Young men replace casualties

1st March 1945: 'Replacement' troops, fresh from America, are introduced to the battlefield even as it seems inevitable that Germany is defeated

Cologne was bombed by the RAF for the last time on 2nd March and occupied by the US Army on 6th March. The Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) stands seemingly undamaged (although having been directly hit several times and damaged severely) while the entire area surrounding it is completely devastated.

Infantrymen of 30th Division, 9th U.S. Army, move through the town of Kirchherten, Germany, as they push across the Cologne plain. 27th February, 1945.

From a hill overlooking Alsdorf, Germany, infantrymen of the 76th Division advancing to the front in a 2½ ton truck get a clear view of the burning town. 304th Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Division.

The United States would suffer over 550,000 casualties in northwest Europe between the invasion of France in 1944 and the end of the war, 104,000 men¹ would die in this theatre alone. While the British were now struggling to replace the casualties they had sustained, America had a steady supply of young men who would fill the gaps in the ranks. There were men yet to cross the Atlantic who still had time to die in the cause of freedom.

Men fire smoke shells from an 81mm mortar supporting infantrymen of the U.S. First Army as they advance on a pillbox. 28 February, 1945. 424th Infantry Regiment, 106th Infantry Division.

German prisoners and their American guard crouch behind an American tank destroyer for protection against a barrage of German SP guns and "Screaming Meemies." The prisoners were captured by infantrymen of the 4th Division, U.S. Third Army in the Prum Valley, Germany. 28 February, 1945.

In March 1945, the casualty rate was similar to that of July 1944, which was the height of the Normandy fighting. Amongst those arriving fresh to the battlefield and yet to see action was eighteen-year-old rifleman Jack R Blann²:

We moved out of town a little distance directly toward Cologne and soon came to the top of a hill where there were bodies of dead Germans laying everywhere. There were two German Mark 5 tanks knocked out over on one side of the hill and there were dead German soldiers laying all around the vehicles. We felt that this action must have occurred all day before, although the vehicles were still smoking.

Beside one of the vehicles, we noticed that one of the Germans was still alive, even though he had been blown almost in two and his legs were missing. His eyes were open and he was moaning. There was no way that this man could recover from such wounds. In fact, we couldn't understand how he had managed to live this long. We were all disturbed by the suffering that the man must be enduring, so one of the officers walked over and closed the man's eyes, and shot him in the head with his forty-five.

From the hill, you could see the battle line still quite some distance in front of us and you could see the bursting artillery in the distance all along the front. The panorama stretching before us reminded me of some of the panoramic drawings of battles that I had seen in Life Magazine. The line seemed to bulge out in the direction of Cologne and it looked as if some of our troops must be getting pretty close to the big city.

The devastation of Cologne, Germany, 1944. A total of 34,711 long tons of bombs were dropped on the city by the RAF and USAAF in 262 separate air raids. Miraculously, 700 year old Cologne Cathedral survived, pictured here standing tall amidst the ruin.

At this time, a big armada of B-26's flew over and began to bomb Cologne and the roads around the city. We were so close to the bombers that we could see the bombs as they left the planes. There was no flack going up against them, probably because the retreat had thrown the antiaircraft defenses into confusion.

B-26s of the 34th Bombardment Group.

Some of the men looked around the dead Germans on the ground around us to see if there were any valuables that might be worth picking up. As for myself, I never became hardened enough that I could loot the dead. I didn't want to have anything to do with the dead soldiers. It was hard enough to just look at these men, killed at such a young age.

One good looking young German boy had long black hair that was usually combed straight back from his forehead. Now it had fallen forward over his face. I could see myself lying there.

We left the hill and went down into a little ravine where we waited for our orders. While we were there, chow came up and we had a hot meal. I picked up some old German and French money laying on the ground in the ravine, probably discarded by some of the looters because it apparently had no value.

Then it began to sprinkle, and we began huddling around each other to talk about what the future might hold for us. All of us were hoping that maybe we would never catch up with the front line, but of course, we all knew that sooner or later we would.

On the outskirts of Elsdorf, Germany, which can be seen in the background, troops of a U.S. First Army unit dig foxholes. 28 February, 1945. 3rd Armored Division

Medics remove a wounded infantrymen of the 94th Division from a jeep at an aid station near Trier, Germany, in the U.S. Third Army sector. 28 February, 1945. 419th Medical Battalion, 94th Infantry Division.

A long double-file line of German prisoners are marched through a cracked street in Erkelenz, Germany. Note the wounded prisoner being pushed in a cart at the right. 27 February, 1945. 102nd Infantry Division.

1. US Army in World War II: Appendix E Strength and Casualty Figures

2. Jack R Blann: A Private's Diary: The Battle Of Germany As Seen Through The Eyes Of An 18 Year Old Infantry Rifleman