Into the Spessart

On 1 April 1945 – Easter Sunday - the 14^th Armored Division crossed the Rhine River over a pontoon bridge near Worms, and assembled after the march at Großzimmen near Dieburg. The Division consisted of two Combat Commands and a Reserve Command. Combat Command B (CCB) under Colonel Francis J. Gillespie was assigned to break through the Spessart forest. CCB consisted of:

 

47th Tank Battalion

19th Armored Infantry Battalion

499th Armored Field Artillery Battalion

B Troop 94th Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion

B Company 636th Tank Destroyer Battalion

B Company 125th Armored Engineer Battalion

At 03:00 h on 2 April 1945 – Easter Monday - the 14th Armored Division crossed the Main river over a pontoon bridge at Wörth and moved through the outpost of the 3rd Infantry Divison to begin the advance through the Spessart forest. CCB received only occasional resistance by enemy sniper fire at road blocks. The route CCB used went cross through the Spessart on narrow trails which were not constructed for heavy combat vehicles. The direction of attack went from southwest to northeast, but all major routes went from west to east. Finally the came to on of this roads – the Reichsstraße 26.