MEMORIES OF WINGEN
JANUARY 4 - 7, 1945

With a memory dimmed by the passing of 32 years, I have set forth below my best recollections of the events which transpired between the time of our arrival in Puberg at daybreak on January 4, 1945, and the afternoon of January 7, 1945, when we departed Wingen, our mission accomplished.

The village of Puberg. Photo by Jack Barton © 1995.

By way of background, by January, 1945, I had just reached my 22nd birthday. Christmas of 1944, which I spent in a cold, grimy abandoned munitions factory in Bischweiler, France, was my first away from home. I was a Second Lieutenant, having enlisted in the U.S. Army in April, 1943. Prior to that time I had lived my entire life in Lincoln, Nebraska , a town of 72,000 persons located in the Midwestern part of the U. S. A. At the time I enlisted in the U. S. Army, I was in my third year of college studying to be an attorney.

I had been placed in command of Company G, Second Battalion, 274th Infantry Regiment, on December 29, 1944, only several days before we started the long overnight ride from Drusenheim to Puberg on the evening of January 3, 1945, prior to engaging in combat at Wingen. It was to be our first actual encounter with the enemy and although I had no fear of dying, as I being a devout Catholic had made my peace with God, I had great apprehension that I would not measure up to what was expected of me as a soldier and leader of men.

As we alit from the trucks at Puberg on the morning of January 4, 1945, Company G along with other Companies of the 2nd Battalion assembled in the general area of the town. Snow abounded and it was bitter cold, thus continuing the discomfort of the all-night ride from Drusenheim.

I, along with the other Company Commanders, reported to the Battalion Command Post for instructions which as related to Company G were to outpost a sector of Puberg, which when tied in with the other Companies would afford a perimeter defense of Puberg.

Company G was in the process of preparing defensive positions as ordered when I was summoned to the Battalion Command Post. There I was advised that the decision had been made to have Companies E and G sweep the ridge that ran between Puberg and the woods overlooking Wingen, a distance as I recall of two to three miles. The two Companies each committed two platoons to form a skirmish line, Company G on the left and Company E on the right. Colonel Samuel Conley, Regimental Commander, and Major Buford Boyd, 2nd Battalion Executive Officer, lead the operation.

We proceeded cautiously, our progress being furthered hindered by the snow and rough terrain.

Somewhere along this ridge we ran into either a German outpost or patrol, I'm not clear which. Shots were exchanged and Company G received its first battle casualties: Staff Sergeant Baker, Private First Class Malcom Daniels and Private Ernie Hayes, all of whom were able to be evacuated. Company G also claimed its first enemy casualties, one of whom we laboriously tried to transport to Puberg on a blanket stretcher so he could be afforded medical attention and thereafter be debriefed concerning the situation in the Wingen area particularly with reference to the enemies' positions and strength. Unfortunately, he died en route.

The village of Wingen-sur-Moder. Photo by Chester Garstki.

Returning to the Puberg area and with F Company and H Company outposting the perimeter, members of G Company settled down, we thought for the night, in any warm place that could be found. Sometime during the night I was summoned to the Battalion Command Post and told that word had been received that the Germans were advancing toward Puberg from Wingen. My instructions were to move my Company out toward Wingen, along the ridge and to set up a main line of defense. Confusion abound but we were able to quickly assemble the Company and move out. Selecting what I felt to be the most advantageous positions to defend, we stopped and the men started digging in. The heavy snow and frozen ground did nothing to brighten our spirits. Sometime during the early hours of January 5th, I received instructions to once again move along the ridge between Puberg and Wingen, as the German advance on Puberg had failed to materialize. My Company was to clear the ridge and secure the woods up to the edge of the outskirts of town.

Feeling relatively sure that at most we would run into only a German outpost until we reached the woods overlooking Wingen, I planned to proceed slowly so that we would be in a position to attack at daylight.

Arriving at the woods shortly before daylight, I assembled my officers and platoon Sergeants and gave them my plan of attack which was to proceed with the lst and 2nd platoons committed and the 3rd platoon in reserve. We had not advanced very far when the Germans opened up with heavy machine gun fire. To this day I do not know how the Germans were positioned in these woods but feel they were outposted in pockets with machine gun emplacements protected by riflemen so located to take advantage of the most advantageous fire lanes.

Both the lst and 2nd platoons were at this time under intensive fire and hugging the ground. Tech Sergeant Hughie Shellem, platoon Sergeant of the 2nd platoon, on seeing his platoon pinned down and unable to advance took it on his own to show them there was a job to be done. He moved about exhorting them to advance, all this movement with complete disregard for his personal safety. He himself with grenades knocked out a machine gun emplacement, then in a crouched running position with his rifle in his right hand moved forward at the same time with his left hand gave signals to his men as to where to advance. At that time a German machine gun blast almost cut him in two. He crumpled to the ground to fight no more. One of the medics raced to Hughie's side to administer to him. I was close by and also went to Hughie's side but to no avail, he was dead. It was at that moment that the utter futility and the senseless waste of war struck me. Hughie Shellem was a young man in his early 20's. He was born and raised in the Germantown area of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He very much resembled and could do a perfect imitation of our then famous actor Jimmy Cagney. Hughie and I were friends and had spent many happy times together in the States. Only shortly before we shipped over he had introduced me to his girlfriend whom he planned to marry after the war. One day I will visit Epinal, France, where Hughie is buried to again pay my respects to a brave man.

Back to the battle. Seeing that advancement was at a standstill I decided to pull my troops back, set up a rolling barrage of mortar fire and move behind it. This ploy worked. Moving forward each man fired round after round. The Germans we did not kill or capture retreated out of the woods. As we neared the end of the woods overlooking Wingen, Sergeant Wexler's squad observed a white flag being waved out of a home near the edge of the woods. As he stood up to yell to them in German to come forward with their hands up, a German machine un-barked and Sergeant Wexler and several of his men were hit. Another bitter lesson was learned.

I cannot now recall the time of day we secured the woods but imagine it was in the early afternoon. As we dug in we observed fighting on the hill to the left of and overlooking Wingen and some activity in the town itself. The 276th Infantry Regiment was involved in that battle. Shortly thereafter I was Approached by a Captain assigned to the 276th. He told me my Company was now assigned to the 276th and that I was to take two platoons and attempt to enter Wingen through or alongside the railroad underpass. To accomplish this, we were to go around the left flank, which incidentally exposed us to fire from the hill overlooking Wingen. He assured me that the 276th had control of the hill so that would present no problem. It did not take long to find out that he was wrong so I pulled my two platoons back to our original position in the woods overlooking Wingen and shortly thereafter discussed this turn of events with Colonel Cheves. My instructions were to maintain my defensive position in the woods overlooking Wingen. Later in the afternoon, E Company under Captain Sisson and F Company under Captain Davenport moved into the area preparatory to attack. H Company, the Battalion heavy weapons Company under Captain Kidder, moved into support positions in the woods as did Lieutenant Copeland's anti-tank platoon.

Sergeant John E. Sims moved his squad io our right flank to clear and occupy some houses along the road leading to Zittersheim. Reaching their objective they found wounded GI's of the 276th Regiment. They soon joined in the action with A Company of the 276th which was approaching from the Zittersheim area. During this action, Company G sustained its second fatality, Private First Class Fred Hurst.

At this point in time I cannot recall the events of the late afternoon of January 5th or the night of January 5 - 6, 1945.

I recall E and F Companies moving through the G Company defensive positions, thus placing G in a reserve position, and engaging the enemy in rather heated exchanges as dusk fell.

I recall being ordered back to Puberg for a staff meeting. There I learned that Colonel Cheves had been placed in charge of the entire Wingen operation. To me this was a most excellent turn of events as I knew him to be not only an outstanding tactician but one whose troops came first. Further, I knew that he could not be pressured into attacking helter skelter just because some General wanted to get the job over with.

The plan was for the 276th to continue efforts to secure the hill overlooking Wingen; for F Company to lead the attack on Wingen proper, with E Company following them in and for G Company to be held in reserve.

Early in the morning of January 6th, F Company moved into attack positions and were met by murderous fire. They were pinned down near the entrance to the town along the ditch running at the bottom of the railroad tracks.

At 1 p.m. on January 6, with Company G on the left and Company E on the right, we moved into the attack. I recall crawling over the bodies of many F Company comrades lying in the ditch near the underpass. I had first served with F Company when I joined the Battalion.

As we made our way into town, we occupied the first few houses without too much difficulty, the main problem being the heavy machine gun and rifle fire coming from the hill.

I recall talking to Lieutenant Wayne Meshier, an E Company platoon leader. We decided to split the town with his platoon attacking the sector to the right and Company G attacking the sector to the left.

Wayne moved off and while directing his platoon was killed by fire from the vicinity of the cemetary. Wayne and I had attended the same university, entered the Army at the same time and had trained together. Just before we shipped over he had married his childhood sweetheart, a lovely girl who I also knew.

Company G moved ahead with the lst platoon leading the way. We soon encountered a fence which had to be cleared so that we could proceed in the attack. I directed as much fire power as possible towards the hill and we moved forward and over the fence one by one. The house immediately in our path had to be entered from the side towards the cemetary. As we rounded the corner and entered the house, Sergeant John Schwaegel engaged in a bavonet fight and won. It was our first hand-to-hand combat and I thanked God that we had been prepared through hours and hours of bayonet drills.

We moved on through town in a coordinated effort with the rifle squads alternating taking houses and covering the next squad's advance. With nightfall descending and our tank support moving back to refuel, we started to button up for the night. At this time the Germans came off the hill in a wild charge, panning machine gun fire into our positions. I tried to get everyone to hit the ground and return the fire but it was difficult being heard over the noise of the shots. Sergeant George Krumme grabbed a machine gun and cut loose in rapid fire fashion stopping the attack long enough for me to organize that part of the Company that was caught out in the open and move.them back to some houses near the edge of town.

The night of January 6 - 7, 1945, is to this day the longest night of my life. I had left a large number of men in Wingen and even though the fighting had ceased, I was unaware of their fate.

We spent the night in contact with Battalion headquarters and in reorganizing the remainder of my Company for an attack at daylight. Colonel Cheves decided to delay the attack giving us more time during daylight to reorganize and also time for tank support to join us.

At approximatel 9 a.m. we moved out and advanced rapidly. I think foremost in everyone's mind was to reach the house where Sergeant Krumme and the rest had spent the evening. All in all the battle on the 7th was uneventful. Resistance was light, we were able to join up with Sergeant Krumme and the rest of the Company and then moved on through town clearing all the remaining houses and setting up defensive lines at that point. E Company freed the 179th Infantry doughboys who were being held captive in the church.

Our cooks brought up hot chow for all. Those residents of Wingen who had decided to remain in their homes soon appeared on the streets.

Soon after the battle ceased, we received instructions to move out and were taken by trucks to a convent near Oberbronn. I had been without sleep since we left Drusenheim on January 3rd. I had walked through a stream somewhere along the lines and my shoepacs were frozen to my feet. I was so hoarse I could hardly talk. After a visit to the chapel where I prayed for my three comrades who had lost their lives in Wingen and for the recovery of the 43 men of Company G who had been wounded, I was tended to by those wonderful nuns who cut my shoepacs off and bathed my feet in warm water.

On the left, plaques commerating the 70th's liberation of the village of Wingen-sur-Moder. Photo by Jack Barton ©1995.

I have thought of Wingen many times since January, 1945. I have been told by Mr. Jim Lassiter, whose brother died there, and by Charles Blackmar, my Executive Officer, both of whom have visited there, as to what a beautiful place it is. I hope to make such a visit someday.

General Orders - 274th Honor Roll