The 81st Tank Bn was fighting through France when it
faced stiff resistance in the French town of Maigne,
with many snipers shooting at the Americans. Heavy
fighting continued during the day during which the
81st tanks demolished the town. The unit history
states:
"During the fight Private Al Sherbing, who kept a
watchful eye on the radios in the Battalion
Headquarters was wounded. The medical peep, while
evacuating Sherbing, was hit by sniper fire and the
driver killed, the first death of the Battalion.
Although the peep displayed a large Red Cross flag,
the sniper kept firing. Sherbing was hit again and
died shortly thereafter.
Later in the
night Lieutenant Benjamin Potts from "D" Company
drove through Maigne in a peep. As he turned a
corner in the town a German soldier fired at him
from the doorway of a burned out house. Immediately
another shot rang out across the street. The
sniper's quick shot missed Lieutenant Potts, but the
FFI soldier, who had fired from across the street,
didn't miss the German."
In December
1944, the division found itself in the fighting
of the Huertgen forest.
Again the unit
history:
"A portion of the
west bank of the Roer River was still in German
hands and it was to be the job of CCB to clear the
enemy from their position in the vicinity of Winden.
A platoon of tanks from each of the medium companies
moved up to the Huertgen Forest under cover of
darkness that night. The following day the remainder
of the Battalion made the march, stopping to bivouac
in the forest about a mile west of Kleinhau. This
was to be principally an infantry fight, with
support of tanks, and although the infantry and
tanks worked together it was not in the old familiar
married formation.
Battalion headquarters, and the major portion of the
tanks, remianed in the forest during the operation.
The orders received from Headquarters CCB were "to
be prepared to displace forward in order to assist
the 15th A.I.B., repel counter-attacks, or reinforce
artillery fire." "D" Company would remain under CCB
control in order to furnish light tank esorts to the
service elements.
The forest was very muddy. Many of the trees had
been destroyed by the artillery of the troops that
had cleared the forest. Almost all of the trees had
their upper branches blown off, and many were badly
cut from artillery shrapnel. At first the road
leading to the area was very difficult to traverse,
as it was a mire of deep mud, but as the days passed
by the weather grew colder and the mud froze.
The first night spent in the forest was very dark,
and the steady breeze made the weakened trees creak
and groan. Near midnight one of the larger trees
bloke off at a bad cut near its base and crashed
down onto a large tent being used by the I&R
platoon. Two men were killed by the tree and two
others, Private Yurko and Sergeant Romich, badly
injured.
Early in the morning a platoon of tanks from each of
the meduim companies moved forward with the 15th
Infantry. While moving up to the line of departure,
about a mile east of Kleinhau, the advancing force
received very intense and accurate artillery and
mortar fire. Two tanks from "A" Company hit mines
and were disabled. A great many light casualties
also were incurred. Initially eight o'clock had been
set as the jump-off time from the line of departure,
but this was soon changed. The hostile fire had so
delayed the tanks and infantry that the attack was
postponed for another day.
The hostile fire continued intermittently for the
rest of the day, particularly along the road to the
front. In order to get supplies of ammunition and
food up to the front the light tanks were used in
place of trucks. Artillery and mortar fire would be
much less damaging to the tanks than to the trucks.
Intense artillery and mortar fire made it impossible
for trucks, peeps or other thin-skinned vehicles to
haul badly-needed supplies up to the front. The 81st
Tank Bn.'s D Co. was called on to do the job with
its light tanks. Lt. Benjamin T. Potts had the men
in his platoon load rations, water and clothing on
the rear decks of their tanks and they started
toward the forward positions.
In the darkness they missed the guide who was to
show them where to unload the supplies. Going beyond
the outposts, they went into territory still held by
the enemy. Fired on by small arms and mortars, they
turned around and started back up the road.
Going back, they found their route around two
knocked-out Shermans was now blocked by a light tank
from their platoon which had hit a mine. Climbing
out of the turret, Lt. Potts got in front of his
tank and started to lead it between the two Shermans
when it, too, struck a mine. The explosion killed
him and seriously wounded his driver, T/4 Peter J.
Thauwald."
the fighting in the Huertgen forest was particular
fierce and volatile. It apparently was not possible
to recover Lt. Potts body as he is listed missing in
action and is commemorated at the Margraten Wall of
the Missing.
1st
Lieutenant