Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Christmas in Combat: Georgia Guard Soldiers Observe Christmas in 1944


By Major William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard

A cartoon depiction of the rapid mobilization of the Georgia National Guard’s 179th Field Artillery Battalion and 4th Armor Division to the Ardennes 
in December 1944 as drawn by a Soldier of the 179th. 179th, 17.

Seventy-five years ago, seven battalions of Georgia Guard Soldiers spent Christmas engaged in the Ardennes following a surprise German counterattack remembered today as the Battle of the Bulge. This chapter of the Georgia Guard History Blog takes a brief look at how each Georgia Guard unit passed Christmas 1944.

945th Field Artillery Battalion

When the Germans launched the Ardennes Offensive, the 945th Field Artillery Battalion was engaged with the IIX Corps, 3rd Army in the Lorraine Campaign near Nancy. In action throughout December, the battalion had taken severe casualties with just 72 men remaining for duty in Battery C.[1] On December 19, Lt. Gen. George Patton ordered the XII Corps to move via Luxembourg to the Ardennes. The 945th, still recovering from the counterbattery fire of December 18, did not get started until the next day.[2] Due to the heavy snow and unbearable cold, the route of march was torturous and delayed. A Soldier in the 945th recalled that the mud froze to their boots and that men clustered to ride on the hoods of M5 tractors in order to stay warm.[3]

On Christmas Eve, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton 
distributed these personal messages to the Soldiers
of the 3rd Army including members of the Georgia Army National 
Guard’s 945th Field Artillery Battalion.
The 3rd Army was moving to first stabilize the German penetration, then counterattack.[4] The American counterattack brought with it 108 artillery battalions with nearly 1,300 guns.[5] The guns of the 945th FAB went into action December 23 in Luxembourg targeting roads, bridges and enemy counterbattery fire. The next day, the 945th fired 549 high explosive rounds and 17 white phosphorous rounds.[6] That evening, Patton distributed a personal message and prayer written by Chaplain James O’Neill to the Soldiers of the 3rd Army.

On Christmas Day, the Soldiers of the 945th received turkey dinner. Patton circulated through the divisions of the 3rd Army congratulating the men for their efforts. He subsequently wrote that “No other Army in the world except the American could have done such a thing.”



179th Field Artillery Battalion[7]

A communications section of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 
179th Field Artillery Battalion struggles against the elements to 
set up a relay station in this humorous cartoon generated 
by a 179th Soldier. 179th, 16.
Also moving out with the 3rd Army on December 20 was the 179th Field Artillery Battalion, a Georgia Guard unit which had been based in Atlanta prior to the start of the War. Moving with the 4th Armored Division, the 179th arrived in Nagen, Belgium where the Georgia Guardsmen delivered their first salvos into German flank positions on December 23, 1944. From their firing position, the 179th Field Artillery Battalion supported the 26th Division and would continue to do so through Christmas. In January, the 179th, moving with the 4th Armored Division advanced to Bastogne to relieve the encircled 101st Airborne Division.



121st Infantry Regiment

The 121st Infantry Regiment had spent November and December in the bloody Hurtgen Forest, an experience one Gray Bonnet Soldier recalled as “hell with icicles” During the fighting, Staff Sgt. John Minick led an element of Soldiers through a minefield, silenced an enemy machine gun, killed 20 Germans and captured 20 before he was killed by a mine explosion. For his valorous actions, Minnick posthumously received the Medal of Honor.[8]
A mortar crew from Company D, 121st Infantry Regiment, Georgia National Guard fires rounds at a German observation post across the Roer River. National Archives.
In late December, the objective of the 121st Infantry Regiment was the town of Obermaubach, east of Hurtgen. Near Obermaubach was a dam on the Roer River. If the Germans destroyed the dam the resulting flood would hamper 1st Army efforts to cross.[9]

The 121st attack jumped off on Dec. 22, 1944. Company B, under command of Capt. William McKenna achieved early success, driving 300 yards through enemy mortar and machine gun fire. Company C gained a foothold in the town and the 121st began clearing operations. An enemy sniper felled Maj. Joseph Johnston, commander of 1st Battalion but he refused medical evacuation until the engagement was decided.[10]

Christmas Eve and Christmas came with the infantry still heavily engaged. Company F
Men of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment eat 
their first hot meal in 15 days after fighting in the Hurtgen Forest 
in December 1944. National Archives
cleared four bunkers while Soldiers of Company K knocked out two enemy strong points and cleared an approach for armor forces to move forward in support.


Stories of individual heroism were replete during the Christmas Day attack of the 121st against Obermaubach. Technical Sgt. Raymond Kommer moved out ahead of his squad which had been pinned down by machine gun fire. Incredibly, Kommer managed to crawl within arms reach of the enemy machine gun position. When the enemy gunner paused to reload, Kommer reached into the machine gun nest and unceremoniously pulled the gun right out of the gunner’s hands.[11]

While leading Company B, Capt. McKenna low crawled through enemy minefields within sight of enemy positions and called in artillery fire. He remained in an exposed position calling in targets before machine gun fire compelled him to return to his men. Still, he moved from foxhole to foxhole encouraging his Soldiers through personal example. During the attack that followed, McKenna was killed by small arms fire.[12]



118th Field Artillery Battalion

The Georgia Army National Guard’s 118th Field Artillery Battalion went into 
position near Malmedy, Belgium in which American Soldiers had been 
murdered by the Waffen SS days previous. 230th FA, 54
On December 16, 1944, the Soldiers of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 118th Field Artillery Battalion, part of the 30th Infantry Division, were in Langweiler, Germany when they received the order to be prepared to mobilize following the German counteroffensive in the Ardennes. Hastily loading personnel, equipment, and Christmas souvenirs onto trucks, the battalion moved out of Langweiler at 8:00 p.m. into darkness and swirling snow.[13] The vehicle column endured a night attack by the Luftwaffe the next morning and by December 18, the 118th was passing through Malmedy. Going into position near the town of Spa, Belgium, the Soldiers would soon find themselves firing at their old nemeses from Mortain, the 1st SS Panzer Division.[14] The resolve of the Soldiers was strengthened after learning of the American Soldiers who had been ambushed and murdered along the road in Malmedy through which they had passed just two days previous.

On December 19, the 118th batteries received fire missions and began firing at the rate of one round per minute against the advancing German vanguard. Presently, the batteries were ordered to increase their rate of fire to two rounds per minute. This rate of fire was sustained until the guns became red hot and the falling snows sizzled on tubes. Soldiers of Service Battery were hard pressed to keep up with the ammunition requirements of the line batteries and were compelled to race about on steep, icy roads bringing ammunition forward.

Over the next several days, the 118th fought the Germans and the elements with freezing cold temperatures and low clouds preventing American aircraft from flying over the lines. Finally, on Christmas Eve, the clouds lifted, and allied aircraft were soon bombing German positions and strafing supply lines.

The fighting continued in earnest on Christmas and the Soldiers had to rotate from their positions to enjoy their turkey dinner. From December 19 to 25, the battalion fired approximately 20,000 rounds.[15] They would continue to fire with deadly effect into the New Year and halfway through January before the Allies began to push the Germans back.



230th Field Artillery Battalion
Georgia National Guard Soldiers of Battery A, 230th Field Artillery Battalion in action near Malmedy, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944.  230th, 50.
Like its sister battalion, the 118th, the Georgia Guard’s 230th Field Artillery Battalion received an urgent alert to move while stationed at Langendorf, Germany[16]. Shortly before midnight December 17, the battalion abandoned their comfortable houses with decorated fir trees and began the movement to the Ardennes. Along the route, the 230th experienced the same Luftwaffe attacks as related by the Soldiers of the 118th. Moving south from Aachen, the 230th established firing positions near Malmedy. Although in proximity to the 118th the 230th did not receive the same quantity of fire due to the terrain of the valley in which they were emplaced. Nevertheless, the guns of the 230th supported the 120th Infantry Regiment was positioned to their front.
Happy Soldiers of the Ga. Army National Guard’s 
230th FAB receive Christmas packages from
 home Dec. 24, 1944 near Spa, Belgium. 230th, 54.

The 230th had perhaps the most fortunate position on Christmas of any Georgia Guard unit in Europe. The battalion’s headquarters was near the Belgian town of Spa. The Soldiers were able to rotate from Malmedy to Spa where they enjoyed Turkey dinner along with the hot bubbling mineral springs. Without ornaments, the Soldiers decorated small fir trees with bright paper and bubble gum wrappers. Not content to enjoy the blessings of Christmas by themselves, the Soldiers collected truckloads of candy and food to provide for the children of nearby Malmedy. Having enjoyed a relatively peaceful Christmas interlude with the moonlight reflecting of the quiet snowy valley, the Soldiers would soon advance to provide artillery support as the Infantry Regiments of the 30th Division pressed east.[17]





[1] Cosgrove, William M. Time on Target: the 945th Field Artillery Battalion in World War II. Place of publication not identified: W.M. Cosgrove, III, 1997, 111
[2] Cosgrove, 125
[3] Ibid
[4] Cosgrove, 126
[5] Cosgrove, 127
[6] Ibid
[7] History and Battle Record of 179 F.A. Bn., 1857-1945. Regensburg, Germany: Frederich Pustet, 1945, 16.
[9] Gray Bonnet, 41
[10] Gray Bonnet, 42
[11] Gray Bonnet, 43
[12] Ibid
[13]Smith, Gordon Burns. History in Action: 118th Field Artillery, 30th Infantry Division 1942-1945, 2nd Edition. Washington, D.C.: Florida “Gator” Chapter, 1988, 83
[14] 118, 85
[15] 118, 88
[16] Jacobs, John et al. On the Way: A Historical Narrative of the Two-Thirtieth Field Artillery Battalion Thirtieth Infantry Division. Poessneck, Germany: F. Gerold Verlag, 1945, 48
[17] 230th, 54

Thursday, December 19, 2019

55 Years Ago: Ga. Guard Unit Takes to the Air to Demonstrate Alert Mobility and Joint Capability


By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Ga. Army National Guard

DOBBINS AIR FORCE BASE, December 20, 1964 – Members of Rome’s Company A, 2nd Medium Tank Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment prepare to board a Ga. Air National Guard C-97 Stratofreighter of the 116th Air Transport Wing as part of a rapid assembly and mobilization drill. The Guardsmen reported to the Rome Armory at 6:00 and were transported to Dobbins by 9:30. For some of the men, it was their first time in an airplane. After flying a circuit throw North Alabama and Tennessee, the C-97 returned to Dobbins and the Rome Soldiers returned to their armory. Georgia Guard Archives
When the Georgia Army National Guard Soldiers of the Rome-based Company A, 2nd Medium Tank Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment reported for duty Sunday Dec. 20, 1964, they received a surprise mission order. The Soldiers were briefed of a simulated emergency situation that required rapid deployment by air to assist Georgia citizens. The Soldiers hurriedly drew their weapons, assembled in formation and were loaded onto trucks for transport to Dobbins Air Force Base in Marietta, Ga.

By 9:30 a.m., the Soldiers were transporting south in columns of trucks. Huddled together in the back of the 2 ½ ton trucks, the Soldiers endured the chill December air as the trucks rumbled south over surface roads bound for the Marietta headquarters of the Georgia Air National Guard. Arriving at Dobbins, the men received a boxed lunch from the unit’s mess section and were directed to the flight line to board a waiting C-97 Stratofreighter of the 116th Transport Wing. For many of the Soldiers strapping themselves into the seats in the cargo hold of the transport plane, this would be their first flight. As the men peered from tiny windows dotting the aircraft’s fuselage, the four engines roared to life and propelled the lumbering aircraft to the runway. Taking to the air, the plane flew north to simulate transportation to an impacted town. The men passed the time playing cards and viewing the North Georgia terrain from an entirely new perspective.

DOBBINS AIR FORCE BASE, December 20, 1964 – Members of Rome’s Company A, 2nd Medium Tank Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment catch a ride on a Georgia Air National Guard C-97 Stratofreighter of the 116th Air Transport Wing as part of a rapid assembly and mobilization drill. Georgia Guard Archives
The Stratofreighter flew the Rome Guardsmen on a loop over North Georgia to Gadsden, Ala. And Chattanooga, Tenn. to demonstrate the rapid reach capability in the event of a local emergency. Before returning, the Air National Guardsmen circled the aircraft over Rome to afford the Guardsmen a birds-eye view of their hometown. The Aircraft then bore them back to Dobbins where the men boarded their trucks for the return drive home.

Captain John. Yarborough, commander of Company A, considered the mobility
DOBBINS AIR FORCE BASE, December 20, 1964 –
Members of Rome’s Company A, 2nd Medium Tank Battalion,
108th Armor Regiment pass the time during a flight aboard a Ga.
Air National Guard C-97 Stratofreighter of the 116th Air
Transport Wing as part of a rapid assembly and mobilization drill.
Georgia Guard Archives.
exercise a complete success lauding the cooperation between the Georgia Air National Guard personnel and the Georgia Army National Guard Unit. Yarborough also praised the Soldiers for their response.

“The alert was 100 percent,” said Yarborough. “The assembly order went out at 6:00, and by 8:00, 85 percent of the unit’s officers and men were present.”

The unit left the armory at full-strength at 9:30 a.m., less than four hours after the initial notice. This is all the more remarkable when one considers that the alert did not have modern communications capabilities afforded by internet or cell phones. The alert required total commitment of the unit and the Rome community to communicate the assembly order and assemble the entire unit in short order. The exercise demonstrated not only the partnership between the Georgia Air and Army National Guard but the synergy between the Soldier and community.

Fifty-five years later, Rome Georgia is home to the Georgia National Guard’s 1160th Transportation Company. In 2019, the 1160th completed a mobility test of its own when its nearly 200 Soldiers completed back-to-back rotations at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, La.

Sunday, December 8, 2019

48th IBCT Bids Farewell to Col. Matthew Smith, Welcomes 28th Commander

By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
 Colonel Matthew Smith, outgoing commander of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team receives the colors 
of the 48th IBCT from Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Matthew Marks during a change of command ceremony at
 the Macon Readiness Center Dec. 7, 2019. Colonel Anthony Fournier assumed command as the 
28th commander of the 48th IBCT. Photo by Maj. William Carraway
Colonel Matthew Smith relinquished command of the Georgia Army National Guard’s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team to Col. Anthony Fournier during a ceremony at the Macon Readiness Center Dec. 7, 2019. 

Smith, who led the brigade since December 2016, passed the 48th IBCT colors to Col. Anthony Fournier, signifying the official transfer of power for the 48th IBCT Volunteers, an organization of more than 4,000 Georgia Guardsmen. Smith’s tour of command culminated with the successful deployment of the 48th to Afghanistan in 2019. It was the brigade’s fourth overseas combat deployment since September 11, 2001.

 Georgia Guardsmen of the 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team assemble at the Macon Readiness Center Dec. 7, 2019 
for a ceremony marking the transfer of command from Col. Matthew Smith to Col. Anthony Fournier. Photo by Maj. William Carraway
Smith led the 48th through a period of transition and increased partnership with the 3rd Infantry Division. Assuming command just six months into the brigade’s associated unit pilot with the 3rd ID, Smith integrated the IBCT training with the Fort Stewart-based division. From June 5 to 25, 2017, the Volunteers endured extreme temperatures and long training days in the humid fields of Fort Stewart during an eXportable Combat Training Capability exercise. 
Soldiers of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment and the 177th Brigade Engineer Battalion move
 out on an approach march to reach their objective during the eXportable Combat Training Capability exercise at
 Fort Stewart, Ga. June 21, 2017. Photo by Capt. William Carraway

A joint command post training exercise held at Fort Stewart in April 2018 further cemented the relationship between the 48th IBCT and 3rd ID before the brigade headed to Fort Polk, La. for a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center. The 48th returned to Fort Stewart for pre-mobilization training and its first elements began to deploy to Afghanistan from Hunter Army Airfield in December. By the end of January, the brigade had completed the transfer of authority for its new mission and served for the next six months before returning to Fort Stewart in July. 

Following the change of command ceremony, Smith was promoted to brigadier general. His next assignment is as the Deputy Director of Operations, Readiness and Mobilization, Headquarters, Department of the Army.

Colonel Anthony Fournier accepts the colors of the 48th 
IBCT during a change of command ceremony at the 
Macon Regional Readiness Center Dec. 7, 
2019. Photo by Maj. William Carraway
Colonel Anthony Fournier has served over 30 years in the Georgia National Guard. Fournier enlisted as a private in 1989 and commissioned through the Georgia Military Institute’s Officer Candidate School in 1994 as an infantry lieutenant. He served as a platoon leader in the 1st Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment and in Troop E, 108th Cavalry, both of the 48th Infantry Brigade. In 2000 he deployed to Bosnia as the executive officer of Company A, 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment. Upon returning from Bosnia, Fournier assumed command of Company C, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment and lead the company through the 2005-2006 deployment to Iraq. Fournier also deployed with to Afghanistan with the 48th IBCT serving as the chief of operations for Task Force Phoenix which consisted of more 11,000 Soldiers from 27 countries charged with training the Afghan Army, Police, and Border Police. From 2012 to 2015, Fournier commanded the 2nd Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment. In 2014, Fournier deployed to Guatemala as the task force commander of a joint, interagency, multinational training team charged with training a specialized Guatemalan unit in combating transnational organized. In his most recent assignments, Fournier served as Chief of Future Operations and then Chief of Exercise Branch for US Army Europe, Wiesbaden, Germany in 2018 and 2019.

The 48th IBCT is comprised of units whose history and battle honors predate the American Revolution. Its colors bear the campaign streamers of The Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, The Civil War, the Seminole War, both World Wars, Iraq and Afghanistan. The list of commanders for the 48th IBCT encompass those of the 48th Infantry Division (1946 to 1955); 48th Armor Division (1956 to 1968); 3rd Brigade, 30th Infantry Division (1968-1973) and the 48th Brigade (1973 to present).




Sunday, December 1, 2019

The Creation of the 48th Brigade and its Shoulder Sleeve Insignia


By Maj. William Carraway
Historian, Georgia Army National Guard
The United States Army Institute of Heraldry final approved design of the shoulder sleeve insignia for the 48th Infantry Brigade. Georgia Guard Archives

The Macon, Ga. based 48th Brigade was established in the Georgia National Guard by National Guard Bureau Reorganizational Authority 153-73 effective December 1, 1973. That same day, Brig. Gen. Holden West, of Bolingbroke, Ga., was appointed as the first commander of the 48th.[1] 

The designation of the 48th Brigade echoed the history and heritage of the 48th Infantry Division which existed from 1946 to 1955 and 48th Armor Division whose tanks thundered across Fort Stewart, Ga. from 1956 until its January 1968 inactivation whereupon several of the 48th Armor Division units were reorganized to form the 3rd Brigade, 30th Infantry Division. For the next five years, the Soldiers of these units would wear the patch of the 30th Infantry Division.


FORT STEWART, Ga. June 7, 1972- Governor Jimmy Carter prepares to fire an M60 machine gun during a visit to
Ga. Army National Guard troops undergoing annual training at Fort Stewart. The Soldier of the 1st Battalion 121st Infantry Regiment
assisting the Governor wears the patch of the 30th Infantry Division. Georgia Guard Archives.



The 48th Brigade was formed from existing elements of Georgia’s 3rd Brigade, 30th Infantry Division as well as other elements within the Ga. ARNG’s existing structure. The allocation of an independent brigade brought an increase of 278 Soldiers to the Ga. ARNG.[2]


Initial Structure of the 48th Brigade

Several veteran Ga. ARNG units remained intact from their previous designations in the 3rd Brigade. Among these were the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 121st Infantry Regiment; 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment; and 1st Battalion 230th Artillery Regiment. Joining these units were the Griffin-based Troop E, 348th Cavalry Regiment and the Douglas-based 848th Engineer Company, which was organized from the former Company B, 878th Engineer Battalion.[3] The 148th Support Company, headquartered in Macon, was organized from previously established units.[4] The original strength of the 48th Brigade was 3,482 Soldiers.[5]

The 48th Brigade Shoulder Sleeve Insignia

The Department of the Army Institute of Heraldry authorized the shoulder sleeve patch for the 48th Brigade April 16, 1974. It was described as follows:

On a light blue shield, rounded in base 3 ½ inches in height and 2 ½ inches in width overall, two right oblique bars throughout; the upper blue and lower scarlet, both edged white and surmounted over-all by a left oblique yellow lightning bolt all within a 1/8 inch white border.[6]
On January 15, 1975, Brig. Gen. Holden West, commander of the 48th Infantry Brigade was appointed Assistant Adjutant General of the
Ga. Army National Guard by Governor George Busbee. This is the earliest known published image of a uniformed Georgia Guardsman with the
48th Infantry Brigade shoulder sleeve insignia. Georgia Guard Archives.

The design elements in the shoulder sleeve insignia were all symbolic of the design of the 48th Brigade itself. The light blue represents the infantry which is the basic structure of the brigade. The colors of the state flag of Georgia: scarlet, white and blue are represented in the patch with scarlet additionally symbolizing the artillery element of the brigade. The yellow of the lightning bolt symbolized the armor while the lightning bolt itself characterizes the mobility and effectiveness of the combined forces present in the brigade.

Wearing the Boar in 74

While the 48th Brigade’s patch was approved in 1974 it had not entered production by the time of the brigade’s first annual training. Thus, when West led the 48th Brigade to Fort Stewart to train from July 29 to July 13, he and the nearly 3,500 Volunteers wore the Oglethorpe crest shoulder sleeve insignia prescribed for the Ga. ARNG Headquarters Detachment and non-divisional units of the Ga. ARNG. 
FORT STEWART, Ga., July 1974 - A tank crew from the 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment prepares to conduct live-fire tables during
annual training at Fort Stewart, Ga. Photo by 124th Public Information Detachment





To view more images of the first annual training of the 48th Infantry Brigade, visit  https://www.flickr.com/photos/georgiaguardhistory/albums/72157711996369412




[1] Georgia Guardsman Magazine, November 1973, 8
[2] Georgia Guardsman Magazine, November 1973, 6
[3] NGB ARO-0 207-02-GA Reorganization Authority Number 157-73, 3
[4] 157-73, 3
[5] Annual Report, Georgia Department of Defense 1974, NPN
[6] Department of the Army Institute of Heraldry Memorandum Dated April 16, 1974

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