"Heartbreak Crossroads" was retaken on February 1st in a double attack from north and south, and progress was so rapid on the 2nd of February that two displacements were required to support advanced positions in Harperscheid. Moving forward again on the 3rd of February, "A" and "B" Batteries took positions within 1000 yards of stubborn enemy troops holding out in pill boxes, and established outposts and patrols since no infantry troops were available. The first organized and strongly defended town was encountered in this attack was Scheuren where the 15th Field Artillery expended 1300 rounds on February 5th. The final displacement of this attack brought the 15th Field Artillery to a barren ridge southeast of Drieborn, where defensive warfare was begun prior to crossings of the Roer river to the north. Firing only from observed targets from the 12th of February until resumption of the attack, the battalion occupied strong log dugouts of German construction. Flashes believed to be V-2 rockets being launched were observed in the enemy's area on February 19th.
(Source: 15th FAB Yearbook)
Photo from Cpl. Glynn Raby Jr.
Glynn
Raby Jr wrote me the following: We (2nd Battalion) moved to Elsenborn
Ridge about December 19 or 20, 1945 and we were there about a month.
I had been re-assigned to one of our 2 MG platoons as their
"Instrument Corporal" (no increase in pay) As Instrument
Corporal, I was not in a squad but was with the Lt. and Tech Sgt. I
do recall we receiving replacements that we had time to give some
combat training.
Somewhere in Germany
First U.S. Army
Sec. Inf. Div.
February 15, 1945
Dear Mother,
Still in the best of health and okay. Sure hope this letter still finds you the same and Dad much better. Guess I'll have to get after him as he always told me to be careful when working under a car or anything that was jacked up because it was dangerous.
We sure have had a change over here since last I wrote as the snow is just about all gone and no frost in the ground. For the pass two weeks all it has done is rain, rain and more rain with plenty of wet snow mixed in. The only place you find snow is in the woods. Everything is mud. Not many places you're able to dig a hole as it fills up with water so fast.
Oh yes, I received Helen's (L) (friend) package about the third or fourth of the month and Eugene's (brother)the next day. Don't say anything, but Helen's box was so wet. Don't worry we ate it just the same. Eugene's was okay but gee, what a long time coming. Now, if you have not already found out this just about adds up to all the packages you told me about.
I must say this was a wonderful day and yesterday wasn't bad. It felt like spring and I had a feeling I wanted to go trout fishing. Instead of fishing for trout guess I'll have to keep hunting for Krauts.
Received some air mail paper and envelopes you sent me in December.
Now about this V-mail writing they want you to use, here is the way I feel. A good many times it's not so fast as they claim as Esther wrote one I think about Thanksgiving and I never received it until after New Year. After you get one, all you have is a note, oh yes, they're okay when you can't think of any news and want to say hello or let one know you're well but they're far from taking the place of a letter. I don't mind one now and then but I feel one near the front living the same life day in, day out with nothing to give a change of life, seeing only the ruins of war and all that goes with it should have at least mail to look forward to. I'd rather have one good letter than six notes or V-mail as they call it.
Here is a money order for twenty five dollars. I am sending you five to use the way you like for stamps, paper or anything else. The other twenty is toward the garage as I wrote you one time I'd send some. As I remember, Eugene wanted a three car garage but didn't feel he could swing it. If he wants it but doesn't build it at first it would be lots harder later on. Now, if Eugene should go you keep the twenty for later use. (His brother, Eugene, is presently living at home and needs room for his tractor. However, if he buys his own place and moves then a three car garage wouldn't be needed. A three car garage was built.)
Sure glad to receive the six pictures from Florida. Guess they'll soon be sailing back to Maine. (His sister Helen and her husband would go to Florida in the winter to plant potatoes and come back to Maine by car during the summer when farming isn't being done down there.)
Pauline writes she's living in Portland at the YWCA and all that her letters contain are dances, shows, dinners and social times but as you know it's only to help some poor fellow out and show a little Maine hospitality ha ha. She's so glad I wrote saying I didn't mind. Funny thing I knew it before she told me, that's why I wrote I didn't care. Now I'll have the chance to make up for lost time and be free after I return.
Glad you received my package but gee oh gee, I paid 175 francs for that scarf while back in a little Belgium town at rest camp which in American money is equal to four (4) dollars. Only had a couple of days so took what I could get.
I'm going to run over a few of your letters and here is one I remember reading in a downpour of rain.
Guess by your letters you're having a pretty rough winter back in Maine but gee, would I like to be there. My God, no one in the U.S.A. has much to complain about but words will never make them realize.
So the little Old lady called you up on the phone. I'm sure looking forward to seeing all the children.
Now tell Dad not to get any young ideas. Remember what you said about the bird and the other story.
One thing I'm sure glad the days are longer. We're on fast time (daylight savings time) and it doesn't get dark until six thirty or on a clear day nearly seven.
I think Nellie (Joe's sister) did send me a card and I must look it up and then send an answer. As I remember she wrote a very nice note on the back.
When writing at night I use a candle or flashlight. I'm using a flashlight to-night.
I wrote telling you all about those war bonds but if you didn't get the letter let me know and I'll explain it all over.
Oh yes, the other morning I had a real egg (you know the kind in a shell) I thought all hens in the States were laying powder ha ha. I'll tell the truth, the chow has been pretty good lately.
Any one of the boys want a date with you so long as they can get back to the States or the U.S.A. Remember you wrote about figs but no dates, you should have heard them shout butts! when I read those lines.
Had a shot in each arm to-day and feel a little sick to my stomach but I'm not the only one. I'll say like the other fellows, "I'm darn sick of taking so many needles."
Guess this is about all for to-night and may I say quite a long letter at that. Hope Dad's better. Tell Eugene to keep his chin up. Love to all.
Charles
I would say this letter showed at least three emotions. He tried to be funny at times. Other times he was expressing the loneliness, the realities of what you see in a war but words can't explain it to those in America that are complaining. Also the mundane feeling that can set in as you wait for the next battle.
War is never what you see in a Hollywood movie. It is not just killing and fighting all the time. There are days or weeks when you are waiting for the enemy or for orders to move. A time you can both be pleased you are not in a battle but still anxious when fighting will begin again. Will you make it through the next battle? And even during those "down times" you see the toll of war as you walk through destroyed villages, seeing people struggling to survive as their homes, places of work and worship have become part of the insanity and causalities of war.
James is the son of Pfc. James Douglas Edwards, MP Platoon, 2nd Infantry Division WWII. He has written Defining Moment at Wirtzfeld: The Story of the Military Police Platoon, 2nd Infantry Division, in World War II (2013, Hardcover)
https://www.ebay.com/p/Defining-Moment-at-Wirtzfeld-The-Story-of-the-Military-Police-Platoon-2nd-Infantry-Division-in-World/150585642
Defining Moment at Wirtzfeld is an extraordinary testimony to the struggles and triumphs of the 2nd Division Military Police Platoon in World War II including the author’s father Pfc. James D. Edwards.
Still in the best of health and okay. Sure hope this letter still finds you the same and Dad much better. Guess I'll have to get after him as he always told me to be careful when working under a car or anything that was jacked up because it was dangerous.
We sure have had a change over here since last I wrote as the snow is just about all gone and no frost in the ground. For the pass two weeks all it has done is rain, rain and more rain with plenty of wet snow mixed in. The only place you find snow is in the woods. Everything is mud. Not many places you're able to dig a hole as it fills up with water so fast.
Oh yes, I received Helen's (L) (friend) package about the third or fourth of the month and Eugene's (brother)the next day. Don't say anything, but Helen's box was so wet. Don't worry we ate it just the same. Eugene's was okay but gee, what a long time coming. Now, if you have not already found out this just about adds up to all the packages you told me about.
I must say this was a wonderful day and yesterday wasn't bad. It felt like spring and I had a feeling I wanted to go trout fishing. Instead of fishing for trout guess I'll have to keep hunting for Krauts.
Received some air mail paper and envelopes you sent me in December.
Now about this V-mail writing they want you to use, here is the way I feel. A good many times it's not so fast as they claim as Esther wrote one I think about Thanksgiving and I never received it until after New Year. After you get one, all you have is a note, oh yes, they're okay when you can't think of any news and want to say hello or let one know you're well but they're far from taking the place of a letter. I don't mind one now and then but I feel one near the front living the same life day in, day out with nothing to give a change of life, seeing only the ruins of war and all that goes with it should have at least mail to look forward to. I'd rather have one good letter than six notes or V-mail as they call it.
Here is a money order for twenty five dollars. I am sending you five to use the way you like for stamps, paper or anything else. The other twenty is toward the garage as I wrote you one time I'd send some. As I remember, Eugene wanted a three car garage but didn't feel he could swing it. If he wants it but doesn't build it at first it would be lots harder later on. Now, if Eugene should go you keep the twenty for later use. (His brother, Eugene, is presently living at home and needs room for his tractor. However, if he buys his own place and moves then a three car garage wouldn't be needed. A three car garage was built.)
Sure glad to receive the six pictures from Florida. Guess they'll soon be sailing back to Maine. (His sister Helen and her husband would go to Florida in the winter to plant potatoes and come back to Maine by car during the summer when farming isn't being done down there.)
Pauline writes she's living in Portland at the YWCA and all that her letters contain are dances, shows, dinners and social times but as you know it's only to help some poor fellow out and show a little Maine hospitality ha ha. She's so glad I wrote saying I didn't mind. Funny thing I knew it before she told me, that's why I wrote I didn't care. Now I'll have the chance to make up for lost time and be free after I return.
Glad you received my package but gee oh gee, I paid 175 francs for that scarf while back in a little Belgium town at rest camp which in American money is equal to four (4) dollars. Only had a couple of days so took what I could get.
I'm going to run over a few of your letters and here is one I remember reading in a downpour of rain.
Guess by your letters you're having a pretty rough winter back in Maine but gee, would I like to be there. My God, no one in the U.S.A. has much to complain about but words will never make them realize.
So the little Old lady called you up on the phone. I'm sure looking forward to seeing all the children.
Now tell Dad not to get any young ideas. Remember what you said about the bird and the other story.
One thing I'm sure glad the days are longer. We're on fast time (daylight savings time) and it doesn't get dark until six thirty or on a clear day nearly seven.
I think Nellie (Joe's sister) did send me a card and I must look it up and then send an answer. As I remember she wrote a very nice note on the back.
When writing at night I use a candle or flashlight. I'm using a flashlight to-night.
I wrote telling you all about those war bonds but if you didn't get the letter let me know and I'll explain it all over.
Oh yes, the other morning I had a real egg (you know the kind in a shell) I thought all hens in the States were laying powder ha ha. I'll tell the truth, the chow has been pretty good lately.
Any one of the boys want a date with you so long as they can get back to the States or the U.S.A. Remember you wrote about figs but no dates, you should have heard them shout butts! when I read those lines.
Had a shot in each arm to-day and feel a little sick to my stomach but I'm not the only one. I'll say like the other fellows, "I'm darn sick of taking so many needles."
Guess this is about all for to-night and may I say quite a long letter at that. Hope Dad's better. Tell Eugene to keep his chin up. Love to all.
Charles
War is never what you see in a Hollywood movie. It is not just killing and fighting all the time. There are days or weeks when you are waiting for the enemy or for orders to move. A time you can both be pleased you are not in a battle but still anxious when fighting will begin again. Will you make it through the next battle? And even during those "down times" you see the toll of war as you walk through destroyed villages, seeing people struggling to survive as their homes, places of work and worship have become part of the insanity and causalities of war.
| I want to thank James D Edwards for sharing the information he has acquired preparing for his book.
Stations
of the 2nd Infantry Division in 1945
Time
of Arrival
National
Archives in Cherry Park, Maryland
Station Time Date
Ovifat,
Belgium ------------------------- 2400 1 Jan 45
Nidurm,
Belgium----------------------- 1430 29 Jan 45
Wahlerscheid,
Germany--------------- 1700 14 Feb 45
Einruhr, Germany --------------------- 1130 21 Feb 45  |
https://www.ebay.com/p/Defining-Moment-at-Wirtzfeld-The-Story-of-the-Military-Police-Platoon-2nd-Infantry-Division-in-World/150585642
Defining Moment at Wirtzfeld is an extraordinary testimony to the struggles and triumphs of the 2nd Division Military Police Platoon in World War II including the author’s father Pfc. James D. Edwards.
 |
| The three car garage. The garage bay on the right will become a carpenter shop for my Uncle Charlie. |
 |
| From Belgium, but too small for the scarf he mentioned. |
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