It was attacked and breached on September 14 with the 4.2s of A Company giving close support from the town of Buchet. It demonstrated our limitations and possibilities, and the things that must be accomplished before the peak of efficiency could be reached. The enemy, having either spotted the position, or, while firing at a nearby road, shelled the company continuously. The second round went through the hole in the roof made by the previous shell, and exploded inside! Email. 6-8th Field Artillery Battalion: 24 M198. The route went through Ham, Noyon, Compiegne, Soissons, a total of 130 miles. After "the pocket," the battalion assembled in the vicinity of Sees for rest and recuperation, and on August 25 moved out in battalion convoy to join the rat race to Paris. Lt Mohrfeld, platoon leader, 2nd platoon, was hit within a few minutes by machine gun fire and died shortly thereafter. At this time, Lt Robert Mann and his platoon accomplished a magnificent feat. Below the shield is a scroll bearing the battalion's motto, "Equal to the Task," picked from many submitted to Col. James. were deployed [in Rubizhne - ed. Several direct hits on the dugouts used as an OP buried Lt Costello, Cpl George New, and Pvt Ramirez under a mass of logs, sandbags, and debris. American troops had crossed the Seine above Paris by August 23. When the Germans launched their Ardennes offensive on December 16, much of the Third Army began moving north toward Bastogne, leaving some units such as Company A to hold the line. The Individual Deceased Personnel Files (I.D.P.F's) are essential for researching the military service of individual veterans who were killed or died in the service. Many English friends were made, and two men asked for and received permission to marry English girls. Lo. On this date, the assault echelon was broken up and attached to two combat teams the 16th and 116th. On July 1, D Company was relieved from attachment to the 197th Field Artillery Battalion, 30th Division, XIX Corps, and left La Fotelaie. Monday-Friday (excluding Holidays) By August 29, after two days of firing, which helped to clear the last Germans from the city, B Company was already moving on the roads that were to lead in less than a month to the Siegfried Line. Thus was born the 81st, without fanfare, but with quiet purpose. The beautiful Meuse River, located deep in a cultivated valley, was reached on September 5. 31 mortars commanded by Capt. In another instance, when their landing craft sank, the men, by their fierce persistence in the face of great odds, swam ashore, towing with them two mortars and two mortar carts which previously had been made buoyant by life preservers. During the first few days of August, D Company moved on to Le Breui, and thence on to Le Perron, near Torigny-sur-Vire, where it was attached to the 23rd Infantry, 2nd Division. Company D moved out on August 12, attached to their old friends the 175th Infantry, 29th Division. This same day the company arrived at Heinstert and on the following day crossed the Luxembourg border near the town of Surre. Practically every infantry dough boy had a belt full of Lugers and P-38s. The long, slow, bloody battle of the hedgerows, which finally brought the infantry to Hill 192 and St. Why Were These WWI Soldiers Executed by Their Own Country? As the men clambered down the cargo nets in the murky, false dawn, the Navy wished them Godspeed, and the craft shoved off from the mother ships into a choppy sea for the rendezvous areas several hundred yards offshore. Heavy seas had caused much of the companys equipment to sink to the bottom of the English Channel, though a handful of intrepid soldiers had done what they could to recover some of it. This was the initial air and sea bombardment laid down on Omaha Beach early that day in an effort to neutralize or soften up the enemy's prepared positions. Surprising as it may seem after three years and the usual drifting, transferring, and evacuation of personnel, a fair number of the original cadre were still with the battalion at the end of the war in Europe. Finally, the craft straightened out into waves and headed for Omaha Beach with all the speed and power they could muster. The entire assault echelon was moved to Camp D-11, where it remained as a battalion until Sunday, May 28. In clearing the enemy from the beachhead, the companies expended a total of 6,807 rounds of ammunition. Nightly schedules of harassing fire were almost a certainty for A Company during this period. The mortars of this battalion pounded the hill and adjacent environs with a total of 4,832 rounds. ACTIVATION: April 24, 1942 CAMPAIGNS: Normandy, Central Europe, Northern France, Ardennes-Alsace, Rhineland The 81st Chemical Battalion (Motorized), later designated the 81st Chemical Mortar Battalion, was activated on April 24, 1942, as one of the small specialized groups being raised quickly to fill gaps in the burgeoning U.S. Army. In 1964 an Ohio woman took up the challenge that had led to Amelia Earharts disappearance. The U.S. First Army drove from Laon to Mons and Sedan during the first few days of September, reached Meuse and held it by September 6 from Namur to Sedan. All miraculously escaped injury. Ah, those Parisians! Russell, Texas, pursuant to GO #39, 14 April 1942, Hq Third Army, San Antonio, Texas, and War Department letter, 25 March 1942. Number four mortar of the 1st platoon, Sgt Miller's squad, fired two rounds of HE, from the initial landing place, at a machine gun emplacement 500 yards away. CWO John W. Bundy, Hq Det, and S/Sgt Jack L. Rush, Company A, received orders awarding them battlefield appointments as second lieutenants, on July 29. On June 12, 1943, the 81st Chemical Battalion arrived at Camp Pickett, Virginia, where it was stationed until October 14 of that year. The companies landed in the following order: Companies A & D: H plus 50 minutes Company B: H plus 90 minutes Company C: H plus 9 hours. On the outskirts of the City of Light, the companies were again split up, and after crossing the Seine, Company A moved on to Germany. He was dragged ashore by 1st Lt. James P. Panas, who had already pulled a wounded GI onto the beach and had assumed command. The following day a 25-minute concentration from its mortars was credited with stopping a company of enemy infantry attacking up a draw near the gun position. Ansel Adams Hauntingly Beautiful Images: Photographing the Despair of Japanese-American Internment. In order to accomplish its mission, the company was forced to advance through one of the uncleared mine fields found everywhere about the beach. Eight months were to go by before they rejoined the battalion. Captain Gaffney, company commander, was instantly killed when the craft in which he was riding struck a mine. we were defending the Azot plant [one of the largest chemical plants in Europe . The infantry, taking advantage of this concentrated shelling, moved in as the fire was lifted and succeeded in securing the ground. (2) The Frankel, Braswell, Christiansen, and Gibbs groupings (1941 to 1945) of the 81st Chemical Battalion (Motorized) collection, found in the U.S. Army Chemical School historical archives, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, are the sources of this article. IV. It afforded a good deal of amusement to have to drag the carts over hill and dale for miles just to "get the feel of it." It was here that the company was subjected to one of the heaviest shellings it ever experienced. The battalion was reorganized under a new Table of Organization on February 14, 1944, and the 376 men rendered surplus by this reorganization were transferred in grade to the 92nd Chemical Battalion then being formed. It was up to the battalion to write its own history and these pages will show how well the job was done. On being relieved from V Corps, the battalion was officially commended by General Brooks, Corps Commander, for the excellent manner in which it had functioned while with that corps. During the trip, the company passed through Vire and marveled at the damage done by air and artillery bombardment. Miraculously, the mortar men escaped death, but shells were landing so close that several ear drums were broken. It was good to see the old battlewagon, the Texas, and off on the horizon various cruisers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts. Col. James devised the insignia while the battalion was stationed at Texas. This country was in sharp contrast to the northern plain of France on which the company had been traveling. The arrival of the mightiest convoy that man had ever assembled for a single operation was heralded by a thunderous rumble directly to the front. During this engagement, the popular Lt Mann was killed, Roach and Jones captured, and Harris luckily managed to escape. Cpl Morrison received shrapnel wounds during this period, which later led to his death. The 56th Artillery Command is a two-star command of the United States Army that serves as the Force Field Artillery Headquarters for U.S. Army Europe and Africa, with a mission to synchronize, integrate, and control fires and effects in support of the theater land component. The battalion disembarked on November 3 and entrained on the curious little English railroad cars that were to carry us to Penkridge, Staffordshire, arriving that afternoon. The constant drilling at the ATC resulted in doing automatically what was supposed to be done, without stopping to think of what was being faced. Such heroism and gallantry, in the face of tremendous odds and unusual and hazardous conditions, are in keeping with the traditions of the service and deserving of the highest praise.. A little later that night an enemy tank attempted to penetrate the mortar bivouac area, but was engaged and driven off by the TDs. DeLucia was a part of the 81st Chemical Mortar Battalion and was involved in five major battles during his time in Europe, including the Battle of Normandy. Company A supported the Tough Hombres of the 90th Division as they attacked the city from the north. He was later awarded the Silver Star. Captain Panas fought to the end, firing all his ammunition at the enemy before being killed. The combat team was composed of the 22nd Infantry, 4th Division, elements of the 5th Armored, 801st Tank Destroyer Battalion, and B Company 81st. Cook of Headquarters Detachment and seriously wounding Col. James. A booklet the size of this could be written about each enlisted man and each officer. The next day A Company passed through Colleville-sur-Mer and made slow but certain gains, supporting the infantry whenever called upon. The mess personnel had taken a wrong turn, found themselves in enemy territory, and were forced to abandon the vehicle. Between June and October small groups were assigned until October 17 when Mississippi descended on us. The grand send-off the people of Marfa gave will long be remembered by those present. The enemy resistance, while still light, had managed to slow the speed of the advance to 10 or 15 miles a day. In late April, the battalion took part in mop-up operations in Austria. After traveling over a hundred miles in two days, encountering only negligible resistance, a small enemy force attacked the convoy near L'Arbre de Guise on September 1, where the company was bivouacked for the night. On the way many jeep tires were punctured due to nails having been strewn over the roads by the FFI to delay the retreating Germans. An ammunition dump was blown up, scattering small arms ammunition in all directions. B Company was unfortunate enough to have one of the vehicle personnel killed and two others and an officer wounded. A concentration of HE completely neutralized the installation. The history was edited, annotated, and illustrated by Master Sergeant Walt Cross, U.S. Army Retired. The United States chemical mortar battalions were army units attached to U.S. infantry divisions during World War II. Passing over Hill 192, the company crossed the shell-pocked Saint Lo road and sought the safety of deep German foxholes, there to sweat out the Luftwaffe. The route swung north through Arlon towards Bastogne, but due to a blown bridge the march was reversed and the column swung back through Arlon and into the city of Luxembourg on the night of September 11. Later in the evening it was found that nine men and two officers were missing; otherwise the company was intact. From September 2 until September 5, Company A remained in the vicinity of Mesnil St. Laurent and Neuvil St. Armand. The history was edited, annotated, and illustrated by Master Sergeant Walt Cross, U.S. Army Retired. In late April 1944, the 81st was attached to the 1st Infantry Division. Here was the armed might of the "decadent democracies" spread out as far as the eye could see. Download Unit History Of The 81st Chemical Mortar Battalion In World War Ii full books in PDF, epub, and Kindle. A sunken road with its high, banked hedgerows provided adequate protection and no one was injured. On May 6, 1943, the 81st arrived at Camp Gordon Johnston, Carrabelle, Florida, for participation in amphibious commando and physical training. After the assault groups had embarked, it was announced that D-Day would be June 5, but later an announcement was flashed that D-Day had been postponed 24 hours due to bad weather off the coast of Normandy. During a reconnaissance near St. Sauveur on August 15, Lt Weaver captured seven more prisoners. As a last measure the wave moved down the beach to the mortar fire. Every officer and man was given a thorough last-minute physical inspection (which consisted of counting the number of arms, legs and eyes a person possessed). For those interested in culture of a lighter vein, Civic Hall at Wolverhampton, the pubs at Stafford, Cannock, and other neighboring towns, served to keep all amused. The latrine situation was quite a problem, and a helmet was used for a purpose other than the one for which it was intended. Columns of prisoners miles long, men marching three and four abreast, came in from all directions out of "Death Valley." Despite the defilade, Jerry constantly sought to shell the position with fire from high-angle artillery, mortars, and "screaming meemies." On the 16th of September, Major Jack W. Lipphardt, who had assumed command of the battalion on D-Day when Lt Col Thomas H. James had been seriously wounded and evacuated, received his promotion to Lt Col by orders from First Army. The unit was atBranau, Germany at the end of World War II (August 15,1945 location). Lt Costello assumed command of the platoon and, knowing that too much longer on the beach was certain death, reorganized the squads and infiltrated them off the beach amidst the heavy fire impacting there. On June 16, the regimental commander of the 9th Infantry commended the company commander of A Company for the effectiveness of a smoke screen which the company had laid in support of the crossing of the La Droine River. Departed the New York PortOctober 21, 1943 and arrived in EnglandNovember 2, 1943. The dry runs were over; this was the record shoot, testing whether a free people could hope to meet and vanquish the regimented power of a brutal dictatorship. Later that day, T/5 Sklarew, Pvt Solik and Pvt Dobbins, in search of souvenirs, captured 65 prisoners in an enemy bunker that they had thought was deserted. Forces through Paris, although the 4th Division, with A and B Companies attached, had preceded them by two days. Contact Us. The total number of rounds expended while with the First Army was 36,360. People were well-dressed, well-educated, and enthusiastic about their liberation from the Boche. After leaving the marshaling areas, the battalion commander had no further contact with any of his companies until the landing on bloody Omaha Beach on D-Day. Heavy casualties were inflicted on the regimental OP group and on a field artillery battalion coming from the beach. During this period, the companies had an opportunity to enjoy a few days' rest, the first they had had since D-Day. It was here that General Hayes, Artillery General of the 2nd Division, remarked on the accuracy of the 4.2s, as he had observed the first round of adjustment hit the rump of a horse; the target having been a convoy of horse-drawn wagons. Here the fighting was as fierce as the hedgerows, with the added advantage to the enemy of having prepared positions and strategically placed pillboxes with walls and roofs of steel-reinforced concrete six to 10 feet thick. Much credit is due to the service troops of this organization who traveled miles over stretched supply lines to bring up vital rations, ammunition, and mortar parts during this period. On November 29, it entered Germany again near Saarlauten. Battleships and cruisers fired salvos into the Nazi defenses, destroyers steamed offshore battling 88s emplaced solidly in the bluff, while smaller vessels sprayed the beach defenses with rockets. Those that saw the town afterward will bear witness that the job was thoroughly done. Pvt Domenic Sanna of D Company was killed on June 18 when two jeeps carrying up the companys first batch of mail and a load of ammunition took a wrong turn and ran into a strong enemy party. Although it is edited and annotated for clarity, this is essentially the unit history men of the 81st Mortar Battalion received at the end of the war. This company made mad rushes throughout Vire by day and night. A West Pointer and a Regular Army officer of wide and varied experience, he immediately set to work organizing the battalion. Yet a more capable man than our Supreme Commander, General "Ike", would be difficult to find. Though numerous casualties were suffered, men of the 81st Chemical Battalion were not deterred from the accomplishment of their mission, and upon reaching shore with the loss of only one mortar, continued in support of the infantry for twelve days without relief. Description This booklet is dedicated to the forty-one officers and men of the Eighty-First Chemical Mortar Battalion who made the supreme sacrifice. The companies were again relieved from the front line on August 16 and 17 and the battalion assembled in the vicinity of Ger. In January 1943 the anticipated day came. C Company changed positions three times after the initial landing on Easy Green. There was no let-up in enemy resistance and on two occasions the company narrowly missed having numerous casualties. In one position near Truttermer le Grand, the infantry failed to push off on schedule and the company, not knowing of this delay, displaced forward, in accordance with prearranged plans, to a previously reconnoitered position. The units to which some of the companies were attached were confronted with picked paratroop units, but these suffered such extremely heavy casualties from American mortar and artillery fire that one division with two-thirds of its strength casualties, had to be replaced. Near St. Martin Don, the companies assembled on August 5 and 6 in a battalion assembly area after having been relieved by V Corps. Parisian women were strikingly beautiful with their colorful clothing, high hairdos, and gaiety. 7:30 a.m. -3:00 p.m. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. I, Bull. Catalina flying boats and naval blimps escorted us for several days until we got well out to sea. 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