George Company, 275 captured Grossbliederstroff, on the Saar River, February 17, 1945. The 276th Infantry was operating to the west on the left flank of the division.

Initially the 2d Battalion defended the extreme right of the 70th Division, from Welferding to Grossbliederstroff, refusing the right flank of the 70th, a task inherent in its mission as it guided on the Saar River and the eastern portions of the Brandenbusch and Pfaffenwald in the offensive towards Saarbruecken.

Gen. Herren early on commented on the extreme width of the 2 Battalion sector, drawn well back on the high ground above the Saar. It was defended by widely separated, mutually supporting, infantry squad strong points interlocked with BAR's and LMG'S, reinforced by 60 and 81 mm mortars and pre-planned artillery fire on call. I stated it had more the dimensions of an OPLR (Outpost Line of Resistance) rather than an MLR (Main Line of Resistance). He listened.

German patrols constantly probed the position. Captured enemy reports indicated some success. Co. E snared a German patrol of 12 men, in white winter camouflage on the wooded Saar River flood plain in the vicinity of the limestone mine near Welferding making division intelligence happy.

On February 6, a reinforced platoon of Co.G raided Grossbliederstroff in conjunction with like raids along the division front. The German garrison was disrupted, many taken prisoner, but not evacuated because of hazardous conditions in a creek overflowing its banks on the withdrawal route. Sgt. Louis A. Hoger, carrying a radio, has good reason to remember this high water.

During this raid, alongside the battalion observation post, overlooking Grossbliederstroff and the Saar River, originally constructed by the French during the Franco-Prussian War, a German 88 exploded. Capt. Frank J. Kloiber, Bn. S-3, was wounded. Weeks later he returned wearing a steel helmet punctured by multiple shell fragments, some of which he carries to this day.

Capt. Paul Brown, Bn. S-2, with guidance from division intelligence, inserted French operatives through Co. F lines into German territory, later retrieved them - a delicate procedure.

The Division Artillery Sound and Flash Unit reported coordinates of a sensing in front of Co. F. A map check revealed a quarry depression concealing German artillery neutralized.

As the snows melted German bodies were found in the undergrowth. A skip-bombed dam near Puttelange yielded grenade stunned fish that were served in the battalion mess with marinated hares.

A welcome relief from the snow, ice and mud was the periodic rotation to the rear by squads to the Quartermaster Bath Unit for a warm shower and change into clean clothes.

Problems remained after Grossbliederstroff was captured. Anti-tank Company trucks on the way there hit mines missed in the initial sweep - finally cleared.

In coordination with the February 17 attack into Grossbliederstroff, the 2d Battalion, undercover of darkness, assembled in Lixing, taken by the 1st Battalion, with orders to also attack through the eastern portion of the Brandenbusch and take Zinzingen.

To facilitate this attack, smoke (phosphorous) was requested to blanket the approaches to the Brandenbusch. It was approved, then approval withdrawn, because of a shortage. At H-hour a dense fog encompassed the Brandenbusch - almost an act of divine providence.

A wide band of Schuh Minen edged the southeastern Brandenbusch, at least six rows, spaced for optimum effect. Though this field was negotiated during poor visual conditions, there were no mine casualties.

Lt. John B. Cruell, Bn. Ammunition and Pioneer Platoon dragged daisy chains of anti-tank mines across the road to the east to protect the battalion flank.

Reh and Hirsch were startled by the combat action in the Brandenbusch. There were impromptu and clandestine deer roasts.

Overlooking Zinzingen the battalion observation post was dug in at the northeastern edge of the Brandenbusch. German activity could be observed in the valleys below. At night hoof beats of horses towing artillery pieces could be heard, followed by unlimbering and shelling of 2d Bn posi- tions, particularly the Battalion OP.

On the road leading north from Zinzingen into the Saar, about a half mile away, a building set back from the road, prominently displayed a Red Cross flag, stretching half way across the road. Upon the capture of Zinzingen and points beyond, this building checked out to contain a stand of arms to equip a battalion - a Geneva Convention violation.

At Zinzingen an order came from Military Government to allow no civilians to the rear. The 2d Battalion had rounded up and sent all males of military age to the rear. The mayor of Zinzingen asked for permission to search for two young men in this group, deaf mutes - permission granted. He found them in a Catholic nunnery fifty miles to the rear. Military Government was unhappy but forgiving.

The inhabitants also asked the where-abouts of a German artillery lieutenant, a gifted poet and musician. Capt. Lawrence G. Southard, C.O. of Co. G, reported his men had overrun a German forward artillery observer position - he was missing.

Preparations to breach the Siegfried Line became obvious to the people of Zinzingen. U.S. artillery pieces by the score were being positioned on the rear slopes of the Pfaffenwald. They reinforced the doors and windows of their stone houses with upended logs packed with manure. Large family groups gathered around trestle top tables in candle lit vaulted stone root cellars beneath their homes. They said "Wir beten" - "We pray."

The Bn. exec. officer, Maj. Wilmer Jean, and I were quartered with a French family. They were hospitable. We shared food. After a few days a stranger appeared. Zinzingen had been occupied since 1939. This stranger, pale with a red veined face, had been concealed in a dugout beneath the pig sty off the farmhouse courtyard all this time. Now he was free.

Eventually Unner, a suburb of Saarbruecken, was captured by Co. E, Capt. George Mundell, C.O. Deserters surrendered and snipers from across the Saar were active. During reconnaissance for the attack on Unner the 2d Battalion command group, in a copse of trees, was subjected to an 88, which ploughed the ground and swirled the dead leaves - but unbelievably no casualties.

The length of the ridge of the Pfaffenwald was improved with cleverly concealed underground concrete rooms, entered by a vertical ladder well, sufficient to house a platoon, stacked with small arms - built by the French, recently used by the Germans - now abandoned.

Here Dr. Kurt Lekisch took wounded to the Battalion Aid Station, administering plasma from a rig on his Red Cross marked jeep.