As a warming sun cleared the eastern horizon, the 30th Infantry received tremendous support from the air. When a 1,600-yard breach had been effected, Phil and his Love Company began the work began to eliminate the deadly pillbox systematically.[1]

The weakest part of deadly pillbox was the front openings, called “loopholes,” from where the Germans fired their weapons. GIs unleashed tons of chemical smoke in front of the openings to blind the enemy and employed flamethrowers[2] or pole charges[3] to attack the loopholes, which took a lot of guts since they were up close and personal with frenzied German soldiers firing away.

For Phil and his company, though, howitzers were their most powerful tool in shattering the concrete boxes.

Major James Lamar Boutwell commanded a 155-mm howitzer[4] group, providing direct support for Phil’s battalion. Each gun in his battery of four howitzers required six men to load the ninety-five-pound projectiles, which were fitted with armor- or concrete-piercing fuses.

Major Boutwell had one of his gunners lower the howitzer’s muzzle and open the gun’s breech block. The major peered through the barrel at the target. Satisfied with the aim, he had the loaders stuff in a round. A tap of the helmet, and the shell was on its way. In a second or two, the deadly pillbox exploded in a sheet of flame, and a perfect smoke ring popped out of an air vent at the top.

Boutwell punched the air with his fist. “Scratch one pillbox!” he exclaimed.

“It’s still standing,” Phil retorted.

“True, but there’s no one left alive.”

The major had Phil get behind one of the howitzers for its next firing. “You can watch the shell all the way to the target.”

The soldier zeroed in on another pillbox. Another tap of the helmet. When the gun fired, Phil saw a black dot arc flash across the horizon. Same result: another pillbox put out of commission.

“See that!” Boutwell yelled. “We obliterated a pillbox from a half-mile away!”

More earth-covered concrete blockhouses met a similar fate, allowing Phil’s 3rd Battalion to stealthily enter Dollenbach Woods, where they made slow, steady progress against heavy small arms and direct fire from self-propelled artillery.

As they slowly advanced, the enemy opened up with heavy concentrations of artillery fire. The resistance was fast and furious. Brisk firefights raged throughout the morning.

Piper Cubs were employed extensively by Major General O’Daniel and Colonel McGarr to radio information to ground troops. Thus, pockets of the enemy were weeded out expeditiously with surprisingly little loss to the regiment.

As a result, the troops picked up speed, and the 30th became the first regiment to completely penetrate the Siegfried Line. The deed was done in three days from start to finish.

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[1] Larimore, At First Light, 215.

[2] The M1 and M1A1 were portable flamethrowers used by the U.S. during World War II. The M1 weighed 72 pounds, had a range of 50 feet, and a fuel tank capacity of five gallons of gasoline or diesel. The improved M1A1 weighed 65 pounds with the same fuel tank capacity, and had a range of just under 150 feet.

[3] A pole charge is a quantity of fused explosives fastened to the end of a pole and used in military attacks against pillboxes, dugouts, and cave positions.

[4] A howitzer is a tube-fired artillery piece, larger than a mortar and smaller than a cannon. The M114 155-mm howitzer (designated the 155-mm Howitzer M1 or just 155) was a towed medium artillery gun, and along with mortars, one of the two types of artillery guns which normally were in close support of frontline infantry.

[5] Larimore, Ibid, 215-216.

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