9th armored div

8/7/2019 9TH ARMORED DIV

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ARMORED REMAGEN

1949-1950

MAJOR JOHNW. THROCKMORTON

MAJOR JOHN MAJO R ROBERT W.

E. REYNOLDS, USMC

FRANK A. W ILLIAM S

SIDNEY H. YOUNG, JR.

JOHN H.

MARCH


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The almost complete breakdown of communications resultedin an acute shortage of all types of supply in the hands oftroops. True, a great deal of munitions were warehoused east ofthe RHINE; however, the speed of the American ground attack andthe virtually complete superiority in the air gained by the AmericanAir Force made it practically impossible to transport suppliesduring daylight. Even at night, rail movement was exceedinglydifficult because of the heavy damages inflicted on roadbeds andterminals.

The gravest shortage was not in ammunition, but in gasoline.German LIII Corps lost its entire reserve of gasoline on 16 Marchwhen a trainload was destroyed by air attack.15An amusing side-light on the gasoline shortage is related by Captain R. W. Pomeroy,surgeon of the 52d Armored Infantry Battalion,who was riding inan ambulance with a wounded German soldier. The PW asked if theAmericans had encountered the new German 50-mantank. CaptainPomeroy's first reaction was that the PW was trying to impresshis captors. However, he noted a twinkle in the man's eye andasked for details of this formidable weapon."Yes, Sir ," repliedthe PW; "Fifty men - one man to steer it, one man to fire thegun, and forty-eight men to push it!"16

Replacement of vehicles was practically non-existent.Bayerlein considered the loss of 23 tanks in various stages ofrepair at ALTENKIRCHEN on 24 March 1943 as a major catastrophe,

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"passing the buck" for failures which were rife. The executionof five officers for dereliction of duty in failing to destroythe LUDENDORF BRIDGE made an impression24 - but not the kind ofimpression necessary to buck up an already demoralized group. Theimpossible orders handed down by Hitler, the realization by officersin the higher echelons that total defeat was inevitable, had itseffect. Bayerlein relates of being tempted to surrender to theAmericans on 25 March 1945 as the result of being humiliated inthe presence of subordinates by a tongue-lashing from Model.25He also tells of being ordered by Model on 3 April 1945 to attackWINTERBERG. Feeling the futility of such action, he simply failedto order the attack; and, on 4 April, reported that the attack hadbeen made, but had failed.26 That these two commanders, Model andBayerlein, were bitterly opposed is evident. Since they were bothkey commanders in the battles east of the RHINE, their differences(which neither bothered to conceal) had a very unfavorable effecton the overall conduct of the defense. Bayerlein describes Model'sheadquarters at OLPE on 29 March 1945 as a mad-house with contra-dictory orders issuing and Model at the battle. 27 On the otherside, Model severely censured Bayerlein for failures, blaming hislack of leadership. 28

The hoped-for battle plans of Army Group B were at directvariance with those ordered by the High Command (Hitler). WhereHitler had ordered defense in the truest sense - a defense to thelast man - the generals in the field envisioned a delaying action

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3 After-Action Report, 9th ArmoredDivis ion,March 1945,

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4 After-Action Report, 9th Armored Division, April 1945.


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9th armored div

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