From October
till late November, early December, the 116th
Infantry Regiment saw action in the battle for
Aachen and the push into Germany. Heavy fighting
took a large toll on the men of the 116th. Late
November 1944, the Regiment found themselves
fighting towards the Ruhr River.
The booklet
"29 Let's Go!", published just after the war,
writes about this:
"After a short
rest, the division moved to defensive positions
along the Teveren-Geilenkirchen line in Germany
and maintained those positions through October.
(In mid-October the 116th Infantry took part in
the fighting at the Aachen Gap.) On 16 November
the Division began its drive to the Roer,
blasting its way through Siersdorf, Setterich,
Durboslar, and Bettendorf, and reaching the Roer
by the end of the month.
The Roer's west bank still wasn't completely
cleared. Between Koslar and the river, Germans
held the Julich Sportplatz and the Hasenfeld
Gut, northeast of the village. Taking advantage
of the high ground behind them and long fields
of fire to their front, Nazis clung stubbornly
to these strong points. Reducing these
fortresses was one of the toughest battles the
division fought in Germany.
The 116th hammered at these positions for nearly
a week. The Gut, a heavily-fortified estate,
held out against two bitter attacks. Supported
by fighter-bombers from the XXIX TAC and heavy
artillery, the 116th stormed the Sportplatz six
times only to be thrown back by concentrated
machine gun, mortar and artillery fire.
Eight-inch howitzers were brought up as the
fighter-bombers dove, skip-bombed. But the
Germans still held.
Relieving the tired 116th Dec. 7, the 115th took
up the battle."
Pvt Vernon
Richardson was killed on 5 December 1944 in the
battle for Julich. He rests at Margraten
American Netherlands Cemetery, Plot D Row 1
Grave 6.
Private