Posted by Allan Wilford Howerton The operations of Company B and the 335th's First Battalion on November 29 are described as follows in the division history, "The 84th Infantry Division in the Battle of Germany" by Lt. Theodore Draper: "At 2:15 the 335th's 1st Battalion was committed to help the 3rd Battalion. Company A and B led off, Company C in reserve. They had to guide on the Lindern-Gereonsweiler road and also by this time 88's seemed to be plowing up every yard around it. In fact, since the 3rd Battalion's three platoons had slipped through in the darkness, the 1st Battalion was our first force which had to fight its way through in broad daylight. One counter-attack from the Lindern-Linnich road on the right, involving about 75 enemy infantrymen, came at 4:30 and was beaten back only after our artillery, mortars, machine guns, and riflemen were brought into play. By the time we reached the anti-tank ditch for the second time, it was dark and more than three hours of continuous shelling, shooting, and waiting in the mud had been going on. At the ditch the 1st Battalion made a detour to the northwest in order to avoid enemy fire from the direction of the Linnich-Lindern road. It was ready to enter the town from the west at about 8 o'clock. By that time, Company B, 40th Tank Battalion, and Company L, 3rd Battalion had already entered by the more direct route and Company L had dug in on the eastern edge of Lindern. At about 9 o'clock the 1st Battalion's three companies went in and took over the western and southwestern sides of the town." During this time I was with the Company K contingent which had slipped through in the early morning darkness and dug in across the tracks from the Lindern railroad station. My memoir, "Dear Captain, et al.: the Agonies and the Ecstasies of War and Memory" quotes (page 221) the following from the report of an after-action interview with Company K's commander, Leonard Carpenter: "I headed back (after visiting Company L's CP) at about 2000 to my own CP after making arrangements to send my POW's to Company L's basement. I met Company A on the road at the first overpass. I found they were going on my left flank where my 3rd Platoon used to be. I also learned that B Company would cover the road left of the town." Only one other man (Sgt. William P. Leake of Lexington, Illinois) was killed in action during Company B's drive into Lindern. We are most appreciative of your "adoption" of Arthur Miller's grave at Margraten.
Link: More on "Dear Captain, et al."
on July 11, 2007, 4:02 pm, in reply to "Re: Movember 18/19, 1944"
Message modified by board administrator July 11, 2007, 4:06 pm
The 84th Division roster lists Sgt. Arthur Miller (KIA 11.29.44) of Long Island City, New York as a member of Company B, 335th Infantry. I cannot account for the difference between this listing and that of the American Battle Monuments Commission which indicates that he entered service from the State of Pennsylvania. 256
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