Evening star., 1945-01-22
Might Of Nazis Burst
On 1O6th While Il
Was in Quiet Zone
By e. ID, BALL,
Associated Press War Correspondent.

Associated Press War Correspondent.
WITH THE 106th DIVISION IN
BELGIUM, Jan. 22.-One of the
major battles of the war burst on
the 1o6th Infantry Division just
five days after 1t took up positions
December II on what was sup
posed to be a "quiet" sector in the
Ardennes.
And two days later two regiments
and supporting artillery and armor
of the Golden Lion Division were
wiped out.
Until yesterday, censorship had
forbidden transmission of the de-
tails.
- (Secretary of War Stimson
announced January 18 that the
106th suffered 1868 casualties
in the German offensive in the
Ardennes, including 416 killed
and 1,246 wounded He said
most of the divisions TOOL
missing were presumed to be
prisoners)
The men of the 422d and 423d
regiments we're engulfed by the
overwhelming weight of the Ger
man break through spearhead. Only
handful came back, but they
pitched in and helped the remaining
regiment, the 424th, make gallant
delaying stands before and behind
st. With.
Attack Begins at Dawn.
The attack against the 106th
started in the foggy dawn of De-
cember 16 with a tremendous artil-
1ery barrage against their line that
curved northward from the center
of the Schnee Eifel, a rocky, wooded
ridge 10 miles long and 2 miles
wide astride the Siegfried Line.
Five minutes later the Germans
opened up against st. With. The
civilians, all pro-Nazi despite their
pretense at being friendly, were In
their cellars, warned beforehand of
the impending shelling.
BY daybreak of December II the
Germans had thrown two divisions
into this part of the front. BY mid
. morning enemy columns swamped
the 422d and 423d regiments and
the 424th was forced to withdraw.
- The two regiments continued to
send back reports of the fighting
Until radio contact was lost. At
4335 pm. on December 18 the radio
sputtered that all units of the two
regiments were in need o. ammuni-
tion, food and water. Because of
the fog, parachuting supplies was
out of the question.
The last message came from the
422d at 4 pm. that day and from
the 423d at 6 pm. Both said: 1--WE
are now destroying our equipment" "
That was all, and presumably most
of the two regiments were taken
prisoner.
Nazis Stopped Temporarily.
The Germans then headed for st.
With. They were stopped temporar-
lily by the 81st and 168th Engineer
Battalions, fighting heroically under
1t. Col. Thomas Riggs, Huntington,
w. Va.
Early on December 18 division
headquarters began moving west out
of st. With. Some units were halted
by English-speaking MPs who turned
out TO be Germans in American uni
forms.
One of them fired a rocket which
signalled the opening of a terrific
barrage against the divisions halted
vehicles.
The Germans occupied st. With
at II pm, on December 81 after a
stiff fight by the 424th, one combat
command from the 9th Armored
Division, Col. Riggs fighting engi-
neers and the 10TH regiment from
the 28th Infantry Division.
Exhausted and sorely depleted, the
106th pulled back to reorganize on
December %. The next day the men
were thrown into the line and helped
halt the Germans on the north side
of the salient between Stavelot and
NEerbor