Metz 1944 by Steven J. Zaloga

Author:Steven J. Zaloga
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Metz 1944: Patton’s Fortified Nemesis
ISBN: 9781780960432
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2012-01-27T16:00:00+00:00

Once again, the Co. E attack on the northwest corner was stopped cold without significant penetration. Once the American infantry began moving towards the fort, the assembly areas were subjected to a severe pounding from neighboring German forts in the prescribed fashion. The “snake” tanks were not effective in breaching the wire obstructions because of the difficulty in moving them over rough terrain; the few snakes that reached the outer edge of the fort were ineffective owing to the high walls surrounding the dry moats and neither dozer tank reached the area in time to assist in the breaching. Company B managed to make its way through the defenses in the southwest corner with the tanks helping to breach the barb-wire fields. The fortified casernes in this sector had walls 5ft (1.5m) thick and these proved impervious to the direct fire of the M4(105mm) assault guns. It seemed that the attack might fail, but Pvt. Robert Holmlund spotted a ventilator shaft on top of a caserne, and pushed two Bangalore torpedoes into it. The ensuing blast forced the German defenders out of a portion of the caserne, which was soon occupied by an American infantry squad.

Around 1730hrs, Co. G shifted from the northwest sector to reinforce the more successful Co. B penetration in the southwest corner. While this was taking place, the Festung Driant garrison attempted to stage a major counterattack, which was smashed by orbiting P-47 fighters with 22 500lb bombs. German attempts to reinforce the fort via the wooded trails to the east were repeatedly halted by artillery, delaying the arrival of two more companies of infantry on October 3. The sudden infusion of the Co. G troops and the decimation of the German counterattack force led to a sudden penetration into the fort in the late evening, but it was to little avail as the troops could not break into the fortified casernes or gun casemate buildings aside from the two casernes captured in the initial attacks. After dark, the garrison staged another counterattack, which forced Co. G to withdraw and badly disrupted Co. B. Reinforcements from Co. K, 2nd Infantry, arrived in the nick of time to prevent a rout.

The second day of fighting proved to be a costly stalemate. The German garrison used the forts as intended, and artillery fire from nearby forts combined with heavy machine-gun fire swept the exterior of Fort Driant clean of attacking infantry. The guns in the fort itself could not be depressed sufficiently to be used in direct fire, but the Moselbatterie was able to fire against the woods near the approach route of the American forces on the southwest corner of the fort causing airburst high in the trees, making reinforcement more difficult. The surface of the fort was so hazardous that the American infantry attempted to conduct their attacks through the underground tunnels, most of which were blocked by armored doors. In the first 24 hours of the attack, the US forces assaulting the southwestern sector suffered 50 percent casualties.

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