D/505 attended their third out of four events for the 60^th Anniversary of the Battle of the Bulge commemorations on the 22^nd of January 2005. This event was to commemorate the assault river crossing of the Sauer River at Diekirch by the 5^th Infantry Division.

In the early morning of the 18^th of January 1945, the 5^th Infantry Division’s 2^nd and 10^th Infantry Regiments launched assault boats into the Sauer and successfully crossed under enemy fire to the northern bank, against units of the German 352 Volksgrenadier Division. The boat assault was followed up by the building of infantry and vehicle assault, pontoon and bailey bridges.  

<Photo to come>

<Photo to come>

To recreate this momentous undertaking, the National Military Museum of Luxembourg invited three groups (D/505 portraying F/2IR/5ID, WWII LHA’s GR916/352VGD, and a Dutch Engineers Re-enactment group, portraying the 5^th Infantry Division’s 7^th Engineer Battalion) to attend the commemorations and to provide as accurate as possible recreations of the German assault and retreat across the Sauer, the US assault across the Sauer, and the building and use of a US floating infantry assault bridge. 

The German crossing and retreat was done with an original 12-man rubber assault boat. The remnants of a unit of GR 916, which had suffered heavy casualties in the original assault and subsequent defence of the southern flank of the “Bulge” were accurately portrayed down to the late war equipment and MP44 assault rifles. 

<Photo to come>

<Photo to come>

 With covering fire from two 75mm Pack Howitzers and .50 Cal Machine Guns, the 2^nd Infantry’s assault was portrayed using two original wooden assault boats, filled with 16 GI’s. The heavy rains had swollen the fast-flowing river, but the boats did not have to avoid ice floes (and enemy fire) like the original assault. The crossing was also in the morning for the public to see the recreation, as opposed to the original night-time assault.

The two boats landed successfully on the far shore, with the GI’s advancing to take some of the German defenders prisoner.

The photos in the slideshow below are stills from camera footage taken during the crossing.

(There are eight photos in this slideshow - use the arrows on the left and right to navigate and click on a photo to enlarge it.)

 The 7^th Engineers then proceeded to build the assault bridge across the 60 yards of the river, utilising 14 of the wooden assault boats, covered by an interlocking treadway. The swift building of the bridge across the fast-flowing river was a remarkable feat to watch, especially as it was being done by a living history group, and not a team of Army Engineers. 

Once the bridge was completed, with a rope handrail being the last item to be fitted in place, the Dutch group and our F/2IR squad crossed to the Diekirch side of the river to the applause of the watching crowd and a 5^th Infantry veteran and his family (see below).

 The Dutch group then nailed a recreation of a typical crossing site sign to a tree on the bank, and escorted the 5^th Infantry veteran across the bridge.

F Company, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division at the Sauer River bridge site.

1st Sgt "Straight as a die" Saunders and the crew of boat B2

T/4 "Zig-Zag" Mallen and the crew of boat B4

The slideshow below shows a re-enactment of the crossing of one of the reserve units of the 5th Infantry, still under sniper fire from the hills above Diekirch.

(There are seven photos in this slideshow - use the arrows on the left and right to navigate and click on a photo to enlarge it.)

*More to come*