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Company G, crossing the river ten minutes after
Company F, overtook the rear elements of the latter
company. After crossing the river and clearing
the bank, Company G pivoted sharply to the
left and drove south against Pont de St-Fromond.
Heavily equipped with riRe grenades and bazookas,
Company G took that village and the important
bridge crossing, after hard close-in fighting.
It then pivoted again, this time to the west,
advancing south of the highway and parallel to
it so as to protect the battalion's left Hank.
The best progress was being made on the 2d
Battalion's right. Here, Company E reached the
first phase line just north of the highway at 0800
and changed direction to drive west. This time
was so good that Battalion demanded confirmation
of E's report of reaching the phase line.
Company F, trying to get across the highway
before turning west, was slowed by stubborn pockets
of enemy resistance. Shortly after breaking
across the open fields and pushing into the hedgerows,
one of the platoons of Company F crossed
too far to the left; Capt. George H. Sibbald, following
this platoon with a command group of 14
men, came over a hedgerow and ran into a group
12
of enemy that had been Hushed from the west by
the 3d Platoon. A stiff fight followed with an
estimated 25 or 30 of the enemy. It was ended
by the arrival of the 3d Platoon. Otller elements
of Company F ran into enemy machine-gun fire
and were held up after getting across the highway.
Colonel Fuller led four volunteers against
tile machine gun, killing one German and capturing
four. This enabled the company to get
going once more, and it reached the first phase
line at 0830. Now astride the highway leading
west toward the 1I7th's initial objectives, the battalion
resumed its advance, Company G echeloned
to the left rear in support of that Rank. By now
Company H bad also crossed the Vire and split
into two platoons, one following up Company E
on the right Rank, the other following Companv
F on the left.
During the infantry's odvance the 105th Engineer
Combat Battalion was feverishly at work on
a footbridge over the Vireo Enemy artillery damaged
this footbridge twice before the infantry
cou ld use it, but each time the engineers repaired
it immediately, suffering 20 casualties in the COurse
of the construction.