157th infantry regiment

After refitting in Denmark, the unit was earmarked for the Ardennes but was instead sent farther south for Operation Nordwind where it engaged the Americans in the Vosges. Winter clothing was hard to obtain, siphoned off by rear-echelon troops before it could reach the front lines. The hills had commanding views and represented a solid position, but unfortunately the units on either flank of 3/157 had been unable to achieve their objectives and were far behind, leaving Sparks’s battalion dangerously exposed. back up to more defensive positions just inside France, and began occupying the on their feet. Within the perimeter the remnants of Companies C, G, I, K, and L were almost out of ammunition and had no medical supplies to treat the wounded. One officer was hit directly and just disappeared. The 157th Infantry Brigade was commanded by Brig. By January 1945, he was a 27-year-old lieutenant colonel, having risen on merit to command the regiment’s 3rd Battalion. and suffered only seven men wounded. The Private First Class Leonard E. Adams 157th Infantry Regiment 01/21/1945 Private Howard M. Anchors 180th Infantry Regiment 06/03/1944 Private Zeno P. Babarski 157th Infantry Regiment 06/04/1945 Sergeant Harold E. Baird 179th Infantry Regiment 05/03/1945 Staff Sergeant Casimer Bernat 180th Infantry Regiment 05/15/1944 When the time came, the remaining troops from the five companies dragged themselves out of the holes they had occupied for five days and began moving to their rear. Two of the division's artillery battalions, the 189th and the The German Companies K and L were each assigned a hill to seize with Company I in reserve, filling the gap between the two lead companies. GIs began to filter back to the aid station; Sparks was already there, having his wounds tended and recovering from the shock of the mine blast. The attack petered out soon after, GIs falling back among the same trees they used as cover while advancing. Mann climbed out of the jeep and found a horrifying sight. Members of the 157th Infantry Regiment share their history and experiences through photos, scrapbooks, memorials, and personal memoirs. Picking through the scattered equipment, they happened upon a working SCR-300 radio. SS units were infamous for brutal treatment or execution of prisoners. Without warning an explosion tossed the jeep violently; they had struck a mine. For Sparks the obvious choice was to open a path to his men and pull them back. Draftees were from Pennsylvania and Maryland. Many Most of the units were understrength; 3/157 was short about 200 soldiers in its rifle companies. After going a few hundred yards, Sparks again came under fire, but aside from tearing up the external stowage on the second tank no serious damage was done. While the Americans were consolidating and reorganizing, the men of the 11th Regiment, Nord Division were advancing. over a German mine, and Colonel Ankcorn lost a leg. This level For the Germans it was “a fierce, uphill fight.” American mortars and machine guns swept them as they struggled to advance on January 16, and it didn’t seem much progress was being made. He went back and forth, taking wounded soldiers and laying them on the deck of a tank. About the same time, Colonel O’Brien sent part of the reserve force composed of antitank soldiers and engineers to clear the area behind 2nd and 3rd Battalions. “Our commander had proved once again that he valued his soldiers’ lives and was willing to take large risks on their behalf.”. The regiment's second Medal to break out of the beachhead, battling at such places as the Tobacco Warehouse Rather than tanks, it was an artillery barrage an hour and a half long. Supported by two light tanks, these troops moved along the trails behind the trapped companies but quickly ran into trouble. In January 1945, an American infantry battalion fought for its life in the frozen hills near Reipertswiller in Alsace-Lorraine. (which changed hands four times on 12 September), Persamo, and the Sele River. For 3/157, Company K would advance on the left and Company L on the right with Company I in reserve. Fighting continued throughout the day. German Army retreating towards its own border, and the regiment participated in In its 667 days overseas, the regiment was in battle for about 470 days. Down by the trail the American gunners kept firing, and more of their infantry appeared. It was over. A battalion of the 179th Infantry was coming up to help. In the coming weeks, other divisions of the Seventh Army were combed for replacements to rebuild the 157th to fighting strength. including the Battalion Commander, who was killed. Sparks was furious; he thought Frederick clearly didn’t understand the situation. Voss couldn’t tell who had the upper hand in the deafening battle on the hilltop above, but he did know the enemy was determined. for allowing us to use this historical overview. These attacks were beaten back, but they distracted the Americans from the effort to relieve the five companies on the hills ahead. On 3 June 1944, the regiment and moved to a rest area, where it stayed until returned to combat on 11 September Sparks was exhausted and wondered how he had survived. My moms’ older brother PFC Leonard F. Ordway Co. H 157 Infantry 45 Infantry Div. Seconds later, Sparks’s tank slid sideways, leaving its right side exposed to the enemy. time and 20 January 1945, the regiment became embroiled in a hot action near Reipertswiller, men (68 were left in I Company which landed with 165 men); 2nd Battalion, which The Civil War Archive section, 157th Regiment Infantry, (accessed 26 October 2012). As he began pulling off Neff’s boots to look at his injuries, another soldier, Private Lawrence Mathiason, volunteered to go. That essentially ended the efforts for January 18. Other rifle companies would conduct feints to distract the Germans or fire their weapons to confuse them about the main effort. Kevin, were you able to find any information about your uncle? committed to battle on 10 July 1943, in the assault wave of the landings on The men came ashore after the Mann found Sparks a curious figure. In the afternoon several men evacuated earlier for exhaustion were reorganized and placed in the line to plug gaps. Voss recalled the tank came from up the hill. The 157th Regiment was pulled off the line on January 21. All the companies urged headquarters to get to them soon. Witnessing Patton’s Failure: A Prisoner’s View of the Task Force Baum Raid, Rampage on the Riviera: Operation Dragoon, A Screaming Eagle’s Journey: The Story of Lud Labutka, Assault on Ludendorff Bridge: The First Allied Crossing of the Rhine. Fortunately, German units were usually in no better condition. The mood on the American side was one of disappointment and anger. The attack went off as scheduled but accomplished nothing, the only tangible result being heavy American casualties. The soldiers who were present were often exhausted and in need of rest periods that were, by necessity, infrequent and short. He felt more comfortable with a shotgun than a carbine or rifle; he didn’t feel he could shoot either as well. They were immediately involved in fighting The assault had started relatively easily, giving rise to the nickname “Champagne Campaign,” as Allied troops quickly put the Germans to flight. PFC. On order, mobilizes and deploys to designated locations in order to execute Domestic Operations in order to reduce human suffering and save lives. More snow was falling as tired soldiers staggered back from their foxholes to board trucks lined up to take them to the rear. One tank slid on the ubiquitous ice and flipped over into a ditch. 157th infantry regiment in a sentence - Use "157th infantry regiment" in a sentence 1. The next day the Regimental Commander's jeep ran The 79th Division "Liberty" Division, also known as the "Lorraine" Division, was a National Army division established 5 August 1917 by the War Department to be formed at Camp Meade, Maryland. One historian called the unit the best German infantry formation in the Vosges in early 1945, perhaps the best on the Western Front. At the same time, other German troops began infiltrating around 3/157’s flanks and behind it. Support units such as the 45th Signal Company also suffered casualties and required replacements to be reconstituted as did the combat units. ship in one such operation a landing craft loaded with men broke free from the of millions yet to be. 2021 - 2020 All too aware of the plight of his soldiers, Colonel O’Brien began planning an airdrop for the next morning; it seemed the only way to get anything through. Bernard Fleming, whose men Sparks had rescued, felt the morale of the unit soar after hearing what their leader had done. This wasn’t a vital objective and didn’t require a “last stand.” He consulted with the regimental commander, Colonel Walter O’Brien, and suggested the withdrawal. Several times he halted so he could get out on foot and scout the route before remounting to continue. The 157th Field Artillery Regiment has been both an infantry and field artillery regiment of the Army National Guard, part of the United States Army.The regiment was first constituted in 1917 during World War I from the 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment.The regiment was an infantry regiment as part of the 40th Infantry Division.. to the hero, when his sword Has won the battle for the free, Thy voice He took off his web gear and gave another soldier his Thompson sub-machine gun so he could run faster. Machine-gun sections from the weapons companies were attached to each rifle company for added firepower. The 157th regiment was organized at Hamilton, Madison County under Colonel Philip P. Brown, Jr., Lieutenant Colonel George Arrowsmith and Major James C. Carmichael and mustered in September 19, 1862. Enemy artillery observers were well positioned. on 10 January 1944 after 72 days of continuous combat. The 411th Infantry’s attack went in as planned but, like those before, achieved nothing. The rest of Company E couldn’t break through, however. Headquarters and Headquarters Company. When he told the lieutenant about the trapped men, “He told me to tell Colonel Sparks, who then took a tank and went to get the wounded out.”. ARRIVAL AND DEPARTURE OF THE 157TH REGIMENT. A retreat lasting until November began, with Soviet troops chasing the Germans and urging the Finns to engage their former allies before they escaped the country. The entire group threw themselves flat into the frigid snow as the rockets struck the earth a scant 30 meters in front of them. there was negligible resistance from the enemy; the regiment captured 350 Germans 45th infantry division 157th infantry regiment; 0. Company B was sent to clear those Germans out but was unable to do so. The whole US corps withdrew even further. For the captured Americans, their initial experience was surreal. When the Finns dropped out of the war in September 1944, the division was ordered to withdraw through Norway. For the encircled GIs, the situation was getting desperate. It was again an infantry regiment of the 45th Infantry … On January 29, 1945, my late father Felix A. Cizewski was assigned as a replacement to the 45th Signal Company. The following is taken from New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. The encircled GIs were slowly being pushed into an ever-shrinking perimeter. I’m going to get help,” he said. The 45th Division commander, Maj. Gen. Robert T. Frederick, ordered an attack to retake the hills north of Reipertswiller. The 2nd Battalion, 411th Infantry, 103rd Division was brought in to join in the relief effort. at least one more incidence of calls for artillery fire on friendly positions. In late morning the battalion antitank platoon moved up the same route, accompanied by three M-8 armored cars. Ammunition and food were almost gone and there was little to be done for the wounded. to staging points for the Seventh Army offensive, which kicked off on 15 March. Sparks was one of those few. At any second a burst of fire could cut Sparks down, but for some reason no one shot at him. until the breakout for Rome, which started on 23 May 1944. Mustered in: September 19, 1862 Mustered out: July 10, 1865. The next day, he and his comrades were pulled off the hill. The only cover Fleming could see nearby was a large hole made by a fallen tree. Enemy artillery fire was still heavy but the GIs kept moving. was virtually wiped out by German tanks. regiment returned to combat -- and the attack. The division was commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn. A sergeant from Company K recalled, “It was the worst mess I ever saw. (1862) The 157th Regiment, Col. BROWN, reached the city this morning at 6 o'clock, having marched from Hamilton to Canastota yesterday, and took the cars at the latter place last evening. Times when the very landscape appears to shift. weapons and, although wounded in both feet, insisted on remaining in command until Both Shermans made it back to the command post. He loaded all the supplies onto the back deck of the remaining Stuart and abandoned the trailer. The first round missed, but the next two hit the American antitank guns, destroying them. A messenger told Voss the SS troops on the hillside were mostly unharmed, but those fighting at the hilltop area had taken heavy casualties. Like the American units, the 6th SS had problems with the quality of its replacements and little time to properly rest and reconstitute. After terrifying moments, however, Fleming managed to make good his escape and found his platoon leader. was KIA Jan. 15, 1945 in this engagement. Fleming told his men to lay down suppressing fire; every man in the hole opened up with whatever he had. E Company was destroyed, and G Company held its ground only after the Company Voss viewed the man through his binoculars and thought he was an officer. attack. The 107th Infantry Memorial is dedicated to the men who served in the 107th New York Infantry Regiment, originally Seventh Regiment of New York, during World War I. L Company withdrew and 3rd Battalion headquarters withdrew as He assumed they had been wounded and could not or were afraid to move. Still, the 157th had the same problems as other RCTs in the winter of 1945. L Companies got involved in a bayonet fight in the woods near Housseras. The combined effect of the tank’s firepower suppressed some of the Germans, enabling other American soldiers hiding along the trail to fall back. WWII Quarterly, the hardcover journal of the Second World War that is not available in bookstores or on newsstands, and can only be obtained and collected through a … (Cannon Company, 157th Infantry Regiment) Visit the web site of Staff Sergeant Albert R. Panebianco (K Company, 157th Infantry Regiment) Interview and Photographs of Cliff Hobson (H Company, 157th Infantry Regiment) Cut off, Fleming hadn’t even heard the order to fall back. One soldier had a broken leg, so Sparks tied a splint to it with an ammunition belt. and bypassed by the Germans, who moved toward the ocean, threatening the whole A platoon of tanks was available but held back to be used where needed; minesweeping engineers would accompany the infantry. The officer was not one for casual conversation and often carried a shotgun pitched over his shoulder. On 16 December, A Company crossed Company I moved into the saddle between the two hills to form a continuous front 800 yards long. of Nazism. The tank stopped cold and jerked off the road,” Voss wrote. Hugh spent many hours compiling this information from numerous sources. By 20 March, the Line had been penetrated, the Germans began a … In Voss’s recollection, an American jumped from the second tank and sprinted to the hollow where his wounded fellows lay. thanks to LTC Hugh Foster III (Ret.) Voss later wrote, “There was no honor to be won by firing upon this death-defying act of comradeship.”. This time they ran into a company from the German 476th Infantry Regiment, 256th Division, and routed it, sending six prisoners back to the POW pens in the rear. of shaking this fine man's hand.) of the officer and NCO leaders became casualties. January 19 began with more German shelling and small attacks by infantry designed more to keep the Americans in place than anything else. Seven company commanders and 30 platoon leaders were gone. the fight ended on 20 January, 158 GIs had been killed in action, 350 had been The 2nd Battalion, 157th, was sent to retake the hills that night. initial landings, and moved into the defensive line on 30 January and 1 February On Hill 420, Company G with its platoon from Company E now occupied positions just south of Company K. As the sun rose over the frozen landscape, German troops attacked from close range and achieved almost complete surprise. One platoon of B Company, trapped in a ditch, At one point he heard the rumbling of an engine; soon an American tank lumbered into view. Would any relative of any member of his outfit maybe have any info about my uncle Len? O’Brien told the man to have Sparks stop the effort and wait for approaching reinforcements. Sparks had an emotional meeting with General Frederick. This move left two hills, 343 and 388, in the hands of the enemy. Service Crosses, 376 Silver Stars, 1,054 Bronze Stars, and 1,694 Purple Hearts. But The senior remaining American officer, Captain Byrd Curtis of Company K, met them. Seventh and French First Armies in the snowy Vosges Mountains of northeastern France near the German border. A trailer was hooked to each tank to carry supplies. The regiment moved out of the rest areas on 13 March 1945 and moved Before long artillery started falling, sending lethal shards of shrapnel ripping through the freezing air. This regiment was organized at Philadelphia October, 1862, to February, 1863. That time was cut short when he went AWOL from the hospital to get back to his soldiers. Once again, a beachhead was in danger. The encircling Germans were no better off, but for the moment they had the upper hand. a withdrawing rifle company. To fill the void, the 2/157 was ordered to move up on Sparks’s left while Krieger’s 1/157 continued to close up on the right. “You can imagine how glad we were to see that guy,” Melton said. German attack had bypassed L Company and fighting was going on deep behind the the regiment. Two tanks were used, but the Germans had dropped trees across the trails to block them. well, under direct enemy fire. Mann didn’t know it, but Sparks had grown up hunting in Arizona to help feed his family during the Depression. The 2nd Battalion Adjutant, Relieved that night, battalion commander Lt. Col. Lawrence Brown moved his men to Reipertswiller, where they collapsed into any space they could to sleep. They reported they were beating back enemy attacks but the SS were still managing to infiltrate around them. last revision document.write(document.lastModified); Please Sep 1, 2017 - Explore Mark M.'s board "157th Infantry Regt" on Pinterest. My father, PFC Michael Lipka was with the 157th during this battle. It was a resupply party, led by Company C’s supply sergeant the day before. Just after midnight on January 18, the tank started back down the trail, but this time its luck ran out. But alongside the ship: twenty-one men were killed in this single mishap. Another heard that the SS unit was receiving replacements so it could resume the offensive. was in the forefront of the kickoff for Rome, with 1st and 3rd Battalions in the It was again an infantry regiment of the 45th Infantry … The Germans were liberally equipped with automatic weapons. The Americans were given until 5 pm to surrender or they would be smashed. The attack resumed at 9 am on the 15th. Slowly, he and his comrades crept on through the dark, seeking to complete their encirclement. fierce fighting, including a pitched battle for the town castle, went on until It changed the world more than any other single event in history. By 11:45 am, Company C had managed to link up with Company L’s right flank. Rhine on 26 March. Some men hadn’t eaten for two days. Sparks snapped. Maginot Line. Allied forces in the south were ordered to cease offensive operations, On 29 April 1945, 3rd Battalion liberated the concentration camp Categories . By 3:40 pm, Company I had Germans behind it and apparently coming from the left flank. One of Voss’s men, a private named Stricker, asked to have a look at the tank they’d knocked out the day before. E Company, driving the men into a minefield, where the commander and all but one Oddly, at 4:52 pm, 3rd Battalion headquarters informed all its companies, “Russians now fighting on border of Germany.”. Artillery roared overhead from both sides, and both found it punishing. was relieved by British forces and moved to the center of the Allied line, taking This is apparently the attack Voss recalled, since it was at this point several GIs were pinned down near the bridge. The surviving 157th men took a vote. On 28 September 2nd and 3rd Company E, unaware its platoon was lost, assembled clerks and cooks for an attack that failed to make headway. Sparks did what he could to consolidate. At 4:15 pm, a company of German troops counterattacked Company K, hitting hard on its left flank. Benjamin Melton and Private Walter Bruce, both from Company I. Melton reported they set out with another man who was soon killed by machine-gun fire. was withdrawn to a rest area on 8 November 1944. of combat continued for the next several days; there was hand-to-hand combat and Johann Voss, a machine gunner who had been with the SS since Finland, remembered much the same things as his American counterparts, perhaps in reverse. In the simple words of American battalion commander Felix Sparks, “The war slowed down.”. The attack continued down the Cisterna-Campoleone He enlisted at Ft. McCellan, Alabama in November 19, 1942, and was discharged from service November 17, 1945. to battle the Germans, the mountains, and the cold until relieved from the line Two light tanks, M-5 Stuarts, went with them. With him were his driver, Albert Turk, a runner named Carleton Johnson, and a translator, German-born 19-year-old Karl Mann, who had been in a machine-gun crew until being tapped to use his fluency in German. near Naples for refitting and training for participation in the assault landings Plain toward the German border, and on 12 December 1944, one day short of the time soldiers of the regiment were awarded 4 Medals of Honor, 20 Distinguished The SS troops were suffering too, but they were skilled and determined to maintain their grip on the five trapped companies. Artillery and armored assets were also given to the division. In 1911, he joined the 157th Infantry Regiment of the 12th Division and was based in Brzeg. The breakout attempt was stopped cold. but advancing rapidly. The 3rd Battalion’s Lieutenant Willis R. Talkington volunteered to take a pair of light tanks up the trail. One of Voss’s comrades opened fire with his machine gun. Only a few men remained from the regiment’s muster in 1940. Winter’s early darkness descended over the thick woods, so Sparks ordered all three companies to dig in for the night. Most of the men were already wounded, some more than once. of Honor was earned on this day by an NCO platoon leader in I Company, Technical He also directed the gunner to open up with the tank’s long-barreled 76mm main gun. When the regiment came off the line in January 1944, it was moved to a rest area Rising, Fleming ran as fast as he could through a torrent of fire from the SS troops. From 21 January until 13 March, the In the predawn hours of January 3, 1945, Operation Nordwind slammed into the American lines like a sledgehammer; German artillery punished unsuspecting GIs as infantry relentlessly attacked them. Still, the order stood, and Sparks began trying to relieve his surrounded men. The 157th Infantry Brigade is an active/reserve component (AC/RC) unit based at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.The unit is responsible for training selected United States Army Reserve and National Guard units. the Germans had launched the Ardennes Offensive, known to history as The Battle division's first shells into German territory. The Arizona Scout Companies formed under the comm… four days. Commander called artillery fire on his own positions. The unit was also known as the "Madison and Cortland Regiment".They performed their duty at Georgetown and Charleston, South Carolina, until July, 1865. The 12th SS Mountain Regiment, part of the Nord Division, extended too far and became encircled by American troops from several regiments.

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