
THE UKRAINE; August 3, 1941: The 11th Army, advancing on the right side of Army Group South, skirted the Romanian border with the Black Sea port of Odessa as its primary objective.  The small town of Balta, located 120 miles northwest of Odessa, had changed hands several times during recent fighting, but was currently held by the Russians in battalion strength. As the German 239th Infantry Division attacked to the east of the town, and the Rumanian 6th Infantry attacked to the west, the 744th Engineer Regiment, less one company, was ordered to take Balta, preparatory to building a 24 ton highway bridge across the Kodyma River just south of the town. At the time, Company C, 744th Engineers under command of First Lt. Ehrhart, was temporarily attached to the 239th, repairing vehicular bridges east of Balta. Upon learning that his parent unit was encountering difficulty in reaching Balta, Lt. Ehrhart, on his own initiative,decidedto take the  town with a surprise attack by Company C from the east.

AFTERMATH:	As C Company prepared for its assault, it was attacked by two Russian tanks. The company's engineers, with help from a commandeered assault gun, eliminated one tank and beat off the other, The attack on the town was soon delivered, catching the bulk of the Russian garrison by surprise. Three hours after the attack started, C company held the entire southern half of the town, after destroying additional Russian tanks with Demolition charges. Reinforced by elements of its own regiment attacking from the north, Company C proceeded on schedule with its assigned task of clearing the proposed bridge site of mines.



