But the Hurtgen Forest
taught them something of the life of the
Infantry. Ironically, it was
while working as Infantry with CCR that
the versatile cavalry earned
a "Presidential Citation".
From the Rhine to the Elbe
the troop continued to take care of
the odd jobs for the
Division. While part of the men were with the
British, one platoon
escorted the supply trucks on the long march
back to bring up the food
and gasoline essential to the movement
of the Division.
•The things the men remember best;
probing for mines like a
bunch of Engineers,
stringing their own wires, spotting targets for
the Artillery, and adjusting
fire, slogging through mud as Infantry,
advancing between tanks to
lend firepower to to tank-infantry attacks
•and assuring the flow of supplies;
all this in addition to the
reconnaissance that is
normally expected of the Cavalry. -
"NEVER A DULL
MOMENT!”
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“A” Troop [p 44]
C.O. Capt. Scott
EXO Lt. Forsgren
1st Platoon S/Sgt
Loudenslager
2nd Platoon Lt.
Green
3rd Platoon Lt.
Chester A. Smith
----------------------------
Squadron History [p 45]
Versatility was perhaps the outstanding feature of the
role
played by Troop A in the War in Europe.
After reconnoitering the Division assembly area, the
troop, under
command of Captain Bennington, advanced so far in front
of
the other units that communication was lost. Elements of
a Panzer
division cut the escape route but a group of P-17s
wandered
over and blasted a gap in the German ring.
After Falaise the road to Paris seemed open and the
troop was
anxious to be the first to reach the city. But orders
were changed:
As a result the men saw paris at 00600 a.m. when the
City was
asleep.
Then the men remember, St. Quinten where the FFI
shaved
the heads of the girls who had been too friendly with
the Nazis.
Here, too, civilians rushed into the streets while the
fighting was
still in progress and cut steaks from the horses which
had been
killed in action.
The drive continued to Luxembourg, where Lt. Foresgren
took
over the troop.
It was at Kalterherberg anti Eupen that the men learned
that
the BUZZ BOMBS were not really as dangerous as they
sounded.
It was there also that Captain Scott assumed command of
the
troop.
“B” Troop [p 46]
Headquarters
C. O. Capt. Vipond
EXO Lt. Jones
1st Platoon Lt.
Jonas
2nd Platoon
Lt E. F. smith
3rd platoon Lt.
Dallaire
--------------------------------
Squadron History [p 47]
Every "G. I" knows exactly what
"Police-up” means. We were
true to form because not thirty minutes after we landed
in Normandy
we were doing just that.
In Northern France we were operating with a task force
of
C.C.B.,, and it was impossible to do reconnaissance as
we had
been thought, because we were moving much too fast,
scouting
routes of advance.