|
The
Bridge of the Savage
| Date
: November 18th, 1944 |
| Location
of the action : Le Ban-Saint-Martin &
Longeville-lès-Metz, France |
| Unit
in the area : Company "I", 378th
Inf. Reg. |
The
Battles of George S. Patton's Lowest Ranks - Fourth
Edition.
This the 3rd Battalion of the 378th Infantry
Regiment as the only unit available to seize the main road
bridge running from Longeville across to the Isle St
Symphorian. With a few tanks in support, the lead Company
managed to drive back a small force of Germans guarding the western end. This was the bridge that
Kittel had ordered left intact until the last minute. A
Platoon of I company immediately charged across, but the
Germans blew the structure, killing the men who were still
on it and leaving three men stranded on the far side.
Lieutnant Crawford, one of I Company's platoon commanders
had at this moment a courageous action : he found a small
boat, and under enemy fire, paddled across the river to
retrieve the menwho had been cut off so suddently. Here
it's Crawford's story :
The
I / 378 in the assault of the bridge of the Savage, story
of Captain Charles D. Crawford, leader
of the operation. Company "I",
378th Infantry Regiment.
« Hardgrave returned from
battalion headquarters about 11:00 p.m. (Nov 17) with
orders for the company to move out at daylight and capture
the main road bridge running from Longeville across to the
island of St Symphorien. Longeville and the island are a
part of the city of Metz. Hardgrave's orders were that I
would lead the company with the Third Platoon with the
mission of seizing the bridge. He attached a platoon of
tanks to me. Yes, it was the same platoon that we had the
last afternoon. The platoon leader didn't seem anxious to
work with me again after our little "prayer
meeting" atop his tank a few hours before. A gasoline
truck came up during the night and filled his tanks.
The distance to the bridge was
approximately 3,000 yards through a built up area of a mix
of industrial and dense residential properties. This
created the special problem of keeping the route of
advance as simple as possible - - reduce the number of
road and street turns to the absolute minimum in order to
arrive at the bridge without getting lost. Once we jumped
off we would not be able to refer to the map because of
darkness. The Third Platoon, with tanks, got off at the
time designated. The remainder of the company was
following. All went well with the march in the dark until
we reached next to the last turn to be made, when the
tanks continued straight ahead. Tankers don't like to move
through built up areas with their tank turrets open, so
they had closed them. Our best efforts to get their
attention over the roar of the tank engines and the
clatter of the tank tracks were to no avail. I called the
men back and we continued on the predesignated route. The
tank platoon leader would not be happy when he knew that
he was out there in the residential area without infantry
protection. Dawn was rapidly approaching, and I hoped we
would make it to the bridge before daylight, but it was
not to be. We came out one block below the bridge on the
boulevard paralleling the Moselle River.
Between the boulevard and the
river, the Germans had placed explosive charges on a row
of large shade trees. When I got nearer the trees I
noticed that the wires between the charges had been cut.
The citizens of the area had taken steps to save the trees.
I was hoping they had managed to do the same thing for the
bridge. The bridge was in clear view and the Germans had
not put up a defense. This was a surprise as I had
expected the bridge to be heavily defended initially. Then
they would withdraw across the bridge and take a
previously prepared positions for a more determined
defense. The bridge was about 250 feet long with a very
short and winding approach. The twist in the approach was
caused by the short distance of the bridge from the
boulevard and to gain about 12 feet of elevation up to the
bridge level.
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As we started up the approach,
we had to walk around about a dozen anti-tank mines
scattered along the winding approach. At this time,
we had not received any enemy fire or seen any of
the enemy. The order was passed along to move on the
double. Platoon Sergeant Bakken (Wilbur L.) was with
the lead squad. When the lead squad reached the end
of the enemy side of the bridge, the Germans opened
up with accurate machine gun fire onto the bridge.
The first man to reach the enemy side was killed
instantly by the first burst of fire. For a few
seconds the bridge was covered by a high volume of
fire, mostly tracer ammunition, from buildings about
250 yards from the bridge. The previously set
demolitions under the bridge were detonated and the
two center spans of the bridge blew up and settled
back into the river.
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 |
|
Above :
Joe Messina, killed in action during assault
on the bridge of the Savage.
Picture
of I / 378, Richard D. Hunton. |
I was on the first span of the
bridge, with the 3rd Squad of the Platoon when
the bridge plew up. We turned immediately and race off the
bridge, diving over the guard rail and down the bank of
the bridge approach. None of us was wounded. A bullet
knocked the heel of my right boot but nothing more.
Fourteen very fine soldiers died on that bridge. When the
bridge went up Sgt Bakken and two other men were stranded
on the other side.
 |
On
the left : Three men of I Company
378th Infantry Regiment
(Left
to right) : James O. Beerman, Franklin Heft, et
Walter Hazlett.
Beerman
et Heft were killed when the bridge was blown up at
Longevilles-lès-Metz.
The
Battles of George S. Patton's Lowest Ranks - Fourth
Edition. |
Simultaneously with the bridge
explosion, the Germans brought 20 millimeters cannon fire
on us from a field about 250 yards to our left on the
island. This was an anti-aircraft weapon that had been put
into infantry use. As the bullets passed overhead some of
the explosed like Chinese firecrackers, causing very
little harm, but somewhat unsettling since we had not had
any previous knowledge of such weapons being put into use
by the infantry.
There was a quick recovery from
the surprise, and fire continued to come over our heads
and chew up the buildings behind us. Lt Bill Harrigan,
First Platoon Leader, and I obtained a light machine gun
from the rear and crawled forward up onto the bridge
approach and took the 20mm position under fire. Our fire
neutralized the 20mm gun and suddently there was dead
silence. We had been so busy that we had completely
forgotten about the tanks that had gone astray, when I
heard them in the distance coming toward us on the
boulevard. I made my way down to the tank platoon leader
and directed him to move up on the bridge approach and
place fire on the buildings from which the machine gun
fire had come.
As he started up the ramp I
noticed that the anti-tank mines were still in the road. I
quickly got two men and we threw them over the guard rail.
The tanks continued up the bridge approach and took the
buildings under fire. When there was no return fire there
was a sudden silence again. By now, the remainder of the
company had closed up the buildings along the boulevard.
It was then that Lt Charles Walsh told me that Hardgrave
and some others had been wounded at a road intersection
soon after we moved out to capture the bridge. As
information was put together, we learned that in addition
to Hardgrave, nine other men had been wounded by artillery
fire from the big guns of Fort St Quentin above us. On
November 18th, Company I suffered the heaviest
casualties of any one day in the entire war.»
On the 15 GI's killed on the bridge, some were
unfortunately projected in the river during the explosion
and the fast current carried. They are always Missing In
Action.
 The
ruins of the bridge after demolition. |
|
My
specials tanks to Richard E. Hunton and Charles D.
Crawford. Extract resulting from Crawford's report :
"The Battle of Metz, Company "I"
378th Infantry, 95th Inf Division, November
1944" edition of 1990. |
|
Rhineland 
