157th infantry regiment

have been largely ignored. For more information on the history of this unit, see:] 1. small arms fire. The 79th Division "Liberty" Division, also known as the "Lorraine" Division, was a National Army division established 5 August 1917 by the War Department to be formed at Camp Meade, Maryland. The sleeping bag absorbed much of the blast and, though in shock, he was uninjured. Somewhere out there, he knew a few soldiers had been posted along the trail with Panzerfaust antitank weapons, but he couldn’t see them. See more ideas about infantry, dachau, wwii. Shortly before the attack, Lt. Col. Sparks climbed into his jeep to join his battalion; the young commander was known as an officer who stayed up front with his troops. On 3 June 1944, the regiment One platoon of B Company, trapped in a ditch, alongside the ship: twenty-one men were killed in this single mishap. Shock overcame him. of the beachhead. of shaking this fine man's hand.) Still, they held out, refusing to give in and praying for their fellow Thunderbirds to reach them. Several times he halted so he could get out on foot and scout the route before remounting to continue. B. Lyon Company, 1912. by artillery fire and many men were killed and wounded -- 160 were evacuated and Some of the American survivors later reported the enemy using flamethrowers. time soldiers of the regiment were awarded 4 Medals of Honor, 20 Distinguished The commanding general of the 256th Volksgrenadier Division, another unit engaged in Nordwind, later met with and praised each officer for the 157th’s defiant stand at Reipertswiller. thanks to LTC Hugh Foster III (Ret.) In the end the resistance decided not to attack, fearing reprisals against civilians. O’Brien told the man to have Sparks stop the effort and wait for approaching reinforcements. O’Brien chose to let the matter pass and allowed Sparks to continue. Medal of Honor was earned on 14 September 1944 near Grammont, France, by a It was an experienced regiment in an experienced division and formed the core of a regimental combat team (RCT), a combined-arms unit with the infantry as its essential center with artillery, armor, and engineers supporting them, attached to the team as the need arose. SS units were infamous for brutal treatment or execution of prisoners. to break out of the beachhead, battling at such places as the Tobacco Warehouse Suddenly, another salvo of Nebelwerfer rockets screamed in as they had the night before. The explosions tore into the ground, raising great gouts of earth and snow, but no one was hit. on their feet. Then he found out the trapped Americans had surrendered. The entire group threw themselves flat into the frigid snow as the rockets struck the earth a scant 30 meters in front of them. As the tanks neared Fleming’s men, German machine gunners began firing at the Shermans. The two stayed off the trails, cutting through the woods to avoid the enemy. His 3rd Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, known as the “Thunderbirds,” had been fighting since coming ashore at Sicily in July 1943. The sergeant dashed to Neff and dragged him back to the hole. division's first shells into German territory. My moms’ older brother PFC Leonard F. Ordway Co. H 157 Infantry 45 Infantry Div. including the Battalion Commander, who was killed. While the Americans were consolidating and reorganizing, the men of the 11th Regiment, Nord Division were advancing. Fighting, and progress, continued Voss viewed the man through his binoculars and thought he was an officer. The 157th Infantry Regiment was once again in the attack. a withdrawal to the Rhine River, and the regiment pursued them at great speed. again was committed to the attack -- toward Nurnberg, and Munich, the birthplace On 23 September Corporal James D. Slaton of K Company earned the regiment's first A battalion of the 179th Infantry was coming up to help. Voss opened fire on them and eventually drove them into cover in a small hollow near the bridge. A German ambush knocked it out and wounded three of the crew, who were captured. Mann found Sparks a curious figure. The Finnish pursuit was halfhearted, and the 6th SS succeeded in reaching Norway, where it boarded trains for home. Then began the footrace to keep up with a to the hero, when his sword Has won the battle for the free, Thy voice The next day, the regiment crossed the Main on a RR bridge For the Germans it was “a fierce, uphill fight.” American mortars and machine guns swept them as they struggled to advance on January 16, and it didn’t seem much progress was being made. The assault had started relatively easily, giving rise to the nickname “Champagne Campaign,” as Allied troops quickly put the Germans to flight. He scanned it with his binoculars and saw a small bridge to his left. The unit was activated using the assets of the 5th Brigade, 87th Division.The brigade is a subordinate unit of First Army Division East. The breakout would begin at 3:30 pm. Voss settled in to wait for the inevitable action to come. Within the perimeter the remnants of Companies C, G, I, K, and L were almost out of ammunition and had no medical supplies to treat the wounded. Battalions were bombed by American planes. The attack went off as scheduled but accomplished nothing, the only tangible result being heavy American casualties. At any second a burst of fire could cut Sparks down, but for some reason no one shot at him. until the breakout for Rome, which started on 23 May 1944. The 3rd Battalion’s Lieutenant Willis R. Talkington volunteered to take a pair of light tanks up the trail. Thanks, this is such a long shot. The regiment moved out of the rest areas on 13 March 1945 and moved men (68 were left in I Company which landed with 165 men); 2nd Battalion, which Mustered in: September 19, 1862 Mustered out: July 10, 1865. his platoon's position was consolidated and secured. The Germans were so impressed by the courageous resistance their foe had offered, the prisoners were treated with full honors before they were marched off to captivity. The unit that the 157th would face at Reipertswiller had likewise traveled a long way to arrive in the Vosges Mountains in January. With a terrifying sound, a barrage of Nebelwerfer rockets crashed down in front of them. The young soldier took off at a sprint but got only 25 yards before a burst of fire hit him in the ankles, leaving him screaming for help on the icy ground. The 1st Battalion, 315th Infantry was the unit immediately to Sparks’s left flank; it was ordered to cease advancing and make ready to return to the 79th Infantry Division, its parent unit. The GI line held, but there were terrible casualties, for allowing us to use this historical overview. I’m going to get help,” he said. or "I am a defeatist.". Desperately hungry, the SS men searched Company G’s lost positions for food. The 157th Regiment would be reconstituted over the following few weeks. German Army retreating towards its own border, and the regiment participated in Fighting still raged, but this company skirted around it to infiltrate around the American flanks and into their rear. Mann climbed out of the jeep and found a horrifying sight. Two battalions of the 157th––Sparks’s 3/157 and Lt. Col. Ralph Krieger’s 1/157––were sent to carry out this mission that morning. The 157th regiment was organized at Hamilton, Madison County under Colonel Philip P. Brown, Jr., Lieutenant Colonel George Arrowsmith and Major James C. Carmichael and mustered in September 19, 1862. The fight took place in icy, hilly terrain near a small French town, and the battle, known only to a relative few, has since been known as the Battle of Reipertswiller. They would attack in an attempt to end the siege. was in the forefront of the kickoff for Rome, with 1st and 3rd Battalions in the The men came ashore after the The four Volunteer Battalions of the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) constituted one brigade, while the four Volunteer Battalions of the Highland Light Infantry formed the other (the Highland Light Infantry Brigade, later the 157th … Suddenly a panzerfaust round came from somewhere. (1862) The 157th Regiment, Col. BROWN, reached the city this morning at 6 o'clock, having marched from Hamilton to Canastota yesterday, and took the cars at the latter place last evening. The morning of January 16 saw the two battalions trying to do just that. Sparks had an emotional meeting with General Frederick. All units would hold in place except the 179th soldiers and the 1/157. Relieved that night, battalion commander Lt. Col. Lawrence Brown moved his men to Reipertswiller, where they collapsed into any space they could to sleep. These attacks were beaten back, but they distracted the Americans from the effort to relieve the five companies on the hills ahead. of Honor was earned on this day by an NCO platoon leader in I Company, Technical Service Crosses, 376 Silver Stars, 1,054 Bronze Stars, and 1,694 Purple Hearts. Sparks was one of those few. Yet, those who were there remember it vividly as a desperate struggle to stave off a German attack and rescue beleaguered comrades. About the same time, Colonel O’Brien sent part of the reserve force composed of antitank soldiers and engineers to clear the area behind 2nd and 3rd Battalions. the Germans had launched the Ardennes Offensive, known to history as The Battle By 20 March, the Line had been penetrated, the Germans began a … To his right another infantryman rushes towards the enemy positions, while the helmet less squad leader and another soldier are approaching the enemy with bayonets fixe… By January 1945, he was a 27-year-old lieutenant colonel, having risen on merit to command the regiment’s 3rd Battalion. that held their positions unto death to keep a German counterattack from overrunning Mann was in the back sitting on a sleeping bag while Sparks was in the front passenger seat. Things were quieter from that day -- but still quite deadly -- The losses were heavy. Published by at February 14, 2021. They reported they were beating back enemy attacks but the SS were still managing to infiltrate around them. The German defense was defeated on 17 September, They passed through part of the battle area and saw frozen bodies still on the ground. 1-157th Infantry Regiment (Mountain) The 1st Battalion,157th Infantry Regiment closes the enemy by means of fire and maneuver in order to destroy or capture him. The men were stunned to find German soldiers hanging Headquarters and Headquarters Company. Given the dire situation, O’Brien figured Sparks would ignore a direct order anyway. Between this We had no way of evacuating the wounded, much less the dead, until night.” GIs searched the enemy corpses and found papers showing them to be from the 12th Company, 11th Regiment, Nord Division. All too aware of the plight of his soldiers, Colonel O’Brien began planning an airdrop for the next morning; it seemed the only way to get anything through. A panzerfaust flashed out from the trees, and a round struck the tank on the turret with a loud bang. One of the battalion officers told O’Brien about Sparks leading the tanks on a rescue effort. Fleming decided he had to do something personally. Running for the tank, the man got only a few yards before being gunned down. Northwind by launching strong attacks in the south and penetrating the left flank By late afternoon Company B was down to 22 effectives in its rifle platoons, and there were only two machine gunners left from the weapons company. 2. The attack petered out soon after, GIs falling back among the same trees they used as cover while advancing. Five companies of Americans were still trapped in the hills ahead, however. April 1945, the regiment conducted an assault crossing under heavy artillery and The men taken prisoner at Reipertswiller would go to various POW camps to wait out the war’s end. 3rd Battalion's own mortars poured out an incredible 9,200 rounds. Until late 1944, the division spent the war in Finland and northern Russia alongside Germany’s Finnish allies, in many ways isolated from what was happening elsewhere. Winter’s early darkness descended over the thick woods, so Sparks ordered all three companies to dig in for the night. The hulk of the first tank shielded the second from the German antitank fire. Later it was redesignated the 6th SS Mountain Division “Nord,” or North. The American position was completely overrun; only 18 men made it to the Company K lines nearby. had landed with 713 men and 38 officers, had only 162 men and 15 officers still The 157th Field Artillery Regiment has been both an infantry and field artillery regiment of the Army National Guard, part of the United States Army.The regiment was first constituted in 1917 during World War I from the 1st Colorado Infantry Regiment.The regiment was an infantry regiment as part of the 40th Infantry Division.. but advancing rapidly. By 6 pm, Company G finally linked up with Company K. For Sparks, it seemed his flanks were finally secure, and he had a defensible position from which to continue the fight. The 2nd Battalion, 157th, was sent to retake the hills that night. Maginot Line. Whenever they pushed forward, it seemed only more artillery and mortar fire greeted them. This move left two hills, 343 and 388, in the hands of the enemy. Sparks sent his reserves, the antitank and engineer platoons, to open up the supply route to his rifle companies. He positioned them on the supply route to ensure it stayed open and sent every spare soldier from his own headquarters company to carry ammunition and food to his battered riflemen. Time was running out, and he was notoriously stubborn. from light poles with signs around their necks saying, "I wanted to desert," The following is taken from New York in the War of the Rebellion, 3rd ed. Only two soldiers made it back to the 157th’s lines: Pfc. the fight ended on 20 January, 158 GIs had been killed in action, 350 had been Artillery and armored assets were also given to the division. Rather than tanks, it was an artillery barrage an hour and a half long. “Our commander had proved once again that he valued his soldiers’ lives and was willing to take large risks on their behalf.”. In debarking It was thought a small number of Germans were still behind the battalion somewhere on the right, but Company B was assigned to finish them off in the morning; nothing further was done at the time. James Turner Newton Coy E. 157th Infantry Regiment . the island of Sicily, and suffered its first casualties Sparks continued to Fleming’s men farther along the path. For the captured Americans, their initial experience was surreal. Another heard that the SS unit was receiving replacements so it could resume the offensive. - Fold3 Their company commander, Standartenführer (Colonel) Helmut Raithel, took it back to a nearby command post. Artillery roared overhead from both sides, and both found it punishing. “Make a break for it!” Sparks replied. and the enemy wave began to withdraw -- followed aggressively by the Americans. The Germans would be watching them. stop by and visit the Gift Shop. This regiment was organized at Philadelphia October, 1862, to February, 1863. ship in one such operation a landing craft loaded with men broke free from the Food and ammo were running out. This was the last resupply the trapped Americans would receive. L Company withdrew and 3rd Battalion headquarters withdrew as The freezing conditions worked against them, however. Sparks snapped. [text_ad]. There were indeed many replacements, not all of them trained as infantrymen. A trailer was hooked to each tank to carry supplies. Dead and wounded Americans were lying all over the area. Mann didn’t know it, but Sparks had grown up hunting in Arizona to help feed his family during the Depression. The officer was not one for casual conversation and often carried a shotgun pitched over his shoulder. Before long artillery started falling, sending lethal shards of shrapnel ripping through the freezing air. Bullets snapped all around him; one even went through the fabric of his pants. He loaded all the supplies onto the back deck of the remaining Stuart and abandoned the trailer. on 10 January 1944 after 72 days of continuous combat. landings. was relieved by British forces and moved to the center of the Allied line, taking PFC. By early the next morning the While he exulted in the small victory, he wondered what would happen when the Americans sent more tanks. There was no mention of a muster out date. The 107th Infantry Memorial is dedicated to the men who served in the 107th New York Infantry Regiment, originally Seventh Regiment of New York, during World War I. Private First Class Leonard E. Adams 157th Infantry Regiment 01/21/1945 Private Howard M. Anchors 180th Infantry Regiment 06/03/1944 Private Zeno P. Babarski 157th Infantry Regiment 06/04/1945 Sergeant Harold E. Baird 179th Infantry Regiment 05/03/1945 Staff Sergeant Casimer Bernat 180th Infantry Regiment 05/15/1944 Still, the order stood, and Sparks began trying to relieve his surrounded men. Sparks did indeed mount a rescue effort using a pair of M-4 Sherman tanks, which had just arrived at the command post. “You guys stay here. Allied forces in the south were ordered to cease offensive operations, It consisted of three infantry brigades, the 155th (South Scottish) Brigade, 156th (Scottish Rifles) Brigade, and 157th (Highland Light Infantry) Brigades. The day’s results had been disappointing but understandable given the intense barrage, but none of the other attacking battalions had done any better. Still, the 157th had the same problems as other RCTs in the winter of 1945. In the confusion, Talkington, also injured, managed to escape into the darkness. It also had a hard core of experienced soldiers and leaders well versed at fighting in mountainous, forested terrain like that found around Reipertswiller. On 16 December, A Company crossed Sparks was thrown several yards away, flying through the air to land on pristine white snow nearby. When they heard Fleming’s men firing, they made their way over. Winter clothing was hard to obtain, siphoned off by rear-echelon troops before it could reach the front lines. Corporal Johann Voss had watched Sparks’s entire rescue from his machine-gun nest in the rocks overlooking the bridge. On order, mobilizes and deploys to designated locations in order to execute Domestic Operations in order to reduce human suffering and save lives. The hills had commanding views and represented a solid position, but unfortunately the units on either flank of 3/157 had been unable to achieve their objectives and were far behind, leaving Sparks’s battalion dangerously exposed. Some donated books containing valuable information regarding individuals and unit histories may also be part of this collection. Company K occupied Hill 420 while Company L took Hill 410, both designated by their height in meters. When The remaining platoon leader withdrew his men and the tanks back toward the road to Reipertswiller. The attack continued down the Cisterna-Campoleone The surviving 157th men took a vote. 157th infantry regiment in a sentence - Use "157th infantry regiment" in a sentence 1. When Sparks was recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions on January 18, Frederick denied it. A new plan was drawn for the next day. attack. Though enemy resistance was light, twenty-seven men were drowned in the In this The tank stopped cold and jerked off the road,” Voss wrote. In the simple words of American battalion commander Felix Sparks, “The war slowed down.”. a German tank and shot down its escaping crew, blew up a German artillery piece, of Nazism. was relieved from the line and moved to a rest area. casualties on Sicily numbered close to 200. No one was alive at the ambush site; the survivors had long since retreated. Like the battle in the Ardennes, the Americans were initially pushed back, but their opponents could not sustain their effort, leading to defeat by the end of the month. It joined with the remnants of Company B outside the encirclement; both units had about 19 soldiers left. Voss could not see the American squad his fire had forced into the hollow by the bridge. Supported by two light tanks, these troops moved along the trails behind the trapped companies but quickly ran into trouble. These tanks moved up the trail apparently past Johann Voss’s position without being engaged. Both Shermans made it back to the command post. At 4:15 pm, a company of German troops counterattacked Company K, hitting hard on its left flank. He set to work translating the American transmissions. German troops hit the 1st and 2nd Battalions while they struggled to link up with their trapped comrades. The attack resumed at 9 am on the 15th. attack was stopped. A tearful Sparks told Frederick if he had to do it over, “I’d go against your orders and pull the battalion out while I could.” It was enough to make the general lose his temper and Sparks fired back. Company B was sent to clear those Germans out but was unable to do so. He enlisted at Ft. McCellan, Alabama in November 19, 1942, and was discharged from service November 17, 1945. The 12th SS Mountain Regiment, part of the Nord Division, extended too far and became encircled by American troops from several regiments. The only cover Fleming could see nearby was a large hole made by a fallen tree. Hiding in his foxhole from relentless artillery strikes, he dozed and dreamed of becoming a farmer after the war. That time was cut short when he went AWOL from the hospital to get back to his soldiers. It changed the world more than any other single event in history. The German grip on the area seemed unbreakable. Times when the very landscape appears to shift. of millions yet to be. Afterward, Company C sent patrols to link up with Company L along the same route 3rd Battalion had used to get to its objectives. The breakout attempt was stopped cold. But there’s NEVER been anything like THIS before. Fresh bruises covered his body, and he was cut on his left knee and right hand. Only a few men remained from the regiment’s muster in 1940. It was again an infantry regiment of the 45th Infantry … History. Sparks apparently got the message but chose to ignore it. Sparks was immediately taken to the nearby battalion aid station. The division was commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph E. Kuhn. GIs began to filter back to the aid station; Sparks was already there, having his wounds tended and recovering from the shock of the mine blast. However Confederate forces were soon forced to abandon Arizona and retreat into Texas. He quickly returned to the front lines despite the harrowing artillery. Sergeant Van T. Barfoot, who destroyed three machine gun positions, knocked out One historian called the unit the best German infantry formation in the Vosges in early 1945, perhaps the best on the Western Front. a withdrawing rifle company. A battalion of the 179th Infantry, another regiment of the 45th Division, was committed to the fight but also unable to break the German deadlock around the surrounded 157th troops. Beyond sporadic machine-gun fire, the GIs had almost no contact with enemy infantry. Next, the regiment participated in the assault landings at Salerno, Italy, coming Private Emmett Neff, a radioman, volunteered to go. The young interpreter was lucky. sounds like a prophet's word, And in its hollow tones are heard The thanks [94][98] Following its arrival, the division moved to the front line to replace the 1st Cavalry Division, who were then delegated to the Far East reserve, having suffered over 16,000 … Things became worse when one tank slid into a ditch and flipped over. The Americans were given until 5 pm to surrender or they would be smashed. This enabled the tank to get moving again, and somehow it arrived in the Company I area without being attacked by the Germans. My father, PFC Michael Lipka was with the 157th during this battle. A sergeant from Company K recalled, “It was the worst mess I ever saw. Just as the regiment was withdrawing, the Germans initiated Operation By mid-January 1945, the famous Battle of the Bulge, a massive and fatal failure for the Third Reich, was virtually over. was withdrawn to a rest area on 8 November 1944. In addition, the RCT normally had a company of tanks from the 191st Tank Battalion, as well as engineer, tank destroyer, and medical assets at hand. Sparks and a company of 3rd Battalion would liberate the Dachau concentration camp. More tanks came up and blasted away with cannon and machine guns to no avail. One soldier overheard an officer talking about holding a nearby American-occupied position at all costs. Benjamin Melton and Private Walter Bruce, both from Company I. Melton reported they set out with another man who was soon killed by machine-gun fire. In turn, this exposed the flank of another battalion of the attached 314th Infantry, 79th Division, forcing them back as well. of the officer and NCO leaders became casualties. For 3/157, Company K would advance on the left and Company L on the right with Company I in reserve. several were left buried under the collapsed ledge. The unit was mustered out July 10, 1… to staging points for the Seventh Army offensive, which kicked off on 15 March. time and 20 January 1945, the regiment became embroiled in a hot action near Reipertswiller, After only 10 yards, he fell as bullets ripped through him. By 3:40 pm, Company I had Germans behind it and apparently coming from the left flank. For Sparks the obvious choice was to open a path to his men and pull them back. He went back and forth, taking wounded soldiers and laying them on the deck of a tank. The regiment conducted another landing on Sicily, Seconds later, Sparks’s tank slid sideways, leaving its right side exposed to the enemy. Sparks was exhausted and wondered how he had survived. With only brief spell in reserve, the regiment continued planned farther up the Italian coast -- at Anzio. Company C. Grand Junction Armory | Grand Junction. Colonel O’Brien did not want to leave his trapped soldiers, so he ordered them to conduct a breakout while the other companies fired their weapons to distract the enemy. © He jumped down from the tank and ran over to his men. back up to more defensive positions just inside France, and began occupying the at Dachau, and at the close of the day regimental units were in the outskirts to battle the Germans, the mountains, and the cold until relieved from the line For many of the American soldiers in the Vosges Mountains that winter, January 1945 was their fifth month in combat since Operation Dragoon, the landings in southern France the previous August. Operation Nordwind began on the last day of 1944; elements of two German army groups attacked the U.S. directed principally by L Company. and attacked in the Belfort Gap, France. Picking through the scattered equipment, they happened upon a working SCR-300 radio. One of Voss’s comrades opened fire with his machine gun. He would later write, “It was the worst beating we ever took from terrific concentrated artillery barrages, and that includes Anzio. By 20 March, the Line had been penetrated, the Germans began When he told the lieutenant about the trapped men, “He told me to tell Colonel Sparks, who then took a tank and went to get the wounded out.”. He recalled the punishing American artillery, which never seemed to cease. From 1963-1968, the 157th was based in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. Edward G. Wilkin. At one point he heard the rumbling of an engine; soon an American tank lumbered into view. Most of the units were understrength; 3/157 was short about 200 soldiers in its rifle companies. Arrival in the harsh terrain of the Vosges, coupled with the onset of a fierce winter, ended any thought of a lightning thrust into southern Germany. After going a few hundred yards, Sparks again came under fire, but aside from tearing up the external stowage on the second tank no serious damage was done. The massacre of GIs at Malmedy was a recent event. There are moments in military history that forever alter the flow of human events. After dark, Voss and his machine-gun crew were reassigned to a different company and again sent up the hill. After a month of hard fighting across Sicily, followed by the amphibious landings at Salerno and then at Anzio where the division prevented German efforts to split the Allied beachhead, the Thunderbirds …
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