CALL ME SPEARHEAD The Official Publication of the Association of 3d Armored Division Veterans January 15, 2004 Volume 16 The taking of Patterborn As told in WWII as a combat engineer with the The Third Armored Division By Robert T. Gravilin On 29 March, we raced from Vic Marburg by passing fortified and barricaded towns all the way to Ober Marsberg, a distance of 101 miles, the longest one day advance in the history of warfare. We caught the Germans by surprise; as we moved through small towns, German soldiers and civilians were sitting or standing in front of houses. When they saw us, they just threw their arms in the air in surrender. As we rounded a large hill, across a valley was a railroad track and as we came around the hill a German train loaded with soldiers and ammunition for the front was steaming back toward the way we had just come. Our tanks, tank destroyers and anti-aircraft guns opened up n the train and blew it off the tracks. The ammunition on the train burned and exploded fiercely. That night as we ground to a halt, one of the GI s stood on a tank and played the turn I ll walk alone. We were approximately 20 miles from our next big objective, Paderborn. It was the location of the German s Panzer Training Center, the principle place for training troops in the use or armor. It was the Fort Knox of Germany. It was commanded by Hitler s elite SS forces. As we approached the outskirts of Paderborn, the road went through a valley with steep wooded hills on both sides of the road. As we moved forward, mortars, panzerfausts, and machine gun fire began to hit us. They were dug in holes in the hills; we did not have any cover so we took quite a few casualties. Our tanks fired 75mm point blank at the holes and raked them with machine gun fire. We were able to get up to the top of the hills while our tanks kept them down. We used hand grenades, and small arms fire and finally were able to either get them or pull them out of their holes. We discovered they were just boys, members of Hitler Jugend. Most of them were between 10-14 years. They acted like animals, they would spit, scratch, and try to bite you. We kicked them in their butts and sent them back as prisoners. After we got through the valley, we pulled in a field on the side of the road. There were hay stacks in a field on the other side of the road. Mo Campbell from Chicago, and I were going across the road to check out the hay stacks for hiding Germans. As we started across the road, a German halftrack came roaring down the road towards us. As it got up to us, some Germans standing in the back started shooting at us. Campbell pulled his.45 caliber pistol and hit the German standing in the center of the halftrack. The kraut fell in the center of the road with a hole through his belly. One of our anti-aircraft batteries with four.50 caliber machine guns knocked the halftrack out as it went alongside our vehicles. Later that evening about dark, the Germans shelled us 1
pretty heavy. We laid behind a stone wall near a German house. There was a flock of sheep in the field behind us. As the shells hit, shrapnel was flying all over and the sheep were getting hit. They cried and it sounded just like little children. Mo Campbell got hit, a middle knocked off, so he was evacuated. After the shelling died down, we heard some yelling and crying and a German was yelling Hilfe ich bin wunde. I went through a hedgerow of trees and saw a German soldier laying there. I bent over him and he was crying. He took my hand to show me his wound and put my hand in his chest the hole was as big as my fist. I got our medic and gave him first aid, but I doubt if he lived. At dawn, we attacked the Paderborn Airfield. It was well fortified and the Germans were dug in. The battle lasted all day, tank against tank and we finally had to roll hand grenades in their fox holes. In Paderborn, we found a baby factory it was a large hospital where German girls would give birth to children for Hitler. This was one of the policies Hitler had established. He would force the girls who had reached 18 years of age to have relations with his true Aryans, the blnde hair blue eye SS panzer troops. The girls would then be sent home and when they were ready to give birth, they would go to this hospital and give birth. The child would then become owned by the state. The girl was given a deutche mutter (German mother) medal and sent home. There was a regular campus setting as these children were billeted in building according to their age. They were taught to kill or be killed and the products of this place were the young boys we had encountered on the outskirts of Paderborn. The hospital had pregnant girls running around all over the place. When we reached the hospital, the retreating Germans shelled us, including their own hospital. They knocked out the electricity so we hooked up a portable generator (which was back in division headquarters) so they could use their operating and delivery rooms. That evening we laid down in some beds in empty rooms. It was a long time since we had been in a bed it was still rather cold outside and these were warm feather mattresses and spreads. We had just laid down when big Tiger Royal tanks and German infantry attacked down a road leading to the hospital. The first shells they fired came right through our room. We got out of there in a hurry. They caught us off guard and knocked out all but one of our Sherman tanks, and all but two of our light tanks. We were on top of a hill with one Sherman tank, two light tanks, and a ¾ ton personal carrier. The Germans were digging in all around us in the hills. They had caught our infantry support with devastating fire and an awful lot of them were killed or wounded. The ¾ ton personnel carrier had just gotten to us when the Germans counter attacked. The personal carrier contained mail for our troops, and hot food for the infantry. The headlines on the Stars and Stripes newspaper read: Chrysler tank arsenal on strike workers demand 18 cents and hour increase. We would have given anything for some new Pershing s. That really knocked our morale. We at least got some hot food though, because very few infantry were left to eat it. We called back by walkee-talkee to our artillery which was a couple miles back. We gave them our grid position. They opened fire with white phosphorus shells with proximity fuses. The shells explode about 6 feet above the ground. They cut all the trees in half as the shells moved up over the hills killing most of the Germans in their holes. The white phosphorus lit up the sky as they hit. Our artillery saved us we were able to pull back off the top of the hill. We received word that our division commander, Major General Maurice Rose was killed by a German machine gunner in a panther tank on the outskirts of Paderborn. They were ambushed and cut down. Brigadier General Doyle O. Hickey assumed command of the 3rd Armored Division after General Rose s death. Two of our 703 rd tank destroyers with 76MM long barrels smashed two tiger tanks and the panther that killed General Rose later that day. This article is part of a biography written by Robert T. Gravlin. Bob joined the 23 rd Engineer Battalion at St Lo and fought with them to the end of the war as a combat engineer. I met Bob at several WWII reunions I attended. Bob gave me his biography with permission to use it for the Association. I hope more veterans of WWII, the Cold War, and Desert Storm will consider writing their memoirs as well. Without people doing this, our memory will fade into forgotten history. I also felt this is a very appropriate story to fit in with the new limited edition print the Association will have done by an Artist later this year. This print honors the 3AD, General Rose, and all the brave men who fought and died in WWII. There will be information in the newsletter how you can reserve your copy of this print. We need more stories like this for both the newsletter, and the website. Please help us record the history of the 3d Armored Division so the efforts of all of us will never be forgotten. Send your articles to clmech@ptd.net or fax to 717-336-0693 Steve Depuy Newsletter Editor 2
President s Letter I would like to thank all of our members who responded to our fund raising campaign, and I would like to encourage all of our members, who have not had time to make a donation, to support this effort. Additionally, I am asking for volunteers to run for the A3ADV Board of Directors. We will have three offices up for election this summer, and I want to encourage each of you to consider running for these important positions. This organization needs to continue to grow with new members on the Board of Directors that have fresh, new ideas. If you have any questions about the responsibilities for serving on the Board, please send me an email or give me a call. Paul Smith, Jim Cunningham and I attended a Reunion 2004 planning meeting in Columbus, Ohio in December. We finalized the reunion agenda and meal selections with the leadership of the WW2 Association and the hotel staff. I can tell you that our reunion hotel staff is going above and beyond the call of duty to make this reunion an event to remember. I encourage each of you to make plans to attend this event. The commemorative print honoring our WW2 members is now available for presale. Jody Harmon is the artist behind this historic print with the likeness of MG Rose. Jody has agreed to attend a portion of our 2004 Reunion in Columbus to sign and personalize each print. I ask that each of you consider purchasing this print. If the sales of this WW2 print are strong, we will continue with additional prints in our 3 rd Armored Division Series. As always, thank you for your support. Kevin Colson President A3ADV president@3ad.org Association Fundraiser A new year has come and the association is growing leaps and bounds. A fund raising letter was sent out back in December to all association members, and thank you to all who have contributed to the future of the A3ADV. I would now ask that for those of you who have not made a donation, that you would take the time to consider sending a contribution to the A3ADV. The association needs your support today to continue into the future. I hope and pray that 2004 will be a great year for all of us and that the A3ADV will continue to be a great success. With your continued support I know that we will. Please send your donation today. SPEARHEAD! Sincerely, Paul A. Smith Vice President A3ADV vicepresident@3ad.org Campaign Chairman Note I have been involved with the Association since its beginning. We have basically scratched and clawed to pay our bills. We have been very limited in what we have been able to do with the limited funds we had available. The officers of the Association are not paid and have traditionally paid their own expenses, even to attend board meetings. The money that is paid to the Association in dues is used to pay the expenses of the Association. We are currently operating on a 233 megahertz Pentium 2 server. While it is functioning well, we need to take steps now to get ready to replace it. This is just one of the goals of the current fund drive. Please help out Steve Depuy Newspaper Editor A3ADV 3
Spearhead in the News I do not have a newspaper article to print this month. Many people out there have saved old newspaper clipping from their time of service. Please send your articles to me so we can reprint them. We hope to make Spearhead in the News a regular feature of the Newsletter, please forward any articles you might have that speak of the history of the 3d Armored Division to clmech@ptd.net or fax to 717-336-0693 Total Memberships 725 Lifetime Memberships 258 Annual Memberships 438 Associate Memberships 15 Memberships inactive <180> Members who have passed away <14> Active Members 529 Membership Report Association Store Have you checked out the Association Store recently. There are many new items available. There is a new Cold War coin that was struck to honor veterans of the cold war. There is a new metal license plate available for your vehicle. You may pre-order the new WWII commemorative print to hang in your home or office. You can get an Association Flag to fly. There is a Cold War commemorative patch available to honor Cold War veterans. Check out the store on line, or come to the reunion and see the great new merchandise available to show the world that you are a Spearhead Vet. Check out the store at www.3ad.org today. Help Wanted We need you, to help the Association grow and become better. You do not have to have special skills to help. We need people to help with the website, with the newsletter, plan reunions, help promote the Association, and many other tasks. Please contact Kevin Colson at president@3ad.org or write to the Association at PO Box 681486, Indianapolis, IN 46268-1486 4
Association of 3d Armored Division Veterans 2004 Annual Reunion Ramada Plaza Hotel & Columbus, OH Event Schedule Date Activity Time Place Registration 3pm 9pm 9am TBD Welcome Party 7:30pm 9pm (Complimentary hors d oeurves, cash bar) Wednesday July 14 Thursday July 15 Friday July 16 Saturday July 17 Continental Breakfast a la carte USAF Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB Tour Longaberger Homestead Tour Veterans Administration Registration Oktoberfest (Cash Bar) Continental Breakfast A3ADV Business Meeting Ladies Luncheon Men s Luncheon Registration Italian Buffet (Cash Bar) Dance Continental Breakfast Memorial Service Mini Deli Buffet or Lunch on your own City Tour and Motts Military Museum Catholic Service Protestant Service Banquet (Cash Bar) 6am 8am 9am TBD 8am 4:30pm 8am 4:30 pm 9am 3pm 5pm 9pm 6pm 8pm 7am 9am 9am TBD 9am 10:30am 11:30 2pm 12pm 2pm 5pm 9pm 6pm 8pm 8pm 11pm 7am 9am 9am 10:30am 10:30 12:30pm 12:30pm-4:30pm 3pm 3pm 6:30pm Front of Hotel Front of Hotel 6 th Floor Front of Hotel 5
Associaton of 3d Armored Division Veterans PO Box 681486, Indianapolis, IN 46268-1486 2004 Annual Reunion Registration Form Name E-Mail Address City Zip Code Member # Unit & Years Telephone Guest(s) Name(s) and relationship (ex: Marcia, Wife, Robert, Son;Ect) Number Amount Subtotal Reunion Registration @ $40.00 (Includes Saturday Banquet Dinner) Thursday, July 15 Day Tour to USAF Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB @ $24.00 (Lunch and Imax Theater are on your own) Day Tour to Longaberger Homestead @ $24.00 (Lunch is on your own) Oktoberfest Buffet Dinner @ $20.00 Friday, July 16 Men s Luncheon @ $20.00 Ladies Luncheon @ $20.00 Italian Buffet Dinner & Dance @ $15.00 Saturday, July 17 Mini Deli Buffet Luncheon @ $15.00 Motts Military Museum & City of Columbus Tour @ $24.00 (Includes cost of admission to Mott s Miltary Museum Total Registration Fees Enclosed is: (circle one) Check Money Order Please charge my credit card for the total shown Credit Card Number: Exp; Signature: WWII Commemorative Print 6
The Association is currently accepting pre-orders and donations to raise the money to have an artist commission a print honoring the WWII veterans of the Division and General Maurice Rose, the division commander who was killed at Paderborn. You can pre-order a print for $50 including shipping at the website store at www.3ad.org, or write to the Association Secretary at PO Box 681486, Indianapolis, IN 46268-1486 7