Posted by Allan Wilford Howerton on May 9, 2005, 4:52 pm, in reply to "Re: Wilkie M. King" The 84th was not at Bastogne. Your father may be thinking of March-en-femenne, Belgium where the division defended the far northwest corner of the Bulge and staged a counterattack to take back that salient during the month of January 1945. This was, indeed, a very cold, snowy, and generally miserable time. The 334th Infantry was the lead element of the division at the Roer River crossing on February 23, 1945. The regiment’s second battalion led the division’s attack on the northern portion of Hannover (German spelling at the time) and its Company E was involved in a significant action during the capture of two Weser-Elbe Canal bridges leading into the city. The Company E commander at the time was Captain William W. Thompson of Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. The division history also mentions a Pfc. Epley of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania in relation to Hannover as follows: "One Company E man may have saved us from a good deal of embarrassment. As the middle of the column was making this detour (to bypass a German tank) Pfc. Robert E. Epley, a short, light chap, noticed a dim, gray figure on the road. The latter could not be seen clearly but Epley thought that a bazooka slung over his shoulder looked suspiciously like a German one. Epley stepped up and tapped him on the shoulder. The figure wheeled around. He was a German soldier armed with a machine pistol as well as a bazooka. Epley knocked the bazooka to the ground, grabbed the machine pistol and tore it away, swung for the German’s jaw, and stretched him out. Company E’s commander, Lt. William W. Thompson, gave Epley credit for an important assist. Had the German given the alarm, the tank might have gone into action and it was in a perfect position to spray the whole column." When the war ended, the division was, indeed, on the Elbe River, forty-five kilometers from Berlin, where we met the Russian army. "The Railsplitter" is the newsletter of the 84th Infantry Division Association. It is published twice annually. If he is not receiving it, his membership has probably lapsed. To renew contact Forrest Lothrop, Executive Secretary, 84th Infantry Division Association, P. O. Box 827, Sioux Falls, SD 57101-0827. (Dues: $15. per year for non-life members)
Link: More on 84th.
152.163.100.139
The Company E, 334th Infantry roster lists a Pfc. Charlie Sawyers of Norristown, Tennessee. He served in all three of the division’s campaigns (Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe) and was awarded a Bronze Star medal with one cluster, a distinguished combat record. I do not find a listing for a Lt. Handlin.
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