"30" for the Tomahawk July 20, 1945

This blog entry text is from the Memorial Edition of the "Tomahawk" the XIX Corps weekly newspaper, which was published in Bad Nauheim, Germany July 20, 1945 

Front page, above the fold of the Memorial Edition of The Tomahawk

Tomahawk Now Silent: It's Name Will Live
 by Cpl. Ed Essertier

To say that anyone in his right mind really enjoyed serving in the XIX Corps or in the Army is sentimental tripe. Circumstances, not choice, put most of the men in Corps, and they leave it for the same reason.
But XIX Corps did a job, and the men who sweated out the lousy, filthy, muddy mess can be proud of their record. When XIX Corps returns home and disintegrates on paper, the men who wore the famous Tomahawk on their left shoulder will remember it, and its history will live.

Above the fold back page.

 "Our Last Resting Place"

  Article reproduced here, by Pvt. Roy Hubbard

  Bad Nauheim --- While the world was celebrating VE Day, XIX Corps convoys were beating their way over a couple of hundred miles of dusty dirt roads, macadam and autobahn ---- leaving behind the Elbe River area where the month preceding Germany's capitulation was spent, and heading south for Hessen to take up temporary occupational duties. 

  Corps Artillery and its attached units stayed in Friedberg, a quiet residential city, while the bulk of Corps headquarters set up offices and living quarters in some of the many hotels in the international health and vacation resort of Bad Nauheim.

  It was pretty good living while it lasted, especially after Corps Special Service got to work. The Stadtisches Schwimmbad was converted into the Tomahawk Swimming Pool (open daily from 10 to 10), almost a dozen tennis courts were rejuvenated and opened to troops serving with Corps, boats which had seen assault duty on the Rhine were provided for fishing in the local lake, and movies were shown nightly in the lavish theater known as the Kurhaus (Cure House).

  Men who had fallen a little behind on their bath schedule during long months of war got a chance to catch up on that function, with the luxurious mineral baths, formerly patronized by rich old gout and rheumatism cases, being opened for GI's. every day 6x6's from the outlying towns trucked in detachments of men who wanted to bathe and relax in the enormous wooden tubs of Nauheim's Badhaus.

  By night the trucks were still cominig, but now laden with pleasure seekers who wanted to dunk a few sinkers in the Red Cross Dugout here and go for walks in the naturally beautiful parks of Bad Nauheim. Not the least among the beauties of the parks were the frauleins -----blonde, brown, black and red-headed-but nobody paid too much attention to them until last week when Ike issues his long-awaited pronunciamento that the de-Nazification of Germany had progressed far enough for the soldiers to be allowed to fraternize with civilians. 

  Word is going around now that Fifteenth Army is going to take over Bad Nauheim. But when that will happen, and where we will go, and how long it will all take, is something that even the brainy Information Please team was unable to answer when it appeared at the Kurhaus this Wednesday and Thursday. Our only advice is to  keep on playing golf and tennis, swimming in the Tomahawk Pool, and spazieren in the park as long as the good-thing lasts.

 

 XIX Corps "Tomahawk" Uniform Shoulder Patch

To Those We Left Behind

Greater love than this has no man....than he lay down his life for his brother. ~ Christ

We have reached the mid-point in our fight against militaristic terror and oppression. As we pause a moment before taking our places in the concluding half of the war ------ some of us still in the ARMY, others back on the home front----- we can't help thinking of the fellows who won't be going home with us, who won't be there on the final V Day.

There is no denying Winston Churchill's words, "Victory is being paid for in blood, sweat and tears."
We have all sweated-----some more-----some less-----but nothing compared to the sacrifice of our many comrades who laid down their lives in the struggle.

To  make possible the XIX Corps' smashing successes in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, thousands of men made the supreme sacrifice. Brothers, relatives, friends, strangers, -----all have made the greatest offering a man can make along the march to victory ---- a victory which these valiant dead will neither celebrate nor enjoy. There is no way we can repay our friends for their lives. But we can all do our part to make sure that the fruits of their victory will justify their sacrifices.

Editorial:
 by Cpl. Ed Essertier Pvt. Roy Hubbard, editors

Thirty in newspaper parlance, means "The End." It goes at the bottom of stories to tell linotypers and proof readers there's no more to read. This issue of The Tomahawk is our "Thirty" edition. Like munitions factories we're going out of business.

XIX Corps' Europe Push averaged 2 1/2 MI. Daily

From early June 1944 to VE-Day, the XIX Corps was operational for 326 days, and drove more than 800 miles from the Normandy beach over the Elbe, averaging close to two and a half miles a day. This average takes into account long weeks of waitiing before stubbornly defended barriers like St. Lo, the West Wall, and the Roer River ---- and fast drives such as the three day race across France in which Corps hurtled the Seine and the Somme Rivers and entered Belgium on three consecutive days (September 1 to 3, 1944), and the mad dash through the heart of the Reich itself.

   

The following are a few highlights of the Tomahawk Corps accomplishments in Europe: 

Prisioners of war taken................................................... 249,125

Enemy airplanes shot down ..........................................         297

Bridges built...................................................................         422

(with a total lenght of 37, 083 feet)

Major Rivers crossed....................................................              8

(Vire, Seine, Somme, Meuse, Roer, Rhine, Weser, Elbe)

Battle Stars......................................................................           5

     Normandy

     Northern France

     Rhineland

     Ardennes

     Central Europe

Armies Served with........................................................           3

    First US Army

    Ninth US Army

    Seventh US Army

The XIX Corps March 1945 After Crossing the Roer

Text excerpted from the XIX Corps Newspaper 1946

 "The Tomahawk Strikes"
"From the Siegfried Line to Victory" 

From their toe-hold on the east bank of the Roer, the 29th and 30th Divisions picked up speed and momentum. The 29th took Juelich, by-passed and later wiped out the resistance in the ancient citadel; the 30th made speed through the Hambach Forest to take Steinstrasse. Both divisions made full use of their maneuver-room, taking the towns that dotted the area with speedy and economical flanking attacks both day and night. that gave the Germans no chance to dig in anywhere. It was muddy, disagreeable moist country, of small farms with clusters of slate-colored plaster and brick farmhouses; the tree-lined roads of brick or cobblestones slippery with mud. Open stretches of fields were commanded by 88's and self propelled guns, and systems of trenches on the commanding ground. Each town was a strong point, or had been intended to be. In many of them however, the Volkssturm forces were so quickly inundated by the American advance, that they got no warning at all, and dissolved into civilians without firing more than a few shots. In some places, where the forces from in front managed to withdraw and fight a delaying action, or reserves came up from the rear, there was sharp fighting.The enemy rushed some of the best troops we had on the West Front - 9th Panzer, 11th Panzer, 130th Panzer Lehr, elements of 2nd Parachute and 15th Panzer Grenadier, plus assorted infantry divisions - to attempt to halt the threatened disaster. Our battle-hardened 29th and 30th, and 2nd Armored Divisions knew what to do and did it speedily and expertly.

On the fifth day of the attack, the stage was considered sufficiently set to let go with the finishing blow. The 2nd Armored Division was ordered in for a powerful smash to finish off the industrial area on the west bank of the Rhine centered around Muenchen-Gladbach, Neuse, and Krefeld-Jerdingen. The whole 2nd Armored attacked all along the line, and despite heavy resistance the first day, made an advance of six miles. The blow was stronger because elements of the 83rd Division attacked with the armor. Meanwhile the 29th Division continued its drive, and by the first of March had taken and cleaned up the last resistance in Muenchen-Gladbach - Rheydt. This was an important manufacturing city, with large cloth and steel mills.

The 2nd Armored drove between Muenchen-Gladbach and Neuss and continued north to reduce the manufacturing centers of Uerdingen. The 83rd Division, an outstanding newcomer to the Corps, peeled off to the right, and proceeded to clean up Neuss, and came very close to seizing the big Rhine bridge there intact. The 2nd Battalion of the 331st Infantry was the first to reach the Rhine just south of Neuss. Meanwhile the 30th Division and the 113th Calvary Group had been guarding the right flank of the Corps along the Erft River, until the units of the VII Corps came up the other side of the river and relieved them of that task.

By the fifth of March the 2nd Armored had taken Uerdingen, and the task of the Corps was finished, for this operation. The speed of the Corps advance came near taking several of the bridges across the Rhine, but the enemy finally succeeded in blowing them all at the last moment, often marooning considerable numbers of enemy troops in the process.

XIX Corps was ready and anxious to forge the Rhine forthwith, and believed firmly it could be done. But higher headquarters decided to wait until the drive could be set up to go all the way to Berlin, once we were across. The divisions of the Corps moved up solidly along 26 miles of the Rhine's left bank.

In the ten day drive, XIX Corps took more than 11,000 prisoners, 353 towns, and over 300 square miles of territory at the price of a proportionately very small casualty list. Corps Artillery fired nearly 2500 missions for a total of about 250,00 rounds; Corps Engineers built 3040 feet of all types of bridges; the Tank Destroyers destroyed 65 enemy tanks and armored vehicles, and the Corps AAA shot down 30 planes. It was a dashing example of fine teamwork and dynamic direction.

Letter #32 from Wilbur C Garner August 28 1944

The narrative below describes the activities of the XIX corps in the time between Bill's last letter to Mary dated August 8 and the letter in this blog entry dated August 28. The text originlly appeared in the book Normandy to the Elbe published by the XIX Corps.
 
Tessy sur Vire was taken on August 2nd, and by the 5th the Corps had covered 18 miles of hedgerows and was assaulting Vire. The 29th Division took it on the night of August 6th.

There was still heavy fighting to be done on this shoulder of the pocket, and the Germans who had brought over all their armor from the British sector, made one more thrust to try to cut off the great flanking drive. The 30th Division, then under VII Corps, took the brunt of that attack at Mortain, and blunted and finally drove it back, in a magnificent stand. XIX Corps had its part in holding the attack, and finally in helping to bottle up nearly 100,000 Germans in the Falaise-Argentan pocket. From the 13th to the 17th of August the Corps pushed northeast; then it shifted to the east and from the vicinity of Brezolles drove due north to cut off the Germans trying to escape across the Seine at a narrow shoulder of the river from Elbeuf to Quellebeuf. It was XIX Corps who stopped them. The 30th took Evreux and advanced beyond; the 28th followed the 2nd Armored beyond Conches up to Elbeuf, where the powerful 2nd Armored for two days and two nights, slaughtered everything that tried to cross the river. On August 25th they reached Elbeuf itself, and Corps made contact with the Canadians to the north. That marked the end of the German Seventh Army.

These were the days when they were giving France away to us. This was something different from Normandy: the streets black with people, who seemed to do nothing twenty-four hours a day but stand there and cheer us and wave, and weep, some of them, and throw us flowers and fruit and vegetables, and stare wide-eyed at the trucks and jeeps and tanks. What always got them most were the Tank Retrievers that filled the whole road, with red lights blinking, and all armored up like something from Mars, and the Long Toms and 8 inch Hows. They loved them! 

From the archives of Wilbur C Garner

The XIX Corps Artillery got to be known as the best aggregation in Normandy. Under Brigadier General George Shea, they were just as tough as he was, and they demanded the best from every man and gun they had. The Divisions early had enough confidence in the Corps Artillery to take chances of counterattacks they otherwise wouldn't take, because they knew that Axel, the Fire Direction Center would lay in in a matter of seconds on any threat that appeared. The FDC was bombed pretty hard for three nights running near Ste. Marguerite. There were casualties, but they never stopped turning out the fire.

There was that CP we had in that dense woods, behind the chateau they were using for a children's home. And the little wizened Frenchman of the FFI who had come down from the group he led to tell us where they were holding a couple hundred Germans surrounded, but they couldn't clean them out because they didn't have enough arms, and the ammunition was running low. The G-2 sent him down to the 30th in a jeep to lead a patrol for them out there. An he sat in the jeep shaking his head with a quiet wonder, saying "I never thought I'd ever live to see it. All the rest who were with me when we started have been shot, and I really never believed I'd be alive this day!"

He was really amazed, and he kept touching his fingers to the back of his other hand as if to verify something he couldn't quite believe. His pocket was right in the line of the 30th's attack for the next morning, so they were glad to see him and gave him a dinner, but he kept shaking his head in that funny way, and saying the same thing over and over.

The bulk of the rest of the German Army in the west was now in full retreat. The Corps swung east to where XV Corps had made a crossing of the Seine, at Mantes-Gassicourt, where the 79th held a bridgehead, passed through and made after the Germans. The Germans might stop and fight in strength almost anywhere, and they did fight for river crossings and terrain features. But the drive of the Corps gave them no chance to organize anywhere. The Corps crossed the Seine on August 28th, by September 1st the Corps advance elements had crossed the Somme, and at 0930 in the morning of September 3rd were into Belgium, the first Allied troops across the border. Tournai, the first large town in Belgium was taken the same day.

They sent Colonel Biddle and the 113th to cover the right flank of the Corps on the north side of Paris. The Engineers of the Corps threw seven bridges over the Seine, and one of them took the place of the road-bridge blown by the Germans at St. Germain. Now the Corps Commander could cover his right flank there and go hell-for-leather for the Belgian border. For three of the seven bridges the Engineers had to clear the opposite bank themselves, before they could put them in. That operation of the cavalry was slightly nuts, said the men of the 113th Group. When you're ducking 88's and being kissed by beaucoup beautiful girls at the same time; when the cafes open up, give away all their wine, and you dance in the streets while a burpgun is still rattling away within a block, that's a funny kind of war. But it was that way all the way up through those towns, Sartrouville and the rest.

Now the battle became the Battle of Supply. Trucks that should have been used to bring up gasoline and keep the dumps close behind the advance were continually pressed into services to carry troops in the pursuit. There just weren't enough trucks, and artillery ammunition again became a critical item until the resistance dropped off even more. For several days the Corps had to mark time until enough gas was accumulated to push on.

Civil Affairs ant the Resistance reported a few caches of German gasoline, but the G-4 was finally becoming desperate for more supplies. everybody asked each other about it every morning, and the G-4 was always full of liaison officers or visitors from higher headquarters explaining why they should get just one can of gas to get home. Major Marshall, Assistant G-4 finally got a liaison plane and went up to look over the canals in that part of Belgium, looking for tank barges. Then the QM sent out and tested the gas in it. We got 30,000 gallons that way. G-4 could always tell to a gallon how much there was in the dumps, and the heads always turned his way at the Staff meetings before any plan was discussed. (Text: Captain Fredric E. Pamp Jr (Public Relations Officer XIX Corps 1945) 

From the archives of Wilbur C Garner

From the archives of Wilbur C Garner

From the archives of Wilbur C Garner

 S/Sergent Wilbur C. Garner 33377578
G-1 Section Hq XIX Corps
APO 270, c/o Postmaster, N.Y.

Mary W. Garner, SK2c
U.S. Naval Air Station
Supply Office
Minneapolis, Minnesota (6)

U.S.A. "Somewhere in France"
August 28, 1944

Dear Sis,

It has been about two weeks since I last wrote you but I haven't really had the chance. In fact I haven't even been able to scribble a note to Gwen for about 10 days. Let Mother know I'm still kicking in case I can't drop her a line. 

I've been trying to get you a couple of souvenirs of France but I haven't had a chance to even do that. The weather here has been fairly good and I've got some nice pictures I hope to get developed some day soon. I hope the film does not go bad before I get a chance to have them developed.

I think I owe you about four letters. I'm sorry I haven't been able to answer them. You said you had some canned meats & sardines if I want them. I surely do & thanks a lot.

You also asked me what you could send Gwen. I'll leave that up to you. You said I'd have to write for it. Oh well I'll ask for something in my next letter.

I guess Harriet will shortly be heading south to Florida. So you finally got your transfer to the Supply Office. I surely hope you like it better than the Disbursing Office. If your station is closed down, I hope they ship you someplace where you can see more of the U.S.A. I'd Like to ship to the West Coast before I leave the Army.

Well Sis, I'll say so long for now and hope to hear from you again soon. Say, "Hello" to all the folks for me.

Lots of Love and Luck,
Bill