2d Dragoons

Patrol To Wasserbillig

David.Gettman January 22nd, 2008

wasserbillig
22 – 26 February 1945

Troop C, 42nd Squadron

Lt. Williams, following closely behind the point as they moved carefully down the railroad track, heard the sound of a falling body, muffled profanity and scrambling around. After some fumbling around in the dark he found a trip wire over which one of the men had stumbled. Fortunately there was something wrong with the hookup and this mishap did not cause an explosion. At least not immediately.

Soon after the rest of the point had passed the trip wire there was a loud explosion from the track. A machine gun opened fire from a nearby house, and a 20mm gun in the vicinity of the house began firing down the track. One man of the point jumped down the north side of the embankment and the rest scrambled down the south side, and started back along the spur. They ran into another embankment and had to return to the main track. As they reached it several more machine guns opened up and three loud explosions, believed caused by controlled mines, were heard in the vicinity of the spur which they had just left.

The main body of the patrol had remained on the trestle in the vicinity of Hill 141 to cover the advance of the point and was receiving cross fire from Hill 235 nearby and machine guns on the right. Cpl. Welt had fired a rifle grenade at the house after being forced off the tracks by machine gun fire and grenades. A German came out of the house at that time and began tossing grenades around in general. He was not fired on by the point as they did not wish to further disclose their position. On the return the patrol drew fire from a point along the river bank near where a listening post had been established when the patrol first moved out. During this engagement the enemy used six or eight white flares. The patrol returned to our outpost line without further incident.

A patrol of ours on the 26th into Wasserbillig found that our enemy, like the Arab, had quietly folded his tent and stolen away in the night. The next day, patrols sent to other trouble spots in the area were not so fortunate, as they found the enemy still present and alert.

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