World War II in Europe
The Story of Company F of the 222nd Infantry of the 42nd Infantry
“The Rainbow Division”
Written by an unknown Fox Company Lieutenant in Summer 1945 in Austria
Typed by Staff Sergeant Albert G. Cramer in September 1945 in Abtenau, Hallein, Austria
Edited by Mel R. Brashears in March 2017 in San Jose, California
Company F of the 222nd Infantry had their baptism of fire at Kilstett, France, on January 5th & 6th of 1945. For a first battle, it showed these infantrymen that they must learn to be seasoned fighters if they were to decrease their casualty list as the days went by.
On January 5th, Fox Company moved to within one and half miles of Kilstett and moved into the position of the attack under light fire and then dug in. At 0900 January 6th, they were alerted for the counterattack. They pushed off at 1015 with an Infantry Company of the 232nd on their left. There was no unit on the right.
The men of Fox Company faced a very strong seasoned group of soldiers in the 21st Panzer Grenadier Division. The Rainbow men advanced across a bare field about 600 yards wide. Sniper fire and machine gun fire pinned the infantrymen down. The attack was an organized one, but the enemy positions were too strong for the American troops. Camouflaged artillery laid in on the troops for a period of 50 minutes, using a pattern that was used in the belief that it could get anything in the area. There were approximately two score casualties sustained in the action. Company F pulled back to their original positions which had been frozen in the intense cold. When the company was reorganized at 1445 on the 6th, it was found that a score of men were lost from the first platoon. The Rainbow men were relieved by a French Infantry Division, reinforced by armor and they continued the attack, taking the town several days later.
From Kilstett, the Rainbow men were moved to the vicinity of Hatten, where they were dug in for 26 straight hours.
The Fox Company men were pulled back to Reimerswiller and they were then moved to Schweighouse-sur-Moder, which is just south of the Haguenau Forest. The Infantrymen set up defenses and dug defensive positions. On January 25th, the krauts attacked these positions, snipers infiltrated on the right flank and other krauts attacked through on the left flank. In the morning, the right flank withdrew back to the lines of the 79th Division.
On January 26th, the company went back into the town and took the right end. A regiment of the 79th and a regiment of the 232nd Infantry came in and took the rest of the town. Although a continuous barrage of 88 mm artillery was pouring in, F Company accounted for 1600 krauts.
When the 42nd relieved the 45th Division near Wingen-sur-Moder in the Haardt Mountains, Fox Company was regimental reserve, but after a week as reserve they took over the position of L Company, 222nd. They completed several successful patrols, one accounting for 12 Germans dead at a German Command Post including a Company Commander.
On the attack, which was launched on March 15th, which carried the 222nd over the Haardt Mountains, F Company reached their objective in very little action or time. The F Company men attacked the Siegfried Line on March 20th in a night attack. The attack was successful, taking many prisoners and 15 pillboxes. They entered Germany on March 21st when they cleared Dahn, Germany. In a rapidly moving motor company, preceded by special spearhead units of the 12th Armored Division, they crossed the Rhine River on March 27th. They moved to the edge of the Black Forest and detrucked, a distance of about 70 miles. They continued their attack without much resistance, until they reached Würzburg, Germany.
At Würzburg, the 2nd Battalion, with E Company in the lead, and Fox Company in battalion reserve, crossed the Main River to one of the toughest battles that the Infantrymen ever experienced. Amid terrific sniper and machine gun fire, in addition to roaring Tiger Royal Tanks armed with 88 mm guns, the Infantrymen pushed about three blocks into town before nightfall. Several patrols tried to reconnoiter the American defenses that night unsuccessfully, and the Infantrymen took off the next morning to take all area up to the railroad tracks. They spent the night there, and the next morning, an attempt to cross the tracks and to take the rest of the town was made. They were ordered back to positions in the center of the town, where about three hundred krauts had infiltrated the lines of the unit on the left of Fox Company, and they were laying down effective sniper fire from several large buildings in the center of town.
Fox Company was then given the task of clearing out these buildings while the other Infantrymen trudged forward to take the balance of the city. Several men discovered a basement in the former 2nd Battalion Command Post, which was infested with krauts. Several men volunteered to go into the basement and draw as many of the krauts out as they could. By mid afternoon, the Infantrymen, with three tank destroyers (TDs) in support, took 27 prisoners and killed many Germans with no casualties inflicted on the Infantrymen.
Many tunnels led off the main cellar, and some of the krauts were able to escape by its means toward dark. The F Company men moved up after a victorious fight to the residential districts near the limits of the town in support of E and G Companies. The three TDs attached to Fox Company were then dispatched to knock out three flak guns on the left flank near the Würzburg Airport, which they did in short order.
After this, they moved to the high grounds around Rottendorf and dug in, in order to round up krauts who were working their way back into Würzburg.
With little or no opposition they followed the krauts about 12 miles to Effeldorf to try to secure a ferry before the krauts could destroy it. With Fox Company in the lead the Infantrymen secured the ferry and then they moved to Untereisenheim where they took many prisoners at a hospital there.
The next day the Infantrymen moved out toward Schweinfurt, the great ball-bearing center of Germany, near Werneck. Heavy flak and sniper fire hit the company along the road, inflicting many casualties just outside of Schweinfurt; the following afternoon the Infantrymen set up a defense along a railroad track, and at 0200 the next morning the Infantrymen of the Rainbow launched their attack on Schweinfurt. Fox Company moved into the lead on the road just inside the city, and since the 242nd Regiment was having trouble with krauts on our left flank, the company stopped to give them aid with machine guns firing in the enemies rearward positions. The krauts zeroed in on Fox Company's positions along the road and they were pinned down for almost three hours, with heavy casualties including four dead. With the aid of the TDs, the Infantrymen moved two hundred yards across an open field to start house to house fighting in order to gain an entrance into the city. Machine gun and sniper fire was intense and the work became very strenuous. By night fall, the Fox Company men moved quickly to their objective as prisoners began surrendering in groups of five and six at a time. Schweinfurt fell to the Rainbow Division at 0630 April 12th. They moved back from Schweinfurt to Untereisenheim and moved to the Volkach across the winding Main River.
With Fox Company again in the lead they moved to the Schweinfurt roadblock and minefield, and with aid of the engineers, they cleared the road for almost immediate use.
By April 17th, the 222nd was well on their way to Fürth and Nürnberg by gaining about thirty miles in that direction, taking and clearing each town along the way. By motor convoy, F Company moved to Enzlar and then moved by foot into Vach where E Company had met some resistance.
From Vach, they crossed another part of the Main River by crossing a dam left intact by the Germans. Spearheading again, F Company took Stadthalle just outside of Fürth, and captured thirty-seven prisoners.
On April 18th the Infantrymen crossed another river under heavy sniper and mortar fire to the main part of Fürth. With one squad of G Company spearheading, Fox Company followed. Only one casualty was inflicted.
Just inside Fürth before nightfall, the Infantrymen took 250 prisoners. Fürth fell to the 222nd on April 19th and F Company moved through the remainder of Fürth to the outskirts of Nürnberg, which had already fallen to the 45th Division.
The Infantrymen moved out on armored vehicles on April 20th, when the 7th Army shifted south toward Münich, the birthplace of Nazism.
With Fox Company in the lead the Infantrymen marched almost 17 miles in rainy weather to take the small town of Gunzenhausen, the gateway to Southern Germany. At this time E and F Company were formed into two task forces with armored vehicles of the 20th Armored Division. The 20th Armored was new in combat and moved out with Fox Company to attempt to capture a bridge crossing the Danube River near Donauwörth.
On April 25th in a five-tank blitz, they rolled through and cleared five towns with minor resistance, ahead of the main body of infantry troops. Having their baptism of fire, the tanks moved into position under intense fire, and they were only about 200 yards from the bridge across the Danube as it was blown.
They then moved in to attack Donauwörth where several more bridges were located. Under heavy panzerfaust fire, the five tanks bedecked into Fox Company Infantrymen to support the move into Donauwörth and after a very intense fight, took the city with 450 prisoners captured, including several high-ranking officers. An additional 125 prisoners were captured the next morning when the task force moved up into high ground along the city.
On April 27th the men riding on armored vehicles again crossed the Danube on pontoon bridges and moved to Rain where they contacted the krauts and took up a chase after them. Outside of Rain, they encountered an intense measure of flak and timed artillery fire.
They moved quickly into Holzheim, but they had a fierce fight with SS troops there, which were very quickly killed by our Infantrymen. After two hours, the town was captured and no prisoners were taken.
The Fox Company men moved out on tanks to take six towns with minor resistance, inflicting casualties on a convoy of buses loaded with many krauts. With only two more towns to take to reach the Division objective, the Fox Company men continued their attack after nightfall, up a road into a dense wooded area they knew to be infested with krauts.
Two roadblocks were blown as the Infantrymen entered the woods. One platoon was sent into the woods to investigate the happenings there and they encountered enemy rifle and machine gun fire in addition to many grenades being thrown by the Germans. At a discussion of the happening by the Company Commander and six other men, a withdrawal was being discussed but before the Company Commander could order this, a German stationed near the edge of the woods, fired a panzerfaust at the group and seven casualties were inflicted, including the Company Commander and another Lieutenant (Sanders). The company withdrew to the preceding town to reorganize for a new attack in the morning. On April 28th, G Company took the lead and captured the hill taking four prisoners and eight machine gun nests.
After they arrived at the Division objective, the Fox Company men moved out in a motor convoy and chased the krauts all the way to Dachau, the seat of the notorious concentration camp, where they were stopped by SS troops who attacked the convoy and killed one man. Forty-five SS troops were captured or killed by F Company supported by 2nd battalion rangers.
With Fox Company in the lead, the Infantrymen moved by foot to the infamous camp at Dachau, and freed 32,000 political prisoners interned there. Many SS guards were captured or killed there. On April 30th the Infantrymen boarded tanks just outside of Münich and within two hours, the bulk of Münich was captured with only two artillery shots fired and no small arms or automatic fire encountered. Instead of being greeted there by resistance, thousands of cheering crowds stood on the streets and cheered the passing armored tanks. On May 1st, the rest of Münich was captured and the Infantrymen headed toward Grafing bei München. At Grafing bei München where the whole battalion was located, many prisoners began to come in. From there on, May 3rd the Infantrymen moved out on foot and bumped into a Hungarian Cavalry Division which had been captured by preceding combat armored units. From there the Infantrymen moved by trucks to Wasserburg am Inn where again many prisoners surrendered. Among there prisoners were the staff of the Wehrmacht located in this area, including a colonel, a major, several captains and lieutenants. From Wasserburg am Inn, the troops moved in a motor convoy to Trostberg, where they were stopped to receive many enemy convoys which were moving into American lines to surrender themselves all intact. About 8000 troops surrendered to F Company on May 4th. The Infantrymen were retained in Trostberg to guard the captured kraut equipment and a nearby factory. The F Company men were still guarding the equipment, factory and POW camp when the war was officially over on May 9th. On May 11th Fox Company moved to Austria to become an occupational element. They occupied certain sections of Tyrol, in the Alps.
Footnote:
Albert George Cramer, Jr., was the brother of Vicki's mother, Gloria June Cramer Fuqua.
Al's wartime chronology is viewable by clicking on his name.
Click to download a PDF of this story.
Click to view World War II Photos that Al sent home.
