Download - 70th Infantry Division Association

April 4, 1945 - Filsen, Germany. Record of events: 2nd Platoon relieved 1st Platoon in positions on hill
east of Filsen, Germany. 1st Platoon in Kamp, Germany guarding. Remainder of Company continuing to
guard bridges and send out motorized patrols. On the morning of 4 April our Regimental Sector was
enlarged to include Bingen and the west bank of the Mahe River which empties into the Rhein at Bingen.
Also on 4 April we were ordered to furnish train guards armed with light machine guns or heavy machine
guns to protect approximately ten trains per day running from Bad Kreuznach to Neunkirchen. Five
squads of six men each were sent from the 1st and 3d Battalions. In addition to a light machine gun each
squad carried two Browning automatic rifles and two M1's. The squads were ordered to be alert at all
times and to place heavy and concentrated fire on any enemy within range. They reported to Bad
Kreuznach at 0800, 5 April 1945 and remained on duty until about 20 April.
The companies of the Regiment continued to guard and patrol their assigned sectors in the Regimental
area during the next few days.
Our men had the opportunity to see some of the most beautiful scenery in all Germany, the "sacred"
Rhein country.
The Rhein Valley in our Regimental Sector was very narrow. Towns were all along the banks on both
sides. Vineyards lined the sides of the mountains which rose up steeply from the river's edge.
A double track railroad and a two-lane highway ran down each side of the river. The railroad had been out
of use for some time, but the few shell craters in the highways had been repaired and the roads were in
constant use by our forces.
The railroad yards at Bingen especially showed the destructive effects of our air bombings. River boats
lay in the river half submerged where they had been scuttled by the fleeing Germans.
Some barges and boats were found to be afloat and serviceable and were used by units of the Navy to
patrol the river.
A displaced persons camp was located at Ellern near the Regimental CP in Rheinbollen. Sanitary
conditions at the camp were threatening the health of our troops in the vicinity, so the Regimental
Commander authorized the removal of the old camp leader and replaced him with two enlisted men of the
Regiment who were put in complete charge, responsible to the Regimental Commander.
There were about 600 Polish and Russian nationals at the camp. Sanitary conditions were immediately
improved. Better quarters, including beds, which they did not have previously, were provided. The local
Germans furnished the food including milk for the children. The camp was cleaned, policed, and made
habitable. An athletic field was set up near the main gate, and musical instruments were furnished.
The Regimental Commander and the enlisted men concerned were commended by the Assistant Division
Commanding General, who inspected the camp, calling it a model installation of its kind.
It was one of the few known displaced persons camp where Poles and Russians lived and worked
together in complete accord. During this period of non-combat activity, the Regimental Commander
decided to send the Regimental photographer back over the ground traversed by our Regiment to
photograph terrain and places of interest for a proposed Regimental Photo Album and to secure pictures
for the Regimental History. A liaison officer, the photographer, and a driver spent almost two weeks taking
still pictures and movie film of battlefields and historical points through France and southwestern
Germany.
A training program was organized supplemented by an athletic program. Battalion softball leagues were
organized. One of the more picturesque ball diamonds was a field on the river bank and was used as the
home field for Company C.
The bridges over the Rhein at Boppard and Lorch were abandoned and dismantled by Engineers, thus
relieving us of their responsibility, but we were ordered to relieve the 275th Regiment on the Rhein bridge
at Bingen. Company I moved in to assume responsibility. April 6, 1945 - Filsen, Germany (82.1 - 89.2).