Hellcat News, (Fullerton, Calif.), Vol. 59, No. 1, Ed. 1, September 2005 Page: 4 of 16
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Page 4
HELLCAT NEWS
September 2005
is a testament to the undying patriotism of those servicemen and
women who defend our country and of our fellow countrymen.
The following is an excerpt from Mr. James Francis' "History
of the 23rd."
December 1944 - Our First Action, Our First Losses
By daybreak on December 8 the 12th Armored Division was
on the front line - facing the enemy's 11th Panzer Division and
live fire for the first time. We faced a little east of north, CCR on
the right near the village of Rabling, CCA on the left, and CCB
in reserve. Division HQ was in the town of Domfessel to the
south. Our first mission was to attack toward Bining and Rohr-
bach, then on to Bettviller. On our right was the 44th Infantry
Division.
Shortly before we relieved the 4th Armored Division, they
had attacked the German 11th Panzer Division at Bining and
Singling and had been driven back with heavy losses. This
action has been described in great detail in at least two publica-
tions. Refs. 4 and 5. (Patton's army always got lots of publicity.
He thrived on it.) Here is the writer's summary of the action,
offered as a background to our own baptism of fire in the same
area:
On Dec. 5, CCA of the 4th Armored advanced north from
Rahling toward Bining. Receiving fire from the woods to the
east, CCA moved west and went up another minor road. Toward
evening, Company C of the 37th Tank Battalion approached
Singling with 14 tanks. Hidden among the buildings of Singling
were anti-tank guns and tanks which opened fire on them at a
range of 800 meters.
Five Sherman tanks were knocked out immediately; the re-
maining nine were slowed in retreat by the soft ground and were
destroyed by artillery fire. Two artillery observation tanks were
lost also. The tank company was completely annihilated.
The next morning a task force of Company B of the same 37th
Tank Battalion and a company of armored infantry (Co. B of the
51st AIB) advanced across the same wet ground. Supporting
artillery laid a smoke screen of white phosphorous, enabling the
leading units of the task force to enter Singling. There were four
German tanks in the village and seven more on high ground to
the north. The buildings and cellars were occupied by German
infantry.
A close range battle in the village continued through the day,
with a loss of four more Shermans. One M4 Sherman had a field
day, however. It was one of the few M4s with the new 76mm
gun, and the tank commander, Sergeant Fitzgerald, had
scrounged some high velocity rounds from a tank destroyer unit.
Called Hyper Velocity Armor Piercing (HVAP), this round had
a muzzle velocity of 3,400 fps, compared to 2,600 fps with the
standard 76mm AP round.
From the ridge north of Singling, four Mark 5 Panther tanks
advanced toward the town. Using the buildings as concealment,
Fitzgerald's tank destroyed three of them at close ranges of 150,
The bride and groom,
Mr. and Mrs. William
Stone. Jennifer is the
granddaughter of Jim
and Alice Feezel.
400 and 500 meters. At 800 meters, however, his shot couldn't
penetrate the fourth Panther. The task force finally withdrew
after dark, over those two days the combat command lost 20
tanks and an unspecified number of men.
The 11th Panzer Division evacuated Bining, but still held
Singling, Rohrbach arid barrack buildings between Bining and
Rohrbach. As we were to find out, the evacuated areas and
approaches to their defenses were heavily mined. So far as the
writer knows, these mines were all the anti-tank types, buried in
the ground and requiring a heavy weight to detonate them.
The first mission given to the 23rd Tank Battalion was to
support the 17th AIB (Armored Infantry Battalion) in an attack
on the "Bining Barracks" on December 9. One platoon of five
tanks from Company A, led by 1st Lt. Robert Seymour, was to
accompany the infantry while the rest of the 23rd Tank fired into
the barracks from a flank.
As planned, Lt. Seymour's tank led the way, breaking through
a low stone wall and advancing uphill directly toward the
buildings. Almost immediately, however, anti-tank mines
exploded, breaking both tracks and smashing the front road
wheels. The writer was loader in this tank. The infantry moved
on without our platoon and succeeded in taking the barracks in
the afternoon. The 11th Panzer Division made good use of their
artillery and mortars during this action, continuously bom-
barding our tanks.
On the same day, other task forces of the division captured
Rohrbach and the high ground northeast of Singling. (Had the
Germans withdrawn to Singling, or were they just bypassed?)
The 23rd stayed in position that night and Captain Virgil
Thorp, S-2 officer, set up defenses. Lt. Colonel Meigs, know-
ing the area was mined, walked back to the Division CP
(command post) for orders. The company commanders were to
be at the Battalion CP when he returned. Companies A and C
were under heavy artillery fire, and Captains Lange and
Fortenberry were layed. Captain Cowan of Company B was at
the CP, and he offered to drive a peep to pick up Captain Forten-
berry. (Capt. Lange was close by.) Captains Cowan and Forten-
berry were returning in the peep when it ran over a land mine.
Cowan was killed and Fortenberry seriously wounded.
On that same night, Lieutenant Arthur Greims of Battalion
HQ was also killed in another peep by another mine.
At 3 o'clock in the morning, Col. Meigs issued his orders for
the next day to the acting company commanders: Capt. Lange,
A; 1st Lt. John Lee, B, and 1st Lt. Ernest Garneau, C. The
23rd Tank Battalion was to lead a task force attacking the
Maginot Line defensive position north of Rohrbach.
The attack began as planned in the morning, but progress was
slow because of the difficult terrain. By 1500 in the afternoon
about a dozen lightly held pill boxes had been taken and the
Maginot Line was reached. Any attempt to move beyond this
point was met by direct anti-tank gun fire from well concealed
positions, and the assault wave finally withdrew. Colonel Meigs
got approval to hold his position for the night and attack again
the next morning.
To conclude for this month, please send any war stories, photos
or updates of current events in your life to Mr. Feezel, Mr.
Francis, our unit historian, or myself. (Our addresses are at the top
of the article.) I would be honored to include your stories in this
newsletter. I would like to extend my tanks for Mr. Francis for
allowing his work to appear in this column. Signing off for now
and my best wishes to all. Jack Treaster 3rd, co-Rep.
DIV. ARTY & DIV. HQS. UNITS
W. W. Hardin, P.O. Box 846,1513 Forest Ave., Fulton, M0 65251
Phone (573) 642-3801 E-mail: wwhardin@sbcglobal.net
I have just received a most welcome letter with pictures from
Ben and Fran Locke [DIV/ARTY]. Ben and Fran were "first-
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Twelfth Armored Division Association (U.S.). Hellcat News, (Fullerton, Calif.), Vol. 59, No. 1, Ed. 1, September 2005, newspaper, September 2005; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth410414/m1/4/?q=Lamar+University: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting The 12th Armored Division Memorial Museum.