807 AD 405 - Fort Benning - U.S. Army

26 ar 45 -4a'ly iii the mornng of 26 iiar 45, CC A jmped off on an attack ihich was
to carry them S do ri the Autobahn; the objective, Limburg. Driving v'th speed, carrying
out the order to by-pes,;, encircle, and push, the attack was marked with success. Before
reaching Limburg, plans awere changed and the Gommand swung NE and drove toward 'etzlar.
German wreckage along the route, thousands of surrendering enemy soldiers, abandoned guns
and eqUipment gave testimony to the fact that the drive was creating havoc among the enemy
forces; they werb given -o opportunity to set-up a defen se capable of halting the attack.
Wetzlar was cleared on 2Mar 2
/',,5 and CC "li"'s three Task Fbrce columns, Wemple, ihea, and
King pushed East towards iessen, Germany. stiffer resistance was offered at Giesien than
at any of the other places along the route of CC "A"'s advance but the tom was cleared and
outposted at 213/ 26 lMar ,5. Included in the bag for ojerations on this day were 19 S8-m
guns, 7 20-mm guns, and a number of AT weapons of unidentified caliber. It was in the Vic
of Uiessen that a German PW canp cont?.tning approximately 1000 Allied Prisoners of 7ar,
the majority American soldiers, was overrun, freeinr: the captives.
29 War 45 - CC "A" was rblieved in the Vic of Giessen by the 394 Inf Regt on this
date and, in TF formation, the Command moVed to a new Assy area in the Vic of Liddenhof en,
Germany. The CC was reorganized into two Task Forces, and prepared to operate in the Div
Zone.
30-31 iar 45 - CC " " remained in Div reserve until the end of the period.
Col W. S. Triplet, Commanding Officer Combat Command "A", was wounded on the night
of 27-2 ,ar 45 when his vehicle was struck by an enemy anti-tank gun. Despite a harrowng
night spent in having to fight off the attempts of two enemy soldiers to take him prisoner
or to kill him, and in trying to find his way back to his a? alone, Col Triplet remained
on the field the following day. He directed the operations of the Command until the taking
of Giessen He was then evacuated and was replaoed by Col A. J. Adams.