Chapter 4 Jerry Catches Hell* November 16 - 19, 1944

The soldiers’ story continues, from chapter 4 of the war journal of Charles Meagher. The regiment had moved from their first bivouac at Épinal toward St Dié, farther east in Lorraine and firmly in German hands.

November 16, 1944:  

It had been 5 days since the men of the 409th Infantry Regiment had moved into the steep hills southwest of St. Dié, some of their forward positions only 5 kilometers from the enemy line. They had spent their time digging foxholes, taking care of their weapons and equipment, and making reconnaissance patrols to test German positions. The medics had been busy taking care of those wounded by incoming fire and land mines. And they waited for orders to attack. Those orders came on November 15th; the 409th's mission was to attack, seize and hold the German positions on Hills 1, 2, and 3 just southwest of and across the Meurthe River from St. Dié.


Now, on the 16th, the 2nd and 3rd Battalions moved east; the 1st was held in reserve and prepared to move on 15 minutes notice. They knew that the Germans would fiercely defend their line because "if the Yanks could be held in the Vosges until the heavy snows in December, there would be a cessation of military operations. Snowdrifts of 16 to 20 feet high are not infrequent in the Vosges...Stop the Americans for one month or more, and the Rhine plain below the bend would be intact, Jerry thought. Alsace and its capital, Strasbourg, would remain in German hands." So the 409 was heading towards the well-defended towns of Chevry (for the 2nd Battalion), Taintrux (for the 3rd), and the hills between those towns and St. Dié.


Map of the Battle for Saint-Dié:

From the Infantry Journal

Madonna's Dad, Charles Leo Meagher, was part of a mortar crew in "L" company, 3rd Battalion. Each mortar crew consisted of 4 men: a gunner, an assistant gunner, and 2 ammo carriers.


One of his army buddies described him later as a "big, red-headed Irishman that always seemed to be happy...He was ...about 6'2" and weighed about 220 lbs. He wasn't fat, but very muscular & maybe that is how he got the nickname of 'Moose'. He was big and strong as a moose." This same buddy, Tom Bracket of Fremont, Nebraska, said that back before they had shipped out of New York City, he liked to go out on the town with 'Moose' because he was so big. He knew they "wouldn't have any trouble".

Biographical detail: Charles was named after his dad's best friend, a major league baseball player named Charles Leo "Gabby" Hartnett who played for the Chicago Cubs and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1955. Gabby and the Meagher family were all from the same small hometown of Millville, Massachusetts, southwest of Boston on the Rhode Island boarder.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gabby_Hartnett

At 0400 the men of the 3rd were alerted for an attack. The mortar crews were deployed on the forward ridge overlooking the long, open approaches to Taintrux. This left them exposed but positioned to deliver supporting fire for the attacking rifle companies.


0845 Prepatory fire is directed to the enemy rear.
0855 Artillery directed at enemy forward areas. 0856....0857....0858....0859....


0900... firing ceased. The 2nd Battalion hit the clearing in front of them as a smoke screen was laid down with mortar fire. The only natural obstacle was the Taintrux River, which was supposed to be "only about two feet deep in most places, but the attackers found it to be more than four feet deep, even over one's head in some places." After crossing, they entered the woods on the opposite bank and headed uphill to take the summit with little resistance.

Field Medical Kit (Colmar Pocket Museum)

Meanwhile, the 3rd Battalion also moved out into the open at 0900 when "the wrath of hell broke loose. Machine guns pinned the scouts to the ground. Mortars and 88s from Jerry began to fall like rain on the platoons. Everyone headed for what cover was available." "Acts of heroism were taking place in every sector, but no one paid much attention as the cry for medics was increasing." Many of those heroic acts were performed by medics trying to rescue wounded men out on the battlefield.


Commanders were firing missions against the German artillery and mortar fire - sometimes four or five missions at a time. Meanwhile, the infantry men “were having their troubles - and plenty of them - out in their first taste of No Man’s Land.”


“As darkness fell over the front, the 3rd Battalion was pinned down by machine-gun fire and forced to remain in position along a front known as Phase Line A. The 2nd Battalion had reached Phase Line B….and were dug in for the night.” Many of the wounded who had fallen in places where daylight evacuation was impossible, could now be removed under the cover of darkness.


At the end of this long first day of combat, the men could rest. “It had been a tough day. Rifle squads, machine gun sections and communications men had sweated and fought, inching ahead in a path of blood. Darkness was never more welcome ... Up until that time, the least
movement had brought a barrage of artillery or mortar fire.” One company “slept in a barn along with six stinking cows which had been dead for days. They were too exhausted to care.”


November 17, 1944:


The 3rd Battalion renewed their attack early in the morning. “A low-hanging fog provided excellent concealment.” As they approached their objective they met little resistance. There were signs of a hasty departure everywhere - cast-off equipment and evidence of meals prepared and abandoned. In Taintrux and Chevry “civilians informed them that the Germans had left only 30 minutes prior to the American arrival. The villagers were overjoyed. Cognac, wine and a new form of liquid ‘embalming fluid’ called Schnapps were pushed into eager hands. It filled the hearts of the men to see the children smile and to see the looks of astonishment on their pinched faces when a K ration candy bar was was offered to them.”


“Proudly the 3rd Battalion pushed thorough to its first objective, the high ground southeast of St. Dié.”


“The 2nd Battalion was also having a relatively easy day of combat on the 17th of November.” Orders came to move on and take Hill 2 and the rear of Hill 3. Hoping that the Germans had also pulled out of those positions, they moved out across the valley and started climbing the hill. Suddenly the day was not so easy - the hill was very steep and covered with dense underbrush. The captain ordered them to drop their packs and all extra equipment to “facilitate passage through the dense underbrush.” This would come back to haunt them later.


 At 1400 they finally arrived to the top of the hill. "No resistance had been met.” Some of the men had “visions of spending the night in a lookout building that was found in the rocks up on the hill.” However, once their success in making their objective was reported, they were ordered to move to, and take, Hill 1. 


At 1500, they started up that hill, and “learned from a French civilian that the enemy had abandoned the base of the hill the afternoon before, moving up the hill on the road to Saint Dié.” The companies continued up the hill and reached a point just below the crest by 1645, without meeting any opposition. They decided to hold there for the night - a long dark November night. They “had had no rations for the day. They were hungry and the night was cold. They had dropped their rolls back on Hill 2. Some men dug all night just to keep warm.”


Here are some photos of the delicious K rations that those soldiers were missing that day and night. Breakfast,

According to Tom Bracket, "for breakfast, there was a small can of horrible scrambled eggs, 4 little crackers , a pack of instant coffee." (photo from the Colmar Pocket Museum, Colmar, France)

....lunch,

"For lunch, the same thing (as breakfast) - only it was a can of awful cheese." (Colmar Pocket Museum)

................and dinner.

"For supper - same thing, only you got a can of hash and a fruit bar. Each box had a pack of 3 cigarettes & a piece of gum."     (Colmar Pocket Museum)

And there was elegant dinnerware of course.

(Colmar Pocket Museum)

Other comforts of the soldier's life.

Note the foot powder at upper left. Very important.  (Display at the Colmar Pocket Museum)

“Meanwhile the men with the red crosses on their helmets were beginning to rest on their laurels as the first rush slackened.” The medical platoon had moved back
to a small farmhouse in Les-Rouges-Eaux at a fork in the two roads leading to the
battalions on the front line. Here they treated casualties, some German prisoners,
of the first days of fighting. The dark muddy roads from the 3rd Battalion were
considered too dangerous for ambulance runs at night, under blackout conditions.
“Everyone hoped there would be no seriously woulnded night casualties.” “But
war is no respecter of persons or conditions."  One driver “decided to try the run,
fully aware that a slip might send his vehicle over the mountain side.” With
two men lying on the fenders to guide the vehicle, he made four trips down and
back, carrying full loads each time. Although the run was only two miles one way,
it took an hour to make the round trip. Casualties kept coming in and a second
ambulance ….was sent up the mountain to help. These two crews worked all night
to evacuate casualties over the ‘impassable’ road.”




November 18, 1944:


“With the hills in American hands, the following day, November 18, saw little but
patrol actions by both battalions.” The soldiers of the 409th established defensive
positions and waited to be relieved by the 411th the next day.


November 19, 1944:


“By 0937, November 19, the Regiment had been relieved and the battalions
entered their bivouac areas in the vicinity of Les-Rouges-Eaux.”  “The first attack was over. In their first highly successful engagement the men had learned the nature of combat. They weren’t veterans by any means but they knew what combat was.”

*NOTES on sources of information:
1)  Chapter titles are taken from The 409th Infantry in World War II published by the Washington Infantry Journal Press in 1947.


2) The above account, as well as all accounts of the 409th Infantry Regiment in this blog, are taken from  the above-mentioned Journal, featured in our first blog post. Madonna has the copy which belonged to her Dad, Charles Leo Meagher. He fought with the Regiment in the 3rd Battalion, "L" Company and survived the war to return home to southeastern Massachusetts. Sadly, he died very suddenly on Thanksgiving Day in 1957 at the age of 37, leaving his wife Terry, and his young children Charles Jr (age 6),  Jim (age 4) and my friend Madonna (age 2).

Charles Meagher with his 3 children. From left to right Charles Leo Jr., Jim and baby Madonna. Looks like a favorite photo -  maybe carried in a wallet and pulled out often to show off his family.

3) Some anecdotes and descriptions are taken from the letters of Tom Bracket, an army buddy of Charles Meagher, written to Charles' son Jim Meagher from Oct. 1992 until Tom's death in 1994. Any accounts taken from those letters are so attributed in the text. We hope to eventually have all of Tom's letters on this site for those interested in first person reminiscences about the 409th Regiment's experiences as related 50 years later. Here's a photo of Tom which is dated 1955. He sent it to Charles Meagher with a note on the back, quoted here in full under the image.

Tom Bracket, 1955.  Message written on back: "This is probably the only one (of some photos?) that will look like me as you remember. A gun in one hand and a jug in the other. Notice there is still some in the jug. We got the deer drunk and then shot them. These were taken this fall. I had a week's beard and no bath."