Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1945-03-20
Artificial Moonlight
Aids Yanks Fighting
On Rhine S East Bank
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Staff Corr&spondeu.. .

WITH UNITED STATES FORCES
ON THE RHINE, Mar. ia battle
over 10 square miles of rugged pine
wooded hills east of the Rhine was
fought last night In made
moonlight.
For the last two weeks the 9th
Divisions seth Infantry has been
making night attacks in darkness
The GIs feel their way along mar
row rocky roads and through tall
forests-dark even at midday.
In fact, all along the American
lines across the Rhine the greater
part of the fighting is at night or
early dawn. This has the advantage
OF surprise against the enemy but
has great disadvantage in moving
reinforcements and evacuating the
wounded.
Casualties are taken out of the
hills in jeeps with a man walking
feet ahead carrying a white cloth.
The driver follows the white cloth
along the road and avoids shell
holes.
Operation Speeded.
This operation alone is doubled in
speed by the artificial moonlight
. supplied by antiaircraft units in
concealed positions projecting giant
searchlightS against the cloudy sky.
1t covers the whole battle area with
a weird white light in which men
can see about 100 feet ahead.
The effect is like full moon be-
hind low clouds At the same time
there is no great advantage to the
enemy. Vehicles remain completely
BACKED out.
The battle is full of drama. typical
of the kind of war Americans are
fighting since the bridgehead cap
ture. The Germans are fighting
more fiercely than any, time since
their defense of Normandy after
D day.
In a battle Sunday, the little lum-
boring town of Winhagen was cap
tured by a company led by Capt.
Preston Gordon of Magee. Miss,
who led one of the first companies
into Cherbourg After Winhagen
was first taken Capt. Gordon's COM
pany was driven out by the sudden
appearance of German tanks. The
Americans left six wounded behind.
All the rest of the day the village
got terrible pounding with "Zom-
bies," two rounds per gun per min
ute for Is minutes from all the
divisions artillery. This was cal
culated to leave nothing alive. al
though the men knew they were
sacrificing their own wounded COM
rades.
Germans Asleep.
But when they entered the town
again the artificial moonlight, now
intensified by light from a burning
enemy tank, found an extraordinary
situation. About half the German
defenders we're asleep at their ma
chine guns, despite the ZombieS
and the certainty of the coming
attack.
The prisoners were mostly It.
year-old boys brought to this front
during the last two weeks from a
basic training area. They said they
were at the end of their endurance
and couldn't keep their eyes open
any longer. The major in COM
mand said that he had had bat
talon of 300, of whom only Al were
left. Shown 80 prisoners, he said
that meant the whole battalion.
All the American wounded had
lived through the American bonn
bardment alive in cellar where
they had been taken by American
needles, but one died later.
Medical corspsmen found wound
ed bandaged with tissue paper, in
dicating the desperate supply stu
alton in the German Medical Corps,
Before the war, Corpl, Leon
Schroeder of Portland Greg, pitched
for the Portland University baseball
team. After final capture of the
village at night, Corpl Schroeder was
on guard during the prisoner round
up. A German off1cer, challenged,
started to run. Corpl. Schroeder
fired and missed. He found his rife
clip was empty. He picked up a
stone and threw it at the officer, hit
ting him in the back of the neck
and knocking him out cold
1T was the best strike I ever
pitched" said Corpl. Schroeder.