Finding Charles

I found him. 
Those were the first words that came to my mind upon seeing his name and infantry division etched in stone on a find-a-grave website. I had been searching off and on since I was a kid. My grandma on the Winterrowd side had talked about her cousin, Charles Martin, who was killed in action in World War II. She had been a young girl at the time, and couldn't recall any specifics, other than she thought he might have been killed during the invasion of Normandy. I was born 43 years after his death. We didn't even exist at the same time; but he was a family member and a soldier who died fighting to defend freedom and liberate Europe, and I decided many years ago I would do my best to find out what happened to him.

I searched through the names in the American cemetery in France. I thought I found him early on in my search, but the Charles Martin listed killed in action at Normandy had been in his thirties; too old to be my grandma's cousin. As more records were put on the internet throughout the years, I was able to widen the search. I located a list of all the Indiana casualties during the war, and narrowed the names down to the two counties near where my grandma grew up. There was only one Charles Martin, Jr. from Huntington County. His age matched the 19 to 20-year-old age range Grandma had given me. I contacted the Indiana archives and they sent me a copy of the Indianapolis Times, March 15, 1945, listing the most recent casualties for the state. I figured that would be as much information as I would be able to acquire, but decided to use his date of death and infantry division information to see if I could figure out where he was killed.

I entered the information on Google and asked for help in an online military forum. Within 24 hours, I had a general idea of where he had been killed and in what battle he had been fighting. I was shocked at how quickly the puzzle came together after all those years. I will know for sure after I contact the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, citing the Freedom of Information Act, to obtain Charles' deceased personnel file. A man I've never met helped me piece together the information I had with his knowledge of the 1st Battalion, 311th Infantry, 78th Division, Company B. From there, I was able to find official after action reports and firsthand accounts of survivors. 

To set the scene, the Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive, (16 December 1944 – 25 January 1945) had ended five days prior to the battle that would take Charles' life. 250,000 German soldiers, including five panzer divisions, came against 80,000 Allied troops. His twentieth birthday was December 12th, so unless he was a January replacement, he would have spent his birthday, Christmas, and the new year slogging through snow, enduring one of the coldest winters on record in Europe. According to American Experience, "The soldiers often fought in zero-temperature conditions and driving snow, that prevented them from seeing more than 10 or 20 yards in front of them. With equipment and uniforms that were designed for warmer times, frostbite became a terrible reality. Because soldiers were often cut off from their divisions in foxholes, the wounded, in some cases, literally froze to death." 

In the wee hours of the morning on January 30, 1945, the offensive began. The 1st Battalion, 311th Infantry, of which Company B was a part, was held in reserve while the 2nd Battalion attacked the German town of Kesternich and the 3rd Battalion attacked Huppenbroich. At 8:15 a.m., Combat Command A, a part of the 5th Armored Division passed through and absorbed the 1st Battalion. The combined units then attacked Eichersheid, a town located approximately two miles from Kesternich. Charles Martin, Jr. was more than likely killed during the fight to take Eichersheid. Judging from the after action report of casualties from the offensive at Eichersheid, he was probably killed by a landmine or artillery shell as he advanced across the snow-covered countryside.

The following information was taken directly from after action reports and firsthand accounts.

The period of action covered by this report actually began with an aggressive attack on the morning of 30 January 1945. In waist deep snow and clad in snowsuits, the three battalions of the 311th Infantry Regiment with the second platoon, Company B, and the Assault Gun Platoon of the 736th Tank Battalion, and Company A, 893d Tank Destroyer Battalion attached, jumped off from Simmerath, Germany. In the first nine hours of this. action, a two to three mile piece was torn from the Siegfried Line. Upon completion of the two days of action, the 3d Battalion had taken the town of Huppenbroich and had moved well beyond the assigned objective. The 2nd Battalion had captured Kesternich and the commanding ground surrounding that town. The 1st Battalion had participated in the capture of Eicherscheid as a part of Combat Command A of the 5th Armored Division, which was attached to the 78th Infantry Division.

The accomplishments of these two intensive days had been attained against an enemy well emplaced in villages and towns as well as an enemy who occupied the dominating terrain positions. Kesternich was a good example of house to house fighting with the enemy well dug-in, in a defensive position in which each house was its own fortress. There were mines which hampered the progress of tanks; snow which hindered the movement of the foot elements; and extremely heavy enemy mortar, artillery, and small arms fire which harassed all concerned; nevertheless, each mission was accomplished, and every objective taken.

The night was bitterly cold and deep, drifting snow covered the ground. The attacks on Kesternich, Huppenbroich, and Eicherscheid were set for the next morning.

At 0530 on 30 January, after a five-minute artillery preparation, the 78th Infantry Division jumped off, making two diverging attacks. One force pushed toward Huppenbroich; the other toward Imgenbroich. A Co. 22nd Engineer Bn. began work immediately behind the infantry to clear the enemy minefields for CCA's attack on the right flank of the infantry. The married A Cos. were to jump off at 0730, but clearing the minefields was hampered by the deep snow and the attack hour was delayed.

Lt. Leonard Hammer of A Co. 22nd Engineer Bn. directed the work in front of the tanks. Three flails were knocked out by mines and a fourth by direct fire while clearing the minefield. At 1000 the A Cos. were ordered to attack through whatever mines remained.
Capt. Richard E. Biederman reconnoitered a route for his tanks around an ungapped minefield. A Co. 34th Tank Bn. rumbled down the main road, followed by A Co. 46th Infantry Bn. halftracks, then veered to the left into open country when they found the road blocked. The tanks moving cross-country, ploughed through the heavy snow, but the halftracks stalled. A Co. infantrymen bailed out of their halftracks and began walking through the deep snow. The tanks churned toward Eicherscheid, 3000 yards away, with three platoons in broad wedge formation, firing as they moved. They ploughed over desolate, snow-covered landscape with hedgerows marked by lines of deep, drifted snow. An anti-tank gun opened fired from the east, but a stiff breeze whipped up a cloud of fine show which helped screen the tanks an its fire was inaccurate. Occasional rounds of German artillery dropped among the struggling infantrymen.

The tanks wallowed on through the snow, drifted in places into 14-foot high banks. They moved through the hedgerows after several tanks bellied on large concealed stumps and had to be pulled off.

A Co. infantrymen struggled to keep up with the lumbering tanks, but it was impossible to keep pace. The infantrymen couldn't walk more than 60 to 70 yards without flopping in the snow for rest. Control of the infantrymen was difficult. The extreme cold froze up most of the infantry radios. Machine guns froze, too, and they had to depend on rifles, grenades and bazookas. Two companies of the 311th Infantry Regiment were following A Co. 46th Infantry Bn., and the companies became mixed as the snow capes everyone wore hid all rank and division insignia. Lt. Col. Cabaniss, reconnoitering on foot, was wounded and command of the assault force fell to the commander of the attached 1st Bn. 322th Infantry Regiment.

By 1230 A Co. 34th Tank Bn. had deployed behind the last enfilade before Eicherscheid. The infantry still struggled in the snow, far behind, so Capt. Biederman called for a Corps "time on target" concentration on the town. Twenty-one battalions of artillery hit Eicherscheid at the same time. The town exploded in one violent mass.

The attack on the town started and the deployed forces moved over the crestline with all guns firing. Debris was still falling from the artillery concentration. Three 88's, camouflaged with white sheets, threatened the advancing tanks, one to the right and two to the left, and all with good fields of fire.

One enemy gun fired three rounds close to Sgt. William Kundman's tank. Kundman swung his turret quickly, his 75 mm. gun roared and pieces of the enemy gun flew into the air. Lt. Otho E. Thomas discovered a second gun and split the barrel with one round. Lt. Gerald F. Axner knocked out the third gun and T/5 Clayton Wainwright jumped from his tank, threw a white phosphorous grenade into the gun position. Flushing the gun crew from their foxholes.

The tanks rolled up to the edge of the town and stood outside, pumping shells into the houses and buildings until the infantry came up. At 1600 the assault was begun by the married A and B Co., and the 311th Infantry Regiment in close support. A Cos. took the east half of the town, and the B Cos. the west half. Tanks pulled up to buildings, fired round after round of high explosives into the doors and windows, then solider ran into the basements and dug out the terrified Germans. The tank-infantry teams, working with practiced precision, cleaned out house after house, block after block. They were old hands at this business and they worked fast and sure at cleaning out the town.

By 1800 the town was clear and outposts were set up. A Co. engineers worked throughout the afternoon to clear the main road into Eicherscheid of snow and mines. During the night a 311th Infantry Regiment patrol went to the Roer River and contacted the 8th Infantry Division.

The town finally yielded 230 prisoners, including three women, two in German Army uniforms. The prisoners wore makeshift white camouflage suits with diapers, doilies, sheets and tablecloths predominating. They looked dirty, tired and beaten.

Lt. Mayo Elliott, A Co. 46th Infantry Bn. platoon leader, and his men captured a German medical station while mopping up the town. The German medics were armed with pistols. "The pistols are for the hopelessly wounded", a German medical officer explained apologetically. "We put the muzzle against the patient's heart, pull the trigger, and he is out of his misery".

At 0800 on 31 January the married A and B Cos. moved out to take the high ground beyond Eicherscheid, and gained it with little resistance. That afternoon the 311th Infantry Regiment began to relieve CC A. The relief was completed at 2300 and the entire combat command moved to its former billets in Neudorf. Men in CC A agreed that taking Eicherscheid had been a good operation. Casualties had been extremely low, important ground had been taken and key enemy guns had been destroyed. In this operation CC A captured or destroyed four anti-tank guns, one 150 mm. howitzer and three 120 mm. mortars. The 47th Artillery Bn. Fired 2000 rounds in support and claimed the destruction of five additional anti-tank guns.

When a friend and I go to Europe in the summer of 2016, Lord willing, to explore the World War II sites, I plan to visit Eichersheid and Kesternich. I have a list of names and addresses of men who served in the same company. I plan to write to see if any of them knew my grandma's cousin. The list was compiled by someone else several years ago, so many of the men, if not all, might have already passed away. It's a long shot, but it is worth a try.

So many names. 

My grandma on my mom's side also had a cousin fighting in Germany. He was shipped over as a replacement due to the enormous losses suffered during the Battle of the Bulge. He would have been around the same age as Charles Martin, Jr. Cousin Marlin went house-to-house looking for snipers. He survived. Seventy years later, he taught me how to play the dulcimer. He still has the mandolin he found in a bombed-out house in Germany.

One life taken, one life spared.