General Orders 1946 - Fort Benning

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ComPiete round trip between Lae and Finschhafen required about 22 hours of
running time for the small craft. Day after day, the boat crews made eonsecu-
tive runs withont rest or hot food, nearly always soaked by the heavy rains or
baked by the sun. During the hours of darkness, the route could be markcd by
strings of tracer bullets as well as bomb splashes from enemy search airplanes
intent on breakiw or disrngtinp this frail channel of communication. Everr
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available boat was used every day during the 5 weeks that it took to move the
balance of the divisiou with their equipment and supplies over the 70 hazardous
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miles between Lae and Finschhafen. Not a passenger nor a boatload of supplies
was lost, even though an some trlps boats were cut by shrapnel and men were
blown overboard by concussion from bombs. Througlr the heroism, gvim deter-
mination, conspicuous gallantry, and excellent battle discipline of its members,
the Boat Battolion, 5S2d Boat aild Rllore Eeniment. enabled Allied forces to
achieve remarkable gains with minimum loss. (General Orders 249, Head-
qnarlers Sixlh Army, 11 November 1W6. as aDgrored by the Camrnmdcr in Chipf,
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United States Army Forces, Pacific.)
2. Cornpuny B, 32SLh Engineer Combat Battalion, is eiled for outstanding
f&nplishment in combat during the period 17 to 21 Deeemher 1944 in the
vicinity of Uitche, France. Thc comgnny was assigned a mission of supporting
-, the 3d Battalion, 398th Infantry Regiment, to reaeh the Maginat Line, west of
the town of Bitehe. France. The strong enemy fortifications on high gnjund
west and northwest of the town were in such n positidn that thcy dominated
the terrain. The main line oi enemy defense was Fort Freudenberg, a large
fortification, and Fort Schiesseek, which had 11 adjacent units, each unit mith a
gun emplacement or a series of guns ranging from 47-mm to 135-mm, and each
having a 360 degrees traverse, making them mutually supporting. The walls
of the fortifications were reinforced concrete from 3 to 10 feet thick. Some of
the units had as mmly as five stories below mound level, Nith underground
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railroads which nwc used for supply ~outes. Taking advantage of a 4hninute
barrage, the engineer denmlitiou squads moved toward the forts at 1130 on
17 December 1914, with no terrain features far protection and only the craters
made by the artillery fire for cover, which mere unrier conlinuaus mortar, auto-
matic-weapons, small-arms, and heavy nrliilery fire. Each man in the demoli.
tion squad carried 30 pounds of TNT with him through the intense heavy fire.
When the infantry was pinned down, the demolition squads went ahead and
placed their charges against tbe illb bores and neutralized them. This allowed
the infantry to mare up and ocru~ly the ~illhoxes. Wide the demolition squads
mere in the nitark, the remainder of the company established a dump of
several tons of TNT in n pillbox at the line of dcpnrlure, and after the first
assault, they brought more chorgcs of TNT forvnrd in %-ton trucks. Heavy
casualties necessitated rotating of assault trwus so that the entire camgany
performed in that capacity. The enemy had many baaby traps in the piilboxcs,
whieh the engineer soldiers inaetivntcd xnd there n'ere no casualties of this
source during the attack. On 19 December 1V44, the forts were destroyed by
placing 1,600 pounds of TN'I', which destroyed the ventilating system and forced
the remaining enemy troops to leave by an escape hatch during the cnwr of
darkncss. The fighting aggressiveness, courage, and devotion to duty displayed
by men~hers of Company B, J25th Engineer Combat Battalion, arc worthy of
emulation and reflect honor on the armed forces of thc United States. (General
Orders I%, Headquarters 100th Infantry Division, 16 June 1945, as aIlproved by
the Commanding General, United States Army Forces, European Theater
(Main).)
AGO 34038