|
The
Chateau Brieux
| Date
: Night of November 8th, 1944 |
| Location
of the action : Maizières-lès-Metz, France |
| Unit
in the area : Company "I", 377th
Inf. Reg. |
The
Battles of George S. Patton's Lowest Ranks - Fourth
Edition.
The newcomers from the 3rd
battalion du 377th Infantry Regiment found that
there was still some unfinished business to tackle at the
southern and of Maizières-lès-Metz: an area of woods
including the Chateau Brieux. This objective had to be
cleared of the enemy before the road to Metz could be
opened. The soldier Stephen Bodnar was in the unit that
attacked the Chateau during the night of November 8th,
1944. Wounded during the assault, he had his lower leg
amputated because of gangrene setting in. This attack, all
in all, was a costly if gallant failure. Here is Bodnar's
story of the operation:
The
I / 377 in the assault of the Chateau Brieux, story of
Private First Class Stephen J. Bodnar. Company "I",
377th Infantry Regiment.
« I company 377th Infantry Regiment 95th Infantry
Division relieved a company of the 90th Infantry Division
on November 1st 1944. The unit took up positions in the
last street on the edge of the town of Maizières-lès-Metz.
The 1st Platoon took up positions near a school.
Our squad, the Third, occupied a building next to the
school. The mortar section of the fourth platoon was set
up in the yard behind the school.
During the week preceding the attack on Chateau
Brieux, the Third Squad sent our patrols each night to
locate enemy positions and locate mines. One night it
joined with other elements of the First platoon on a
combat patrol to capture prisoners. All First platoon men
returned safely. The next night, the first platoon leader,
1st Lieutenant James Cain, was severely wounded and PFC
Jay Stone was slightly wounded in another patrol action.
2nd Lieutenant Peterson Cavert replaced Lieutenant Cain.
The weather turned nasty.
It was already cold and wet, about 6 or 7°C ( about 43°
F). On November 7th, it began to rain. It was also
election day in the USA and President Franklin Roosevelt
was running for a fourth term. On reflection, it is my
opinion that no major actions in our sector were to be
conducted so that news from the front with possible heavy
casualties would not interfere with President Roosevelt's
re-election.
During the day of November 8th 1944, Lieutenant Cavert
told our squad of Company I's plan to attack Chateau
Brieux at 2100 hours, The attack would be preceded by an
artillery barrage the same night. Our platoon, the first,
would attack the Chateau by advancing down the left side
of the road that led to the Chateau gate, bypass the
chateau, and dig in. The Third platoon would attack by
advancing down the right side of the road, bypass the
chateau, and dig in. These two platoons would then isolate
the Chateau and present German counter attacks while the
second platoon seized the Chateau. Lieutenant Cavert asked
our squad if anyone had any comments about the plan. For a
while no one spoke. Finally Lieutenant Cavert said that it was OK to speak our mind.
As a nineteen year-old Private with nothing to lose but my
life (and I was extremely confident that I was immortal),
I spoke up. Although I do not remember my exact words, I
said that it was a lousy plan. The Company had never made
a company sized attack in the daylight. We had not trained
for night combat as a company unit since I had joined the
outfit in February 1944. Most of the men had not even
taken part in the patrol actions at night. It was also
raining and very dark at night. I said that the attack was
doomed to fail, and we would get clobbered. After a brief
period of quiet, Lieutenant Cavert asked if anyone else
had anything to say. No one did, and we prepared for the
attack.
Extra ammunition and hand grenades were issued. I
took two bandoliers of rifle ammunition, several extra M-1
clips for my pants pockets and four hand grenades for the
slash pockets of my old style field jacket. We were only
to take light combat packs, raincoat and some K-rations. I
had some extra goodies stored, candy and small cans of
fruit, which I shared with George Bauer and others in the
squad. Then I made sure my rifle was working properly, and
I was ready for whatever lay ahead.
Lieutenant Cavert had asked if any one knew how to
fire a bazooka (shoulder fired anti-tank rocket). PFC
George Bauer quickly replied that he had fired a bazooka
once in basic training. Lieutenant Cavert assigned Bauer
as bazooka man with PVT John Ahern and PVT Harold Kellog
as loader and ammunition carriers. This was the first time
that Bauer and I were separated on a combat assignment. I
also thought that Bauer had made a mistake mentioning that
he fired a bazooka once in training. George Bauer was
wounded and Ahern and Kellogg were killed during the night
attack on the Chateau.
Because it was so dark, every man had tied a piece of white
sheet to each arm and the back of his pack to minimize any
casualties from friendly fire. The artillery barrage began
about 2045 with 105mm and 15mm artillery pieces.
Lieutenant Cavert told us that XX Corps considered also
using 240mm cannon, but we were too close to the enemy for
that. However, the Germans had, a few days earlier fired
about 20 rounds from their 240mm guns at us for zeroing in
purposes. Although several houses were blown down and an
anti-tank half-track was buried, there were no casualties.
Then
we began walking toward the Chateau with arms extended and
holding hands with the men on either side so that some
type of a skirmish line could be maintained.
Part way toward the chateau we had dropped hands,
unslung our weapons, and prepared to engage the enemy. The
German artillery and mortars began firing when the
American artillery started creeping toward the areas
behind the Chateau. As we advanced, I stumbled into a
shell hole, partially filled with water. For a very brief
moment I thought of staying there, not through fear, but
the thought that the attack was foolish and wasn't going
to succeed. However, I believed it was loyalty to my
fellow soldiers that made me quickly rejoin the attack. I
called out for someone to help me get out because I was up
to my knees in mud. I don't remember who helped me out,
because I could not see him. I warned him not to come too
close and to extend his hand. We made hand contact, and I
was able to get out of the shell hole.
As I approached the barbed wire obstacles in
front of the German outposts, a German machine gun was
firing at my platoon mates off to my right. I stopped and
fired three quick rounds from my hip. The gun was turned
toward me and fired. I was then hit in my lower right leg.
It felt like someone hit my leg with a baseball bat, and I
fell. "Son of a bitch" I said, more surprised
than hurt. Where had my immortality gone? There was
continual rifle and machine gun fire from both sides,
shouting, flares burning, and German artillery and mortar
rounds falling all over. Mines were going off. In the
periods of light from the flares, I thought my leg was
shot too. I panicked a little, and began calling for a
medic. None came. I believe the medic attached to our
platoon was either wounded or killed in the night attack.
However, there were many wounded. George Bauer heard me
calling for the medic, came by, and told me to be quiet,
that I wasn't hurt. It was about 15 years after the war
that we talked about the incident. With all the noise
going on and the darkness, the remark he made to me seems
ridiculous, but it made me realize that no medic was going
to help me and I had to take care of myself. I decided to
crawl back toward the American lines and look for the
medics. Reluctantly, I decided to abandon my rifle because
it would hinder my crawling. Part way back, Staff Sergeant
Robert Lauderbaugh and PFC John Weiss, from the machine
gun section, supporting the first platoon, came by, picked
me up between them, and assisted me.
Every time a German shell went off, we hit the
ground. When the German barrage intensified, they took
cover in a shell hole. I asked them to leave me outside
because I thought they might not be able to get me out,
but we finally made it to the outskirts of Maizières.
Finally, a litter bearer team picked me up, loaded me on a
jeep hood, and after a while one of the litter bearers
found the driver and ordered
him, who had been hiding from the German barrage,
to drive me to the battalion and aid station. After a slow
bumpy, eerie, ride in complete blackness, we arrived
safely at the aid station. Captain Joseph Herbert, aid
station surgeon, asked me if I had any ammunition. When I
said "Yes", I was relieved of a few hand
grenades and M-1 clips from my field jacket and pants
pockets. My bandoliers and ammunition belt had been
removed before I saw the surgeon. He gave me a shot of
brandy, refused my request for a second, said I was in
good shape, no shock, and sent me on my way to the field
hospital after giving me first aid.
Only elements of the First platoon had reached its
objective and were digging in within the German positions
unaware that the Third battalion attack had failed and all
elements had withdrawn to the American lines. Company I's
withdrawal had been covered by the Fourth platoon's mortar
section, which fired about 900 rounds. The Third platoon's
attack was repulsed and the Second platoon's attack was
called off.
The
Second platoon leader, First Lieutenant W. Lawrence
Krueger, volunteered to lead a patrol which contacted Lt.
Cavert and elements of the First platoon and led them back
safely to Maizieres.
The next day at 1545 hours,
I company 377 Infantry Regiment again assaulted Chateau
Brieux. This time was it was successful.
 |
|
Above :
Remainders
of the Chateau Brieux in Maizières-lès-Metz.
|
During
these two attacks, I Company lost about half its strength
in killed and wounded - about 90 men were casualties.
On November 11, Armistice Day, my lower right leg
was amputated because gangrene had set in. I was very ill,
and it was necessary to amputate my leg in order to save
my life.
There were several men from
our squad in the same ward in the field hospital: PFC
George Bauer, PFC Charles Coleman, and PFC Robert Ross…
I remember all of them talking to me as I progressively
got more ill. Charles Coleman was very cheerful and upbeat
about his "million dollar wound", a broken leg.
However, he later developed an infection and died in a
hospital in England. I also remember our squad leader
S/SGT Harold Griese who came by to see me after my leg was
amputated.
I was sent back to the USA to a
hospital in Atlantic City, New Jersey. There I met the
Second platoon leader, Lieutenant Krueger. We
discussed the attacks on Chateau Brieux. I expressed my
opinion that the night attack on the Chateau was a bad
mistake and very poor tactics. Lieutenant Krueger told me
that the 95th Division had protested the night attack to
XX Corps and asked for a postponement until daylight on
November 9th, 1944. XX Corps then requested a
delay, but Lt. Krueger said that Gen. Patton refused. He
was tired of delays and excuses. Patton wanted action now.
He got it, and I Company and 3rd Battalion 377 Infantry
paid the price…
 |
On
the left :
Monument
to honor the soldiers of the Company I, 377th
Infantry Regiment for their heroic actions. |
My special
thanks to Stephen J. Bodnar for his beautiful testimony
:"I Company 377 Infantry 95 Division attacks Chateau
Brieux."
|
Rhineland 
