Four Stars of Valor: The Combat History of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II by Phil Nordyke

Author:Phil Nordyke [Nordyke, Phil]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Motorbooks International
Published: 2010-11-11T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

“All Of The Men Worshipped Him”

The veteran 505th PIR quickly assembled and moved out to capture its objectives. Upon landing northeast of Groesbeek, near Kamp, Lieutenant Colonel Vandervoort radioed his company commanders, telling them the 2nd Battalion assembly point would be an observation tower to the west at Molenberg, on the northern edge of Groesbeek. After gathering weapons and supplies from equipment bundles, the battalion moved to the assembly point.

Doc McIlvoy, the regimental surgeon, who had found a German ambulance abandoned near where he landed, loaded his unit’s medical equipment on it and joined the 2nd Battalion column. “On nearing the edge of the town, we saw a Volkswagen coming down the road, and after [it passed] several of us, we realized a Volkswagen wasn’t GI issue. So finally, one of us decided to stop it. It turned out to be a German officer, who was driving down from Nijmegen and almost drove past a company or more of Americans without anyone knowing that this was anything unusual.”1

After assembly, the 2nd Battalion moved west through the northern part of Groesbeek. Sergeant Paul Nunan was a platoon sergeant with Company D. “As we moved through Groesbeek against very light resistance, the Hollanders began appearing from their hiding places. They seemed overjoyed at our arrival and eager to help.

“A group of them approached me, dragging and pushing a man wearing civilian riding boots, breeches, shirt, and brown jacket. After several minutes of scrambled conversation and sign language, it developed that the man was a local official appointed by the Nazis. As my men led him away, he received several sound kicks in the rear end from the townspeople.”2

The battalion cleared the northern part of Groesbeek against almost no resistance. Doc McIlvoy moved in and set up an aid station. “We set up our regimental aid station in a German PX, which was abundantly supplied with the usual delicacies of a PX, plus an unlimited supply of Bendectin, [an anti-nausea drug,] which we stored among our medical supplies to use at a later date, at such time when we had a little bit more to celebrate.”3

The 2nd Battalion moved out toward its real objective, Hill 81.8, and the high ground west of the town. As platoon leader Lieutenant Jim Coyle, with the 1st Platoon, Company E, moved through the heavily wooded area, he had the fate of Sergeant Otis Sampson’s squad weighing on his mind. “I was afraid that he and the 1st Platoon 60mm mortar squad might have been shot down.

“As we approached the high ridgeline that we were to attack, I realized that it could be a difficult assault. There was some low brush, but no cover from enemy fire, which might come down the hill. We moved up the hill rapidly, although it was a hard climb with all the equipment we carried. We reached the crest without being fired upon. At the top, we found many small barracks, all empty, although there were fires going and warm food on the stoves.

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