Both Bns make plans for C/Atk to E and SE. Both Bns be prepared for hvy ey armored atk that is likely to come at any time today. 68 complete its defense positions and hold this position, preventing any movemen to W or NW past it. to relieve the pressure on the 3rd Battalion, 315th Infantry, 79th Division.”26 The specific instructions from CCA to the 68th articulated the need for the 48th TB and the armored infantry to coordinate their movements: “48 will hold positions strongly vic Rittershoffen, preventing both enemy armor and inf. The stage was set but little did we know that this time what a tremendous job had been cut out for us…. We moved up and dug in positions east of Kuhlendorf. It most certainly would, according to the 68th’s history: “The summons came the morning 11th January and we were ordered to stem a German offensive in the vicinity of Rittershoffen. They have fire support from S of town which may develop into an attack.” “At 0810 about 200 ey began an atk on Hatten from the East. Enemy artillery, approximately 250 rounds, fell on the 48th TB’s positions from the direction of the Rhine to the east. The S-2 and S-3 Journals of the 68th Armored Infantry Battalion recorded what was happening from a message from CCA to the 68th. A corporal gunner remarked, ‘I sat in that seat and picked a spot on the steel side of the tank where I figured the first 88 would come through. Joseph Carter, “Multi-colored German tracers crisscrossed in the dawn. During the ordeal depicted by Todd, according to the 14th AD’s History written by Capt. He managed to crawl into a potato furrow about eight inches deep and, although freezing, reached the safety of the other tanks in the platoon. Todd and the other crewmembers descended out of the bottom hatch, the safer exit. Nathan McAfee climbed out of the top hatch he was hit by machine-gun fire. The TD hit on Todd’s Sherman would result in of several serious problems for its crew as the tank started to burn and then explode stored rounds inside the tank. At this time I traversed left to search for more targets and our tank was hit by the TD, which we later learned was abandoned by the American crew and manned by a German crew. Stair shouted that it was one of our attached tank destroyers. I spotted what I thought was a German tank with their gun tube pointed in our direction. Todd’s tank was hit by a round from a captured American tank destroyer-another instance of a captured TD inflicting harm on a Sherman:
But again, the enemy was about to surprise the American tankers, who learned the hard way of the ingenuity and deception of their stealthy foe. Todd had been promoted to gunner in December and had learned well his deadly trade. I traversed left and fired 2 rd into the next tank turret. Through my telescopic sight I could see my tracer disappear into the Kraut tank turret. The first German tank I spotted was 75 yards in front of my tank. Their tanks were painted white, ours were covered with OD sandbags and their infantry wore white parkas. The Germans had sent in screaming meemies all night and at 0630 hours started their attack against our positions. The next morning, 11 Jan was foggy with 8 inches of snow on the ground. The Germans continuously fired what the Gls called “screaming meemies” (from the Nebelwerfer multiple rocket launcher), missiles that were less lethal than more accurate mortars or artillery rounds but which kept the men on edge with their eerie scream. Despite this small victory, Todd’s Company rotated back to Rittershoffen after their failed attempt to take Hatten. His friend, “Mac” McAfee told him that the tally of three destroyed tanks was his birthday present, his twenty-second. His tank scored a hit on a panzer, which set it aflame. He was one of those involved in the fiery contretemps on 10 January. Todd, a loader in a Sherman tank in C Company of the 48th Tank Battalion. Some veterans of the combat considered it one of the great tank battles of the war, especially those who fought amid the streets and houses, whether as infantry or tankers, whether engineers of reconnaissance troops, headquarters or ordnance troops. In the battle soon to be engaged, the Americans were seriously outnumbered, and the fighting in and around Hatten-Rittershoffen would take a terrible toll on both sides as well as on the civilians.
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