York; did the dirty work on target ranges and road
construction at XIII Corps' West Virginia maneuvers of
1943; and acted as demonstration troops for the Engineer
School at Fort Belvoir [Virginia].
The battalion landed at Normandy on D-Day plus 21,
but life degenerated into dumping crushed rock on
Carentan's roads, maintaining a few water points, and
sweeping some mines. Two incidents stood out during the
routine months on the Continent: quick thinking and heroic
action saved many lives and equipment during a Normandy
ammunition-dump fire, and eight men of the battalion
quelled and captured 60 German paratroopers after a brief,
sharp firefight in mid-September.2 The battalion did have
one common bond that assisted it during the December fight
against overwhelming odds: nearly all of the officers and
men were veterans of some two years of service in the
battalion; the companies had worked together as units; and
teamwork was clicking smoothly.3
On the eve of the breakthrough, the battalion was
operating about 30 sawmills in the vicinity of Marche,
Dinant, Rochefort, Ciney, Hotton, and Erezee, thereby
contributing materially to the First Army winteriza-
tion and timber-cutting program. The battalion had cut
2,600,000 board feet since the inauguration of the program
in October. The average for the first 17 days of December
was 58,717 board feet per day, with a maximum of 80,600
board feet in one day.4
At that time, the 158th Engineer Combat Battalion had
been charged with the defense of the Marche area. 5
Routine activities in the running of the sawmills were
conducted by the 51st on the first day of the German
breakthrough, but on 17 December at 1730 the battalion was
alerted for ground activity.6
The alert came from the CO
[commanding officer1 of the 158th Engineer Combat
Battalion.
The line companies were immediately alerted
and a staff meeting was called to make plans for action.7
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