Description

45TH FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION
 • World War II •

33 pages scanned. Instant PDF download.

Document Overview:
Written by the men of the battalion soon after V-E Day, this history follows “Greenback” (the 45th Field Artillery Battalion’s radio code name) through ten months of combat. The 105mm battalion usually fired in direct support of the 28th Infantry Regiment. The story begins when the battalion lands at Utah Beach on 4 July 1944 and continues through the hedgerows at La Haye du Puits, the siege of Brest and the Crozon Peninsula, the quiet Luxembourg front, and the long winter in the Hurtgen Forest around Vossenack. It then covers the Roer River crossing, the drive to Cologne and the Rhine, the Ruhr Pocket, and the Elbe crossing, where the battalion processed more than 7,000 surrendering Germans. The writing is vivid and often wry, mixing combat detail with billets, food and souvenir hunting. A dedication lists the 15 men killed in action. The back matter has a full roster of each battery with hometown addresses, decoration lists by battery, and a “Greenback Statistics” page (121,128 rounds fired, 126 wounded, 8,000 prisoners taken). A hand-drawn cartoon route map runs from Utah Beach to the Elbe. This is a digital download of a scanned copy of the original booklet.

Campaigns: Normandy; Northern France (Rennes, Cape Frehel, Brest, Crozon); Rhineland (Luxembourg, Hurtgen Forest, Roer River); Central Europe (Ruhr Pocket, Elbe River).

Commanders: Lt. Col. A. A. Greene; Lt. Col. Guy C. Lothrop (joined in combat); Maj. Ernest W. Ripy, Jr.; Maj. John C. Smalley. Battery commanders: Capt. DeHart C. Wiard and Capt. Warren E. Rutherford (A Battery); Capt. William E. Ward and Capt. Everett C. Owens, Jr. (B Battery); Capt. Robert S. Ingersoll, Jr. (C Battery); Capt. Elmo B. Good (Service Battery).

Unit newspaper: unknown

Table of Contents
To Those Who Died
Campaigns, Engagements and Assignments
Normandy: Utah Beach, La Haye du Puits and the Ay River
Brittany: Rennes, Cape Frehel, Brest and the Crozon Peninsula
Luxembourg
The Hurtgen Forest
The Roer River Crossing, Cologne and the Rhine
The Ruhr Pocket
The Elbe River and V-E Day
Personnel of Hq. and Hq. Battery
Personnel of Battery “A”
Personnel of Battery “B”
Personnel of Battery “C”
Personnel of Service Battery
Personnel of the Medical Detachment
Officers and Men Awarded Decorations
Greenback Statistics
Route Map: Utah Beach to the Elbe

“In those months we traveled a long way together, did many brave things, suffered many hard things, enjoyed many funny things.” (45th Field Artillery Battalion history)