FEATURE STORY
from The CUB magazine Posted January 1, 1997

PREFACE
by John Kline, editor
106th Infantry Division Association's quarterly magazine. (1987 - ?? ).
The CUB of the Golden Lion, whose short name is The CUB has been published Stateside since September 1947.

The story featured here is a a result of a World War II photo taken by a German Army photographer at the onset of the start of their ARDENNES OFFENSIVE on 16 December 1944. This battle commonly known in the USA and elsewhere as THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE was the largest land battle fought in World War II.

The photo was furnished to me, as editor of the magazine, by an e-mail friend in Holland, Hans Wijers, who retrieved it from the German War Library at Koblenz, Germany. I published it in the November 1996 CUB magazine in hopes that we could identify the cause of the vehicle being disabled and a dead American soldier on the ground behind it.

After The CUB Vol 53 - No. 1 OCT-NOV-DEC 1996 was mailed to members of the 106th Infantry Division Association, I received a letter from one of the soldiers directly involved in the action that precipitated the photograph. His story follows:

To the Story:

AMBUSH !!!

by John Roberts
C Battery, 592nd Field Artillery Battalion
106th Infantry Division, WWII
Click here for large photo view. (18 kb)

To John Kline, editor

Today is December 16, the day that 52 years ago (1944) in World War II the German Army launched their ARDENNES OFFENSIVE. Of course it is known to us, and much of the world as, The Battle of the Bulge.

The story I am about to relate to you is ironic because I am about to tell you why the 592nd FA Battalion C-5 weapons carrier pictured on page 12 in the OCT-NOV- DEC issue of THE CUB is sitting in the ditch and what caused that to happen. I was there and almost got killed!!!!

I don't know how I can ever thank you for publishing that picture, but when I first saw it chills ran down my spine. My copy of THE CUB arrived at my house on Wednesday, December 11. I always read the magazine from cover to cover and start at the beginning. I was shocked when I turned to page 12. I actually gasped. The reason for my excitement is the fact that the weapons carrier C-5 was the second of two vehicles carrying me and other members of the "C" Battery, 592nd Field Artillery Battalion Forward Observer Party from "C" Battery's gun position at Laudesfeld, Germany to Roth, Germany where we were to take up our assigned duties on the morning of December 16, 1944. The reason I know it was our weapons carrier is the fact that C-5 was the number assigned to the Wire Section's vehicle. The 592F and C-5 painted on the rear bumpers are clearly visible.

When the two vehicle convoy left "C" Battery's gun emplacement at Laudesfeld, Germany on the morning of December 16, 1944 I was seated in the rear seat of the jeep (C-2) which was the lead vehicle where its driver T/5 Laurence L. (Larry) Loudon (from Delavan, Wisconsin) and lst Lt. Rex Matson, Forward Observer were seated in the front seat. In the front seat of the weapons carrier C-5 were Terrill (Terry) Rigdon, the driver (from Kirksville, MO) and Harold (Harry) Hallberg (from Iron Mountain, MI). In the rear of the weapons carrier were six wiremen from the "C" Battery's Wire Section. One of those men was Cpl. Howard Hoffmeyer. The two vehicles were headed toward Roth, Germany where Lt. Matson and I (a Scout Corporal at the time in the Detail Section) would take over the duties of directing artillery fire for "C" Battery at the already established Forward Observation post nestled in the front lines in support of the 422nd Infantry Regiment. It was our turn to relieve the Forward Observer and enlisted men who had been on duty for five days after our Battery took over the positions of the 2nd Infantry Division when they pulled out as we went into position on December 10, 1944.

Harry Hallberg was the T/4 radio operator and he would remain at the Forward Observation Post with Lt. Matson and me. Larry Loudon and his jeep would also remain with us until we were relieved some days later but we had no idea when. We had our bed rolls and our supplies with us. The C-5 weapons carrier with the 50 caliber machine gun (as seen in the picture mounted on its pedestal behind the cab and pointed up in the air) and the six wiremen with Terry Rigdon as its driver were supposed to start laying communications wire from the Forward Observation Post in Roth, Germany to the "C" Battery gun position at Laudesfeld, Germany where the 155mm howitzers were in place.

In route between Auw and Roth just as our two vehicles left the forest we entered a clearing (from left in the picture) and proceeded down a slight decline in the road when the Germans ambushed both vehicles about 8:30 AM. Larry Loudon took a bullet in his right arm, and rolled out of his jeep and sought coverage to the right side of the road. Lt. Matson and I jumped out of the jeep, he to the right of the road and me to the left of the road. The jeep rolled forward and off the right side of the road and turned over. Terry Rigdon stopped his vehicle C-5 and everyone in the weapons carrier scrambled out to the right side of the road to keep from getting hit with one or more of the tremendous number of bullets flying every which way. Howard Hoffmeyer was killed before he could even get off the seat where he had been seated in the back of the weapons carrier. I was the only one of our group who jumped into the ditch on the left side of the road.

I had the most protection because I ended up in a sloping gully. I was protected as I fired my carbine through the fog at unknown moving targets. I could hear the screams of my buddies as they got hit from the flying bullets. I hollered for my comrades to come to my side of the road since they were more exposed to the Germans small arms fire. Some did. Being outnumbered and with a high casualty rate we surrendered and were taken prisoners. Harry Hallberg and I were the only two from our group who was not killed or wounded that morning. I won't go into detail, but our escape from the Germans later that day is another long story which is in chapter form in my autobiography.

I need to tell you this much of my story to authenticate why the C-5 weapons carrier you published in THE CUB is not just any disabled vehicle with an unknown background, but one that brings back many memories of a momentous occasion to someone who is still alive to explain in detail the circumstances as to why the weapons carrier is disabled.. With the C-5 weapons carrier sitting in the middle of the road facing the German advance toward Auw, Germany I am sure that the first tank or some other piece of heavy equipment to advance west on the road pushed the weapons carrier out of the way and off to the side. Since the weapons carrier was facing the German advance it is only logical that the German vehicle pushed the weapons carrier backwards which caused the rear of the vehicle to enter the ditch with its front end pointed up at an angle toward the road.

The photograph in the article had to be taken a short time after we were captured because the body of the dead soldier has to be that of Cpl. Howard Hoffmeyer. I can only assume that when the German tank or truck pushed the C-5 weapons carrier off the road Howard Hoffmeyer's body tumbled from the seat in the rear of the truck and onto the ground as shown in the picture. It is ironic that a German photographer would take that picture so early in the German offensive. I would suspect that my comrades and I were some of the very first prisoners of war taken during the Battle of the Bulge. As we were being taken prisoners the German army was already advancing westward on that road toward the American forces at Auw, Germany.

I was pleasantly shocked and so very grateful to see this picture. It sure brings back a lot of memories of that terrible morning. There must be thousands of photographs taken by German photographers throughout the long war they fought and here comes Hans Wijers, in the Netherlands and sends one single picture to John Kline, Editor of THE CUB and you had the option to either print it or hold it in your file. And to think the article appeared almost on the anniversary of December 16. To further document the picture and my story, the caption on the photo (backside) says: "Half (mid) December 1944. Overran US lines at the beginning of the offensive between the "Hohen Venn" and the northern part of Luxembourg." To me "Half December" is December 16. Also, "Overran US lines at the beginning of the offensive" means the early morning hours of December 16 and our ambush was at approximately 8:30 AM that morning.

I must also add that when the remainder of our Forward Observer Party finally escaped the Germans later that day on December 16, 1944 there were only two of us from our group who were not wounded that morning..... Roberts and Hallberg! Rigdon, although wounded, did not require medical treatment as he never discovered his flesh wound until the next day while we were trying to get through the German's front lines. Those in our group who were wounded we were able to get to a a First Aid Station in Manderfeld, Germany after we escaped the Germans at the village of Weckerath. After Rigdon, Hallberg and I eventually escaped from Manderfeld we worked our way through the Germans surrounding the village and then through the German front lines before infiltrating the American front lines.

[Route Map] It took the three of us until December 21st to find 592/C. I have enclosed a map which supports the story I have related to you. The legend of the numbers on the map is as follows: (1) Where our Forward Observer group was ambushed and captured. (2) German command post where our group was taken and where two guards were assigned to us to take us to who knows where (or shoot us). (3) Tennebach Creek where Roberts and Loudon fell through the ice while Roberts helped to carry Loudon because of his severe injury and loss of blood. Our combined weight caused the ice to break. (4) When being marched by the German guards our group ran across a Cavalry Unit that was cut off which enabled us to escape our captors. (5) Where our group joined up with the Cavalry Unit at the village of Weckerath. (6) After running a gauntlet through cross fire on the road between Weckerath and Manderfeld our group reached the First Aid Station in Manderfeld. From this location is where Roberts, Hallberg and Rigdon made our third escape from the Germans.

I know for a fact that the only two vehicles that were lost during that early period of time were the Jeep (C-2) I was riding in with Larry Loudon and Lt. Rex Matson and the weapons carrier (C-5). I know this for a fact because after I rejoined "C" Battery I was immediately promoted to S/Sgt and an acting officer because of the casualties suffered in the officers ranks during the first few days of the German offensive. In my new position I was in charge of the Detail Section and I was aware of the vehicles that were lost. Later I was awarded a battlefield commission as a 2nd Lt. As a post script "C" Battery, 592nd FA Bn. did lose another jeep and that happened during the middle of January 1945 when Bill Sewert (Lewisburg, Ohio) and Carl Himberg (West Roxbury, MA) accompanied Lt. Sohier on a mission to find a 592/C prime mover (used to pull our 155mm howitzers) that had been disabled during the earlier part of the Bulge. The three of them were ambushed on that mission.....

Carl Himberg was killed (now buried in Henri Chapelle Military Cemetery in Belgium), Bill Sewert was wounded and never returned to 592/C and Lt. Sohier was wounded and subsequently returned to the battery for active duty. I have a picture of Carl Himberg's grave which was taken by Mary Jonckeau, a CRIBA member, in 1995 and sent to me after I told her that Carl was one of my best friends and I failed to find his grave when I visited the Cemetery in September 1994 when I toured with the 106th Division group.

John, I just had to tell the story about the C-5 weapons carrier. There must have been a voice within you that told you to print that picture because it meant so much to me personally. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to see this article and how pleased I am to be able to relate the background of the vehicle that means so little to anyone other than me and Larry Loudon. How often can something like this happen in ones lifetime?!!!!! Saturday night I called Larry Loudon in Delavan, Wisconsin and we discussed the picture and he agreed that the C-5 weapons carrier is indeed the one that followed us in convoy toward Roth, Germany on the morning of December 16, 1944.

I also attended the Michigan Chapter of the 106th Division Association annual dinner meeting in Detroit last evening, Sunday, December 15, 1996 and I was able to speak with Harold Ortwine (from Novi, Michigan) also a member of 592/C. Harold also agreed that the C-5 weapons carrier is indeed the one that I explained in detail in this letter. I might add that Larry Loudon was just as astonished as I was when he saw the picture of C-5 in THE CUB. We reminisced on the telephone about that fateful day. To think that we would see a picture of the area where we were ambushed and captured 52 years earlier is uncanny. Thanks John, "you made my day!"
John Roberts

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