First Across the Rhine Critique - Essay Example

?The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion that Supported Work during the War/Operation that Helped US Forces Cross the Rhine River Military strategy refers to the various aspects of military-related activities from the most basic level to guiding principles for conventional military forces, and overall planning and execution of armed conflict (Wallace, 2008). Time and again, it has been strongly pointed out that military strategy is one of the most important determinants of success in war. It is a key factor in the war fighting capacity of countries and their alliances and in the countries’ ability to deter military challenges (Mearsheimer, 1983: 7; Biddle, 2004: 190). A lot of action-packed, tactical, militarily strategic, and heroic stories fill war movies. Rarely are the actual tasks and skills of non-combatants were featured. This paper will try to present the roles of engineers and their team during the war using mainly the book by Col David E. Pergin and war writer Eric Hammel (1994) First Across the Rhine: The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion in France. The immediate challenges during their landing in the war zone were: grave reservations of the standard in the organization as off-the-shelf engineer combat battalion inevitable combat losses that could remove key people with essential skills or unique training from the ranks (Pergrin and Hammel, 1989, 17). To address this immediate concerns, Pergrin’s solution was to cross-train as many officers and troops as possible in whatever time was left. He noted that, “The training directives established minimum, not maximum, standards (Pergrin and Hammel, 1989, 17). The command’s mission in France was to: Emplace Bailey bridges under fire Expand, improve and speedy bridge-building techniques Perfect mine-detecting, laying, and clearing abilities Pergrin (and Hammel, 1994) noted that traits of the men in the command were: Smart, educated, younger, physically fit complemented with Self-reliance, adaptability, and resourcefulness. The combat engineer line company was composed of 13-man squad as follows: Squad leader; 2 riggers; 1 bridge carpenter; 1 assistant foreman; 2 carpenters; 1 demolition man; 1 electrician; 1 jackhammer operator; 2 utility repairmen; a driver; Three of the 13 had combat-engineering skills (the squad leader and 2 potential replacements). After the cross training, every member of the squad was a qualified: Rifleman for .30-caliber M2 carbines for NCOs and .30-caliber M1 Garand rifles To operate the squad’s .30 caliber machine gun and bazooka (2.35 inch rocket launcher) To lay, detect, and clear mines To operate bulldozers, dump trucks, chain saws, picks, shovels, jackhammers and other tools Read maps (most of them). Meanwhile, Pergin also ensured that the squad leader and his assistant were able to use radio and field telephone equipment; carried manuals on the three main types of bridges with which they expected to work – Bailey, timber trestle, and pontoon; use proper combat engineer tactics to stop or delay enemy (Pergrin and Hammel, 1989, 19). Each line platoon was equipped with: Bulldozer, weapons carrier, 4-ton man-hauling truck with a .50 caliber machine gun, a number of 2 & ? ton dump trucks for hauling equipment and material, own motor pool staffed by mechanics charged with maintaining all the wheeled and tracked equipment and vehicles, weapons sergeant and supply sergeant as overseers of small section of specialists. Pergin noted that the main purpose was “to save lives in the battle areas by using the many skills and the fruits of their rigorous training,” (Pergin and Hammel, 1989, 27). The following were exemplified and exercised by the team members: Stress small-unit operations using combat-engineering equipment; Facilitate movement of tanks in support of the attacking infantry; Clear mines rapidly; Police and patrol the area up to the front to provide vital information to the decision-makers up the chain of command. All their tasks were conducted through strategies as follows: 1. led the paratroopers through the hip- and thigh-deep ice and snow 2. scraped paths scattered with trackless minefields using armored bulldozers to move the paratroopers (Hammel and Pergrin, 1994) 3. cleared heavily drifted snow from a supply road directly along the front lines 4. worked ahead of the infantry while pinned down by a German machine gun and constantly exposed to mortar and artillery fire 5. cleared roads so the infantry could receive vital support from the rear 6. worked overtime to open or cut supply and evacuation trails 7. mine-sweeped routes for military use 8. The fighting in the Huertgen caused more than nine thousand Allied battle casualties prior to the Battle of the Bulge. 9. The commands destroyed or directly helped destroy concrete pillboxes in the strategic and defended sectors 2.  Format:  The checklist is divided into four sections, each of which builds on the previous one(s) to provide a logical order for the study. a.  The four sections are: (1)  Define the Subject- Determine what, where, when, and who:  Establish the parameters of the study to keep it manageable by determining the date, location, and principal adversaries. World War II was the last manmade catastrophe of global scale of which nations were divided into two military forces: the Axis and the Allied Powers. The Axis power led by Germany, together with Slovakia, invaded Poland in September 1939 and later on declared war with France and the British Empire. While it initially had a treaty of non-aggression with the Soviet Union, it invaded Soviet Union in June 1941 that set the stage for the bloodiest war in history. WWII had the following opposing Axis and Allied countries: Axis: Germany, Italy, Finland (until 1945), Hungary, Japan, Korea, and Romania. Allied: United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Soviet Union, Australia, Belgium, China, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, India, Norway, Poland, and Yugoslavia. The general condition of World War II by 1944 is a year when the production and force of the United States of America was felt on all fronts (MFA Productions, 2000). However, it was also a time when “The Germans bleed Occupied Europe of anything of value and ship millions to death camps. The last year of the war is the most bloody of any war in human history.” It was at this time that Hitler was desperate to snatch victory from the Allied forces. (2)  Set the Stage (strategic, operational, and tactical settings). Consider the strategic factors:  What caused the war?  Who were the opponents?  What were their war aims?  What armed forces did the nations possess?  How well trained, equipped, and armed were they?  Did any social, political, economic, or religious factors influence the armies? The Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) formed in June 1942 under the command of Dwight D. Eisenhower, had one clear mission: to land in France as soon as possible. France at that time had been occupied by 59 German divisions. But the entire length of territories to defend spread the Germans thin. The French Coast under Generalfeldmarschall Erwin Rommel “planted more than 3 million mines, constructed “Rommel’s Asparagus” to rip out the bottoms of landing craft at high tide, […] flooded inland areas to drown paratroopers”, built pillboxes with 12-foot thick walls as well as interconnected trenches to other defensive works that undermined Allied planners (MFA Productions, 2000, P 7). Describe the operational setting:  What campaign was the battle part of?  What were the objectives of the campaign?  Did any military factors—alliances, tactics, doctrine, or personality traits—affect the campaign?  How did the battle fit into the overall campaign? The campaign was codenamed Overlord. Normandy was codenamed Omaha. The Landing at Normandy was a lessoned learned from Dieppe Raid of August 19, 1942. It would be best for the Allied forces to land on open beaches than hold a port within the first few hours (MFA Productions, 2000). By June 23, the 291st landed in Omaha but the British 6th Airborne Division already landed first in June 6, 1944 called the D-Day. The engineer units were faced with the works of Rommel – clearing minefields, blasting pillboxes, and other obstacles. There were already high casualties, specifically with the 299th Engineer Combat Battalion. Pergrin (and Hammel, 1994) described the assignment as highly mobile, where combat engineers functioned in commando-like, hit-and-run missions with their own lethal weapons, mines and demolitions. They were regular combatants in their top physical condition and well-trained to move into rugged terrain close to the enemy to blow bridges or close defiles. Review the tactical situation:  Since these factors have a direct effect on the operation, this part of the format will often answer why a particular action was or was not taken. The World War 2 Database described that “Omaha Beach was the key. The link between the Americans on Utah and the Allied beaches to the west, if Omaha could not be held, the invasion might fail,” (MFA Productions, 2000, P 14). It was therefore important that the area be secured and maintained not only to sustain the lives of the Allied forces but also to progress the invasion in France and stop the Axis. The engineering commandos of the United States as well as the whole Allied forces were important to address mobility, but more importantly, speed of movement among the Allies to contain the escalating atrocity of the war. In addition, they were necessary to technically save and protect the lives of the Allied soldiers through securing the war areas by clearing minefields and heavily booby-trapped vehicles and building as war veteran Rommel of Germany provided difficult access to France through mining most of the expected areas of access. The war-torn areas, too, were heavily bombed and sustained with heavy artillery, ground, by air and by water. The strategic roads and bridges were also destroyed by retreating Axis soldiers to deny access of the areas as well as delay movements of the Allies. These problem areas need to be addressed immediately and strategically and can only be done by the duly-trained engineer and technical soldiers. Specifically, the seemingly trivial measures the soldiers took were: Conduct missions with utmost speed in order to conserve their own lives; Help save the lives of the combat troops supported; Lowest possible human cost; Dig foxholes for protection from air attack and frequent heavy artillery barrages; and Wore helmets at all times (Pergrin and Hammel, 1994) (3)  Describe the Action- This part of battle analysis—describing the battle itself—is what most people consider to be real military history.  By following the format, you will study the battle chronologically.  Do not let this approach disrupt your study of the battle.  If you need to skip a phase in order to examine a combat functional area—such as maneuver, logistics, etc.—because it is more important to your overall objective, then do so. a.  State the mission of the opposing forces:  What were the objectives?  What missions were developed to achieve the objectives?  Were there other options—such as attacking, defending, or withdrawing—open to the two sides?  Were those options feasible? The mission of the 291st was to clear and maintain the road from Carentan to Ste.-Mere-Eglise. The stretch connected the two American invasion beaches of Omaha and Utah. It was only the 1st US Army’s only lateral roadway across the beachhead. For the Allied forces, the mission was route the Germans out of France and back to Germany. At this time, the 291st purpose was to save lives, facilitate the movement of tanks in support of the attacking infantry, clear mines rapidly, constantly police and patrol the area for timely provision of information up the chain of command (Pergrin and Hammel, 1994). Their early objectives were achieved through: forced marches and heavy physical training undertaken daily; everyone in the battalion were kept well-informed no matter what the rank was on all developments affecting the battalion; smart men can use the opportunity to apply their capacity to reason to their situations; focusing on the stake on the present, of winning the war; follow the army line only up to a point; using their own mind, to form their own solution, and conduct their own experiments; and keep all elements of the battalion within their own communications network, no matter how much trouble the requirement demanded (Pergin and Hammel, 1989, 17). b.  Describe the initial disposition of forces:  What were the locations of the units of the opposing forces?  How were the units deployed tactically? Source: Pergrin and Hammel, 1994 The 82nd Airborne Division units freed Saint Mere Eglise in June 6 1944 but the Company F was wiped out by the Germans and the 101st Division’s medical unit was captured. 5,000 ships of the Allied were on their way through the English Channel but a few were blasted by mines and when German Colonel Walther Pluskat was roused to report on the Allied armada, his estimation of 5,000 was ignored. Already, the works of the so-called “master desert maneuver” proved a daunting challenge to the Allied forces (MFA Productions, 2000).. The pathfinders equipped with powerful lanterns dropped and scattered all over the Cotentin Peninsula. While it could have been one strategy of confusing the enemy camps, it proved as fatal to the lone missionaries. However, as more were sent in platoons and companies, they were soon able to meet objectives (MFA Productions, 2000). c.  Describe the opening moves of the battle:  Examine the initial actions by the opposing forces.  Did one side gain an advantage over the other in the opening phase of the battle? The roles of the engineering command in that portion of the war were: Provide engineer support directly behind the 9th and 83rd Infantry divisions; Maintain the 1st Army main supply route (MSR) between Carentan toward Periers against the heavy German artillery fire and aggressive bombing raids conducted by the Luftwaffe, heavily mined and booby-trapped fields, villages and buildings; Maintain the 30-mile long MSR and Tucker Bridge between Carentan and Ste.-Mere-Eglise; Provide tasked-oriented engineer detachments by demand; Service the infantry and armor units within the zone of responsibility by keeping the supporting road net open for their munitions, supplies, ambulances bringing the wounded (Pergrin and Hammel, 1994). The 291st, however was briefed that they were not there to fight the Germans as an infantry but to save lives in the battle areas through their main skills. The battlefield from the start was described as having active artillery, with shelling as heavy and so sustained, the engineers need to build sandbag shelters and reinforced dugouts as they maintained Tucker Bridge, a bailey bridge vital for the movement of the Allies. The cratered roads were also restored, the mined pathways, booby-trapped buildings and vehicles cleared (Pergrin and Hammel, 1994). . The Allies forwarded until they reached Germany, with Aachen conquered under US General Patton. Next was the City of Cologne, and after this, Eisenhower decided that it was more important to destroy the German military industrial machine in Ruhr than capturing Berlin itself (MFA Productions, 2000). d. Detail the major phases:  Establish a chronology for the battle while examining the actions after the opening moves.  Look for key events or decisions that turned the battle toward one side or the other. By the time the 291st started official work by June 26, there already was a general success to the Normandy landings. Aside from Rommel back in Germany, and later wounded, the second town Caen was taken, and then Cherbourg. The retreating Germans resisted through aggressive bombings, heavy artillery fire, as well as blew up roads and bridges. At the same time, the engineers also had to clean up the mines and booby traps (Pergrin and Hammel, 1994; MFA Productions, 2000). By the end of June and the early weeks of July, the Germans were in leadership crisis as the generals disdained by Hitler were killed, sent to concentration camps with their families, or forced to suicide. One of them was Rommel who was forced to take a poison to spare his family’s lives (MFA Productions, 2000). During this time, too, the Allied forces advanced against the German’s stubborn defense. Eisenhower’s decision to capture Ruhr was the main reason why the Allies would cross the Rhine, which was a symbol of German resolve and uncrossed by invading army for about 140 years. Hitler ordered that “Any commander surrendering or retreating would be shot. Bridges were to be blown up,” (MFA Productions, 2000, P 7). However, a “special bridge units” (MFA Productions, 2000, P 8) handled the setting up of bridges. The process was detailed by Pergrin and Hammel (1994) starting from the construction of the Lanzerath Bridge. It was used to forward from Malmedy to Meyerode the mobile artillery and armor. It was a one-hundred-eighty-foot Bailey span across an eighty-foot-deep railroad cut through the Lanzerath ridge precisely on the Belgian- German border, our first construction assignment in the Nazi homeland. February 1, the 291st's battalion command minesweeping teams probed forward and cleared all the approaches, mined shoulder areas with antitank and antipersonnel devices and, wired numerous booby traps aimed to kill or maim engineers clearing the mines. Companies A and C were consolidated to build the Lanzerath bridge. Major Ed Lampp's battalion operations began work on the bridge at 0030 hours, February 2. They had to do as much work as possible under cover of darkness from sunset. Two engineer companies and all their equipment moved into holding areas within a mile of the bridge site. Captain Warren Rombaugh's Company C advanced to the bridge site en masse to begin the first twelve-hour shift. The cold kept the platoons work at only four hours apiece, wrestling the frigid five-hundred-pound prefabricated steel Bailey Bridge panels into place. The sleet obliged all the workers to pull their woolen watch caps down across their ears and faces aside from sporadic artillery. Greatest dangers were in slipping or sliding off the glazed steel bridge panels into the eighty-foot-deep railroad cut. This allowed the 508th Parachute Infantry for their tank destroyers as they waited in vulnerable infantry fighting positions about a mile in front of the bridge. By 0300 hours, February 2, the command car was brought to the bridge site as the “miserably cold battle-hardened Company C troopers wrestle the five-foot-by-ten- foot panels of the double-triple (double thickness, triple height) Bailey bridge across an eighty-foot-deep chasm in the midst of a vertical ice storm, I became convinced that these were men who would finish anything, literally anything, that anyone could conceivably dream up to be accomplished by combat engineers,” (Pergin, as quoted in Hammel, 1994, P11). The bridge was two panels thick and three panels high with a single-span treadway floor. It needed the placement of two hundred sixteen 500-pound panels. One end was in Belgium and the other end in Germany. It was a one-hundred- eighty-foot span that can support a forty-ton load moving at six miles per hour. The bridge opened to traffic at 1700 hours in February 3, “forty and one-half hours after work began. We did so following an around-the-clock effort by two complete combat engineer companies and without suffering a single casualty or injury despite the incessant German artillery fire and incredibly dangerous working conditions. Our first customers were all the self-propelled tank destroyers of the 629th Tank Destroyer Battalion. And the payoff, soon to arrive, was a coordinated attack, amply supported by way of the Lanzerath bridge, in which the 325th Glider Infantry and 504th Parachute Infantry regiments quickly and decisively cracked the Siegfried Line between Neuhof and Udenreth, just north of the Losheim Gap,” (Pergin, as quoted in Hammel, 1994, P14). The capture of the Huertgen Forest was important for a broad-front Allied attack across the Cologne Plain to the Rhine River. It was considered the last important natural barrier from Germany's western heartland. It has two massive hydroelectric dams - the Urftallsperre and the Schwammenauel which the Allies should capture with the dams intact to prevent the Germans from flooding the Roer valley as to deny the Allies the broad-front access to the Rhine which was strategic to the Allies (Pergin, as quoted in Hammel, 1994). On Operation GRENADE, the projected assault across the Roer River, the Germans destroyed the powerful dam machinery and discharge valves on the Schwammenauel and diverted the water from behind the Urftallsperre to behind the Schwammenauel. The 291st had to stop a relentless flow that, when left unchecked, would flood the Roer valley for about two weeks. The Germans blew part of the spillway, leaving a big gap on top of the dam. To support the 78th Infantry Division, the command was to build a bridge across the gap in the Schwammenauel Dam to assure the free flow of armored vehicles and supplies toward the east. They had to address damaged or destroyed bridges and stretches of roadway that needed to be swept for mines or repaired. building bridges in the zone of the northernmost assault divisions--in the zone of the U.S. Ninth Army's XIX Corps. Once a bridgehead had been established east of the river, succeeding divisions would cross the same bridges and hook south through the preceding units (Pergin, as quoted in Hammel, 1994). Blens Bailey bridge was thrown the next day. A vicious artillery barrage was still going on when the platoon moved into the open to launch the bridge nose out over the turbulent Roer. The Blens bridge was one-hundred-thirty-foot triple- single span, completed on March 2--a record-setting performance of fifteen hours and ten minutes. Tanks and assault guns pushed across town immediately after to join up with the 78th Division's waiting infantry components. The construction of a one-hundred-ten-foot triple-single Bailey span to replace a destroyed stone-arch bridge that had been built on a curve, which work began at 1430 hours, March 2. The existing part of the bridge was too narrow to set base plates, so transoms were placed to extend the width of the existing structure. The entire structure was angled slightly on the baseplate rollers – a forty-ton assault bridge, job done by 0900 hours, March 3--in eighteen and one-half hours. In the Schwammenauel Dam bridge, work begun at 1245 hours, and completed before dinner, around 1830 hours. The bridge was an eighty-foot double-single Bailey span. Another bridge across the mighty Rhine River, at Remagen was also built, and many others more were constructed in order to facilitate the advancement of Allied troops in Germany (Pergin, as quoted in Hammel, 1994). e.  State the outcome:  Who won the battle?  Did either side achieve its objectives?  Did the battle provide an advantage to the winning side, and what was it?  Did the battle have any long term effects, and what were they? The Allied Forces together with the Soviet Union, were able to encircle Berlin by April 24, 1944 although resistance continued until in April 30 when Hitler committed suicide. The war technically ended at this time. (4)  Draw Lessons Learned- This is the most important step of the battle analysis process.  With this step, you are turning “combat information” in the form of the historical facts of the battle into finished analysis rendered as “lessons learned.” The most immediate lesson learned in the war is a need to prevent one. Peacetime is still the best alternative and option between nations and international forces. There are many ways that nations should try to accommodate cooperation between one another and these are all explored at this time, and breached only when one party refuses to consider reasonable cooperation. Another lesson learned in the war includes the need to be fully prepared for combat but at the same time flexible to adjust and refocus when circumstances require a tactic aside from the ones a team member, a team or a full battalion have been fully prepared for. War and combat is not only about conquering the other through killings, defeat, and reduction of forces, but also employing political and strategic means to address movements and plans of the enemy camp. If possible, a good combat and war also aims to achieve objectives of conquest through the least damage on both sides. Focus on the mission of a group is also important. As can be gauged on the 291st, their engineering and technical support was the focus of their contribution to the war, and not to win but to protect and provide what was technically needed by the troops. a.  Relate causes to effects:  In trying to distill “lessons” from the study of any battle, it is important to look at why something happened.  To do so you will look at the outcome and what caused it.  Look for those essential elements of the victory or defeat. There were many cause and effect situations that can be learned from WWII. For the engineers, the first troops sent were not fully aware as well as fully trained to handle the situation at Normandy, this is why many lives were sacrificed. As mentioned, they too have learned from the Dieppe Raids when lives were sacrificed in an attack without extensive planning and preparation. The attitude of the soldiers and their commandants were also important in winning the war. Without the dexterity and perseverance of the soldier-engineers to provide support in the most delicate period of time, their goals could not have been met on time, or that more lives and nations could have been ravaged and sacrificed. b. Establish military “lessons learned”:  Lessons from the past that are still relevant today are the end product of the battle analysis process.  The insights, or “constants of war,” gained from the study should transcend time, place, and doctrine.  You can use one of the following frameworks (or another) for focusing analysis of military operations to help find these “constants.”  These frameworks are defined in FM 100-5, Operations. Based on the WWII 291st command, the military lessons learned include the following: Strategic negotiation of political differences Ability to map and decode the plans of the enemy during peace time while negotiation efforts are implemented Strategic preparation of skilled soldiers who can handle various requirements and skills as well as decide on the most immediate manner what and how to address war time incidences Immediate dissemination of facts and information that soldiers need to address prior to and during the combat. This will allow them to decide the most proper action to address any situation. (1)  Principles of War. (2)  Tenets of Airland Operations. (3)  Battlefield Operating Systems. b.  In the first section, you decide what battle you are going to study.  In the next two, you gather the information necessary for a thorough and balanced study, and organize it in a logical manner to facilitate analysis.  In the last section, you analyze the information to derive “lessons learned.” 3.  Purpose:  The battle analysis methodology is a guide to help ensure that important aspects of the study of a historical battle or campaign are not forgotten.  It is not a rigid checklist that must be followed to the letter.  You do not have to use every part of it in your study, but all of the elements of battle analysis should be considered.  Do not let the flow of your study be disrupted by the format’s order. Again I can input Army Doctrine specific to the mission if needed but generally the flow/content is what I need work on.......I can give you an additional 24hrs to digest this if need be Thx Reference: Wallace, Geoffrey. 2008. Alliances, Institutional Design, and the Determinants of Military Strategy. Conflict Management and Peace Science 25, 224. Pergin, David and Hammel. 1994. First Across the Rhine: The 291st Engineer Combat Battalion in France Accessed from http://www.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=8jsrje_6C9IC&oi=fnd&pg=PP13&dq=-+First+Across+The+Rhine+by+COL+David+E+Pergrin+1989+&ots=YP4-hjrUso&sig=Uz7xnwYP0cF2izlzTp6RtsdWLpE#v=onepage&q&f=false MFA Productions LLC. 2000-2007. Crossing the Rhine February - April 1945. World War II Multimedia Database. Accessed from http://www.worldwar2database.com/html/normandy.htm Hammel, Eric and David Pergin. 1994. Engineers at War. Accessed from http://www.erichammelbooks.com/books/f_first-across-rhine.php Read More