The 2nd BN - Captured at Drusenheim
Starting at 0630, 19 January 1945, German troops rained its artillery and mortar fire on the 2nd BN position in Drusenheim for more than an hour. The 2nd threw everything they had right back at the enemy. After the elements of F/Co had escaped, the rest of the battalion was trapped - essentially cut off from any help whatsoever. Facing 20 tanks and over 100 heavy artillery pieces, capture was close at hand.
Hand to hand combat took place until the early hours of 20 January. At 0430, the Battalion CP was captured, and within the next one-half hour, the remainder of the Battalion was taken by the enemy. The American POWs were relieved of their cold weather clothing and forced to march in the snow, gloveless and in stocking feet. At the German CP in Dalhunden, about 500 yards from the Rhine, the troops were separated; officers in one group, enlisted in another. On 22 January, the troops were ferried across the Rhine on their way to a POW camp. For four days, they marched through the Black Forest in Germany until they reached the camp at Baden-Baden. They were interrogated one by one by an SS officer posing as a representative from the International Red Cross. Food was very scarce, and some of the men hadn't eaten since their capture.
On or about 27/28 January, the troops were marched to a railroad station and loaded into cars to be transported to a second camp. After two days of being shoved into railcars in sub-zero temperatures, they arrived in Stuttgart. There was roughly 3000 POWs representing almost every U.S. Army outfit, and they were marched ten miles north to Ludwigsburg. After ten days of a hellish situation of no food and no warmth, the troops were loaded into railcars once again, and transported to a third location: Hammelburg-Läger. They spent roughly 45 days here.
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On 27 March, report reached the camp that American troops had broken through and were moving on Hammelburg. The prisoners were ordered to gather their belongings and prepare to evacuate. Stall tactics forced the captors to turn the camp over to their captives. White flags were raised and small battles ensued. It was quickly over, and the joy of the win was soon dampened by the realization that the liberators equaled one company of tanks dispatched by General Patton. The tanks took as many men as they could carry, and the rest were left with finding their way back to the American front as best they could; the rumored front being Frankfurt. Every route the fleeing prisoners took, there were German troops waiting. Eventually, most were recaptured and returned to Hammelburg-Läger.
On 31 March, the remaining prisoners once again
loaded into railcars and, 12 hours later, arrived in Nuremberg,
Germany. They were fed well for three days, then began a 150-mile
march to Moosburg on 3 April. For 17 days, they marched; borrowing,
begging and even stealing food along the way. Most had been issued
a Red Cross care package, the first of their long captivity. |
Aerial view - Nuremberg 1945 |
Seven days after reaching Moosburg, on 29 April 1945, liberation came for good finally came for the men of the 314th Regiment's 2nd BN at the hand of the 14th Armored Division. They were taken to Ingolstadt and flown to Rheims, France on C-47 transport planes. Food, clothing, rest, and one more stop in LeHavre to board ships headed, finally, home.
The men of the 2nd BN spent 72 days in captivity.
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