49th Armored Infantry Battalion
'A' Company - Daily Historical Notes
March 1945

Corporal T. J. Michael, A Company, 49th AIB. Company Historian
Verbatim extracts from original notes made by: Lt. Howard L. Oleck, Historical Officer
AT: VENLO, HOLLAND 1300 hours, 16 March 1945

4 March 1945 (Aldekerk)

Not much doing today - just the usual cleaning up and relaxation. We had our steaks at noon chow and they really hit the spot - let's hope we hit more 'beef' towns.
    Well, off to bed again with hopes for another night's sleep. The hopes didn't last long however. At 2230 a message came through to get everyone up and prepare to move on an hour's notice. So we all got up, got ready. And waited.

5 March 1945

We waited around until 0500 this morning and finally pulled out. We followed the 49th who took the town of Lintfort. Then, together with the 36th, we passed on through Lintfort to attack the town of Rheinberg. At 1400, the column composed as follows, moved into the west approach of Rheinberg: A Co 36th with 1st platoon of A Co 49th atchd, then A Co 49th followed by Hq and Hq Co 36th, B Co 36th, and D Co 36th.

The column moved single file up the road meeting practically no opposition. Scattered shots could be heard but there was no resistance to speak of. Suddenly all Hell broke loose. Enemy machine guns, burp-guns, mortars, and 88's opened up on all sides of us. The head of the column was stopped and the whole column was virtually pinned down. We threw out plenty of fire from our vehicles, but the enemy was well dug in and had a definite advantage in that he could pick us off when we venture to fire over the sides of our half-tracks. Then Jerry zeroed in on the road on which our halted vehicles were lined up and made it plenty hot, inflicting numerous casualties and knocking out some vehicles. The order came to dismount and it was 'over the side and out of the door' in a hell of a hurry. We dug in as much as possible along the sides of the road and the platoons attempted to deploy their weapons against the enemy. The 2d and 3d Rifle Platoons deployed and would have been in position for advance, but the order for withdrawal was given. The withdrawal took about 1 1/2 hours and was accomplished under such a withering fire, that it seemed almost a miracle to have gotten out alive.

The company then moved into position to attack the town from the south. We followed B Co 49th and gave supporting fire to the supporting tanks on this southern approach.

At about dusk - 1900 - our company was relieved by the 137th Inf Regt of the 35th Div and we pulled back to the town of Strommers just outside of Rheinberg for reorganization. We licked our wounds and counted our casualties and knew it was a day we would never forget.

Our final tally of Valiant Dead and Heroic wounded for our first real engagement is as follows:
    14 EM KILLED IN ACTION
    2 OFFICERS WOUNDED IN ACTION
    30 EM WOUNDED IN ACTION
    1 OFFICER - BATTLE FATIGUE

49th Armored Infantry Battalion
1st Platoon - Company A
Verbatim Copy of After Action Notes to Battalion Hq

Made by   1st Lt. Howard L. Oleck, Historical Officer
AT   Venlo, Holland 1315 hours, 16 March 1945
Narrative of actions of 1st Platoon from 5 March 1945:

The first Platoon of A Co 49th was attached to A Co 36th Tk Bn and was leading element in the column attacking Rheinberg from the Western Approach on 5 March 1945. The only elements ahead were Reconnaissance units of the 88th Cav. Rcn. The platoon was married to the tanks of the 36th (i.e. Tank, half-track, etc.) The 88th Rcn units were pinned down by heavy enemy mortar and machine gun fire, and our platoon pushed through past the 88th pouring out heavy counter fire against the enemy. The enemy succeeded in knocking out some of our tanks and half-tracks, and inflicted numerous casualties on our troops, making it necessary to dismount and seek cover and attempt to get in position to fight back. The platoon remained in this pinned-down position for about 1 hour, receiving a heavy concentration of enemy artillery, mortar, and machine gun fire.

At this time, Captain (Kemble) Tucker, Commanding Officer of A Co, 36th Tk Bn gave the order to mount up and attack the town. Our troops mounted up on the tanks and followed them and moved up to within 100 yards of Rheinberg.

At this time, the platoon was split into three groups, one lead by Lt. (Robert E.) Amos and T/Sgt (William N.) Merrill, the 2d by S/Sgt (Herbert M.) Schaub, and the 3d by Pfc (Rocco M.) Zuccarella.

The actions of S/Sgt Schaub's group are as follows:
    S/Sgt Schaub with 8 men were following the lead tank. When this tank was knocked out by an 88, they took cover in a small ditch and remained there for 5 hours until darkness. They then crawled about 600 yards on their hands and knees to a point at which they considered it safe enough to walk. After walking for about 2 miles, they contacted elements of the 35th Div and attempted to find their outfit. (The group was completely out of contact with the plat and Co.)

The actions of T/Sgt Merrill's group are as follows:
    Lt Amos, T/Sgt Merrill, 14 platoon members, and some tankers whose tanks were knocked out withdrew under heavy fire to a group buildings. Before entering the buildings, they directed the fire of some tanks an them and then used a captured Jerry to assist in flushing them out. They then set up in these buildings and remained until dark. Under cover of darkness they moved out of the buildings to a point about 200 yards away and here dug in for the night. During the night, they sent out two patrols with the mission of searching for wounded or missing men. Both patrols were unsuccessful in accomplishing their mission. Just before dawn, with 6 tanks and 1 half-track, they withdrew to friendly lines.

The actions of Pfc Zuccarella's Group:
    When the enemy fire became too heavy, they left the tanks and took cover in ditches and behind mounds made by tank-dozers. While in this pinned down position, they directed medics to the wounded and even exposed themselves to assist them. They remained in this position until darkness and then withdrew under terrific enemy fire to an awaiting half-track which was discovered by one of the squad members. They mounted up in the half-track and withdrew to friendly lines.
    At no time during the whole action did any one of the above groups have contact with any other.