BATTLE FOR BREST
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He will survive http://warfarehistorynetwork.com/daily/wwii/caught-in-the-crosshairs/  Diary of Staff Sgt. Maurice Rice
Sept 5, 1944 (Tuesday) “I went to (my 2nd) division and the chow is good. I got all of my equipment.”
Sept 6, 1944 (Wednesday) “(I) went back to (my 9th ) regiment and I stayed with the (field) kitchen. My legs are still bothering me a little.”
Sept 7, 1944 (Thursday) “C Company is getting relieved. I joined the company and all the replacements left.”
Sept 8, 1944 (Friday) “The Red Cross truck gave us coffee and doughnuts. I got seven letters (from home). I am (the) platoon guide.”
Sept 9, 1944 (Saturday) “(I) went to a picture show. (We all) took showers. The 23rd and 38th (regiments of the 2nd div) captured 800 prisoners. We are resting. Got paid.”
Sept 10, 1944 (Sunday) “Went to church. I made out a money order for $56.00. I am taking it easy. I am drilling recruits in hedgerow fighting.”
Sept 11, 1944 (Monday) “Moved from rest area to the front. Relieved the 8th Division. Everything is quiet. (Our) artillery has given the Jerries hell.”
Sept 12, 1944 (Tuesday) “(Enemy) ammo dumps are blowing up. It sure is pretty. I got 4 letters (from home).”
Sept 13, 1944 (Wednesday) “We moved to laundry (detail). I slept between sheets on a mattress. I found a lot of jam (jelly). I sent a rain coat home.”
Sept 14, 1944 (Thursday) “It sure is nice here. We have coffee at night. Just like in garrison. Everything is quiet. No casualties.”
Sept 15, 1944 (Friday) No entry
Sept 16, 1944 (Saturday) “148 prisoners came in after breakfast. I got $164.00 and several watches (from them). We move tomorrow. Brest is supposed to fall at 12 pm. (noon). All the prisoners were from a labor battalion. (Our 1st) battalion raised hell (with us) because we looted them. I got 2 letters from home. Everything is pretty quiet.”
Foot Soldier by Fred Felder
September 5
On September 5th, our
artillery began to soften up the city’s inner defense lines with a
heavy bombardment while we enjoyed hot baths and hot meals for the
first time in many days.
September 8
The attack on the city
was resumed on September 8th- by our sister regiments, the 23rd and
38th. The attackers made progress but German defenders fell back in
an orderly fashion. Hitler was urging them to fight to the death and
delay our capture of the port, which German demolition teams were now
busy destroying.
September 13-16
On September 13th we
were moved up to the front lines again, for a new attack on the inner
defenses of the city by all three of the division’s regiments. We
advanced on the 14th and progress was immediate, though the city’s
huge inner walls gave the defenders tactical advantages. On the 15th
we reached the great wall itself. The wall was approximately six
stories high and in order to get across this wall our artillery
pounded one spot for about twelve hours and broke it to bits, so foot
soldiers could climb through. Next day the final attack on the city
began; all of Company G was now on top of the wall, overlooking the
City of Brest and the harbor.
Thoughts from Glynn Raby Jr. while the 2nd Infantry Division had a short break.
Hello,
Peter. As Charlie (Charles D Knight) said, rain water does get into
the fox holes. Makes for miserable sleeping. Thankfully, it did not
rain all the time. In early September, we (9th Infantry) got "pinched
out" by units on either side, and we were able to get a few days
off of the line. We had an opportunity to shower and get clean
clothes. The Division had set up showers not far behind the lines.
They had located near a small creek, had a pumper taking water and
had a flat bed truck and trailer. Down the center of the trailer were
about 8 or 10 shower heads mounted on each side of the structure
housing the plumbing. That many of us could bathe at the same time. A
large area had been enclosed with tarp fence. Near the entrance, we
stripped of the dirty clothes – at the other side clean clothes
waited. I had never before seen a unit like that and never saw
another. I searched Army records for years with no success. Then, a
new member of the Group website created by Sgt. Rice's son, Kraig;
said he was related to the officer in charge of the Division
Quartermaster unit. I asked and he replied that he had heard of it
and thought it had been designed and built by his "uncle's
men.
A
good book on BREST is Americans in
Brittany 1944: The Battle for Brest
by
Jonathan Gawne
Jonathan's
father was an Officer with the 8th Infantry Division. Much
information, numerous photos, etc.
Page
135 has a box with the following:
THE
AIRCRAFT COLLISION
“There
is one incident which seems to have been remembered by most of the
men who fought at BREST. On 5 September there was a daylight raid on
the city. When such events occurred soldiers on both sides tended to
pause in their actions and look up at the show. This explains why so
many soldiers were watching when a fighter, thought to be a P-38,
suddenly dove out of the clouds and cut a B-17 in half.
The
tail sections fluttered to the ground and, as the story goes, German
soldiers later claimed they had helped a very shaken, but still
alive, tail gunner out of the wreckage. In the 2nd Division sector
the bodies of two crewmen fell, penetrating a foot into the soft
ground. The rest of the crew was found dead in the wreckage of the
bomber, never having had a chance to jump free.”
While
showering, I just know someone shouted "look up" at the
collision and I saw the B-17 fluttering down at a distance. Perhaps
Charlie saw it, too.
Thank
you Glynn for sharing this information. It helps us all to understand
a little better what the soldiers were doing and seeing. (Peter
Lagasse)
September 8-11, 1944
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