614th Tank Destroyer Battalion - Engagement at Climbach

Engagement At Climbach

On 14 December, a task force of the 411th Infantry Regiment, TF Blackshear, consisting of a company of infantry, along with a platoon of tanks from the 14th Armored Division and 3rd Platoon, C Company, of the 614th TD with its towed anti-tank guns, was organized to attack Climbach, a French town just outside the German border, acting in a pincer movement. Expecting an American assault with tanks, the German defenders had prepared a strong defensive position as well as an ambush by infantry anti-tank teams.

The third platoon and its towed anti-tank guns were tasked with demolishing German emplacements and defensive works. The lead vehicle was an M20 armored utility car containing Lieutenant Charles L. Thomas, the commander of the tank destroyer platoon; as it travelled up the narrow road, it was hit by heavy enemy fire and knocked out. Thomas was wounded when evacuating the vehicle, but stayed to organize the deployment of his anti-tank guns which were to provide a base of fire allowing the infantry and tanks to flank the enemy positions. The 3rd platoon remained in action for four hours, with the gun crews sometimes reduced to two out of ten men. Two of the company's guns were quickly knocked out by German artillery, then a third, but the fourth gun kept firing until it was nearly out of ammunition. A single truck driver, T/5 Robert W. Harris, knowing the remaining gun was running out of ammunition, drove his truck to the rear for a new load and upon his return, disregarded the warning from the TF Commander that it was too dangerous to proceed. Driving to within 25 yards of the gun positions, where the truck became stuck in the mud, he unloaded and uncrated the 3" rounds and began carrying them to the remaining gun. The remaining members of the platoon joined him and made numerous trips carrying the ammunition, all the while under heavy enemy fire.

In anticipation of ambushing the assault force, the German defenders had placed an infantry company in the nearby woods. When the men of C Company began deploying their towed guns, the German infantry attacked the anti-tank guns, and C Company's men, though armed only with M1 carbines, .45 pistols, and submachine guns, responded in kind. One half-track driver, surprised from behind by a German infantry squad, mowed down eight of his attackers with several blasts from his .45 caliber grease gun. Despite heavy casualties, the 614th repulsed the German infantry attack, killing most of the assault force. By nightfall, when the engagement ended, only sporadic small-arms fire came from the town, which was quickly seized by American troops. Defeated, surviving enemy forces retired to the Siegfried Line.

The platoon took heavy losses, with more than half its men listed as killed or wounded; three of the four guns were put out of action, and two half-tracks and an armored car were destroyed. The divisional report recorded that the "outstanding performance of mass heroism on the part of the officers and men of Company C, 614th Tank Destroyer Battalion, precluded a near catastrophic reverse for the task force". The 3rd Platoon received the Distinguished Unit Citation for this engagement – the first unit attached to the 103rd Division, but more notably, the first African-American unit to do so. Platoon members were awarded Bronze Stars, four Silver Stars (two posthumously), and Lieutenant Thomas, who had been seriously wounded, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.

Orders were received for the battalion to move to Neufvillage, France, on 22 Dec, 1944, and upon arrival they reverted to the control of XV Corps for operations. The Battalion Commander was assigned as Anti-Tank Officer, in charge of AT defense in the division sector, by the 103rd ID. On 28 December, the Commanding General of the 103rd ID personally pinned medals on two officers and eight enlisted men for their actions on 14 December as part of TF Blackshear.

In the 1990s, a study indicated severe racial discrimination in the process of awarding medals during the war, and it was recommended that seven Distinguished Service Crosses awarded to African Americans be upgraded to Medals of Honor, an award for which, while technically eligible, none would have been considered at the time. One of these seven was Lieutenant Thomas, and he was accordingly awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously on 13 January 1997.