ON THE JOB TRAINING
An Oral History of the
Battle of Parker’s Crossroads
and of the
Fate of Those Who Survived
The 589th Group
© 589th Group 1999, Elliott Goldstein, Agent
-ii-
Introduction
Many veterans of the Battle of the Bulge put away their memories as they tried to reintegrate themselves into civilian life. I was one of them. My memories were painful, and I saw no reason to revive them. My former commanding officer, then Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P. Kelly Jr., published in The Cub of the Golden Lion an account of the opening battle in the Ardennes, and it brought back many memories that I had put into my subconscious.
I was a major, assigned as Colonel Kelly’s executive officer, and I was struck by the fact after reading his article that we had been in two different wars after the first days. He thus encouraged me to write my story. With help I was able to secure a copy of the after action report that I prepared following the battle, which was eventually filed in the War Department Archives. But when I commenced work, I realized that my memories had faded. At that time John P. Kline, editor of The Cub, asked for comments on an article entitled “Parker’s Crossroads, The Alamo Defense”; the article and the comments were published in The Cub, (volume 3, number 3, pp. 15-36). I thought that if all of those who participated in The Cub article pooled their recollections, we could paint the picture of the action as viewed from the ground by those who fought in it. Of course, we could not enlist everyone, but the eleven who joined in this effort provided a story more complete than any previous account of the battle at Parker’s Crossroads. What I planned as my recollections became a much greater work, a realistic picture of combat as seen by each individual. I acted as the scrivener who put the work together, but each of the persons mentioned below is, with me, equally the author of this history:
Calvin V. Abbott John C. Rain
Barney M. Alford, J. John R. Schaffner
John F. Gatens Earl A. Scott
Charles F. Jacelon Bernard C. Strohmier
Harold J. Kuizema Frank Tacker
Randolph C. Pierson
Their biographies are appended, and their later history is contained in Part II, of which Randolph C. Pierson was the scrivener.
In addition, we have quoted from the reminiscences of Captain Arthur C. Brown, now deceased, and from a letter of Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Olin F. Brewster, which was published with the article, “Parker’s Crossroads: The Alamo Defense,” for which we thank him. We are also indebted to Robert C. Ringer, then a first lieutenant commanding the Ammunition Train of the 591st Field Artillery, for his report on the eleven men from Service Battery of the 590th Field Artillery who joined us at Parker’s Crossroads. We are deeply indebted to the late Francis H. Aspinwall, the battalion historian, who spent many years researching and writing the history of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion. This work was relied upon by John R. Schaffner as a source of additional information for use in composing his narrative.
We also thank John P. Kline, editor of The Cub, for his help and encouragement.
Special thanks are due Ms. Asta Moore, my administrative assistant, who assembled the work, proofread and edited it. This could not have been done without her.
Elliott Goldstein
Lt. Colonel Field Artillery (Retired)
Former Executive Officer,
589th Field Artillery
Atlanta, Georgia
This Historical Event Is Recorded
IN MEMORY OF
Those Courageous Soldiers who Paid the Supreme Price
and
DEDICATED TO
All the Brave Men who Fought Valiantly to Defend
the Crossroads at Baraque de Fraiture, Belgium
December 19 through December 23, 1944
during the
Battle for Parker’s Crossroads
105 Howitzer Monument at Baraque de Fraiture
Translation by Henri Rogister of plaque at front of howitzer:
On the initiative of CRIBA and the Commune of Vielsame
This
Area of Memory
Provided with a 105mm – 1941 - Howitzer gun,
Dedicated to the United States of America and to their valorous combatants
Was inaugurated on 7 May 1994
On the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge.
It is enriched with the monument erected to the memory of Major Arthur G. Parker
By the Lion’s Club – High Ardennes in 1964
Foreword
Three defensive holding actions by American soldiers halted the German military in their efforts to go through Belgium to Antwerp, severing the American supply route. One was the defense of Bastogne, remembered by the reply of “Nuts” by the commanding general of the 101st Airborne Division to a demand for surrender. A second was the defense of St. Vith, by elements of the 106th Infantry, 28th Infantry, 7th Armored, and 9th Armored Divisions. This defense caused the German High Command more problems than the defense of Bastogne. The third--and the subject of this work--was the defense at the strategic crossroads at Baraque de Fraiture, Belgium. It received no publicity, and only after the records of both the German and American armies became available to historians was the real importance of that defense known. To those who were there, the battle is indelibly engraved in their memories, and they now know the importance of their stand.
This work, written by men who were there--all non-professional soldiers with no previous combat experience--tells the story of the defense as seen through their eyes. While the story of every participant is not included, those which are, when taken as a whole, give a truer picture of the battle which took place at Baraque de Fraiture. As a tribute to Major Arthur Parker, who commanded the defenders until he was wounded and evacuated, the crossroads are known as “Parker’s Crossroads.” This is his story, and the story of all the brave men who delayed the advance of the German army from December 19th to December 23rd, 1944. It is followed by an oral history of the survivors, of which I was the scrivener.
Randolph C. Pierson
Captain, Field Artillery (Retired)
Technical Sergeant Headquarters Battery
589th Field Artillery
Monticello, Florida
PART I
THE BATTLE FOR
PARKER’S CROSSROADS
Table of Contents
PART I – The Battle for Parker’s Crossroads
Chapter 1 – The German Attack and the Retreat to St. Vith 1
The Journey to Baraque de Fraiture 32
Chapter 3 – The Germans are Coming 37
Chapter 4 – Defense of the Crossroads 41
Chapter 5 – The Battle Begins 52
Chapter 6 – The Final Attack 66
Conclusion for Part I 81
PART II – The Final Chapter 83
Introduction by Randolph Pierson 84
Chapter 7 – Reviewing the Past 86
Chapter 8 – Those Who were Wounded and Evacuated 89
Chapter 9 – Those Who were Captured and Became Prisoners of War 92
Chapter 10 – Those Who were Returned to Battle 119
Conclusion for Part II 147
Appendix 148
Biographies 148
Sketch map of Baraque de Fraiture .Back page
CHAPTER 1
The German Attack and the Retreat to St. Vith
One of the most extraordinary engagements of World War II was the blocking action by a part of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion, 106th Infantry Division, at Baraque de Fraiture, Belgium, also called Parker's Crossroads. The battered remnants of a field artillery battalion, with no infantry training and only the combat experience gained when they were attacked at the beginning of the German advance into Belgium, delayed the advance of a German Army Corps for five days, permitting the Allies to regroup and stop the German advance short of its objective. Pooling their memories to give an accurate account of what transpired, these members of the 589th hope to show what American soldiers can accomplish under the most dire of circumstances.
After a relatively brief staging period in England, the 589th Field Artillery Battalion, with the remainder of the 422nd Infantry Combat Team, landed at Rouen, France on December 5, 1944, combat loaded. The average age of the enlisted men was twenty-one. After one day in bivouac, the battalion moved across France and Belgium into Germany and went into position a few miles east of St. Vith, Belgium. Having never before been in combat, the officers and men of the battalion had no knowledge of what to expect, or what they would be required to do when they eventually faced the enemy. Nor were they able to learn much during the eight days in position before the Germans attacked.
On December 16, 1944, the German Army launched its last major attack on the Allied Forces. Driven back into the fatherland, the Germans had regrouped and prepared a drive designated to cut the Allied Forces in Belgium off from their supply lines, permitting them to repulse the Allied Forces on the borders of Germany. The path the Germans chose, through Belgium, was one that they had used before, along the Schnee Eifel and through the Ardennes and the mountainous region of Belgium. The area they chose to attack was a twenty-two mile front defended by the 106th Infantry Division, a division with no combat experience, which had been ordered to relieve the 2nd Infantry Division in its position at the Siegfried line. The commander of the 106th Infantry Division was told that the area was one in which there would be little action, since the Germans were expected to attack in the area to the north near Cologne and Coblenz. However, the intelligence on which this assumption was based was wrong, as the 106th Division would soon find out.
In combat--except for those in a headquarters working with maps--the center of the war is where the individual is located. His observations are limited by what he can see and hear. In this work these veterans of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion have put their recollections together to preserve an account of what transpired during the Battle of the Bulge. The narratives are set out in chronological order, beginning on December 15, 1944, with each of the narrators identified. In addition, excerpts from a privately published memoir by the late Arthur C. Brown are included.
DECEMBER 15
Arthur C. Brown
From December 7th to 15th we proceeded to dig and settle into fixed positions. Our infantry occupied the German Siegfried line. As this fortification naturally faced away from Germany, our troops had to face the wrong way for proper protection. As the 589th Field Artillery was on the extreme left, with only a cavalry screen protecting our left flank, our outfit was extremely vulnerable. Our front was Hitler's choice and Eisenhower's "calculated risk." We were untried troops, with no combat experience, and with an impossible defensive position. We had replaced the 2nd Infantry Division, and while the 2nd Division troops took their home-made stoves out of the dugouts and carried them to their new positions, we were indebted to the men of the 2nd for some tips they gave us on how to run a war. As an example, these veterans told us that you had to split your eight-man gun crew into two parts. This maneuver allowed half the men to rest while the other half manned the guns, thus permitting continuous service of the pieces twenty-four hours a day. In training the situation of continuous action never occurred, and the training manuals did not bring up the technique. The manuals were probably written by people who also had no combat experience.
John R. Schaffner
The 106th Infantry Division relieved the 2nd Infantry Division, and we took over the positions of the 15th Field Artillery Battalion. They were in a position east of the town of Laudesfeld, Belgium, and about one and a half miles south of Auw, Germany. The battalion command post was set up in the kitchen of a substantial German house to the rear of the firing batteries. The firing batteries took over the dugouts and log huts vacated by the men of the 15th Field Artillery Battalion. The howitzers were put into the same emplacements dug by the 15th, and in some cases the guns were simply swapped, since it was easier than trying to extricate the pieces already in place. A Battery was placed on the south side of the road to Auw and B and C Batteries on the north side. There was much snow, and the drivers had big problems once they left the hard road. The snow made it almost impossible to move off the roads, which later had the effect of channelling the German attack down the hard road. Service Battery was sent into position a few miles to the rear, about four miles south of Schönberg, Belgium. We were told by the 15th Field Artillery men that we had come into a very quiet sector where nothing ever happened. They weren't happy about leaving, and when we saw what relatively comfortable quarters they were leaving, we didn't blame them. I shared a dugout that was roofed over with heavy logs and had a jerry-can stove, just like uptown. We had been able to register A Battery, and the battalion was able to commence fire on December 9. We were feeling rather secure since, after all, our Infantry was between us and the Germans. It sounded good to me. We were supporting the 422nd Infantry Regiment, which was occupying the first belt of pillboxes of the Siegfried line, which had been breached at this point the previous September.
Our guns were firing during the night, but since visibility was poor, it was unobserved. Headquarters Battery crews reported being fired upon, and an enemy plane circled the area for an hour or more. Numerous flares were seen to the flanks of the battalion, and an enemy patrol was reported to be in the area. During this period most of my time was spent at various outposts near the battery position. There was nothing to report. (As to those facts of which I had no knowledge, I relied upon Francis H. Aspinwall's "History of the 589th Field Artillery Battalion," published on pp. 81-89 of The Cub of the Golden Lion – Passes in Review hereafter referred to as "Aspinwall.")