NORMANDY, June 23-August 2, 1944
The 329th Infantry landed in France on D + 17 (June 23, 1944) and moved to assembly area NW of Bricqueville.[2] On June 28, the 83rd Division relieved the 101st Airborne Division, S of Carentan; and for a week the regiment was in division reserve with the 1st Bn protecting the city of Carentan. On July 4, the big attack jumped off. The 2nd Bn (the only element of the regiment in the initial attack) attempted to cross the swamp SW of Carentan, but met very heavy resistance by German paratroops and was unable to gain a foothold on the opposite bank. On the following day, the 3rd Bn, followed by the 1st, drove 2500 meters through hedgerow defenses to Culot, and although heavily counterattacked by SS troops, held their positions. From then until the great breakthrough of July 25, the fiercest fighting of the war took place, consisting of numerous assaults on fortified hedgerow positions. The 17th SS (German) Division opposing the Division was decimated. On July 26-27, following the withdrawing enemy, the regiment crossed the Taute River and reached Fougeres where it went into an assembly area.
TOWNS CAPTURED: Culot and approximately 1000 hedgerows. PW�s captured, 106.
ST MALO, August 2-August 18, 1944
On August 3, the 329th moved by motor to Pontorson and on the 4th began the drive north to capture the Fortress of St. Malo. After a hard fight by the 2nd Bn at Chateauneuf, the town was taken and the regiment drove on to engage the fortified belt around the city of St. Malo. Thence followed an attack on the fortified positions which resulted in the entry into St. Servan, a suburb of St. Malo, on August 9. The 2nd Bn was detached from the regiment at this time, and in a brilliantly executed attack seized the
heavily fortified Pte. de la Varde, E of St. Malo, and captured 197 PW�s. They then proceeded to capture the fort of Grand Bey. In the meantime, the city of St. Servan having fallen, the regiment laid siege to the Citadel, which after several assaults and heavy bombardment capitulated on August 17, when Col. Von Aulock and garrison of 596 surrendered.
TOWNS CAPTURED: Dolet, Chateauneuf, Chateau Malo, St. Jouan, St. Suliac, St. Pere, St. Anne, La Beurelais, La Balue, La Motte, St. Servan, Citadel of St. Servan, Fort de la Varde, Grand Bey. PW�s captured 3203
LOIRE, August 19-September 23, 1944
On August 19, the 329th moved to the city of Angers, charged with the defense of the city and the north bank of the Loire. By August 27, the sector of defense for the regiment had stretched to 130 miles from a point W of Angers to Orleans. The main activity during the period was patrol incursions from south of the river. On August 30, the enemy forces S of the Loire began a general withdrawal to the east. On September 8, the I&R Platoon received information that a column of 20,000 Germans wished to surrender to American troops. Negotiations followed and on Sept 16-17, General Elster and 19854 German troops laid down their arms on the south bank of the Loire at Beaugency, and became PWs.
TOWNS CAPTURED: Pont Dece. TOWNS ENTERED BY PATROLS: Tours, Nevers, Romcrantin, Chateauroux, Chatellerault, Bourges, and many smaller towns S of Loire. PWs captured, 20,058.
LUXEMBOURG, September 24-December 9, 1944
September 23rd saw the 329th en route to the Siegfried Line, NE of Luxembourg and in the weeks that followed, the attacks on Grevenmacher (October 1-5), and Echternach (October 1-8) took place. German patrol activity was continuos, but no serious threats developed while the regiment held its sector of almost 25 miles of the west bank of the Moselle.
TOWNS CAPTURED: Oberdonven, Niederdonven, Grevenmacher, Osweiler, Berdorf, Dickweiler, Echternach. PWs captured, 211.
DUREN, December 10-December 25, 1944
On December 10th, the 329th crossed the German frontier and relieved the 8th Inf., 4th Div. in the Hurtgen Forest, W of Duren. Two days later, the attack to the Roer River jumped off; and after a day of heavy fighting the enemy line was broken and the edge of the forest reached. Dec. 13-14 saw a series of brilliant attacks against the towns of Gurzenich and Birgel by 2nd and 3rd Bns respectively, and the seizure of those towns by our troops. The German counterattack on Gurzenich in Bn strength supported by 6 assault guns took place on Dec. 16, the day of the start of the great German counteroffensive in the Ardennes. It was successfully repulsed, and but few of the attacking troops were able to withdraw to Duren. The following day, the 1st Bn took the town of Rolsdorf and on the 18th sent the first patrol across the Roer into Duren. On the 23rd, the 329th was relieved and moved to a reserved position at Eilendorf, Germany, where it spent Christmas Day.
TOWNS CAPTURED: Gurzenich, Birgel, Rolsdorf. PWs captured, 1054.
ARDENNES, December 26-January 22, 1944
On the 26th, the regiment was rushed to the vicinity of Havelange, Belgium, to assist in the containing the German breakthrough. Dec. 28th was the day when the 329th relieved the armor in the Division sector and launched the attack which carried B Co into Rochefort. The pressure of the attack to relieve B Co, which was surrounded by Germans in the city, forced a premature withdrawal of the enemy panzer forces to the east leaving the regiment in control of Rochefort.
Relief by British forces, movement to the east, and the drive with the 3rd Armored Division to cut off the German spearhead followed; and on Jan 9, 1945 the regiment attacked again against German tanks and in freezing cold and snow to capture Petite Langlier. A night attack on the 11th saw 2nd Bn in possession of Pont de Langlier, and a bridgehead for the armor. The attack to the east through the Bois de la Ronce resulted in the capture of Honyelez on the 14th and the seizure of the high ground W of Bovigny and Courtil, which towns were occupied on the 20th. The Germans began a slow withdrawal to the Siegfried Line, and on the 22nd the 329th was relieved and pulled back to prepare for future offensive action.
TOWNS CAPTURED: Rochefort, Pont de Langlier, Honyelez, Bovigny, Courtil, Cierrieux, Rogery. PWs captured, 615.
C.O.�s of the 329th Infantry in Action
Regimental Commander - Col. Edwin B. Crabill
CO, 1st Battalion - Lt. Col. Tim O. Cook
CO, 2nd Battalion - Lt. Col. Granville A. Sharpe
CO, 3rd Battalion - Lt. Col. John C. Speedie
Total Number PWs Captured
25,247
Campaign Stars Awarded
Normandy, Northern France, Germany
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ENDNOTES:
[1] Written by an army historian before the war ended. Notice that the history is incomplete, since it does not follow the actions of the 329th all the way to the Elbe River in April and May, and the conclusion does not include the campaign stars awarded for the Ardennes and Central Europe.
[2] In World War II, airborne and infantry divisions were made up of squads (usually 9 to 12 men), with 2 squads to a platoon, and 3 or 4 platoons to a company. There were usually 3 or 4 companies to a battalion, 3 or 4 battalions to a regiment, 3 or 4 regiments to a division, plus attached engineers, artillery, medical, and other support personnel. Allied infantry divisions were from 15,000 to 20,000 strong in the European Theatre, while Allied airborne divisions were about one-half that size. Most German divisions were less than 10,000. See Stephen E. Ambrose, D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Climactic Battle of World War II (New York/London: Simon & Schuster, 1994), 15.
