being established. Patrols were still being sent out from the original line.

The new year started out badly as enemy forces pressured the Division's entire position west into the Vosges Mountains. Division prepared to withdraw to the secondary line on 1 January, 1945. Four battalions (1st and 2nd of the 313th, 1st BN, 314th, and 1st BN 315th) were temporarily shifted to the Vosges to hold off a breakthrough at the Saverne. At 1400, the 1st BN of the 314th was rerouted to swap positions with 3rd BN/315th. This gave control of the 313th/314th area solely to the 314th Regiment. 3rd BN/313th acted in reserve capacity. Later, at 1820, 1st BN/314th's orders changed again, as they were ordered to load onto DUKWs (sea-going 2 1/2 ton trucks) to move out to the northeast section of Zinswiller to assist in a battle taking place near Reipertswiller. They had 36 miles to go to meet the DUKWs. The remainder of the 314th was to fall back to the secondary line.

Since the current line was so thin due to the troops sent to Bastogne, the decision was made on 2 January to withdraw and shorten the line. AT/Co and Regimental HQ were to begin the fall back, followed by Cannon Co, the 311th FA BN, with the infantry units to begin its move at 2000. At 0400, 3 January, the demolitions were to be blown taking out the bridges. A delaying force consisting of E/Co, a Company each of TDs and tanks, and the I&R platoon was left in Neewiller to cover the enemy approaches. The withdrawal was executed without detection. The 2nd BN assembled from the Saltzbach River (located between Hatten and Buhl) extending 2500 yards to just shy of the Haguenau woods. 3rd BN was to the right, fanned out 3000 yards south through the woods to the outskirts of Koenigsbruck.

On 3 January, orders came down for a motorized move to a new position near Kriegsheim. This was later amended for a deeper move back to Walk-Chateau and the Saverne Pass - the November 1944 objectives. Luckily, at 1430, the orders were rescinded, and new orders issued held the battalions in their current locations, and to patrol - quietly.

On 4 January, the 314th's 2nd and 3rd BNs were notified they were being relieved by the 242nd Infantry, and to go into temporary reserve. The 2nd BN was to assemble in Schwabwiller, and 3rd sent to Oberbetschdorf. The 1st BN was now located six miles north of Zinswiller, roughly 40 miles from its Regiment.

Due to transportation difficulties, the 314th was not fully relieved until 0700, 5 January. At 1430, the 314th loaded on trucks for a move to the area of Bischwiller to secure it. German troops had crossed the Rhine and now occupied Gambsheim, Herrlsheim, and Offendorf. The order also outline a planned attack on Rohrwiller, situated between Bischwiller and Drusenheim. Patrols spotted prepared enemy positions on the outskirts of Rohrwiller, but they were not presently manned.

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