Saturday, 14 April [1945] Saalfeld, Germany1Saalfeld is the capital of the Saalfeld-Rudolstadt district of Thuringia in eastern Germany. See Map, Site #17.
Up at 0600. Shaved and had breakfast by 0730. The night was uneventful and I had a good night’s sleep. The weather is cloudy and just a little chilly. We March Ordered at 1100 and after we had eaten chow at 1200, we took off. The towns which we are passing thru now show every evidence of war. We are now in the very heart of Germany and opposition was more pronounced here. Fires still rage in the towns and there is no adequate fire fighting equipment with which the civilians can combat them. The 1st and 2D plts. are protecting F.A. The Security platoon is working right with the infantry. Their M 51 is used extensively against snipers and all small arms resistance. We moved fifteen miles and bivouacked for the night on the bank of the Saal River. From here 155’s are tossing shells into a strong point about 15 miles away which has been bypassed by the infantry. They will probably move sometime tonight, along with the other F.A. units in adjacent areas. No mail today. Hit the sack 2100.
Sunday, 15 April [1945] Ranis, Germany2Ranis is a town in the Saale-Orla-Kreis district of Thuringia, Germany. See Map, Site #17.
Up at 0600. A lovely day and an idle one. I laundered all of my dirty clothes and had them half dried when we received March Order. We are now about 250 miles into Germany and moving steadily. We left Saalfeld at 1300, and after an uneventful trip of about 15 miles reached the outskirts of Ranis. We passed our security platoon on the trip. It had about 200 PW’s in tow. We bivouacked at Ranis and hit the sack at 2000.
