119th Company G


1st Platoon, Co. G, Jan. 5th in the Bulge

Original Scans of "Top" Crawford Journal...a few weeks missing in April...SEE COMPLETE PHOTOCOPY JOURNAL BELOW FOR MISSING DAYS.
Battle of Merzenhausen............Nov. 20th-26th, 1944.
Complete Company G ROSTER...compiled by Richard W. Johnson, Auburn, Indiana...Company Clerk.
Personal Combat history of
T/Sgt Mike Pachuta (PDF File) Photo: Elbe River, April 1945.
Personal Combat history of MSG E-8 Thomas A. Floyd (Ret) (PDF file)
Sergeant Partridge by John M. Nolan (PDF file)
The Entrenching Tool by John M. Nolan (PDF file)
Eygelshoven, The Netherlands...Sept. 19th, 1944 by John M. Nolan (PDF file)
In the Eygelshoven article above by John Nolan pillbox #84 is the 'haystack'
pillbox, shown in map above. During the attack of Oct. 2nd by the 119th
2nd battalion John's company G was in reserve. Previous to their advance
across the Bailey Bridge just south of the castle, an advance company cleared
out pillbox #45 with a thermal gernade. Nolan, squad leader, and his 8 man
1st platoon, 3rd squad spent the night in this pillbox still smelling of the
thermite explosion. While in this or any pillbox when they were under
artillery attack it was as if you were inside a bass drum in a marching band,
Nolan explained. The pillbox had only one embrasure for a MG36 machinegun
and 10 bunks for German soldiers to sleep in. As they advanced the next
day towards Herbach several German tanks appeared out of the woods. Some
P47s came and saved their butts. As they advanced into Herzogenrath there
were mines about every 4 or 5 feet. There was a goat out a head of
them...they thought at any moment it would be blown sky high...it survived.
They did have an opportunity to enter the Rimburg Castle. John remembers
Frank O'Leary finding the wine cellar and breaking the tops off bottles and
helping himself. John took a wooden napkin ring from the castle, about the
only thing left by the time Co. G got there.
The Plane Riders...Dec. 25th, 1944...the Bulge...by John M. Nolan (PDF file)
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January 13th, 1945....The Battle of the Bulge...by John M. Nolan (PDF file)
Photograph of site of the January 13th, 1945 action of the First Platoon,
Company G, 119th Infantry Regiment, 30th Infantry Division. It was taken
in August 1995 by John M. Nolan when he and his wife visited Company G WWII
battle sites in Belgium and Germany. It has been annotated to indicate
exactly where each member of the Third Squad and the Platoon Sergeant was when
the German MG 42 opened fire. The ditch is where the members of the First
Platoon Headquarters slept on the ground that night.
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Click on photo to enlarge and read....incredible story!!!
119th Co. G Journal by "Top" Howard Crawford of Elburn, IL. "Top" Crawford kept a Journal that contains the location of the Company CP with map coordinates for every day. It also includes personnel changes such as newly assigned personnel, wounded, dead, and sick. It is believed he used this journal to relay to the Company Clerk in the Regimental Rear the personnel information so that the Company Morning Report could be recorded for the Battalion and Regimental records. PDF File.
Corporal John M. Nolan letter to his Uncle....July 25th, France....St. Lo bombings.
Article relating the Battle of the Bulge story of John Nolan..."Inside the Bulge".
More stories from John Nolan:
The longest time that
we were on an attack without sleep was 24/25 March 1945 when Company G
made its assault Rhine River crossing at 0200 hours on the 24th.
We went 30 hours without stopping to sleep.
You will note in the 119th
Regimental history that after the Merzenhausen attack we were detached
from the 2d Armored Division and returned to Kohlscheid, Germany for
rest, refitting and/or rehabilitation.
Kohlshied was on the border between the Germany and The Netherlands.
Right outside the city was a Siegfried line “Dragon’s Teeth” tank
barrier. After the attack and encirclement of Aachen by the 30th and
1st Division’s the 119th
Regiment moved back to Kohlsheid for the first time. G Company moved
into the German houses that were only occupied by a few women, their
children, and some elderly Germans. Their husbands and sons were in the
German Army.
Being inside a house was quite a treat for us. In addition, we had a
chance to get a bath and clean clothes. You will note in the map of the
Kohlscheid area there were coalmines. You can see the huge slag piles.
We were taken to the coal miners’ bathhouse. They had a series of
pulleys for the miners to put their street clothes on and then pull them
up to the top of the building. They changed into their coalmining
clothes before entering the mine. We used these devices to secure our
clothes and “valuables,” before we entered the miners shower room. It
was a real bonus to have the opportunity to wash yourself and afterward
be issued clean uniforms and clean underwear.
I believe that we were billeted in Kohlscheid at least three times;
after the Aachen encirclement, after Merzenhausen, and in January after
the Bulge. Each time we had a time to get a bath and a change of
clothes. It should be noted that the Quartermaster Corps had bath
units. They had portable shower units; they also washed, and issued
clean uniforms to the troops. G Company had at least one “clean-up” by
one of the QM units, but I cannot remember where or when.
Fraternization. When I thought about writing this reply I remembered
the issue of fraternization with the German population and thought that
I have not read much about in any WWII history.
Before we made our Siegfried Line attack we were instructed that
fraternization with the German civilian population was prohibited. If a
soldier was found to be fraternizing he would be subject to Courts
Martial. This was “beat into our heads,” and enforced to some extent.
Counterattack of Oct. 18th, 1944 found on page 73 of 119th history book:
It was the night of the
counterattack that we stayed awake. After
the counterattack the 3d squad was the only intact squad in the
company. We were dug-in on the right flank of the company and we
overlooked the valley separating the 30th and the 1st Division. In
the middle of the night a Jerry patrol came up the road we were dug-
in beside. Cline shot one of them, and we threw all the hand
grenades that we had. Hearing the noise of their footsteps coming up
the road we estimated there was about half-a- dozen Jerry's in this
patrol. They scattered when we all opened fire and threw our hand
grenades. After this event King and I went back to the Company CP to
get more grenades. We found out then how bad Company G was hit that
day and how many men were captured. At day break we found about 15
feet from our fox hole a dead Jerry on his back. He had a Luger
pistol in his right hand. Since Cline shot him the pistol was his.
However, Cline gave it to me since I did not have a Jerry pistol by
that time. This Luger had a 10 inch barrel with sights up to 800
meters. It was a 1914 model with the serial number 5750. We
believed this Jerry's father carried the pistol in WWI.
I wore this Luger on my belt the rest of the War. Getting a German
pistol was always a looked for prize. I took a Belgique 28 caliber
pistol from a Jerry officer. I loaned it to a member of the platoon
who returned it at the end of the War. On one of our moves my wife
put my pistol collection on the bed and told the movers to pack
them. This was the last time we saw them.
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On the 4th or 5th of April 1945 G Company was attached to Combat
Command A of the 2d Armored Division. And, were on the backs of the
leading "point" tanks of the CCA. We were "going to beat hell"
trying to surround and out flank the Ruhr Valley factory complex on
its North side. I was riding with other members of our 1st Platoon
on the back of an M24 Light Tank. This was the newest variety of a
light tank issued to the 2d Armored. We traveled 30 miles that
day. It reminded me of a "Oater" Western, B Grade movie. During the
afternoon a U.S. Army fighter had been shot down and the pilot was
descending in his parachute. About a quarter of a mile on our left
flank a Jerry dual 20 mm flak gun was firing at the parachutist.
The Tank Commander swung his turret around and with his new 75 mm
gun fired at the flak gun crew. The end of the 75 mm gun was about
ten or twelve feet from the five or six of us huddled on the back of
the tank. After we tried to recover from the blast I jumped up on
the top of the turret pointed my pistol at the Tank Commander and
told him I felt like killing him. I didn't. However, as a result of
the muzzle blast it was difficult to hear anything for a few days.
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The morning of 14 January 1945 when the 1st Platoon "saddled-up" to
follow the Company over the hill to attack Ligneuville Smitty and I
were standing side-by-side on the road on the forward slope. Smitty
had his left arm elevated and a sniper put a round though his arm
just below the shoulder.
Smitty was our Acting Platoon Leader with the rank of T/Sgt. He had
been "put-in" for a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant.
After the Bulge he returned to G Company from the hospital, was
promoted to 2d Lt., and took command of the Second Platoon of Company
G. He finished the rest of the war without getting hit.
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Battle of Hollen, Germany...Feb.
25th
Complete List of 119th Infantry Regiment KIA buried overseas...from the American Battle Monument Commission
American Battle Monuments Commission Netherlands American Cemetery
Obituary for John Faris, Sr. Company Commander of Co. G.
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Final reunion of Co. G, 119th, September 2007 in Gettysburg, PA.
Front Row: William Barnett, Cletus Herrig, Louis Mulvihill, Milton Platcow,
Mike Pachuta, Vaughn Carmack.
Back Row: Herb Kinnan, John Nolan, Warren Sprouse, Gerald Rinaca, Jack Mace,
Harold Leachman, Earl Montgomery,
Louis Houtekier.