39th Infantry Regiment (9th Inf. Div.)
13 Sept - 26 Oct 1944
17 September 1944
Early in the morning I Company, whose position beyond the Dragons Teeth exposed it to enemy pressure from three sides, received a very strong counterattack. Infantry of the enemy, but without mortar support, hit the company from the northwest, north, and northeast, and took prisoners and pushed in the outpost. Friendly mortars, as well as the rifles of L Company stopped the attack. About two hours later, approximately 0900, I Company attacked. It now had tanks in immediate support, and the enemy broke. The entire area northeast to the vicinity of 975275 fell to the company. A large number of prisoners were taken, and by noon the position was being consolidated. I Company held this area for the rest of the afternoon, while E Company of the 2nd battalion worked its way down from the northwest. Late in the afternoon E Company with a patrol coming around through Lammersdorf, made contact with I Company.
K Company in the center of the battalion zone of action, continued to have hard fighting along the road, since it received small arms fire and well observed AT and artillery fire. It found that in addition to the pillboxes on the right of the road, it got fire from two on the left (976267), and it therefore attacked to clean these out during the day. It did not advance its position forward very much before night fall. In attacking these pillboxes, it had a smoke screen laid down and was materially aided by the mist. However, the AT fire from the east and southeast was still so effective that it could not bring up tanks to the right. Moreover, the pillboxes were so placed that the tanks could not get close enough or in a satisfactory position to fire effectively.
Throughout the day L Company held its position, A 155mm gun was brought up along the main road east from Lammersdorf into a position where it could fire on some of the pillboxes in L Company's sector.
18 September 1944
With the arrival of the 2nd battalion from the northeast, the 3rd battalion could make different plans in the attack on the enemy. It was planned that K Company would continue its drive to the east along the main road from Lammersdorf until it reached the first road junction to the right (978264), where it would turn south for about 400 yards. At this road junction (978261), it would turn to the southwest, cut between the two roads, and encircle Hill 554 from the east. I Company was to be pulled out of its present position on the left flank of the battalion and brought around to assist L in the attack on Hill 554 from the west and northwest. As its objective, I had the northern part of the hill, including the first pillbox with the steel dome, while L took the southern half of the hill and the second pillbox with the steel dome. L Company was planning to make an attack in about the same sector as it had already been fighting.
The afternoon before, (17th) l Company had made a limited attack under the cover of smoke to clear the minefield from the Dragons Teeth gap at 974273, in order that the tanks might come in on the attack the following day. Again in the evening, engineers under the cover of darkness checked the gap for mines.
The attack, however, did not go exactly as scheduled. L Company, was to jump off in conjunction with the tanks. However, during the night the enemy re-mined the gap in the Dragons Teeth and the first tank to approach was blown up. Most of the day was spent trying to get the tank out of the gap so that the attack could progress. (Note: The attack apparently began between 1000 and 1200) However, when the TD hooked on and tried to pull the tank back, other mines were hit and the front end of the tank was blown off. L Company did not materially change its position during the day.
K Company, in the meantime, had launched its attack to encircle Hill 554. I had already secured the pillboxes to the left of the road and the one on the right, but it had to reduce one farther along to the left (977265) before it could continue. Its progress was steady, and it followed the proposed route in the face of small arms fire and long range shelling. As K Company turned to the right at the second RJ (978261), it came under fire from the pillbox at 975260. In reading the map the arrow of the PB pointed the other way, indicating an entire different field of fire. The company commander radioed, however, "To hell with the arrow, it's shooting on me." The company was held in the open ground by this fire temporarily.
In the meantime I Company had been relieved in the vicinity of 975275 by E Company of the 2nd Battalion, and it had swung by noon into a position to join with L Company in the attack on Hill 554. When this attacked was delayed by the inability of the tanks to get through the gap, I Company advanced (late in the afternoon} up the trail in the direction of the pillbox which was holding up K. In approaching the position from the west, I Company elements found themselves on top of the pillbox without realizing it.
Men from I Company called in to the pillbox and told the men to surrender, but the reply was a rifle grenade fired out of the door. It was impossible to blow the door, because the enemy could fire though when it was opened, and the machine guns were deep in concrete tunnels so that they could not be reached by grenades. K Company, which managed to edge closer to the pillbox had a prisoner who went up to argue with the men inside. He told them to think of the wives rather than the war, but still they would not surrender.
A tank dozer was then called up from the western part of the position. It approached the pillbox from the rear and. pushed dirt from the top over to fill up the entrance halfway. Another call was made to the men inside to surrender, and five minutes was given for them to make up their minds. When this time was over, the pillbox was sealed up. It was now dark, and the three companies were located as follows: L Company was in front of the Dragons Teeth vicinity of 973255; I was just west or the pillbox (vicinity of 974266; K was east of the pillbox (vicinity of 976256)
Dragons Teeth near map reference 973255
