| My father served in Battery "D" |
| of the 134th A.A.A. Gun Battalion. |
| |
| My father served in Battery "D" of the 134th A.A.A. Gun Battalion. I have the Battery "D" history that states the unit was positioned near Mürringen on the morning of December 16, 1944. |
| |
| Here is what the Battery "D" history states: |
| |
| November 23rd we left Liege, our big chateau, and some broken hearted Belgium girls, and convoyed to our new position which happened to be a forest and hilltop outside the village of Mürringen, Belgium. We put up pyramidal tents, determined to make the best of it after living in the chateau, and prepared for action as we were only 500 yards from the front lines. This also happened to be Thanksgiving Day. We had a "D" ration bar for lunch and had our turkey dinner in the woods about 2100 in total darkness. |
| |
| The next day we fired 175 rounds at buzz bombs. The weather was cold and cloudy. On November 26th we had a field day, firing ten different courses at buzzers. The next week was also a busy one and we put in claims for ten buzz bombs. |
| |
| The following week we claimed four more buzz bombs. There was several inches of snow on the ground then and the road leading into our position was muddy as hell. We took a break on December 11th and closed operations for 24 hours for a rest and maintenance. |
| |
| We were awakened early on the morning of December 16 by German fire whistling overhead. This was our first time under direct enemy artillery fire and many of the fellows enthusiastically began construction of fox holes, but toot sweet. About ten O'clock we got word to be on alert for enemy patrols coming in the area under smoke screens. All day long reports kept coming in on enemy patrols in the area, and the guard was increased. In the afternoon the artillery fire quieted down and the atmosphere seemed liked the calm before the storm, and little wonder, for that night the desperate German breakthrough began, the spearhead striking in our immediate vicinity. |
| |
| First the battery was alerted and all secret fuses were removed. Then we got orders to move the range equipment out, and finally the entire battery was given march order at 2300. By this time the artillery fire had started again but we succeeded in getting the equipment out without damage. However, just as the radar mount was pulled out of its position an 88 shell landed in the spot where it had been operating and demolished the emplacement. No one was hurt by the incident and after a short delay in getting the equipment out of the muddy lane, we began a strategic retreat under the nose of the famous Adolph Hitler Panzer Division and other crack Wermacht troops who were making a suicidal attempt to breakthrough our lines and sever the army supply line at Liege. |
| |
| We convoyed through the early morning hours, the darkness lightened by a skilful of German flares, to Waimes, Belgium. Here the battery was reorganized for a tank destroyer mission. |
| |
| At 1400 on the 17th we left Waimes, the range equipment and the personnel under the guidance of 1st Sgt Kapala going to Liege and the rest of the battery going to Sourbrodt, Belgium and setting up as tank destroyers. |
| |
| On December 19th S/Sgt Delaney returned to the battery after missing in action for three days. He was stranded in Bullingen when the Germans entered the town. After hiding out in a cellar when for two days, he managed to infiltrate the German lines and joined the 1st Infantry Division and from there he made his way back to the battery. |
| |
| On Christmas Eve, December 24, 1944, enemy aircraft attacked, strafing convoys and trying to bomb strategic crossroads. Our M-51 quad mounts engaged the planes and one enemy plane was claimed. |
| |
| Christmas was observed in a rather unusual setting, but nevertheless we had turkey with all the trimmings and a big mail call. American light, medium, and heavy bombers and fighter planes of all types filled the air all day leaving long white vapor trails in the cold December sky. |
| |
| The day after Christmas we moved to a new position nine miles west of Verviers, Belgium. Here the range section joined us again and we had an AA mission once more. |
| |
| We stayed in this position three days and then moved to Eupen, Belgium on the 29th. We were attached to the 413 AAA Gun Battalion for a tactical mission as Anti aircraft. We bivouacked in a field that night until the outfit we were relieving moved out. |
| |
| The next day we went into position and everyone was busy building shacks and getting German huts to live in. |
| |
| January 1, 1945, the M-51 quad mounts fired on enemy aircraft. One plane claimed. |
| |
| January was a pretty quiet month for us. Lt. (the mole) Szubrowski left the battery to become adjutant for the battalion. His place in the battery was filled by Lt. Kummer who left "A" Battery to join us. While we were here at Eupen got day passes to Verviers and 48 hour passes to Eupen. Show trucks ran to Eupen and Headquarters each day. The Donut Dugout in Eupen received a lot of patronage from Dog battery. |
| |
| February 1st the sun came out and it started to warm up and it also started to get muddy. For the next three weeks until we moved out on February 27th we were slopping around in knee deep mud. |
| |
| When we finally left Eupen on the 27th of February, we entered Germany at 1000 and convoyed to our new position at Eicherscheid, which was a beat up little town on top of a cold windy mountain, on 'Dead cow lane' |
| |
| |
| 
| Hits: 1967
