|The Liberation of
Western Czechoslovakia 1945
by Bryan J. Dickerson
As World War Two in Europe came to a close in the first days of May 1945, more
than just the end of the war was at hand. For over six long years, the people
of western Czechoslovakia had lived under Nazi tyranny - longer than any other
people subjugated by Nazi Germany. Now, two corps of General George S. Patton,
Jr.'s Third U.S. Army were in the Sudetenland region along the old 1937 German-
Czechoslovak border. The German Army opposing them was literally melting away,
as tens of thousands of its soldiers surrendered or deserted daily. Third Army
was about to bring an end to western Czechoslovakia's long years of Nazi
occupation and oppression.
Long Years of Nazi Occupation
The fate of the Czech and Slovak peoples was sealed at the infamous Munich
Conference in September 1938, when Britain and France permitted Adolf Hitler to
seize the Sudetenland. This region of western Czechoslovakia bordered on
Germany and contained some 3 million ethnic Germans who had never historically
been a part of Germany. By the spring of 1939, Czechoslovakia no longer
existed; the Germans had seized the rest of the Czech lands and form the
Slovaks to form their own Nazi puppet state. The nation was forcibly
incorporated into the Nazi war machine and renamed "the Protectorate of Bohemia
For the next six years, the Czechs lived under the oppression of their Nazi
occupiers. Hundreds of thousands of Czechs were deported to work in German
industries. Jews were rounded up and sent to concentration camps, where most
ultimately were killed. The Catholic Church and other churches and
faiths were vigorously persecuted. Schools and universities were
After six long years of occupation, the liberation of the Czech people was
finally at hand in April 1945. Soviet armies were steadily advancing through
the Slovak lands and eastern Moravia against fierce German resistance. In the
west, Allied armies were streaming across central Germany against melting
German resistance. On 18 April, the 90th Infantry Division of XII Corps reached
the old 1937 Czechoslovak border and sent elements on a raid into the country.
With this action, Germany was cut in two laterally. Within a few days, the 90th
Infantry Division was joined by two more Third Army units: the 2nd Cavalry
Group and the 97th Infantry Division.
Third Army Operations Along the Border
Rather than continue east into Czechoslovakia, the Supreme Allied Commander
General Dwight D. Eisenhower shifted Third Army's advance to the south-east to
prevent the formation of a rumored Nazi "last stand" in a region of the Alps
known as the "National Redoubt." Under its commander Major General S. LeRoy
Irwin, XII Corps advanced parallel to the Czechoslovak border to protect and
screen the ever-lengthening left flank of Third Army.
Third Army's main effort was directed to the south-east, 2nd Cavalry Group, and
the 90th and 97th Infantry Divisions each conducted some limited operations to
the east along the border. The 2nd Cavalry Group, for instance, overcame
stiff German resistance while capturing the town of Asch. On 23 April, the
90th Infantry Division liberated Floessenburg Concentration Camp just west of
the border. There they discovered horrid Nazi atrocities, and emaciated inmates
who had been left to die. Two days later, the city of Cheb was liberated by the
97th Infantry Division after intense fighting. Then, the division seized an
airfield just outside the city. First Sergeant Thomas Banks's platoon of
the 387th Infantry Regiment led his company's attack on the airfield and was
supported by some medium tanks. "The action was fast and furious," he later
recalled. "We would have been in big trouble without the tanks."
Several days later, the 42nd Squadron of 2nd Cavalry Group launched two
successful rescue operations. The first one, spearheaded by Staff Sergeant
(S/Sgt.) Joseph Carpenter's platoon of C Troop, rescued several hundred Allied
prisoners of war from a camp several miles behind German lines. The other
involved the famed Lippizanner horses of Vienna's Spanish Riding School.
Accompanied by a German Army veterinarian, Captain Thomas Stewart snuck through
German lines to the stables in which the horses were kept and successfully
negotiated for their surrender. Then a force of the 42nd Squadron fought
through German lines, occupied the stables, and rescued the horses.
As April came to a close, the end of the German Army appeared to be only days
away. Units of the First U.S. Army began shifting south to help protect Third
Army's left flank, which was becoming longer and longer every day. The 97th
Infantry Division was transferred to First Army, and the 1st Infantry Division
assumed responsibility for covering their left flank. V Corps Headquarters
moved south from Leipzig to assume command of First Army units on the
Czechoslovak border. Additional Third Army units were moving into position
along the border as well. The Nazi last stand never materialized. Third and
Seventh Armies occupied the National Redoubt and definitively proved that it
was a myth created by German propaganda.
Patton was anxious to continue advancing eastward. Repeatedly, he sought
permission from Twelfth U.S. Army Group commander General Omar N. Bradley and
from Eisenhower to advance into Czechoslovakia. He was denied by both. They
were not unsympathetic to his requests, but the liberation of Czechoslovakia
was a lower priority. In his memoirs, Bradley wrote about Patton's enthusiasm
|"Why---," I asked Patton, "why does everyone in Third Army
want to liberate the Czechs?" George grinned. "On to Czechoslovakia!," he
whooped, "--- and fraternization! How in hell can you stop an army with a
battle cry like that?"
Unfortunately for Patton, Eisenhower was wrestling with several major issues of
greater importance. Eisenhower wanted the war over as quickly as possible so
that he could implement plans to re-deploy his American units to the Pacific
Theater to invade Japan. He had also successfully resisted intense pressure,
not only from British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and British senior
military leaders but from some of his own officers, who all wanted to capture
Berlin ahead of the Soviets. Eisenhower was engaged in prodding British Field
Marshall Bernard Montgomery to seize Lübeck, on the Baltic Sea coast, instead
of Berlin, in order to prevent the Soviets from getting into Denmark. Finally,
Eisenhower had to make arrangements with the Soviets to affect a
link-up of their respective armies that would not cause recognition
problems and casualties. In the center, the Elbe River was chosen as the
demarcation line, but the matter was largely unresolved in the north and south,
including in Czechoslovakia.
The Collapse of the German Army in western Czechoslovakia
intelligence reports detailed the rapid disintegration of the German 7th Army,
which was opposing Third Army along the Czechoslovak border. Unable to maintain
a coherent defensive line, the 7th Army had resorted to delaying tactics that
utilized road blocks and strong points. The Third Army G-2 (Intelligence)
Periodic Report for 2 May stated that there was "no organized enemy front line"
opposite XII Corps. Intelligence officers for Third Army and XII Corps
estimated that only 6,500 to 7,000 German soldiers and 35 tanks and assault
guns were actively opposing the corps. Of the several divisions identified in
7th Army, most were ad hoc units or remnants of units. Only the 11th
Panzer Division was believed to be anywhere near its authorized strength..
With Third Army in force along the border and Soviet forces advancing from the
east and from Austria, the German Army was being forced into a pocket in
Bohemia. Third Army G-2 estimated that there were a total of 141,250 German
soldiers and 325 tanks in the Czechoslovak pocket, the vast majority of whom
were vigorously opposing the Soviets. Other estimates put German forces at two
and three times the Third Army estimate. In late April, Twelfth Army Group
intelligence estimated that there were over 30 German divisions, including four
panzer divisions, in Czechoslovakia, with another six panzer divisions
nearby in Austria west of Vienna. However, most of these divisions were greatly
under strength as a result of heavy fighting.
Conditions within the German 7th Army were worse than American intelligence
officers estimated. The 2nd Panzer Division was down to less than 20 tanks and
2,000 men. Seventh Army Chief of Staff Generalmajor Freiherr von Gersdorff
wrote that the army was practically immobilized for lack of fuel. What little
stocks they had were confiscated for use against the Soviets. A counter-attack
by the 2nd and 11th Panzer Divisions against Third Army's left flank had been
ordered, but could not be carried out because of lack of fuel. The
infantry divisions each numbered less than 2,500 men and had few artillery
pieces and heavy weapons for support. Generalmajor Karl Weissenberger,
commander of Military Area XIII or 13th Corps, later wrote "the front consisted
only of strongpoints and roadblocks and we had not been able to fill the gaps."
With the Western and Eastern Fronts converging, Field Marshall Ferdinand
Schoerner assumed command of all German forces in the Czechoslovak Pocket. He
soon ordered the 11th Panzer Division, 7th Army's largest and most effective
remaining combat unit, to immediately proceed east to fight the Soviets.
For the German soldiers, fighting against the Soviets meant certain death,
either on the battlefield or in prisoner of war camps should they be captured.
Needless to say, Schoerner's orders were not well
received by the officers and men of the 11th Panzer
Division. With the assistance of the 2nd Cavalry
Group's commander Colonel (Col.) Charles H. Reed, the
11th Panzer's commander General Wendt von Weitersheim
met on 4 May with officers of the 90th Infantry
Division in the Czech village of Vseruby to discuss
the surrender of his division. These officers included
the division's commander Brigadier General Herbert
Earnest, the 359th Infantry Regiment commander Col.
Raymond E. Bell, and several division staff officers.
The arrangements were agreed upon, and von Weitersheim
unconditionally surrendered his division to
Accepting the surrender of the 11th Panzer Division was no easy task. The 11th
Panzer surrendered over 9,000 soldiers, seven tanks, over a hundred
half-tracks, fifteen self-propelled guns and over a thousand assorted vehicles.
Because many of the German vehicles were out of fuel, Halsey provided the
Germans with fuel so that they could drive into the American lines. Lt.Col.
Orwin C. Talbott's 3rd Battalion / 359th Infantry Regiment was one of two
battalions tasked with processing the Germans. As the German columns came in,
Talbott's men disarmed them and sent them westward into prisoner of war
enclosures in the rear. Howitzers of Col. D. K. Reimers's 343rd Field Artillery
Battalion were trained on the columns of German vehicles just in case the
Germans had a change of heart and decided to resist. Soldiers of the 2nd
Infantry Division were later called in to assist the 90th Division's soldiers
in handling the German prisoners. A couple of days later, the remaining portion
of the 11th Panzer Division surrendered to the 26th Infantry Division in
The surrender of the 11th Panzer Division en masse to the Americans
was an irreparable disaster for the German 7th Army. This left a huge gap
in its already stretched lines that could not be filled. "The unexpectedly
hurried departure of the 11th Pz [Panzer] Div [Division] meant the exposure of
our southern flank and clearance of the Taus-Pilsen road for the Americans,"
Gen. Weissenberger later wrote. The road to Prague lay wide open.
Liberation Days - 5th of May
The military situation was changing rapidly in central Europe. Not
surprisingly, this made co-ordination between the Western Allied and Soviet
armies very difficult. In a cable sent through the U.S. Military Mission in
Moscow to General Alexei Antonov of the Soviet High Command on 30 April,
Eisenhower had raised the possibility of his forces advancing up to a line that
ran south-easterly from Karlovy Vary through Plzen to Ceska Budejovice. Then,
two days later, Montgomery's forces finally captured Lübeck on the Baltic, and
pushed on to a line that ran from Wismar through Schwerin to Doemitz. His
forces arrived in all three places scant hours before the Soviet forces. On 4
May, Eisenhower decided to send Patton into Czechoslovakia. He sent a cable to
Antonov informing the Soviets of this, along with the possibility of an advance
all the way to the east bank of the Vltava River. Such a move naturally would
include liberating at least part of Prague, because the river ran through the
middle of the city.
Thus, on 4 May, Patton got his wish. At 1930, Bradley telephoned him with the
news of Eisenhower's decision. Patton was to attack into western Czechoslovakia
to the Karlovy Vary-Plzen-Ceske Budejovice line. He was also to be prepared to
advance beyond that line upon further orders. To bolster his forces, Major
General Clarence Huebner's V Corps was being transferred from First Army to
Third Army. Bradley asked Patton when he could commence his attack. Patton
replied that he could attack the following morning. "He [Bradley] was somewhat
incredulous, but as we were pretty well used to each other, he believed me,"
Patton later wrote in his memoirs.
For the past several days, V Corps had been moving down from the north as part
of First Army's effort to cover Third Army's lengthening left flank. As Carl
Sosna of the 23rd Infantry Regiment recalled, much of the 2nd Infantry
Division's move south from Leipzig was conducted in a snowstorm that caused
some vehicular accidents. With the addition of V Corps, Third Army now had 18
divisions and over 540,000 men. This was the largest field army ever fielded by
the U.S. Army. As Patton's Chief of Staff Major General Hobart Gay, recorded in
his diary, "this is probably one of the most powerful armies ever assembled in
the history of war...".
Around the same time that Bradley was informing Patton of V Corps's transfer to
Third Army, Major Gen. Huebner received the same news just as he sat down for
dinner with some of his staff officers. "Well, I'll give us just about twelve
hours before General Patton calls up and tells us to attack something," Huebner
remarked. Minutes later, Huebner received a phone call from Patton. "Well, I
missed that one," he informed his staff after finishing his telephone
conversation with his new commander. "Instead of twelve hours, it was twelve
minutes. We attack Pilsen at daybreak."
Patton also had Gay call XII Corps about the next morning's attack. Gay
informed the corps commander Irwin that his mission was to "destroy enemy in
zone and advance on Prague." He instructed Irwin to use the 5th and 90th
Infantry and 4th Armored Divisions for the attack on Prague; his 26th Infantry
and 11th Armored Divisions were to cover the right flank and rear of his corps
with supporting operations. After outlining the orders, Gay asked when Irwin
could commence. Irwin replied: "Before 0700 tomorrow morning."
The addition of Huebner's V Corps required some shuffling of forces in Third
Army. When it was completed, V Corps consisted of the 1st, 2nd, and 97th
Infantry Divisions, the 102nd Cavalry Group and the 9th and 16th Armored
Divisions. Irwin's XII Corps now had the 5th, 26th and 90th Infantry Divisions,
2nd Cavalry Group, and 4th and 11th Armored Divisions. Both corps had numerous
separate artillery battalions for additional fire support.
For many days now, Patton had been planning this attack. Reconnaissance had
been conducted. His staff had made terrain analyses and attack plans. The 5th
Infantry Division and 2nd Cavalry Group had secured some of the passes through
the Bohemian mountains for the armored divisions to exploit. After receiving a
change of orders on 2 May, Gen. Irwin wrote in his diary, "Apparently we invade
Czechoslovakia..." So when Bradley gave him the go-ahead to attack, Third Army
was ready and able to do so within a matter of hours.
The plan called for both V and XII Corps to attack side-by-side on a broad
front that stretched the width of Czechoslovakia. In the north, the 1st
Infantry Division supported by Combat Command A of the 9th Armored Division
would attack towards Karlovy Vary. In the center, the 97th and 2nd Infantry
Divisions would advance to clear a path. The 16th Armored Division would
exploit that path and liberate the city of Plzen. This was to be 16th
Armored's first battle, and Patton was eager to get them into combat before the
war ended. The remainder of the 9th Armored Division and the 102nd Cavalry
Group was held in reserve.
South of V Corps, the 4th Armored Division would pass through the mountain
passes held by the 90th and 5th Infantry Divisions and head for Prague. These
divisions and the 2nd Cavalry Group would follow in support. Farther south, the
26th Infantry Division would conduct attacks in both south-western
Czechoslovakia and in nearby Austria. The 11th Armored Division would not
participate in the Czechoslovak attack; instead, it would push east through
Austria to link up with Soviet forces coming west. These two divisions would
serve to cover XII Corps's right flank and rear as it attacked to the
north-east. The plan was typical Patton: infantry divisions opening holes for
armored divisions to pour through and rush headlong into the German Army's rear
areas to wreak havoc.
On the morning of 5 May, Patton's forces advanced. In the V Corps sector, the
1st, 2nd, and 97th Infantry Divisions led the assault. The 1st Infantry
Division advanced upwards of 14 kilometers on a front 48 kilometers wide. They
overcame heavy German resistance that included the infamous 88mm anti-tank
guns. On their right, the 97th Infantry Division rushed eastward up to 24
kilometers despite roadblocks and strong-points. Advancing on a front 42
kilometers wide, the 2nd Infantry Division made gains of up to 12 kilometers
against scattered German resistance, and liberated the towns of Horsovesky Tyn,
Domazlice and Kdyne.
Included among V Corps's forces was the 17th Field Artillery Observation
Battalion, a unit which detected and plotted German artillery positions by the
sound and flash of their guns. By this time, the German artillery threat was so
minimal and the front line changing so rapidly that the battalion was used
instead to patrol the rear areas and mop up bypassed German soldiers.
True to his word, Irwin had his XII Corps attacking at 0600. The 5th Infantry
Division advanced up to 11,000 yards through rugged terrain and secured several
bridges across the Vltava River. For this attack, the 90th Infantry Division
used only one of its three regiments. Col. Bell's 359th Infantry was still
processing the surrender of the 11th Panzer Division. The 357th Infantry
cleared routes for the 4th Armored Division, while the 358th Infantry remained
in reserve. In doing so, the 357th Infantry overcame stiff German resistance in
a few places. With the imminent approach of American soldiers, the citizens of
Klatovy rose up against the Germans in their town. Late in the afternoon, the
first elements of the 2nd Cavalry Group arrived, and the German garrison of
nearly 1,000 soldiers surrendered to them.
Partisans in Plzen also attempted to liberate themselves from the Germans. A
tense stand-off developed because the Czechs were not strong enough to
overpower the Germans and the Germans refused to surrender to the Czechs. The
garrison commander Lt. Gen. George von Majewski, decided to hold out until the
Americans arrived and surrender to them. He ordered his troops not to resist
the Americans when they came. The stand-off with the Czechs continued through
In Prague too, partisans rose up against the Germans and were initially
successful. A division of Russian prisoners of war who had joined the German
Army to fight the Communists was passing through the area. These troops and
their commander, former Soviet Army Lt. Gen. Andrei Vlasov, decided now was a
good time to switch sides again, so they stopped their journey to help the
Prague patriots. The German commander of the city, Gen. Rudolf Toussaint, was
not all that interested in continuing the war but his superior, Field Marshall
Schoerner, was. Schoerner immediately dispatched two divisions of SS troops and
tanks to crush the rebellion.
American soldiers quickly began receiving reports of the uprising in Prague.
These reports were confirmed by a three-man Office of Strategic Services team
that infiltrated into Prague and returned to inform Patton of the situation.
After learning of the Czechs' plight, Patton called Bradley to get permission
to liberate Prague. "For God's sake, Brad, those patriots in the city need our
help!" Patton pleaded with his superior. Patton even went so far as to suggest
that he "get lost" until his troops had liberated the city. Not unsympathetic
to the Czechs, Bradley called Eisenhower but the Supreme Commander refused to
budge on his decision. Furthermore, he ordered Bradley to order Patton not to
cross the Karlovy Vary - Plzen - Ceske Budejovice line.
The first American operations in Czechoslovakia had been conducted in the
Sudetenland, which was almost entirely populated by Germans. "When we crossed
into Czechoslovakia, we were not in friendly territory," recalled Private
Harold Yeglin of the 97th Infantry Division. "Here surly looks and sullen faces
met them as the Germans walked with eyes looking to the ground, refusing to
take cognizance of the victors," recorded the 2nd Infantry Division's
Once the American soldiers crossed into the Czech-populated areas of Bohemia,
the atmosphere radically changed. "The scattering of Czech flags should have
warned us, but we were totally unprepared for the mad celebration which greeted
us in the next town," Capt. Charles MacDonald of the 23rd Infantry Regiment
later wrote. In a letter written home afterwards, Capt. Burton Smead, Jr. of
the 12th Field Artillery Battalion described the reception that his unit
received. "If you stop your vehicle, it is only with difficulty you can get
away because the people swarm over it, laughing, shaking hands, talking a blue
streak, pressing food and wine and flowers and flags on you," he wrote. In a
letter to his parents, Sgt. Lee Walenta of the 15th Field Artillery Battalion
described the experience as "like a hero in a great football game carried off
the field on the shoulders of the spectators." When the 2nd Cavalry Squadron
entered Klatovy, they were greeted by "great crowds of wildly cheering Czech
people." As the Americans advanced deeper into the Czech lands, they were
greeted by joyous Czech civilians dressed in their native costumes, and whole
towns and villages decorated with Czech and American flags. This was only the
beginning. Soon, thousands of other American soldiers in other units would be
experiencing similar receptions.
Significant gains had been made by units of both V Corps and XII Corps. Greater
advances were expected for the next day. Concerned about Patton's intentions,
Bradley phoned him at 1930 that evening and reminded him to halt at the Karlovy
Vary - Plzen -Ceske Budejovice stop line.
The Soviet High Command was greatly alarmed that Eisenhower was considering an
advance to the east bank of the Vltava River. Antonov replied to Eisenhower's
cable of 4 May the very next day after it was received. In his reply, Antonov
requested that Eisenhower not advance beyond the Karlovy Vary - Plzen - Ceske
Budejovice. He also reminded him that the Soviets had halted their drive on
Lübeck a couple days prior at Eisenhower's request.
Liberation Day - 6th of May
The infantry had made significant gains. Now, on the morning of 6 May, it was
the turn of the armored divisions. Brig. Gen. Thomas Harrold's Combat Command A
of the 9th Armored Division staged through the front lines of 1st Infantry
Division, which were located about five kilometers east of Cheb. The combat
command consisted of Lt. Col. Kenneth Collins's 60th Armored Infantry
Battalion, Lt. Col. George Ruhlen's 3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion, Lt.
Col. Leonard Engeman's 14th Tank Battalion, and attached units such as
engineers, medical and anti-aircraft artillery. The battalions were broken into
Task Force Collins and Task Force Engeman, with Ruhlen's battalion providing
mobile artillery support. Task Force Engeman headed east from the 1st Infantry
Division's lines with lightly armored reconnaissance vehicles in the lead,
while Task Force Collins awaited further orders.
Task Force Engeman soon ran into German resistance from roadblocks, machine
guns, anti-tank guns and infantry armed with Panzerfaust hand-held
anti-tank rockets. After the first resistance was overcome, the M24 light tanks
of D Company were placed in the lead. They immediately ran into more anti-tank
guns, which knocked out one of 1st Lieutenant Demetri Paris's light tanks.
Supported by the howitzers of Ruhlen's battalion, the task force knocked out
these guns and continued east. Before the day's advance was over, several more
German anti-tank guns were knocked out at a cost of another American tank and
several more American casualties.
Though its cavalry squadron had seen some action with another division, the
16th Armored Division had yet to see combat as a division. With the days of the
war winding down, Patton was anxious to get them into action. On the morning of
6 May, they entered combat for the first time. Their mission was to liberate
Plzen, western Bohemia's largest and most important city. The main effort was
made by Col. Charles Noble's Combat Command B down the Bor-Plzen road. They
were to seize high ground west of the city. On a parallel road to their south,
Combat Command R was to cover their flank and seize high ground east of Plzen.
Combat Command A was to follow Noble's forces in support and reserve.
Completion of these movements would put the division in position to liberate
Noble split his command into three task forces. Task Force A, under the command
of Lt. Col. George B. Pickett, consisted of most of the 69th Armored Infantry
Battalion, several platoons of the 16th Tank Battalion, Troop B of 23rd Cavalry
Reconnaissance Squadron and a platoon of the 216th Armored Engineers Battalion.
Some German resistance was met by Task Force A and overcome. Less than two
hours into the attack, Troop B arrived in the outskirts of the city. Noble
decided to press on into Plzen without waiting for the rest of the division. It
was an audacious decision, for Noble had only 2,500 men and the German garrison
was estimated at over 10,000.
Noble's gamble worked. By 0800 the lead elements of Task Force A arrived in
Republic Square at the center of Plzen. They were greeted by crowds of cheering
Czechs. Not long after, Col. Noble joined them and he too became swept up in
the crowds of Czechs joyous over their liberation. Other forces of Combat
Command B secured the Skoda Works and the city airport, capturing hundreds of
In Republic Square, thousands of people turned out to greet their liberators
and celebrate their liberation from the Germans. The Czechs showered their
American liberators with flowers, food, and their world-famed Pilsner beer.
Vera Fiedlerova was nineteen years old at the time. "I was among those happy
people with tears in my eyes," she later recalled. "It was one of the happiest
days of my life." Of liberation, Jaroslav Peklo, who was eight years old at the
time, later wrote "the best days of my life began, for a while." Another
teenager living in Plzen, Malvina Zajicova, wrote afterwards that "every
inhabitant [of Plzen] tried to express his joy and gratitude." Col. Noble was
soon joined by division commander Brigadier General John L. Pierce. Both
received hero's welcomes from the huge crowd.
The celebration in Republic Square was short-lived. At around 1000, German
snipers perched high up in the steeple of St. Bartholomew's Cathedral in the
center of the square opened fire on the crowd below. Other German snipers
opened fire from nearby houses. The crowds dispersed to find cover. American
machine gun crews returned fire on the snipers. Vera Fiedlerova later recalled
how calmly the American soldiers went about taking out the snipers. "From our
shelters we observed with great amazement and admiration the battle experience
and courage of G. I. Joes," recalled Malvina Zajicova. The Germans were no
match for the 16th Armored soldiers and their machine guns mounted on armored
vehicles. A squad of soldiers ascended St. Bartholomew's steeple and captured
the Germans holed up there. Other Americans fanned out and subdued other
pockets of snipers.
In the afternoon, Lt. Charles Schaefer of the 216th Armored Engineers came
across the commander of the German garrison in Plzen, Lt. Gen. George von
Majewski, and his staff in their headquarters. Schaefer immediately sent word
of his find. Not long after, Combat Command B's executive officer Lt. Col.
Percy Perkins showed up and demanded that von Majewski surrender
unconditionally. After signing the surrender document, the German commander
shot himself fatally in the head with a pistol that he had managed to hide from
Though most of the German garrison simply surrendered, scattered pockets of
diehard German soldiers continued to fire on the Americans from numerous places
around the city. For the remainder of the day, the 16th Armored soldiers fought
to subdue these pockets. They also set up defensive positions around the city.
Throughout the day, soldiers from the other two combat commands and the 97th
Infantry Division poured into Plzen. They cleared out pockets of German snipers
and soldiers holed up in several churches, the synagogue, the Opera House and
the Gestapo headquarters. They also processed over 8,000 German soldiers, most
of whom had surrendered peacefully. In its first and only combat action of the
war, the 16th Armored Division had liberated Plzen at a cost of one killed and
While much of the 16th Armored was consolidating in and around Plzen, some of
its elements were pushing east towards Prague. S/Sgt. Gene Eike of the 18th
Armored Infantry Battalion took a half-track and six men to find a certain
highway that ran east. In the process, he and his men liberated three small
villages outside of Plzen. Lt. Col. Pickett sent the reconnaissance platoon of
his 64th Armored Infantry Battalion east towards Prague. Sgt. Jack Gallagher of
the 5th Tank Battalion and Private Edward Krusheski of the 69th Armored
Infantry Battalion were both in units that also were ordered east towards
To the south of the 16th Armored Division, the famed 4th Armored Division
launched a two-prong attack from the German town of Regen through positions
held by the 5th and 90th Infantry Divisions. The 4th Armored encountered no
German resistance; its rapid advance was slowed only by pockets of heavy rain
and the poor condition of the mountain roads. In many towns along the
division's routes, Czech partisans had already overthrown their German
occupiers. Combat Command A advanced through the Regen Pass and ended the day
in the town of Strakonice. Combat Command B advanced through the Freyung Pass
and ended the day at Vel Bor. A task force of the 25th Cavalry Squadron and C
Company of the 35th Tank Battalion sped ahead, liberated the town of Pisek, and
accepted the surrender of its 800-man garrison. Reconnaissance elements pressed
on even farther, to the outskirts of Prague itself. Combat Command R followed
Combat Command A in reserve, and halted in the vicinity of Volyne.
Once 4th Armored Division had passed out of the Sudetenland, they encountered
Czechs lining the routes of their advance. "After entering Czechoslovakia, a
welcome was received which was comparable to that received by nearly a year ago
by the liberated French," recalled the division combat history. "The
enthusiastic Czechs lined the sides of the roads attired in their colorful
costumes." In the Unit Diary for the 51st Armored Infantry Battalion, 1st Lt.
David E. Williams described the Americans' reception when Combat Command A
entered Strakonice. "The column could hardly move because of the crowd of
civilians," he wrote. "The atmosphere was one of celebration and was not
expected." Lt. Col. Al Irzyk, commander of the 8th Tank Battalion, later
described the greeting that his battalion received from the Czechs. "Suddenly
there they were - happy, overjoyed Czechs - smiling, laughing, waving, hugging
one another, and cheering," he wrote in his memoirs.
Following in the wake of the 4th Armored Division were the 5th and 90th
Infantry Divisions. The infantry followed the tanks and consolidated their
gains. The 90th Infantry Division committed two of its regiments. The 357th
Infantry Regiment liberated 400 British prisoners of war and captured some 900
Germans. The 358th Infantry Regiment met and overcame some resistance in
several towns and ended up accepting the surrender of over 1,100 Germans
altogether. Soldiers of the 5th Infantry Division captured several towns
inhabited by Sudeten Germans, with some units advancing up to 11,000 yards
through the rugged terrain.
While Third Army soldiers were headed relentlessly towards Prague, Bradley
attempted to relay Eisenhower's halt orders to Patton. He finally reached
Patton by phone after the latter returned from Sunday church services. "The
halt line through Pilsen is mandatory, George, for V and XII Corps," Bradley
informed him. He also ordered Patton not to send recon patrols any farther than
five miles north-east of Plzen. Patton's objections were vigorous but
In the headquarters of 16th Armored Division, Sol Polish was serving as the
Division Message Center Officer, which made him responsible for deciphering
encoded communications. At around 1600, he received a message from V Corps
directing the division to halt its forward advance and maintain a defensive
perimeter five miles north of Plzen. "I was amazed to learn that General Patton
would hold a complete armored division in limbo while Prague was still in
German hands," he later recalled. "I hand delivered the message to General
Pierce, our Commanding General and this caused us to recall Combat Command B
from their advance to Prague." Some time later, Polish learned that the halt
order originated with Eisenhower.
Slowly but surely, word was passed down the chain of command to halt the
armored forces. According to Gaston Gee, his reconnaissance unit of the 4th
Armored Division's 51st Armored Infantry Battalion made it to the outskirts of
Prague. Units of the 16th Armored Division were also halted short of Prague.
"We were 17 miles from Prague on the 6th [of May] and they turned us around and
brought us back," Sgt. Jack Gallagher of the 5th Tank Battalion later recalled.
Pvt. Ed Krusheski recalled that his unit of the 69th Armored Infantry Battalion
was within eleven miles of the city before being recalled. The 69th Armored
Infantry's commander, Lt. Col. George B. Pickett, later wrote that his
reconnaissance platoon got half way to Prague before being recalled.
Since the previous day, reports of the uprising in Prague and calls for
American assistance against the Germans were being received by American forces.
Many of the American soldiers could hear the radio broadcasts from Prague.
Czech partisans from Prague made their way to forward units of both the 4th and
16th Armored Divisions to request immediate help against the Germans. These
requests were passed on went all the way up the chain of command through Third
Army and Twelfth Army Group to Eisenhower's own Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) itself. "At 0415 hours 6 May 1945, Prague asked
again for American support by planes and tanks during this day," read one of
several messages from the Czech Military Mission to Eisenhower. "The population
holds down firmly, but support necessary, we appeal for it." Hearing the radio
broadcasts coming from Prague, the Czechoslovak government in London sent also
urgent appeals to Eisenhower through its Military Mission.
Despite the repeated calls for help from Prague and the lack of German
resistance to American forces, Eisenhower did not permit Third Army to continue
its drive on Prague and the rescue of the embattled citizens of the city.
Instead he informed the Soviet High Command of their requests and of his
intentions to abide by the Karlovy Vary - Plzen - Ceska Budejovice halt
The War in Europe is Over!!
Eisenhower ordered American forces to halt at the Karlovy Vary - Plzen - Ceska
Budejovice line, but word of his orders was slow in reaching many units. As a
result, advances were begun by Combat Command A - 9th Armored Division, and the
1st, 2nd, 5th, 90th and 97th Infantry Divisions on the morning of 7 May. At
this late date, the 5th Infantry Division encountered some German resistance
and suffered several casualties, including its last soldier killed in action.
According to Gen. Gay, the 5th and 90th Infantry Divisions both went 10 miles
beyond the line. The 2nd Infantry Division relieved the 16th Armored Division
in Plzen and halted some 12 miles outside the city in the town of Rokycany.
Other units, however, stopped short of the line. The 9th Armored stopped just
outside Karlovy Vary, and the 26th Infantry halted well to the west of Ceska
Budejovice. That night, Private First Class Domenic Mozzetta of the 97th
Infantry Division fired the last shot of the war in Europe. Altogether, Third
Army had liberated and was now occupying 3,485 square miles of western
Nazi Germany officially surrendered to the Allied Powers at Reims, France on 7
May, with the official cessation of hostilities to occur at 1201 am on 9 May.
The news was greeted with mixed emotions by American soldiers. Some American
soldiers were joyous and exuberant at the news. Others quietly reflected on the
costs of that victory and of friends who had been killed. For some other
soldiers, the German surrender was anti-climatic. "Our joy was somewhat
tempered by the fact that the war in the Pacific still went on and that we
might be shipped there," recalled 1st Lt. Bob Carlson of the 38th Infantry
Regiment. His division was not the only one that had been selected to be sent
to the Pacific Theater to fight the Japanese. While their reactions to the
German surrender varied, numerous Americans eagerly participated in the victory
celebrations that were held by the Czechs across western Czechoslovakia.
Though halted at the demarcation line, the 16th Armored Division had one more
vital mission to perform. A platoon of the division's 23rd Cavalry Squadron
escorted the V Corps Assistant G-3 (Operations) Officer Lt. Col. Robert Pratt,
a Czechoslovak liaison officer, and Colonel Meyer-Detring of the Wehrmacht High
Command, to locate Field Marshall Schoerner and deliver messages ordering him
to surrender in accord with the German surrender signed at Reims. The Pratt
Mission set out from Plzen and made its way without incident to Prague. There
it was learned that Schoerner had moved his headquarters east to the town of
Welchow near the Polish border. So the Pratt Mission headed off to Welchow,
arriving there late in the morning of 8 May. The messages were delivered and
the Pratt Mission returned to Plzen later that day.
The war in Europe was over, but there was still some killing left to be done.
While loading captured German munitions onto trucks in the town of Pernek on 8
May, an explosion claimed the lives of Corporal Joseph Evancho and seven other
soldiers of the 26th Infantry Division. "War, the cruelest of all predators,
had consumed its last prey from the 101st Infantry Regiment," Sgt. Carl
DeVasto, a witness to the tragedy, later wrote. In two separate incidents in
the week after VE Day, soldiers of the 4th Armored Division's 94th Armored
Field Artillery Battalion were fired upon by small groups of diehard German
soldiers. The members of both groups were either killed or captured but one
American soldier - PFC Oscar Oakman - was killed during the second
The Germans in Prague refused to surrender and kept on fighting. Though Soviet
tanks arrived in the city on the afternoon of 9 May, pockets of Germans held
out until 13 May. When the guns finally fell silent in Prague, tens of
thousands of Czech civilians and Soviet soldiers had been killed or
The war in Europe came to an end, but with it came the massive task of handling
the hundreds of thousands of surrendering German soldiers and civilians. Prior
to VE Day, there had been a flood of Germans surrendering to the Americans to
escape the Soviets. Now that flood became a tidal wave. An agreement had been
made with the Soviets stipulating that all Germans found west of the American
stop line by one minute after midnight on 9 May would be prisoners of the
Americans and all Germans found east of that line would be Soviet prisoners
after that time. Any Germans caught infiltrating into American lines after that
deadline would be turned over to the Soviets. Not surprisingly, there was a
mad, panicked race amongst German soldiers and civilians alike to cross into
American hands as quickly as possible. Eventually those who lost the race ended
up in Soviet hands.
The sheer numbers of German soldiers and civilians surrendering to the
Americans to avoid capture by the Soviets were staggering. Before VE Day, the
2nd Infantry Division captured over 23,000 German soldiers; after VE-Day, they
accepted the surrender of some 52,000 soldiers. By nightfall on 9 May, Combat
Command A of the 4th Armored had over 54,000 German soldiers and civilians
within its lines, and estimated that another 275,000 had been halted outside
their lines. In fact, the number of Germans awaiting capture was so enormous
that the combat command had to use captured German staff officers to
co-ordinate the movements of Germans to the American lines. On 10 May alone, V
Corps units took over 55,000 German prisoners. Between 9 and 13 May, Third Army
took over half a million prisoners throughout its zone of operations.
Dealing with the huge numbers of surrendering Germans was a major undertaking.
Roadblocks were set up to stem the tide of Germans and prevent them from
sneaking through American lines. Huge prisoner enclosures were set up while the
Germans were screened to detect possible war criminals. American commanders
scoured their units to find trucks to transport the German prisoners back to
Germany and discharge them to their homes. American interrogators were
overwhelmed by the numbers. George Lamm was one of six men in XII Corps's
Interrogation of Prisoners of War Team No. 79, tasked with screening some
20,000 Germans at a prison camp near the German-Czechoslovak
border. Hidden amongst these Germans were high-ranking SS and Gestapo
officers and Nazi officials trying to escape justice. American interrogators
did their best to identify and incarcerate those officials and officers, but
some managed to sneak through undetected. Meanwhile, other American soldiers
such as S/Sgt. Ib Melchior of XII Corps's Counter-Intelligence Detachment 212
tracked down fugitive senior Nazis and arrested several high-ranking German
officers who were attempting to set up guerrilla operations to continue the
In addition to the Germans, American soldiers had to take care of hundreds of
thousands of other persons. They came from nearly every nation in Europe:
Poles, French, Belgians, Ukrainians, Czechs, Slovaks, Danes, Dutch, and Jews
from many countries, etc. Most had been freed from imprisonment in forced labor
and concentration camps. Others had been displaced by war from their homes.
Many others were freed prisoners of war, including Americans. Often the people
were in failing health and suffering from disease and poor nutrition. American
soldiers did their best to help.
Within a few days of the German surrender, American and Soviet forces began
linking up. Though some meetings were celebratory - the famed 25 April U.S. -
Soviet link-up on the Elbe River is the best-known - many others were
occasions of tense armed confrontations between American and Soviet soldiers.
American soldiers from many units, including the 9th and 16th Armored
Divisions, the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions and the 2nd Cavalry Group,
experienced problems with overly aggressive Soviet troops. In the town of
Rokycany, Carmine Caiazzo and other soldiers of the 9th Infantry Regiment had
several hostile incidents with nearby Soviet troops. Even 2nd Infantry Division
commander Major General Walter Robertson and Col. Noble of the 16th Armored
Division had problems with Soviet officers and their men.
Within days of the end of the war, American forces began pulling out of western
Bohemia. Leaving the 26th Infantry Division behind to become a part of V Corps,
the rest of XII Corps returned to Germany around the end of May. The 97th
Infantry Division pulled out immediately, and was sent to the Pacific Theater.
Combat Command A of 9th Armored Division left Czechoslovakia around this time
and re-joined its parent division in Germany. The rest of V Corps remained in
Czechoslovakia until mid-June, when it was relieved by Major General Ernest
Harmon's XXII Corps. The 79th, 80th, and 94th Infantry and 8th Armored
Divisions all served on occupational duties in Czechoslovakia at one time or
another. Though originally with V Corps, the102nd Cavalry Group and the 17th
Field Artillery Observation Battalion both remained in Czechoslovakia until
late in the occupation period. By 1 December, all American forces had left
western Czechoslovakia under a mutual withdrawal agreement with the Soviet
While occupying Czechoslovakia, American soldiers assisted the Czechs in
re-building their country and the economy ruined by the war. For example, Sgt.
George Thompson and other soldiers of the 137th Armored Ordnance Battalion
repaired captured German vehicles and turned them over to the Czechoslovak
government for their use. To help bring in the harvest, the 94th Infantry
Division provided fuel for the farm equipment and a few hundred of its
As the first country forcibly seized by Nazi Germany, Czechoslovakia suffered
the longest occupation of any country in Europe. As World War Two in Europe
came to an end, Patton's Third U.S. Army liberated western Czechoslovakia and
freed the last people held captive by Nazi Germany. The six long years of Nazi
oppression and brutality were finally over.
. For more about the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, see the following:
Gotthold Rhode, "The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia 1939-1945," found in A
History of the Czechoslovak Republic 1918-1948, ed. by Victor S.
Mamatey and Radomir Luza, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U P, 1973); Derek Sayer, The
Coasts of Bohemia - A Czech History, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton U P,
1998); and William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - A History
of Nazi Germany , (NY: Touchstone Books, 1959).
. For more details, see U.S. Army. 90th Infantry Division. After Action
Report - Month of April 1945. Record Group [RG] 407. National Archives and
Records Administration - College Park, Maryland. [NARA]. [Hereafter cited as
90ID AAR Apr-45]; U.S. Army. Third Army. After Action Report, Third U.S. Army,
1 August 1944 - 9 May 1945. 3 vols. (Germany: 1945). [Hereafter cited as TUSA
AAR]. Found at the U.S. Army Military History Institute Library, Carlisle
Barracks, Pennsylvania. [Hereafter cited as USAMHI].; Arthur L. Lambert, and
Gilbert B. Layton, The Ghosts of Patton's Third Army: A History of the 2nd
Cavalry Group. (Munich, Germany: privately published by 2nd Cavalry
Group Association, 1947); and U.S. Army. 97th Army Reserve Command. The Trident
Heritage: A Brief History of the 97th Infantry Division and the 97th Army
Reserve Command . (Maryland: privately published by the 97th Army
Reserve Command, 1988).
. Due to its proximity with Germany, the geographical places in the
Sudetenland and western Bohemia often have two and sometimes three names and/or
spellings: German, Czech and English. For instance, the city of Cheb (Czech) is
known as Eger in German. The Czech capital of Praha (Czech) is Prag in German
and Prague in English. For this article, the Czech names/spellings will most
often be used.
. Lt. Col. George Dyer, XII Corps: Spearhead of Patton's Third Army
, (privately published by the XII Corps Historical Assocation, 1947),
pp.418-424.; U.S. Army. XII Corps. Report of Operations 1 April 1945 - 8 May
1945. (Germany: 1945). USAMHI Library. [Hereafter cited as XII Corps Ops].;
90ID AAR Apr-45.
. Ibid.; Col. Thomas Banks, Platoon Sergeant / 1st Sergeant. Company L / 3rd
Battalion / 387th Infantry Regiment / 97th Infantry Division. Letter to the
Author. 13 August 2000.; 90ID AAR Apr-45, pp.21-2.; U.S. Army. 97th Infantry
Division. 387th Infantry Regiment. "Narrative of 387th Inf. Operations in
Czechoslovakia." written by Col. W. D. Long, regimental commander. My thanks to
Col. Banks for sending me a copy of this report.; U.S. Army. 97th Infantry
Division. 386th Infantry Regiment. After Action Report. 12 May 1945. USAMHI
. S/Sgt. Joseph Carpenter. Platoon Sergeant / Acting Platoon Leader. 3rd
Platoon / C Troop / 42nd Squadron / 2nd Cavalry Group. Interviews by Author, 14
July and 2 September 1998; Captain Thomas M. Stewart. S-2 (Intelligence)
Officer. 42nd Cavalry Squadron / 2nd Cavalry Group. Letters to the Author. 12
February and 13 March 2000.
. Shirer, pp.1105-6.; Omar N. Bradley, A Soldier's Story, (NY:
Henry Holt, 1951), p.536.; Brig. Gen. Oscar W. Koch with Robert G. Hays, G2:
Intelligence for Patton , (San Diego, CA: reprinted by the George S.
Patton, Jr. Historical Society, 1996), p.54. The Redoubt area included
south-eastern Germany, western Austria and parts of northern Italy.; Dyer,
pp.418-424.; TUSA AAR.
. Bradley, p.549. While conducting operations in Germany, Allied soldiers
were forbidden to fraternize with German civilians, especially women. Since the
Czechs were Allies like the French and Belgians, fraternization rules were
relaxed. See also Ladislas Farago, The Last Days of Patton , (NY:
Berkley Books, 1981), p.57. Farago gives a differently worded version of
Patton's reply that contains essentially the same meaning.
. Alfred D. Chandler, Jr. et als. The Papers of Dwight D. Eisenhower: The
War Years. vol. iv of x. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins U P, 1970). A brief
examination of Eisenhower's correspondence reveals the great pressures that he
was under at this time.; For a discussion of the planned re-deployments to the
Pacific, see Thomas B. Allen and Norman Polmar's Codename Downfall - The Secret
Plan to Invade Japan --- And Why Truman Dropped The Bomb . (NY: Simon
& Schuster, 1995).; The exact line of demarcation in the north was through
Wismar, Schwerin and Doemitz.
. Third Army G-2 Periodic Reports are found in Annex No. 49 of TUSA AAR.;
XII Corps Ops, p.43.
. See Third Army G-2 Periodic Reports for May 1945.; U.S. Army. Twelfth
Army Group. After Action Report, September 1944 - May 1945. 14 vols.
(Wiesbaden, Germany: 1945). See G-2 Section - vol. iv and Annex J.
. Freiherr von Gersdorff, "The Final Phase of the War: From the Rhine to
the Czech Border," draft trans. from the German. (Oberursel, Germany: U.S.
Army, Europe - Historical Division [Foreign Military Studies Branch,] March
1946).; Karl Weissenberger, "Battle Sector XIII (Wehrkreis XIII) (May 1945),"
(Karlsruhe, Germany: U.S. Army, Europe - Historical Division [Foreign Military
Studies Branch,] 1946). After the war, US Army historians interviewed hundreds
of captured German officers. These historical reports are now kept at the U.S.
Army Military History Institute and the National Archives.
. For the surrender of the 11th Panzer Division, see Dyer, pp. 424-6, and
U.S. Army. 90th Infantry Division. After Action Report - Month of May 1945. RG
407. NARA. [Hereafter cited as 90ID AAR May-45].; John Colby, War From the
Ground Up , (Austin, TX: Nortex P, 1991), pp.466-9.; Additional
information was provided by Brig. Gen. Raymond E. Bell, Jr., son of the 359th
Regiment's commander.; The 11th Panzer actually had two commanders at this
time. Gen. von Weitersheim had been ordered east to assume command of a corps
fighting the Soviets but "illness" had delayed his departure. He remained in
command of most of the division with the remainder farther south under the
command of his replacement.
. Ibid. Lt. General Orwin C. Talbott. Lt. Col. Battalion Commander. 3rd
Battalion / 359th Infantry Regiment / 90th Infantry Division. Letter to the
Author. 10 August 1998.; Col. D. K. Reimers. Battalion Commander. 343rd Field
Artillery Battalion / 90th Infantry Division. "My War." Personal Diary. Col.
Reimers allowed me to read his diary in the summer of 1998. Col. Reimers has
since passed away, and his diary is now at to the U.S. Army Military History
Institute Archives.; For 2nd Division's role, see Combat History of the Second
Infantry Division in World War II. (Nashville, TN: printed for the
division by Battery Press, 1946), pp.150-1.; For the 26th Infantry Division's
role, see Brig. Gen. William W. Molla's "The Surrender of the 11th Panzer
Division." Yankee Doings (the newsletter of the 26th Division
Association: Dec. 1995), pp.57-9.
. Weissenberger, p.8.; Under orders from the 7th Army's commanding general,
Weissenberger attempted unsuccessfully to stop the surrender. By the time he
received his orders, the surrender had been nearly completed.
. These cables may be found in Chandler, pp.2664-5 and 2679-80.; See also
U.S. Department of State. "Correspondence Between SHAEF and Soviet High Command
Concerning Decisions To Halt Allied Forces in Czechoslovakia." Department of
State Bulletin . May 22, 1949. pp.665-7. Under intense criticism
following the Communist coup in Czechoslovakia, the State Dept. published
Eisenhower's and Antonov's cables in an attempt to set the record straight.
. George S. Patton, Jr. War As I Knew It , (NY: Bantam, 1979),
p.307.; Bradley, p.549.; Major General Hobart Gay. Chief of Staff. Third Army.
Diary. Personal Papers. USAMHI Archives. See entry for 4 May 1945, p.919.
[Hereafter cited as Diary of Hobart Gay.]
. TUSA AAR, pp. 392.; U.S. Army. V Corps. Operations in the ETO 6 January
42 - 9 May 45. (Germany: 1945). USAMHI Library, pp.450. [Hereafter cited as V
Corps in ETO].; Carl Sosna. Headquarters Company / 3rd Battalion / 23rd
Infantry Regiment / 2nd Infantry Division. Letter to the author. 21 March
1998.; Diary of Hobart Gay, p.919.; U.S. Army. Supreme Headquarters Allied
Expeditionary Force (SHAEF). Message from Eisenhower to Bradley - Ref No.
FWD-20726 6 May 1945. Outgoing Message File. RG407. NARA.; Diary of Hobart Gay,
. This episode is related as a footnote on page 307 of War As I Knew It
. This episode is related in Hobart Gay's diary, p.924.
. TUSA AAR, pp. 392.; V Corps in ETO, pp.450.; Dyer, p.424.
. Patton, p.307.; Irwin's diary quoted in Dyer, p.424.
. Ibid.; V Corps in ETO, pp.450.
. Ibid.; TUSA AAR, pp. 392.
. V Corps in ETO, pp.450.; Combat History of the Second Infantry Division
in World War II, pp.150-1.; The First - A Brief History of the 1st Infantry
Division, World War II . (Cantigny, IL: privately published the
Cantigny First Division Foundation, 1996), p.49. This is a re-print of a
history printed by the division following WWII.
. U.S. Army. 17th Field Artillery Observation Battalion. The History of
17th Field Artillery Observation Battalion . Privately printed by the
battalion in fall of 1945. My thanks to John Maney and Herb Streuning for
. U.S. Army. 5th Infantry Division. Division Headquarters. Historical
Section. 5th Infantry Division in the ETO. (Germany: printed by the
division in 1945), pp.213-6. [Hereafter cited as 5th ID in ETO]; Lambert,
p.297.; 90ID AAR May-45, pp.6-7.; Zdenek Roucka, Jaroslav Peklo, and et. als. Americans
in West Bohemia 1945 - Exclusive Pictures. (Plzen, Czech Republic:
ZR&T, 2000). [This book has no page numbers. It is a pictorial history with
interpretative essays interspersed published in commemoration of the 55th
Anniversary of the Liberation of Western Bohemia.]; U.S. Army. 2nd Cavalry
Group. 2nd Cavalry Squadron. After Action Report - May 1945. RG407, NARA.
. Gerhard Mueller. "Occupation of Pilsen by The U.S. 16th Armored Division
- 16th [sic] May 1945." trans. by H. Hintermann. ed. by Col. W. S. Nye.
(Germany: US Army Europe - Historical Division [Foreign Military Studies
Branch], 1954), USAMHI Archives, pp.7-9. Mueller was the deputy commander of
German forces in Plzen.; Roucka tells the Czech version of the uprising in his
. Rudolf Toussaint. "Wehrkreis [Military Area] Prague (April - May 1945)."
(Karlsruhe, Germany: US Army Europe - Historical Division [Foreign Military
Studies Branch], between 1945 and 1954), USAMHI Archives, p.1.; Catherine
Andreyev, Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement. (Cambridge:
Cambridge U P, 1987), pp.74-6; Martin Gilbert, The Day The War Ended May 8,
1945 - Victory in Europe . (NY: Henry Holt & Co., 1995), pp.78-9.
. Farago, pp.49-50.
. Harold Yeglin. Private. C Company / 1st Battalion / 303rd Infantry
Regiment / 97th Infantry Division. Phone Interview by Author. 7 October 1998.; Combat
History of the Second Infantry Division , p.149.
. Charles B. MacDonald. Captain. Company Commander. G Company / 2nd
Battalion / 23rd Infantry Regiment / 2nd Infantry Division. Company Commander,
(NY: Bantam, 1978), p.365.; Combat History of the Second Infantry Division,
p.149.; Burton A. Smead, Jr. and Merrill W. Younger, Captain Smead's Letters to
Home , (Dallas, TX: Younger Color-press, 1995), p.111. Capt. Smead was
the S-2 [Intelligence] Officer and Major Younger was the S-3 [Operations]
Officer for the 12th Field Artillery.; Sgt. Lee Walenta. Section Chief. Battery
B / 15th Field Artillery Battalion / 2nd Infantry Division. Letter to Parents -
8 May 1945. Walenta sent me a copy of the letter which was published in his
hometown newspaper.; 2nd Cavalry Squadron AAR, p.6.
. Diary of Hobart Gay, p.929.
. Department of State Dispatch, p.667.; Antonov's assertion was false.
Montgomery's forces were in Luebeck and the vicinity because they arrived their
first, not because of any benevolence on the part of the Soviets.
. This account of Combat Command A's operations is compiled from several
sources: Major General George Ruhlen, USA (dec.). Lt. Col. Battalion Commander
/ 3rd Armored Field Artillery Battalion. Letters to the Author of 19 May, 31
May and 4 August 1998, and his History of the 3rd Armored Field Artillery
Battalion. 2nd ed. (San Antonio, TX: privately published in 1986);
Col. Cecil Roberts, USA, (dec.). Captain. Operations Officer. 14th Tank
Battalion. A Soldier From Texas (Ft. Worth, TX: Branch-Smith, Inc.,
1978). My thanks to both officers for copies of their books.
. Other sources for this account of CCA's operations are: Lt. Col. Demetri
Paris, USA (Ret.). 1st Lt. Platoon Leader. D Company / 14th Tank Battalion.
Letters to the Author of 31 May, 4 June, 17 June, and 25 June 1998.; Col.
Leonard Engeman, USA. Lt. Col. Battalion Commander. 14th Tank Battalion. "Col.
Engeman Remembers Czechoslovakia." Copy provided by LTC Paris.; Paul M. Crucq, Strike,
Fight and Conquer: The History of the 60th Armored Infantry Battalion in World
War II July 1942 - October 1945 . (Drukkerij Truijen, Rijswijk
(Holland): 1993). Photo-copies provided by Bob Ellis of the battalion.; Col.
Daniel Shimkus, USA (dec.). Private. Armored Infantryman. 60th Armored Infantry
Battalion. Phone Interview by Author. 11 May 1998.
. War As I Knew It, p.307.; U.S. Army. 16th Armored Division. After Action
Report - 9 June 1945. RG407, NARA. [Hereafter cited as 16AD AAR]; Col. Charles
Noble. Commander. Combat Command B / 16th Armored Division. "Noble's Nostalgic
Notes: A 16'ner's Experiences in World War II," pp.XXIV-1 through 9 in 16th
Armored Division History, Patton's Third Army - WWII . ed. by Dale
Weaver. Privately published by the 16th Armored Division Association in 1986.
. Noble, pp.xxiv-4.; Lt Col. George B. Pickett and Capt. Edgar N.
Millington. "The Pilsen Story." Combat Forces Journal . (April 1951:
. Ibid.; 16AD AAR.
. Ibid.; Vera Fiedlerova, Citizen of Plzen. "My Memories on the end of the
WW2." Included in a letter to author, 28 June 1998; Jaroslav Peklo, "The End of
the War in Plzen, Bohemia." (his recollections included in a letter he sent to
me on 10 March 1998); Malvina Zajicova, Citizen of Plzen. Letter to the author,
15 April 1998. My thanks to Major Bob Carlson, Capt. Burton Smead and Carl
Sosna (all 2nd Infantry Division veterans) for putting me in touch with them.
. Fiedlerova, "My Memories on the end of WW2."; Zajicova Letter.; Pickett,
. Ibid.; Lt. Col. Charles Schaefer, USA (ret.). 2nd Lt. S-1 (Personnel)
Officer. 216th Armored Engineers Battalion / 16th Armored Division. Interview
by Author. Plzen. 7 May 2000.; V Corps in the ETO, p.452.; Noble, p.XXIV-6.
Though Noble was not present, Lt. Col. Perkins briefed him on the German
surrender and von Majewski's suicide.
. Pickett, pp.34-6.; 16AD AAR.
. The following interviews were conducted by the author at the 16th Armored
Division Association Reunion in Baltimore, Maryland on 16 October 1998: Staff
Sergeant Gene Eike. Squad Leader. A Company / 18th Armored Infantry Battalion /
Combat Command A.; Sgt. Jack Gallagher. Tank Commander. D Company / 5th Tank
Battalion / Combat Command A.; Private Edward Krusheski. Infantryman. 69th
Armored Infantry Battalion / Combat Command R.
. U.S. Army. 4th Armored Division. Combat History. USAMHI Archives, p. May
45 - 2. [Hereafter cited as 4th Armored Combat History.]
. Ibid.; U.S. Army. 4th Armored Division. Combat Command A. 51st Armored
Infantry Battalion. Unit Diary - 1 to 15 May 1945. RG407. NARA.; Brig. Gen.
Albin Irzyk. Lt. Col. Battalion Commander. 8th Tank Battalion / Combat Command
Reserve / 4th Armored Division. He Rode Up Front For Patton .
(Raleigh, NC: Pentland P, 1996), pp.380-1. I was able to get in contact and
correspond with Gen. Irzyk through his publisher.
. 90ID AAR May-45, p.9.; 5th ID in ETO, pp.214-5.
. Farago, p.50.; War As I Knew It, p.309.; Diary of Hobart Gay,
p.929.; Bradley, p.549.; Not surprisingly, Eisenhower makes no mention of this
in his memoirs Crusade in Europe .
. Sol Polish. Division Message Center Officer. 16th Armored Division.
Letter to Author. 9 June 1998.
. Gaston Gee. A Company / 51st Armored Infantry Battalion / Combat Command
A / 4th Armored Division. Letter to the Author. 3 April 1998. In his letter,
Gee noted with puzzlement that there is no mention of this in his battalion's
records. I myself have checked some of those records without success.;
Gallagher Interview.; Krusheski Interview; Pickett, p.36.
. U.S. Army. Twelfth Army Group. Message to SHAEF Forward - Ref No.
QX-31923. 7 May 1945. SHAEF Incoming Message File. RG407. NARA.; U.S. Army.
SHAEF. Czech Military Mission. Message to SHAEF Forward - Ref. No. RR-17731 6
May 1945. RG 407, NARA.; U.S. Army. SHAEF. Czech Military Mission. Memo from
Major Vaclav Pan to Col. A. D. Biddle - SHAEF Main: Ref No. 469/Taj/45 8 May
1945. SHAEF Incoming Message File. RG407. NARA.; U.S. Army. 16th Armored
Division. G-2 (Intelligence) Journal. See entries for 6 May. RG407. NARA.; U.S.
Army. 4th Armored Division. Combat Command B. S-2 (Intelligence) Journal. See
entries for 6 and 7 May 1945. RG407. NARA.
. U.S. Army. SHAEF. Message from Eisenhower to U.S. Military Mission Moscow
- Ref. No. FWD-21006 8 May 1945. SHAEF Outgoing Message File. RG407, NARA.; "To
John Russell Deane and Ernest Russell Archer [US Military Mission Moscow] - 6
May 1945," Chandler, pp.2693-4.; Department of State Dispatch, p.667.
. Diary of Hobart Gay, p.932.; 5ID in ETO, p.216.; V Corps in ETO, p.454.; Combat
History of the Second Infantry Division , p.151.; Homer Knight.
Company Commander. B Company / 1st Battalion / 387th Infantry Regiment / 97th
Infantry Division. Letter to the Author. 1 November 2000. A monument was
erected in 2001 at Fort Benning, Georgia commemorating the Last Shot.
. This paragraph is based on correspondences and conversations with many
American veterans.; Major Robert Carlson, USA (Ret.). 1st Lt. Executive
Officer. Cannon Company / 38th Infantry Regiment / 2nd Infantry Division.
Unpublished Memoirs. My thanks to him for sending me a copy.
. V Corps in ETO, pp.454-7.; 16AD AAR, pp.14-5.
. U.S. Army. 4th Armored Division. 94th Armored Field Artillery Battalion. History
of the Ninety-Fourth Armored Field Artillery Battalion in the European Theater
of Operations 29 December 1943 to 9 May 1945 . (privately published by
the battalion in 1945), p.45.; Sgt. Carl DeVasto. Headquarters Company / 101st
Infantry Regiment / 26th Infantry Division. Letter to the author. 29 Sept.
1999.; Carl DeVasto, "Memories of Tragedy and Triumph," The Daily Transcript.
10 Jan. 1992. p.10. My thanks to Carl for sending me a copy of his newspaper
. Szulc, pp.3-5.; John Toland, The Last 100 Days . (NY: Random
House, 1966), pp. 564-9.
. V Corps in ETO, p.465.; 90ID AAR-May45, p.10.
. V Corps in ETO, p.465.; Charles M. Province, Patton's Third Army - A
Chronology of the Third Army Advance, August, 1944 to May, 1945 . (NY:
Hippocrene Books, 1992), p.294; Combat History of the Second Infantry Division,
pp.151-3.; U.S. Army. 4th Armored Division. Combat Command A. After Action
Report - May 1945. RG407. NARA.
. George Lamm. Interrogation of Prisoners of War Team No. 79 / XII Corps.
Letter to the Author 9 January 2000.; S/Sgt. Ib Melchior. Military Intelligence
Interpreter Team 425G / Counter-Intelligence Detachment 212 / XII Corps. Case
by Case - A US Army Counter-Intelligence Agent in World War II .
(Novato, CA: Presidio P, 1993), pp.175-90. My thanks to George Lamm for putting
me in touch with Ib Melchior.
. For displaced persons, Dyer, pp.456-60 and George Lamm's letter.; For
evacuation of freed Allied POWs, see V Corps in ETO, p.464.
. Quite a few American veterans told me of hostile confrontations with the
Soviet troops, particularly in the first few days after the German surrender.
Col. Noble recorded his negative impressions of the Soviets in "Noble's
Nostalgic Notes" in the 16th Armored Division History. Gen. Robertson's
experiences were shared with me by two veterans of his division: retired Lt.
Gen. Herron Maples (formerly of the 15th Field Artillery Battalion) and retired
Major James Smathers (formerly of the 38th Infantry Regiment).; Carmine
Caiazzo. C Company / 1st Battalion / 9th Infantry Regiment / 2nd Infantry
Division. Letter to the author. 13 February 1998.
. V Corps in ETO, pp.464, 467-8; The History of the 26th Yankee Division
1917-1919 1941-1945. (Salem, Massachusetts: privately printed by the
Yankee Division Veterans Association in 1946), pp.129-130.; The History of 17th
Field Artillery Observation Battalion . Dyer's book on XII Corps, and
U.S. Army. XXII Corps. Letter of Instruction - No. 44: Evacuation of
Czechoslovakia by U.S. Army. 20 November 1945. RG407. NARA.
. Laurence G. Byrnes, History of the 94th Infantry Division in World War II
. (Nashville, TN: printed for the division by Battery Press, 1948), p.497.;
Sgt. George Thompson. C Company / 137th Armored Ordnance Battalion / 16th
Armored Division. Interview by author at the 16th Armored Division Association
Re-union, Baltimore, Maryland. 16 October 1998.
Copyright © 2006 Brian Dickerson.
Written by Bryan Dickerson. If you have questions or comments on this article,
please contact Bryan Dickerson at:
About the author:
Bryan J. Dickerson is a military historian specializing in World War Two and a Navy Reserve veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He earned a Masters of Arts in American History from Monmouth University in New Jersey in 1999. He is the former Editor of Cold War Times -
the online newsletter of the Cold War Museum in Virginia.
Published online: 06/03/2006.