"By April
11th, forward elements of the 2nd Armored
Division had reached the Elbe River south of
Magdeburg. The 82nd moved, with the rest of the
division, into an assembly area at Grass
Ottersleben the next day. Preparations were
immediately made for the battalion to assist the
17th Armored Engineers in construction of a
bridge at Wester-Husen.
To secure the bridgehead, Company-A manned
assault boats to ferry the 41st Infantry across
the river. Once the Infantry was deployed
Company-C began bridge construction.. Everything
proceeded well until early morning when the
enemy realized what was happening and began to
shell the site. German accuracy was hampered for
a while as A-Company laid down a smoke screen
but as the bridge neared the far shore intense
shelling was laying direct hits on the bridge
forcing abandonment of the site shortly after
mid-day.
Orders were then received for the 82nd to
construct a bridge and a ferry at the village of
Schonebeck, a few miles south of Wester-Husen.
Before daylight the next morning, as the
infantry pushed down from their previous
bridge-head to secure the Shonebeck area,
Company-C began construction of the bridge.
At 7:30 a.m. The Germans launched a
counterattack on infantry troops holding the
bridgehead and began shelling the bridge site.
Bridging parties, on the near side, watched as
the enemy surrounded 41st Infantry troops. The
fight was intense and many of the infantry were
forced to surrender. Faced with mortar and small
arms fire and without bridgehead protection,
work on the bridge was suspended."
Harris was most likely
killed in this German counter attack.
Pvt Harris Hill is buried
at Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten,
Plot C Row 8 Grave 9.
Margraten, The Netherlands
See also:
Pfc William Horner
Other
casualties
of the
82nd Engineer Combat Battalion
Sources and
Acknowledgements:
Mr. Buol Hinman, Co A, 82nd Engineer Combat
Battalion
Mr. Edward Husted, 82nd Engineer Combat
Battalion
82nd Engineer Combat Battalion website
Directions to
Margraten American Military Cemetery
Posted 22 June
2009
If you have any suggestions, comments or
additional information, please
contact me.
This website is
dedicated to the men and women who died
and/or are buried in The Netherlands during
World War II.
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