Tuesday, 6 March [1945] Auw, Germany
Up at 0600. Shaved and had breakfast by 0730. The weather is very unsettled but the temperature is moderate. We will be moving our C.P. closer to the Rhine in a day or two. I’ll have to get some fishing tackle together, just in case. I have refrained to a large extent from mentioning the more gruesome sights which are not important to the coherence of my Diary but I will certainly remember them. They will be a mental addition to my, Lest I forget, series.1 A reference to the Reader’s Digest series published in 1944, titled “Lest We Forget.”See Diary Inserts
1,
32,
and 34.
We have moved forward more than 40 miles in less than a week. The Sigfried line is now just something else to tell my nieces and nephews about on rainy evenings.2The Siegfried Line or the “Westwall” was a German defensive line along the borders of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Switzerland. The defensive system was created originally as part of the Hindenburg Line during World War I, but was extended and added to during World War II. The Germans relied heavily on “dragons teeth” which were large, triangular concrete chunks used to derail tanks, large ditches, minefields, and anti-tank barriers which were all placed strategically along the Siegfried Line. Goetz goes into detail about the appearance of the Siegfried line in his February 21 diary entry. Goetz also included a 7-page typescript marked “Secret”, re: “Siegfried Line” with his diary entry from February 16, 1945. See Appendix, Insert 38. Charles MacDonald, The Siegfried Line Campaign (Washington D.C.: 1990) pp. 3-14. I still haven’t received my cigars but usually manage a letter at mail call. I am ready to go home anytime. The U.S. is going to look like Heaven to me. There were a lot of planes overhead again today. The bad weather doesn’t seem to hold them up very much. Hit the sack at 2000.
Wednesday, 7 March [1945] Auw, Germany
Up at 0600. Had early breakfast before going on reconnaissance towards the Rhine, many of the villages are in good condition and contain much of the original population. They present another hazard to us but it is probably better to guard them than to have them jamming the roads, which we will soon be using. There have been many cases of sniping by civilians but I believe we can put a stop to that.
Everything is white again this morning from the snow which fell last night. The planes fly in spite of the weather but a week of sunshine would do us a world of good. [Continued on next page]
