


          A FEW FINAL WORDS TO THOSE STILL ALIVE

          I would like to address a few words to those who served in
          the 4th Infantry Division during World War II. They will
          understand better than most that it has not been easy to
          write this book. At the same time, it has been a remarkable
          experience. For the first time I have begun to understand
          what happened between the time I arrived in England and
          when I left the US Army. As I look back, I find it difficult to
          believe that all those events actually took place, with me as
          a participant.
          
          If I have been critical of individuals or decisions, it has not
          been out of malice. Rather it has been the result of my
          efforts to find out why certain puzzling occurrences took
          place. I have presented them here in the hope it will help
          others to know what was happening to them. We cannot
          undo the past, but it can be useful to understand it.
          
          It is difficult for people who have not experienced combat to
          understand the bonds that develop between those who wage
          war. Since leaving the Army, I have belonged to various
          groups, but none have fostered the feelings I have toward
          the men I knew in the 4th Division.
          
          Since the war, I have maintained contact with a few of those
          I was close to. The reunions the 29th Field Artillery
          Battalion held in Augusta, Georgia in 1980 and in Virginia
          in 1993 were memorable occasions. Since beginning work
          on this book, I have reestablished contacts with people I
          have not seen for nearly half a century. The excerpts the
          Fourth Division Association's The Ivy Leaves has published
          have led to touching and informative correspondence. My
          regret is that I have not kept in touch with more of my
          former comrades. If, after reading this book, any of them
          would care to write to me, it would be most welcome.
          
          I would like to thank those who have read all or part of the
          book and given me their comments. These have been
          extremely helpful.
          
          Finally, let us remember those of our comrades who
          perished in the struggle to defeat Germany and destroy the
          Nazi scourge. May their sacrifice - and the unforgivable
          errors that produced this terrible war - not be forgotten.
          
          John C. Ausland 

                             ****************  

          THE 4TH INFANTRY DIVISION HAD MORE CASUALTIES THAN ANY
          DIVISION IN THE US ARMY DURING WORLD WAR II

          Between June 6, 1944 and May 8, 1945, the 4th Infantry
          Division had a total of 34,309 casualties. Of these, 21,879
          were battle and 12,430 non-battle casualties. The authorized
          strength of the division was a little over 14,000.
          
          The 29th Field Artillery Battalion had 50 men killed, three
          officers and forty-seven enlisted men. Of these, thirty nine
          died as a result of the B Battery landing craft hitting a mine
          on D-Day.                                                    

                             
          A LIST OF THOSE IN THE 29TH FIELD ARTILLERY BATTALION WHO
          WERE KILLED. MOST OF THESE PERISHED WHEN B BATTERY HIT A
          MINE ON THE WAY TO THE BEACH

          1st Lt. Jacob L. Armeen
          2nd Lt. L.C. Blanchard Jr.
          1st Lt. Otis E. Finnel
          Sgt. Richard E. Boylan
          Cpl. Chester Brookhart
          Sgt. Mark E. Buckler
          Pvt. William Cananenberg
          Pfc. Sidney G. Dudgeon
          Pvt. Theodore Fabiszak
          T/5 Joseph Fedish
          Cpl. Charles Giambrone
          Cpl. George P. Greygor
          T/5 Joseph G. Hardy
          Pfc. Floyd Hardzog
          T/5 Felix Harper
          Pvt. Ralph W. Hershman
          Pfc. Harold E. Ingenito
          Pfc. Carl F. Jackson
          Cpl. Joseph Jezak
          Cpl. Ervin T. Johnson
          Cpl. William B. Keller
          Pvt. Edward J. Kozlowski
          Pfc. James D. Lake
          Cpl. Michael Leavor
          Pfc. James P. Mahoney
          Pfc. Conrad C. Mason
          T/5 James H. Miller
          Pfc. Carrol A. Morgan
          Pvt. Anthony C. Morgia
          T/5 Fred M. Newton
          Pvt. Noel N. Nichols
          T/4 Bernard L. Pataky
          T/4 John W. Phelps
          Pfc. Andrew J. Relosky
          Cpl. Clarence V. Sanders
          S/Sgt. Robert Schlott
          Pfc. Charles W. Schaff
          T/4 Robert J. Shanley
          Pvt. John B. Singleton
          Pvt. Sidney R. Smart
          Daniel C. Smith
          Pvt. Harry J. Smith
          Pvt. Irving Spector
          Pvt. Thomas Spina
          Pfc. Horace S. Stephens
          Pfc. James G. Tillman
          Pvt. Robert H. Turner
          Pvt. Raymond F. Vosen
          T/5 Lugher L. Waugh
          Pvt. Benjamin E. Williams

                                   ***************      

          THE SOURCES USED IN PRODUCING THIS BOOK

          The main sources for this book have been my letters and
          memory. I have used about half the letters I wrote home.
          Other than a few amendments for the sake of clarity, the
          portions of the letters which appear are just as my parents
          saw them.
          
          Memory can be a tricky thing. Hence, I do not guarantee
          everything that I have said. People involved have, however,
          read and commented on various chapters. My best
          protection against error has been documents about the 4th
          Division in the National Archives. The After Action Reports
          were particularly useful. There was also a fifty-four page
          summary of the documents related to the 8th Infantry
          Regiment, prepared in 1946. I have also drawn on interviews
          made immediately after battles by historians headed by Lt.
          Col. William Gayle.
          
          Among the accounts of the war in Europe, I have
          particularly valued David Eisenhower's book about his
          grandfather, Eisenhower at War 1943-1945, and Stephen E.
          Ambrose's The Supreme Commander. The autobiographies
          of various generals, including Eisenhower and Bradley, have
          also been helpful. There are also references in the book to
          various sources.
          
          For military events, I have leaned on the US Army series
          about World War II, six volumes of which are devoted to the
          events covered by this book. You will find references to them
          in the text.
          
          The US Army War College at Carlisle Barracks in
          Pennsylvania has kindly sent me a copy of its case study for
          academic year 1992 on Operation Overlord. 
          
          For sorting out dates, I have drawn on Donald Summerville's
          World War II Day by Day and a book in the US Army series,
          Chronology 1941-1945, compiled by Mary H. Williams.
          
          For the German point of view, I have read those books in
          the twenty-four volume series World War II Germany Military
          Studies, edited by Donald S. Detwiler, which concerned
          actions in which the 4th Division was involved. The record
          of some of Hitler's meetings with his generals in Hitler
          Directs His War, edited by Felix Gilbert is fascinating
          reading. I have also valued the comments of my German
          electronic mail correspondent Dr. Werner E. Klotzbuecher,
          who read the entire manuscript in draft.
          
          Unfortunately, no one has yet written a book about the 4th
          Division in World War II. However, I have long had 4th
          Division Artillery published by Army and Navy Publishing
          Company, Baton Rouge, in 1946. This is helpful particularly
          because it has pictures of the men in the 4th Division
          Artillery when the division broke up, as a well as a list of
          people who had been in the various artillery units. In 1987,
          Turner Publishing Company of Paducah, Kentucky published
          4th Infantry "Ivy" Division, which reprinted things written
          about the Division.
          
          The pictures were for the most part either from my private
          collection or obtained from the National Archives. Bill Sydnor
          was kind enough to make his picture collection available to
          me, and I used one from the Huertgen Forest. Col.
          Thomason sent me the picture of Montgomery inspecting the
          29th and Jim Flannigan the one of our award ceremony.   


          THE TECHNOLOGY USED IN PRODUCING THIS BOOK

          For those interested in the technology, I used the following
          hardware: an AST Premium 386SX computer and a Hewlett-
          Packard IIP laser printer with a PacificPage PE postscript
          cartridge. The maps were scanned with a Logitech 32 hand
          scanner, using Graytouch and Cleopatra software. My
          desktop publishing program was GEM Ventura Publisher. My
          bible has been Malcolm E. Barker's Book design and
          production for the small publisher.
          
          If I had not had a modem hooked to my computer, it would
          have been much more difficult to write this book. I would
          like, therefore, to acknowledge the help given me by users
          of the Compuserve Information Service in Ohio and the
          Internet academic and research network.
          
          The Reference Center of the American Embassy in Oslo, with
          its electronic bulletin board, and the Norwegian library
          system, with its online database, have also been of great
          assistance.
          
          Finally, I would like to thank the personnel of the National
          Archives in Washington, DC and Suitland, Maryland for
          their help in finding pictures and documents.       