| We traveled 1,408 miles from Omaha Beach in Normandy through France, Luxembourg, Belgium and Germany across the Elbe River. We left Southampton, England D-Day plus 12 and established our bridgehead across the Elbe on April 13th, 1945. Our first offensive was launched July 4th and we broke out of the hedgerows on the 25th in the vicinity of Periers. We fought two major battles to liberate St. Malo and Dinard by August 20th and then swept down to the Loire River where we bottled up 60,000 Nazis at St. Nazaire. We patrolled an area of 93 miles from Angers to Nantes and on to Redon. Our reconnaissance patrols also crossed the Loirre probing aggressively into enemy territory. On September 18th, we moved by motor 245 miles from Nantes to Montargis through Tours, Blois and Orleans. Five days later we were in Luxembourg clearing German pockets to the eastern banks of the Moselle. December 6th we moved to the Hurtgen Forest through Belgium and slugged our way to the Roer River south of Duren. Between December 23rd and 25th we moved to Aachen and then shoved off south into Belgium on the 26th. By January 9th we attacked into the northwestern tip of the Nazi salient and after 10 days of bitter fighting in the Ardennes, the counteroffensive was smeared. We crossed the Roer at Julich February 28th and in 48 hours were on the Rhine River�s banks at the southern tip of Neuss. We left the Rhine March 21st and moved to Sustern, Holland to conduct training in river crossings and attack over open terrain. We moved through Roermond, Holland, crossed the Rhine March 29th south of Wesel and in 13 days swept 215 miles through Germany over the Weser, Leine and Elbe Rivers. During this drive we established a fiercely contested bridgehead across the Dortmund-Ems Canal into Hamm on April 2nd. Our positions across the Elbe River were 65 miles southwest of Berlin, the closest American unit to the German capital. We met the Russians April 30th and they relieved us of our bridgehead two days before V-E Day. NOTES [1] A brief history in Dad's files, apparently written by an army historian. **************************************************************************************************************************************** A History of the US 83rd Infantry Division�s Liberation of Sainteny As preserved in a wall-hanging in the restaurant in Sainteny[1] July 4. 83rd Division loses 1450 men to advance only 200 yards. July 5. Hardly any progress but many losses again. One of our regiment is reduced to 400 men (out of 2500 at the start). July 6. 83rd wins 1500 yards towards Sainteny. 750 more soldiers and officers lost. July 7. General Collins moves 83rd to the East of road #171. 4th Division takes over the West side. July 9. 4th Division gains 400 yards and 83rd 700 yards. The battle rages. The village is captured and lost several times. Fighting takes place even in the churchyard. July 15. General Bradley halts progression and orders digging in. From 15th to 24th of July, position warfare and indeed very deadly. July 26. The German front is broken through. It took 20 days to liberate Sainteny and what a price! Twenty days to cover 5 kilometers with 2000 losses each kilometer. An average of 500 casualties each day. NOTES [1] See the page on Sgt. Arnold's return to Sainteny in 1999, and also Russell F. Weigley, Eisenhower's Lieutenants (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1981), 185. |
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| Histories of the 83rd Infantry Division |
| "From Omaha Beach to the Elbe"[1] |
| The 83rd I.D. was recognized as a "liberating unit" by the U.S. Army's Center of Military History and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1993. For the Division's role in liberating Langenstein-Zwieberge concentration camp, a subcamp of the Buchenwald concentration camp. See the Holocaust Museum's site listed under "83rd sites of interest." |