Account of Sgt. Frank Lowry, A/276...

Hitler's last major offensive on the western front, "Operation Nordwind," was launched late on Dec 31, 1944 by surprise attacks into the Vosges Mountains and the Alsace Plain. German troops struck in force from the vicinity of Saareguemines, Rimling and Bitche with the intention of linking up at Severne with forces driving north from Colmar.

On 3 January 1945, the 1st Battalion, 276th Infantry was in "Corps Reserve" in the Vosges mountains well behind the MLR. Company A was positioned south of the village of Wingen-Sur- Moder, with two platoons deployed in an open field 100 yards from the edge of the village and the other two platoons were another 150 yards south at the tree line of the Kirchberg, a densely wooded forest. A foot of snow was on the ground and the temperature was near zero in what was the most severe winter in fifty years. Companies B and C were deployed in the forests north of the village, and 300 troops of the 179th Infantry, 45th Division were in Wingen. At the first light of day on 4 January, the enemy staged a surprise attack \vith intensive machine gun and automatic weapon fire. The vast snow covered fields between our bivouac area and the village were sprayed with tracers. Flares that were shot up from the north and drifted down on their parachutes, partially illuminated the area as they cast eerie shadows on the snow. We were dumbfounded by the rapid fire of the German's new MG42 light machine guns which the GIs soon labeled "burp guns." Two battalions of the elite 12th Regiment, 6th SS Mountain Division (Nord), had broken through the MLR, made their way unobserved through dense forests, ambushed and decimated Company B, and captured Wingen. Company A was face to face with the spearhead of the advancing Nazi troops whose next objective was the important Saverne gap to the south which would open the door to the Alsace Plain for panzer units.

Some of our dug-in positions south of Wingen were deployed in exposed fields in clear view of the SS Mountain troops who occupied the buildings at the edge of town. All day on 4 January, the Germans pounded those exposed foxholes with small arms fire, and from a church steeple, deadly accurate sniper fire hit several of our men. The men in the forward positions were pinned down throughout the day and suffered from the intense cold. Our casualties at the outset were heavy but we held our positions against repeated enemy attacks. Late in the afternoon, an enemy mortar* shell exploded on the parapet of my foxhole and killed my foxhole buddy, Sgt. Bill Powers. A few minutes later I was laying down cover fire for Pfc Gerald Stonehouse who was attempting to get to a wounded comrade. Enemy burp gun fire shot the rifle from my hands and riddled Stonehouse with machine gun bullets. Two of my friends were dead in less than five minutes.

Later in the day, word came from Battalion Headquarters that Regimental Intelligence determined that there were only a few enemy soldiers in and around Wingen and Company A was to go in and recapture the town. (No one seemed to be aware that we were undergoing attack by two battalions of crack SS mountain troops) The following morning, 5 January, the CO, Captain Dean Hendrickson took one platoon to attack Wingen from the west where we hit them on their right flank. It was anticipated that the "few" Germans would be fully occupied exchanging fire with our men south of town and that we would have the advantage of the element of surprise. Instead we found the enemy soldiers to be strategically situated in basements and windows where they were able to look down our throats every inch of the way. We took machine gun, mortar and panzerfaust fire from all directions. Casualties were heavy, including two medics and the CO. Bloody street fighting from ditch to gutter and from doorway to doorway continued throughout the day as we inched into town. The constant ordeal continued without letup from early morning until late afternoon and was a tremendous challenge to men who were experiencing their first combat. There were a hell of a lot more than a hand full of Krauts in Wingen. We were locked in an attack against overwhelming odds and would not have survived without help from fellow Trailblazers, elements of the 2nd Battalion, 274th Infantry who arrived shortly before dusk; the vicious fighting continued, both inside and around Wingen, for the next thirty-six hours...

Notes: This scenario depicts the fighting on Jan 6th, 1945. The Germans began withdrawing that evening. By the 7th, those wounded and could not travel, plus a few delaying teams were all that were left. Forces are as accurate as we can make them. The scenario depicts the last phase of the battle, hence units already in contact and under-strength due to casualties.

Historical Outcome: The 274th, with the help of the remnants of the 276th captured Wingen after vicious house to house fighting. The Germans pulled out of Wingen. The 6th SS Mountain Division (Nord) lost nearly two battalions of the 12th SS Regiment during the battle. The 274th was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions.

*This was in fact friendly fire. Source: Seven Days in January by Wolf T. Zoepf

Sources:

Snow Ridges and Pillboxes, by Wallace Cheves
Seven Days in January by Wolf Zoepf
Documents online at the 70th Infantry Division Website (http://www.trailblazersww2.org)

Maps:

1:25,000 scale map of the Phillipsbourg - Wingen - Niederbronn area of Alsace (IGN)
Various maps from "Snow Ridges and Pillboxes", by Wallace Cheves


Comments welcome! You can send comments to me at skdixon@mindspring.com. Scenario created using CM version 1.12.

The following individuals helped in the design of this scenario:
Paul Synnott - initial map design (pauls@ccsols.ie)
Dan Brown - German OB and tweaked map (Berlichtingen - dbrown@dls.net)
Thanks guys!

Design notes: The map presented a problem. Initially made at 5m height per level, it was found that the underpasses could not be made (the two to the east of Wingen). Reducing the scale to 2.5m per level solved the problem but the mountains don't look right. We opted to keep the 2.5 scale since other scenarios may come out of this and perhaps an operation.


