Back to Normandy - Recently Added Listings - 313 Infantry Regiment (USA) https://backtonormandy.org/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 19:12:25 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 313th Infantry Regiment (USA) defending Hagenau https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/79-infantry-division-usa/313-infantry-regiment-usa/13798-313th-infantry-regiment-usa-defending-hagenau.html

The plan provided that immediately after leaving the main line of resistance the regiments of Task Force Linden were to be placed under the direct control of the 79th Division. The 232nd Infantry was to go into corps reserve with its command post at Bossendorf. The 222nd Infantry was to continue on the 79th's left flank and take up positions behind the Moder River and northwest of the city of Haguenau. The 313th Infantry of the 79th Division was to defend Hagueneau and the area on either side of it while the 242nd Infantry would be on its right, southeast of Haguenau. To the right of the 242nd Infantry would be the 315th Infantry of the 79th, occupying the right flank of the division. Left of the division was the 103rd Infantry Division and on the right the 36th Infantry Division.

At darkness on January 20 the withdrawal began. The weather conditions could not have been worse. The weather was cold, with the temperature below 20, and it was snowing heavily, but worst of all, the roads were covered with ice. They were so bad that it was difficult for a man to walk more than a few yards without falling down. Even when proceeding slowly, trucks and tanks and artillery pieces would start to slide and end up with a crash into a ditch or plunge over a bridge into a stream or ravine.

The men were tired from days and nights of almost constant moving and fighting and they hated to withdraw. They had suffered heavy casualties, but they didn't want to fall back.

"I say we ought to stay," said one man. "I don't like them Krauts to think they can make us go back a foot. We held them this long and we might as well keep fighting."

There wasn't much talk as the men moved back. There was a curse now and then as a man slipped and fell, but he would pick himself up and trudge on. "I bet I fell ten times a mile," declared one man later. The roads were lined with traffic and although it would have been an excellent opportunity for the Germans to attempt an attack the withdrawal apparently took them by surprise. A few times their
patrols contacted the rear guard, but they made no effort to advance.

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fredvogels Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:38:50 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/divisions-infantry/79-infantry-division-usa/313-infantry-regiment-usa/13798-313th-infantry-regiment-usa-defending-hagenau.html